Got those annoying Blue Screen of Death errors?
Got those annoying Blue Screen of Death errors?
Hey, I keep getting random BSOD errors. The error code is totally different every time. Here are the ones that happened: Memory Management, KMOD Exception Not Handled, System Service Exception, IRQ not less or equal, and Reference by Pointer. It started three weeks ago when things would randomly crash and then stop working. Sometimes I could boot up and log in, but right after that BSOD came back. Sometimes it was even during the boot process. That happened at least ten times before I got anything else going without crashing.
I tried to figure out if one of my two RAM sticks is bad. I took one out and everything worked fine again. Then I swapped both RAMs, they still looked good. When I put them back in, it was all good and running, even playing games or doing Cinebench. To be sure, I tested the RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. It just reboots, opens a blue window but never starts, then crashes right away. Next, I tried Memtest86 and it didn't find anything wrong there either.
For two weeks, no problem at all, but again BSODs started happening. So I updated the BIOS, reset everything back to default settings, and reset Windows (keeping my personal files). Then I installed and updated all drivers. Everything was fine for two days, then it crashed again. The BSOD errors are totally random. Sometimes after logging in, sometimes when gaming, sometimes during boot, though most of them happen after logging in.
The Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool passed. My SSD's SMART readout looks good too. Minidump files all point to ntoskrnl.exe being the problem. Here is my current setup: System info says Windows 11 on an Intel i9-12900K processor running on a MSI Z690 Carbon WiFi motherboard, with DDR5 RAM, an RTX 3070 GPU, and three M.2 SSDs from Asus Strix and an 850W PSU. Any ideas what I should check or fix next?
Unfortunately, I don't have any spare components to swap out right now, so before buying something new, it would be great to know which part is the problem. Thanks a lot!
Next time you see a blue screen, look closely at the list of programs and files showing up. Sometimes Windows will tell you which file or program is causing trouble under "What failed." Write down that name and try to reinstall it, update it, or just remove it completely. Errors like IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION usually mean a driver isn't working right. This happens if your computer asked for something the system couldn't give back, which makes the screen go blue. Since drivers are what connect hardware to software, that's probably where things are broken. Try updating those drivers and reinstalling them to see if it helps. If you had a problem with your RAM, you would likely also see messages about DATA_BUS_ERROR along with any other errors you already found. It is good news that Memtest86 showed no problems for you. You said you reset your BIOS, which was smart advice, but be careful not to have an overclock running on your CPU, RAM, or video card. If these parts are being pushed too hard or get the wrong amount of voltage, it could cause a blue screen. Lower them down to normal speed and see if that fixes things. Next, run CHKDSK and SFC. Make sure you open Command Prompt as an administrator so those tools work well. When they finish running, make sure the results are positive, then back up any important files right away and use a disk diagnostic tool to be sure your drive is safe. The manufacturer of your drive should have software on their website that can check it too. You could also run both Windows Defender's Deep Scan and Offline Scan. The problem isn't probably just a virus or malware, but it is easy to do and wouldn't hurt either. These tools take several hours so you can start them before work school begins. This is the last thing we should try, but you might want to reinstall the whole Windows system as well. I used to like getting a new install of Windows every year, but since I have important data stored on multiple drives, it is easy for me to do that. Most people would find that unrealistic though. At any rate, if you decide to try it, make sure you have all your important files and pictures saved on an external drive or USB stick. Hope this helped, take care!
Thanks for helping me out so far. I took a long vacation and didn't use much of my stuff while away. By the way, I had a spare SSD at home, so I put it in and did a fresh Windows 11 install. The computer worked fine yesterday, but today it won't turn on properly. It keeps showing blue screens directly when I try to start. Sometimes I see the login screen for just a few seconds before hitting a blue screen. Each time is different; one of them said "win32kbase.sys". No files or programs were listed on the error messages, and I can't get the mini-dump files either. Any ideas what could be causing this or which part might be breaking? Thanks for your help!