All games unexpectedly crashing to the desktop, event viewer: ntdll.dll
All games unexpectedly crashing to the desktop, event viewer: ntdll.dll
Hello
I’m looking for some guidance.
Random crashes occur during gameplay without any clear reason. No new software has been installed. All games display the same error message. I’ve tried various fixes but haven’t managed to reproduce it consistently.
I’ve verified the following:
- Windows updates are current, including optional ones
- Graphics drivers are latest
- BIOS is up to date
- SFC /scannow and DISM commands ran successfully
- Memtest performed without issues
- SSD scanned and chipset drivers refreshed
- Game mode enabled
- HAGS setting in Windows 10 turned off
I’m playing with the latest versions from PC Game Pass, Battle.net, or Steam.
System specs: Windows 10, Intel I7-10700k, Gigabyte Z490 Gaming X motherboard, Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB, Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Gaming OC 3X, Samsung 970 EVO Plus M.2 SSD, Corsair RM Series RM850 850W.
Thermal readings are normal (CPU around 50°C, GPU 60-70°C under load).
Please share any suggestions on what to investigate next, as I’m still trying to resolve this issue.
corrupted 32bit heap
edit: since you have a gigabyte motherboard remove any installed gigabyte tools. they have a graphics accelerator driver that messes up the 32bit subsystem. Generally, the file is called
gdrv.sys gdrv2.sys or gdrv3.sys you can use autoruns64 to see if the file is loaded and remove it
Autoruns for Windows - Windows Sysinternals | Microsoft Docs
from my end the only way for me to see what is going on in the 32bit subsystem is for you to provide a full memory dump. These are large IEequal to a file size the same size as your RAM.
it can be debugged from your end if you download gflags.exe from the windows sdk tools.
Download Debugging Tools for Windows - WinDbg - Windows drivers | Microsoft Docs
(be sure to select only download the debugging tools or you will get a huge download)
set the flags to debug heap for your .exe then debug your program using ntsd.exe debuger.
something like this.
Example 12 Using Page Heap Verification to Find a Bug - Windows drivers | Microsoft Docs
biggest problem is that games do not like to be run under a debugger and may not run. you might be able to run gflags to set the debugger up for debugging heap then run the game without the debugger until the system crashes then provide the full memory dump file and I might be able to debug it with the kernel debugger. gflags will write settings to be run when the specified .exe is run it will do this until you remove the settings. So if you run a game with gflags set and it fails at load because of a bug. it will fail at load until you remove the flags. (just so you know to remove the flags when done testing)
best to provide a minidump so we can remove suspect problems and look for corrupted files before debugging too far.
then the full memory dump to look at the 32bit subsystem to see where the crash is located.
the system will crash much faster if you turn on the gflags heap functions so that the app crashes at the start of a heap corruption rather than later when the heap cleanup is called.
most people just reinstall windows rather than track the problem down.
before you start the whole process you should update your motherboard sound drivers. Just for the case where your motherboard sound driver corrupts the stack of your video.
(common problem with older motherboard sound drivers)