The system displayed a BSOD due to a Memory Management issue.
The system displayed a BSOD due to a Memory Management issue.
I possess a setup with these specifications:
Processor: i5 9400F
Motherboard: Asus b365 strix
Memory: Corsair 8gb *2
Graphics Card: Zotac 3060ti
Power Supply: Corsair RM 750e
Storage: 128 GB SATA SSD (used as boot drive)
2TB+1tb HDDs
Operating System: Win 11 pro
Recently, while playing a game, my system suddenly crashed and then restarted. After restarting, it failed to boot into Windows and displayed the loading screen with a spinning circle. After some time, I manually restarted the PC, which then began diagnostics on the drive. Once completed, the PC restarted again but remained stuck on the loading screen.
Later, I removed the SSD and tested it on another functioning machine. The SSD showed normal status ("Good") on the crystal disk information. I examined the crash dumps with a tool named Whocrashed, which indicated a memory management error and suggested possible causes such as software issues, memory corruption, or overheating.
I’m puzzled by this unusual problem. Early research on the internet suggested this memory management issue often relates to faulty RAM. How can I figure out what actually caused my PC to crash? And why did the crash prevent it from booting? I’ve experienced similar crashes before but could usually recover after a restart. This is the first time I’m facing something like this. Please offer guidance on how to resolve it.
WhoCrashed can occasionally identify a specific driver, though it often falls short. It generates dump files stored in C:\windows\minidump. Upload these files to a cloud service such as Google Drive or OneDrive and ensure they are accessible without passwords. Having several minidumps is preferable to just one. Some members of the community may download these, examine them, and provide more effective assistance. A storage device might be marked as "good," yet still contain damaged files that stop proper booting. And hardware testing is never entirely flawless. If you wish to stay ahead, download memtest86, copy it to a USB stick, boot from the stick, and perform at least four checks on your RAM. This process can take several hours. More details are available here: https://forums.
I examined those dump files using another tool named bluescreenview, which indicated the crash was linked to ntoskrnel.exe. What does that mean? Could memory management issues stem from faulty video card drivers? I updated my NVIDIA driver to version 551.86 recently—did that trigger the crash? I’m currently running memtest on the second pass, but no errors have appeared yet. If it completes without problems, we might assume the RAM modules are functioning correctly. Here’s the link to the dump file you mentioned:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
Please let me know if someone can help analyze it and identify the most probable cause.
ntoskrnel.exe represents the Windows NT Kernel, essentially what Windows is. This isn't the problem at hand. I would try checking the Device Manager, locate the GPU driver, open its properties and select "Roll back" to the previous version. It might assist.
Some tools like WhoCrashed and BlueScreenView can provide detailed driver analysis, which could help fix the issue if a driver name is identified. However, they often don't offer much beyond that.
Running Memtest is similar to other hardware diagnostics; it isn't flawless. Completing four passes without errors suggests RAM might be fine, but it doesn’t confirm it entirely. Errors during testing indicate potential RAM problems. If you have multiple modules (such as 8gb *2) and encounter issues, test each one individually to pinpoint the cause.
Please let someone examine the dump files—they may extract more data, though results aren't assured.
Memtest didn't detect any issues. Continuing with a detailed examination of the crash dumps appears necessary to uncover the underlying reason for the issue.
I would examine the system drive since the dump indicates a page-in issue originating from the paging file...
Thank you for your detailed review. Yesterday I replaced the system drive with a different SSD and reinstalled Windows, and so far there have been no crashes. While inspecting the storage devices' connections to the motherboard's SATA ports, I noticed some unusual behavior—certain ports appeared wobbly or loose, slightly tilting when cables were plugged in or removed. It seems the SSD might have been connected to one of these ports previously. Is it typical for SATA ports to show such instability during operation? Could a faulty motherboard be the cause? Might defective SATA ports lead to error messages? Fortunately, all devices are still recognized by Windows even on those unstable ports. Are there any solutions to address these problematic connections? Unfortunately, the motherboard is no longer under warranty—it's an Asus Strix B365 Gaming model.
Do you want to know if the issue lies with the SATA cable connectors being loose in the ports or if the ports themselves are loose on the board? A loose connector is not unusual, so it's best to use high-quality SATA cables to prevent this. Loose ports on the board indicate a problem with the hardware. Poor SATA ports can lead to BSODs, which happen when a kernel-mode function hits an unrecoverable error.