Why are my random blue screen errors coming from ntoskrnl.exe or Ntfs.sys?
Why are my random blue screen errors coming from ntoskrnl.exe or Ntfs.sys?
Hi guys, I've been getting random BSODs lately (though I haven't touched my hardware much). I have five mini dump files: three say it's ntoskrnl.exe and two say Ntfs.sys. My PC broke down last month and I had to clean install Windows now. The BSOD is coming back 🙁 What bothers me more is that when I restart or turn on the PC, it randomly decides to do a disk scan and repair (saying my hard drive has an issue?). Also, I feel like this happens mostly when I'm just sitting there idle. I haven't had any BSOD while gaming yet (that seems common in other posts too). I tried running sfc scans and Dism restore (but the DISM always stuck at 62.3% even reading from a local iso). I attached a screenshot of my PC specs, all five mini dump files, and a BlueScreenView summary screenshot. (Also added an energy report) Should I start with memtest to check if RAM is the problem? Thanks in advance!
Minidump Files: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1...sp=sharing
p.s. Since I'm new here, let me know if you need anything else.
I have a MSI 1000w PSU (new with this build). The PC has been used heavily for about 1.5 years since it was built (mostly heavy gaming and lots of AI training/stable diffusion/LLM ect.).
Harddrives: - Four internal SSDs (all different brands: Samsung 980Pro main drive, SK hynix P41, Crucial P5 plus, Kingston NV2) - One external SSD plugged in 24/7 - One external HDD plugged in 24/7 (this one has its own power supply, a 16TB backup device)
RAM: Two sets of (64GB total): G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB Series (Intel XMP) 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin SDRAM DDR5 6400 CL32-39-39-102 1.40V Dual Channel Desktop Memory
I had trouble running those RAM at 6400, so I'm running them at 6000 now. They passed memtest when I just built this machine.
Here is a rewrite with simpler words and a consistent "you" perspective:
You should probably share all your details so I can help you better. The system was crashing with blue screen errors (BSODs), then everything stopped working completely, and after you cleaned the computer up using Windows again, it's still having those same BSODs. You seem to have a problem with a storage drive too.
You need to figure out exactly which hard drive this is. If that drive is your main system drive, that could be why things are breaking. Do you know which specific drive the computer is trying to check every time it turns on? We should fix this storage issue first before we look at other problems.
So the whole thing went to hell and I couldn't get Windows on at all, the PC kept showing up in that blue screen where it gives you options to fix things. I could actually get into the BIOS but never into Windows again. I tried safe mode too and that didn't help either, so I gave up and decided screw it. I formatted my drive and did a clean install on my third try (that was really hard because fresh installs usually restart automatically until you finish, otherwise they just stop). When the first two tries failed, I opened up the PC to wipe out all the dust, swap out the RAM sticks, and even swapped in the GPU. It has been working fine for about 2 or 3 months since that big crash. Regarding drive scans and repairs, it always checks C: and maybe another drive (I can't remember which one exactly but C gets checked every time). However, these fixes don't happen automatically unless I get a BSOD first. I tried running chkdsk commands on my drives but nothing came up. I also ran CrystalDiskInfo but it just said everything was fine. What's the best way to check if my SSD is really broken? Please let me know if you have any reports or screenshots to send over so we can figure this out. Thank you!! Here is a link to the chkdsk result: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1f98rjSj...drive_link Here are all my specs so far: CPU is a 13900K, the motherboard is a ROG STRIX Z790F LGA1700, and I have an MSI 4090 GPU. I ran GSkillz Trident Z5 RAM (16GB sticks in 4), they are fast with low latency at 6400MT/s, and I'm running them at 39-102MHz. My cooler is a Lian Li Galahad 240mm case, the power supply is an MSI MPG A1000G PCIE 5.0 Gold (1000W), and I have three hard drives: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2TB for my system drive, Kingston NV2 1TB, and Crucial P5 Plus 2TB for external backups plugged in 24/7. I also have a Samsung SSD t7 Protable 1TB that acts as a backup drive plugged in always, and a WD160EMFZ 16TB backup drive with its own power supply. Let me know if you think I missed something important too. Thank you!
The problems you're having when installing Windows are almost certainly because of a piece of hardware failing. It's probably the same hardware issue that's causing your current problems too. I still think a storage drive might be the root cause here. From my experience, M.2 drives can act up if they aren't sitting in the right place. So, first remove all your M.2 drives and make sure the sockets are clean of dust using a blower (don't blow with your mouth!). Also check that the pins on the M.2 drive are clean too. Then put each drive back in firmly so it clicks down fully. If that doesn't stop those BSODs, and since you think they happen more when the PC is sitting still, then try disabling C-States in the BIOS if your computer allows this. Some BIOSes don't support this feature at all, but turning off low power states can stop a CPU from taking too long to wake up after sleeping, which has caused issues before for some AMD processors. If you can't disable C-States in the BIOS then go into your Power Profile and change the Processor Power State settings so that both minimum and maximum are set to 99%. This also stops the processor from entering low power states. If none of those steps help, disconnect any external drives you have two and see if they were making these BSODs happen. If you're still getting errors then I would suggest removing all drives except the main one (the Hynix) and do a fresh Windows installation on it by deleting your old partitions before installing. This makes sure the installer doesn't put boot files on a different drive, which is what usually happens anyway. Run Windows Update over and over again, even when turning off the PC, until no new updates show up. Then check Device Manager for any devices showing a yellow triangle with an exclamation point inside it. If you see one then look at the 'View optional updates' link in Windows Updates to expand Driver Updates and see if there is already a driver listed there. If not visit your motherboard's website and search for drivers there. Now use as much testing time as possible while keeping this stripped-down setup clean and simple. If things still break, remove just one RAM stick at a time and test that single card alone. Then swap that one out for another and see if the error happens again. If you're still getting BSODs then take everything down physically—remove the graphics card, any other PCIe cards, anything else connected via USB—and keep only what is absolutely essential to run the computer.
Thanks so much for giving me a step-by-step guide! Hopefully I can squeeze out some free time this weekend and start with reconnecting all my M.2 drives, then follow your advice. My M.2 drives are harder to take apart because they came stuck to the heatsink that was on my motherboard. So I have to carefully peel off the sticker before I can pull them loose. Well, that's what it is. I just need to find the time to do it. Thanks again for the help!