Random BSOD and trouble installing Windows 7

[Wiser2001]

Well the heading of this thread interested me a lot, but my problem is somewhat different. I had a hell of a time installing Win7. Had to borrow a friends Geforce to finish installation since my ATI card (and I read in many places that the ATI drivers bundled with the win7 installation can cause trouble with HD4850). The installation would go to the final setup screen then BSOD every time. Plugged in the Geforce and voila, I entered windows. I then switched back to the HD4850 and updated the drivers in safe mode. However, the stability was short-lived and I got recurring Power-Kernel critical errors (0x124). So after a week of complete instability and replacing every single driver I could think of, I gave up and went back to XP.
NOW the trouble started. I'm getting random resets and powerouts when running the same WinXP installation I had used before with no problems at all. I would think that a PSU either goes or doesn't, but is it possible that something has reduced its voltage output? I'm pretty worked up about all this, since my computer was 100% stable before I tried Win7, now I can't even revert to XP. I can get into the OS for a few minutes, not even enough time to install chipset drivers. Safe mode just BSODs.

System (all at default settings)
Phenom X4 9750 @ 2.4GHz
2x2GB A-Data DDR2-800mhz
ATI HD4850 gainward ed.
Thermaltake KK400 PSU
Plextor DVDR
WD Raptor 10k 32GB
Seagate 1TB

 

[Veedaz]

System (all at default settings)
Phenom X4 9750 @ 2.4GHz
2x2GB A-Data DDR2-800mhz
ATI HD4850 gainward ed.
Thermaltake KK400 PSU
Plextor DVDR
WD Raptor 10k 32GB
Seagate 1TB

I would like to see a bigger PSU on that set up (yes you will get away with 400W but a bit more would be better, just my opinion ), and dont use W7 supplied drivers go to Here > http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx and download the CCC & drivers.

 

[clifford_cooley]

I agree with Veedaz. That is allot of power consumption for a 400W supply.

The question is not whether the power supply will push 400W. The question is whether the power supply will stay within specs under a large load. If you are pushing the power supply and dropping out of specs, this can cause side effects with the system.

I have less than half the CPU and Video power you are running. My power supply is a cheap 450W and I am worried about my power if I decided to upgrade.

 

[Wiser2001]

Ya, I agree a bulkier PSU is called for, and that's my task today. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sidenote: in creating a bootable Win7 floppy in a sleepy state last night I accidentally deleted the partition table of my storage drive with EVERYTHING on it (as easy as typing 'select disk 1' instead of 'select disk 2'). Of course, critical stuff is backed up but there are about 3months of photos I hadn't backup up yet. Argh, this Win7 upgrade has been ferocious.

 

[clifford_cooley]

Have you considered a restoration method to rebuild the partition table?

 

[Wiser2001]

New PSU, old problems

Well installed a new Thermaltake 600W PSU and still getting random reboots in XP!

Yes, I'm using 'partition table doctor' to recreate my drive, that is if and when I can get into winXP for more than a minute. Argh. The likely culprit is my mobo. F'in Gigabyte MA790x-ds4, been having trouble with it from the get-go. RMAing is such a pain though, gotta wait like a month to get your shit back.

Either way gonna try to get back into Win7 and see if the Kernel-Power critical errors keep popping up. Perhaps something in my comp is causing massive power spikes. One thing I haven't considered is the DVD, but I never have trouble during installations until drivers are involved.

 

[clifford_cooley]

That Sux

Was hoping it was the power supply.

Have you tried reseating the CPU and Memory? Probably won't help but might as well try it.

 

[Wiser2001]

Ya, did an overnight Memtest86+, then did a Cpu tester crunch for 6hrs or so using a tool in Hiren's Boot 10, forget the name. I've also done full hard disk checks. Unplugging the DVD doesn't help either. Looks like I've got me a mobo RMA on my hands. And I live in China. This should be an experience.

 

[Veedaz]

Just out of intrest witch slot are you using for your graphics card ? (see notes)

Your MOBO > http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Spec.aspx?ProductID=2695

 

[Wiser2001]

I'm using the upper slot, the PCIe_16_1 slot. Ya, I looked that up when I first set up my rig. Problem is, if this is a vid. card problem, I don't know how to test it. Any tools? The only video tester in Hiren's boot doesn't load for me.

 

[Veedaz]

You will find GPU tests here > http://www.benchmarkhq.ru/english.html (Benchmark Tools)

 

[Wiser2001]

Thanks, but it's not easy to test with those when you can't get in to a stable Windows environment. I have no option but to go to a shop so that different cards can be put in and tested, and then RMA the appropriate one (mobo or video). Argh. And after deleting the partition table of my other drive, with all my work on it, I up the creek for a while.

The one thing that gets me was that everything was fine until I tried win7, and now I can't even run XP.

 

[Wiser2001]

Final note: I managed to rebuild the partition table using 'Partition Find and Mount' through MiniXP using Hiren's Boot 10.0. SOOOOOO happy.

Conclusion of my involvement in this thread: Win7 did NOT kill my PSU. It's fine, and now I have an even better one, and no use for the other one (which wasn't very old to start off with). However I have still not concluded how to resolve the Kernel-Power critical errors that crippled my win7 installation.

