System shuts down unexpectedly - Incident 41
System shuts down unexpectedly - Incident 41
Checked through real tests with simulated heavy loads on high-wattage components using the same power source. The silverstone appears to be nearing its end, possibly over ten years. All power supplies, even premium ones, degrade over time and still struggle to maintain consistent output. It seems both units might be aging and failing to deliver stable power. I’m leaning toward a 30% chance that the PSU is the main issue. I can review the HWInfo for voltage readings against ATX standards, but they remain unclear. Sometimes simply turning them off helps, particularly if issues arise during idle. These CPUs operate at different voltage levels depending on the CPU type. To conserve energy, the CPU may switch to various hibernation states, which can lead to complications. On your MSI board, you should access BIOS and look for a “state” menu—typically in the top-right corner—click it, enter “state,” and check the available options.
Hey, Im back with an update! So after the memtest I left the PC running and went for few beers. Came back just few moments ago, found the PC FROZEN - NOT REBOOTED. Frozen on the desktop, not reacting to keyboard or mouse, with the time stopped at 18:45 - see pic attached So I rebooted with the reset buton on the case. PC booted up, NO BLUESCREEN RECORDED AGAIN, the bluescreen folder empty, bluescreenviewer sees no logs. What I find strange is that event viewer says the unscheduled reboot happened at 18:31 local time ??? But the screen froze at 18:45?? See attached pic 2 from event viewer The pc run for few minutes, and as I was working on logging on here IT FINALLY HAPPENED LIVE - finally cought it live! The PC did not turn off, all lights stayed on, no blue screen, just went black screen and then the second picture happened. See attached pic 2 & 3. Currently stays at 100%, not automatically rebooting, probably waiting for me to do it mamually. I pray that the code from the black screen can help us somehow
This manual is about switching dump formats. We need to verify the current setting. Ideally, we prefer Automatic mode, which generates a large kernel dump (potentially tens of gigabytes) that overwrites previous files on each crash. A minidump is produced instead. Kernel dumps are stored directly in C:\Windows as Memory.dmp. If you’re already using Automatic, you can switch to Small Memory Dump. Keep in mind I’m not asking for kernel dumps because they may hold all your RAM data, which could expose sensitive information. We only need minidumps. A kernel dump is helpful if you want to run a debugger on your PC and share the results. Usually, no dump file raises suspicion, but volmgr might report it failed to create. This seems unusual. Are you experiencing prolonged BSODs? If everything functions normally, the process should take 1-5 seconds. When a crash occurs, data is written to the page file and then used to build a dump on startup. This lets us verify the page file location, even across multiple drives. Moving the page file is possible if it’s not on the C drive or placed elsewhere. Make sure there’s ample free space for the initial dump—about as much as your RAM plus 3-4GB. Also, check Event Viewer for any WHEA-Logger events around the crash time. If you find any, right-click → save and upload the .evtx file here.
Hello Bjoolz, thank you for your message. I returned after the weekend and will be more available online from now on. The dump size was configured to use full system memory, and there is one file in the Windows folder named MEMORY.DMP, which is 16GB. - However, this file appears to have been created back in November 2025? I’m confused because since then there have been numerous crashes. The minidump folder is empty, yet it indicates the folder was modified on the same date as the large MEMORY.dmp file. Perhaps someone adjusted the settings to generate a full memory dump to compensate, which might have removed the minidump in that folder to create the larger one in the parent directory? (My guess). I changed the size to automatic and restarted Windows to ensure the changes persist and avoid another crash. Quick notes: - The option to log events to the system log is enabled - Automatic reboot isn’t being checked - Size is now set to Automatic (automatic memory backup) - File path is set to "%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP" - Overwriting existing files isn’t being prevented - Automatic deletion of backups isn’t disabled, so it might be clearing old files - I don’t recall the process taking less than a few seconds, but likely not more than a minute or two. I verified the timestamps on the images taken; the difference between 0% and 100% was about 2 minutes, confirming it wasn’t just a short delay. It finished at 100% and stayed that way until I manually rebooted via the reset button. Probably because I had previously disabled automatic reboot after crashes in the same settings where I set the dump size, trying to gather more data. There’s only one drive installed – an M.2 SSD with 256GB, one partition C. The page file is managed automatically by the system. Currently, there are 85GB of free space, which should be sufficient. I’m puzzled about why the last .dmp file dates from November. I hope after another crash we’ll find something in the minidump folder. There’s no WHEA-Logger event in the entire event log. I don’t know if that’s a positive sign.
Struggling to get things working. I haven’t downloaded the Kingston SSD manager from their site, yet the interface still displays blank pages even when running as admin. It looks like it recognizes the SSD, but that’s all. From what I’ve found, it appears to be an older industrial version.
By chance, I already possess a fresh SSD to install for her, since she needed more storage besides the crash resolution. This one is a M.2 2TB Samsung 990 Evo Plus purchased only a week prior. That’s why I’m prepared to proceed that way. Yet—there’s just one M.2 port available, and the MOBO only has one PCIe slot, which is the PCIex1 shown in the image above. If we must swap the SSD, I’ll need to copy the data from the old 256 Kingston drive into the new Samsung, because her Windows files remain on the previous unit. I’m sorry and I realize there’s a mistake on my part; I was certain there’d be either an open M.2 slot or at least a PCIe4 port for an adapter… But this is the situation. *Edit: I’ve reinserted the current SSD during a general PC cleaning. Updated February 8 by Naiiv*
I don’t have prior experience with this tool, thank you for letting me know.