Question Random & Common BSOD Issues - Seeking Assistance in Identifying Cause or Resolution
Question Random & Common BSOD Issues - Seeking Assistance in Identifying Cause or Resolution
SPECS
OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
RAM: (x2 16GB sticks, 32GB total, Corsair Vengence LPX)
Motherboard: MSI Tomahawk B450 Max
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700x 8-core & Wraith Cooler
Storage: M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB Internal Solid State 3400MB/s Read, PCIe 3.0 X4 2280, M2 Hard Drive
Hello again all, long time no see.
Here asking for some help with my PC and its random crashing issues to BSOD. I've been doing a few things to try and fix or find the problem, but no avail yet. I'm suspecting it's a hardware issue, which makes it all the more frustrating to know which part if so (and obviously, buying replacement parts can be expensive endavour just for the sake of trial and error).
My issues have been getting worse of late ever since I did clean wipe of my OS, files and reinstall of everything after I got hacked by a scammer. I've been having many BSODs, happening at random during various activities such as watching videos, browsing forums, blog writing, and even just being at the desktop screen doing nothing but idling.
I can go for a few hours without a crash at times, and at other times I'll have several crashes in a row within minutes or less of one another after each reset following a BSOD.
The full story so far from the time of hacking, trying to keep to the point of my issues and what I've tried:
Hacked by Discord "try my game" Scammer
A friend on Discord got hacked, and so they DM'd me and I fell for the "try my game" spyware scam. I caught them early as soon as I installed their app as I had a gut instinct when my browser crashed and ran a virus scan which picked it up, and so when the scammer threatened me for money after I confronted them, I disconnected my PC from the internet, changed all my passwords on an alternate device, and then went about wiping my PC clean. And this really is where the problems begin.
Initial Installation/Reset & Display Difficulties
I first attempted the Windows reset and redownload Windows 10 option for a wipe. As this was happening, mid way through the wiping and reinstalling proccess, I'd get blank display, and I'd be forced to manually reset my PC via the power button several times to get anywhere, peripherals were non functional.
Eventually I managed to get wiped and reinstalled, though the wipe was imperfect despite requesting the option for no files to be left over at all. And so seeing that, I wasn't comfortable, so I did the same proccess a couple more times, with the same difficulties as above with the display/freezing issues. Though I did manage to finally get a full fresh reset.
At the time I was using a t.v as a monitor, and someone suggests that may have been the cause of the display instability during reset attempts, so since then I've gotten myself a proper monitor. However, I did still encounter one start up display issue as before even on the new monitor.
I continued to experience crashes after the wipe and reset, and decided the reset method I used wasn't good enough, and so I then went about installing Windows 10 fresh via a USB boot method, and deleted all partions. Which, was successful. And display/freezing issue has not happened since.
The fresh install was successful. But random crashes since have persisted.
Driver & Bios Installs
I ensured to install fresh and latest drivers for my GPU and MB. Several times to be sure. I also have M-flashed the bios with the latest stable version. Crashes persist.
Installed new RAM sticks
Another friend suspected I may have had a hardware issue such as bad memory, so I decided up upgrade my RAM, and install brand new sticks (which is what I have now as listed in the above specs). I also put fresh thermal paste on my CPU and refitted my CPU fan. Crashes persist.
CMD Scans & Fixes Attempted
I have several times ran the scans and repairs of:
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image / ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Results:
"No Component Store Corruption Detected"
"Restore Operation Completed Successfully"
I did this scan several more times, all clear, no repairs were needed. Crashes persist.
Stress Tests
I ran Prime95 stress test application for several hours. No errors were detected, no crashes happened during.
I ran a combined OOCT stability scan, no crashes, no errors. But when I run a power stability test it tells me:
"Error CPU+RAM errors (*number*) found on physical core, logical core" listing all cores, and the erros number literally into the millions if not more.
WinDbg Scans
The crash reports on the scans seem to be for different reasons each time. Kernal crashes are common, and the applications responsible are different every time.
Other Notes
I should also note that I wa having some random crashes before my hacking and PC reset/wipe, but were far less frequent, only on occasion, but ever since my system reset, I've been having far more frequent crashes to the point now where its impractical for me to even use my PC.
That's all I know so far and have tried.
Thank you for your time all.
OS: Windows 10 (64 bit)
I tried to recover and reinstall, but the process didn’t go perfectly—even though I asked not to leave any files behind. It seems like a reset rather than a complete format and fresh install. If that’s the case, did you recreate your bootable USB for this OS? Make sure all drives except the one you’re installing are disconnected, install in offline mode, and run the latest drivers via an elevated command, such as right-clicking the installer and selecting Run as Administrator?
I made sure to install the newest drivers for my GPU and motherboard. I repeated this several times to be certain. I also flashed my BIOS with the latest stable version. However, crashes still occur.
For clarity, could you share the BIOS version of your motherboard?
Storage details: M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB Internal Solid State, 3400MB/s Read, PCIe 3.0 X4 2280, M2 Hard Drive
Please include the make, model, and age of your power supply unit as well.
My SSD is a Sabrent (SB Rocket) model. I purchased it between 2017 and 2018. My PSU was bought back in 2017, and it's a SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX power supply. It has been used extensively since then, and my PC has never been turned off except during crashes or BSODs.
My Windows version is 10.0.19045 Build 19045. Here are my dunp files.
@Lutfij I packaged the folder into a zip archive, which should be available at the provided link:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/m0pi...ey...7kxs32193y&st=2je74um4&dl=0
The initial reset involved using Windows' built-in tool to perform a system reset and reinstall via download. Following that, I proceeded with the USB installation without internet access. All drives except the one being installed were disconnected, and I accessed the BIOS to delete partitions from the target drive before installing the OS fresh from the USB. Every driver was installed with admin privileges. The BIOS I set up was the latest stable version available on the MSI website for my system: AMI BIOS 7C02v3J
When I check the event viewer for Windows logs under System, I see many errors stating "Secure Boot failed to update a Secure Boot variable with error, Secure Boot is not enabled on this machine." I attempted to enable it via BIOS before, but it didn’t work for some reason—I don’t remember exactly what caused it, but I’m trying again. Other warnings include DNS timeouts, Windows Security permission issues, and System Guard run-time errors. There are also Kernel-power errors.
You're noticing more freezing on your PC without BSODs, and it's happening often, so you're having to restart it manually through the power button.