 

[TorrentG]

Well the heading of this thread interested me a lot, but my problem is somewhat different. I had a hell of a time installing Win7. Had to borrow a friends Geforce to finish installation since my ATI card (and I read in many places that the ATI drivers bundled with the win7 installation can cause trouble with HD4850). The installation would go to the final setup screen then BSOD every time. Plugged in the Geforce and voila, I entered windows. I then switched back to the HD4850 and updated the drivers in safe mode. However, the stability was short-lived and I got recurring Power-Kernel critical errors (0x124). So after a week of complete instability and replacing every single driver I could think of, I gave up and went back to XP.
NOW the trouble started. I'm getting random resets and powerouts when running the same WinXP installation I had used before with no problems at all. I would think that a PSU either goes or doesn't, but is it possible that something has reduced its voltage output? I'm pretty worked up about all this, since my computer was 100% stable before I tried Win7, now I can't even revert to XP. I can get into the OS for a few minutes, not even enough time to install chipset drivers. Safe mode just BSODs.

System (all at default settings)
Phenom X4 9750 @ 2.4GHz
2x2GB A-Data DDR2-800mhz
ATI HD4850 gainward ed.
Thermaltake KK400 PSU
Plextor DVDR
WD Raptor 10k 32GB
Seagate 1TB

You can use safe mode + networking to go to C:\Windows\Minidump

Zip the contents there and attach to a post. I may have some recommendations after.

 

[Wiser2001]

Thanks TorrentG, here's the last minidump. I've gotta learn to look through these.

 

[TorrentG]

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  COMMON_SYSTEM_FAULT

Based in that, I'd update the system mainboard's bios to latest from the manufacturer.

These drivers are old and should be updated to latest. You can also use safe mode + networking to do so, along with the device manager - if needed:

Dxapi    Dxapi.sys    Fri Aug 17 16:53:19 2001
HDAudBus HDAudBus.sys Thu May 26 11:46:29 2005
rasacd   rasacd.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:55:39 2001
ftdisk   ftdisk.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:52:41 2001
ptilink  ptilink.sys  Fri Aug 17 16:49:53 2001
raspti   raspti.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:55:32 2001
BOOTVID  BOOTVID.dll  Fri Aug 17 16:49:09 2001
mouhid   mouhid.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:47:57 2001
kdcom    kdcom.dll    Fri Aug 17 16:49:10 2001
WMILIB   WMILIB.SYS   Fri Aug 17 17:07:23 2001
USBD     USBD.SYS     Fri Aug 17 17:02:58 2001
Fs_Rec   Fs_Rec.SYS   Fri Aug 17 16:49:37 2001
Beep     Beep.SYS     Fri Aug 17 16:47:33 2001
mnmdd    mnmdd.SYS    Fri Aug 17 16:57:28 2001
RDPCDD   RDPCDD.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:46:56 2001
pciide   pciide.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:51:49 2001
audstub  audstub.sys  Fri Aug 17 16:59:40 2001
Null     Null.SYS     Fri Aug 17 16:47:39 2001
dxgthk   dxgthk.sys   Fri Aug 17 16:53:12 2001

I'd really suggest a completely clean install with a format based on that extensive list. Copy anything from the drive you want to keep to an alternate location beforehand.

 

[Wiser2001]

Thanks for looking into it. I found a good link on how to debug the minidump here and found the same myself.
Unfortunately, I wish it were as simple as installing a new setup. The reason the drivers are so old is because I've been going through my winXP cd's backwards, reinstalling different versions to test if I can get some stability. The latest copy I have is a September '09 iso, but I can't burn it since the burner is on that computer, and I can't get any XP to run stably for more than a minute or so. So the latest burned copy I have is an April '09 version. I also tried a December '08, and that last one was a May '08.
The point is that after the fresh install I can't run for more than a minute. This contrasting very much from my situation a week and a half ago where I was running WinXP sp3 all updates perfectly, and then tried to do a fresh install of win7 x64 and ran into serious issues, the final straw being persistent Kernel-Power issues. I made an image of my old setup of course, but my luck down big time: the Paragon Exact Image recovery disk is incompatible with my video card, and I get blank screen. I've tried the copy that comes with Hiren't boot as well: blank screen.

I decided to post the whole story here.

 

[TorrentG]

Did you update the bios as suggested?

You can have a look at this thread by my friend and colleage, H2SO4.

http://74.86.229.157/crash-lockup-debug-how/35349-2-int-stop-0x124-what-means-what-try.html

 

[Wiser2001]

I read that article before.
1) no overclocked hardware
2) stuck big fan with side of case open
3) can't update hardware drivers since I can't get xp to run long enough, and win7 installation won't finish
4) updated bios to latest version F9
5) n/a can't update win7 as can't finish install on its own
6) stress-tested HD and RAM, and also swapped, tried installing on newest HD, same problem, swapped RAM around, used 1 and 2 chips in different configurations, no luck
7) can't do vanilla install of win7, won't finish, BSOD's near end then I get "encountered unexpected error" installation message in final setup
8) removed and reinserted all parts (except CPU), even fully replaced PSU, used compressed air to clean dust
9) swapped RAM around, swapped HD's, new PSU. Have not swapped CPUs or video card. Though when I did go to a shop to swap vid.card the 1st time I could get into windows 7 for the first time, strongly pointing at video card... but I never had any issues with the video card before attempting to install Win7.

By now I'm certain a hardware component is doing this, and I'm aiming at the motherboard, though the video card is suspect too. All else has been tested. Gotta bring'er in since I'm not capable of testing my vid.card if I can't get into windows.

 

[Veedaz]

How about just taking your graphics card out and trying ?