Blue Screen - Four in the last 24 hours

[Guest]

My HP Notebook which has been running without any crashes now for several
months, yesterday (and this morning) has now blue-screened FOUR times, each
time when restoring from hibernate. At first, I thought it may be my 3G data
card, but the event even occurs when the data card is NOT installed. The only
answer I can think that may be relavent is the patches that were applied last
week as part of "Patch Tuesday".

Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

What is the answer?

Has Microsoft screwed up again (for the second month in a row)?

This behaviour is beginning to make me think I should be dumping Microsoft
in favour of something known to be robust, namely Linux.

 

[Gerry]

Chris

What is the Stop Error Reort?

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure even after you have
solved the problem as it's better disabled. Check for variants of the
Stop Error message.

An alternative is to keep pressing the F8 key during Start-Up and select
option - Disable automatic restart on system failure.

If you are using a wireless keyboard and the F8 key does not work
substitute a wired keyboard and mouse for this exercise only.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

My HP Notebook which has been running without any crashes now for several
months, yesterday (and this morning) has now blue-screened FOUR times,
each
time when restoring from hibernate. At first, I thought it may be my 3G
data
card, but the event even occurs when the data card is NOT installed. The
only
answer I can think that may be relavent [relevant?] is the patches that
were
applied last week as part of "Patch Tuesday".

Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

What is the answer?

Has Microsoft screwed up again (for the second month in a row)?

This behaviour is beginning to make me think I should be dumping Microsoft
in favour of something known to be robust, namely Linux.

Seeing that your mind is already made up, I definitely recommend Linux.

 

[Guest]

Gerry

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The STOP errors have been different in each case. I have the crash files for
two of these, but they do NOT tell me very much at all. Both of yesterday's
that I captured was 7E.

As you suggested, I have disabled Auto-Restart. I will see what difference
that makes going forward.

I do not use wireless keyboard for my notebook - there is no point, really.

 

[Guest]

Pegasus

My mind is by no means made up, and my original rant did NOT in any way
suggest that it was. I have been using Microsoft products for over twenty
years now and need to use them for my work, which means that I have to rant
to ensure that Microsoft actually pay attention to these issues and FIX them
promptly.

--
Chris Jones

My HP Notebook which has been running without any crashes now for several
months, yesterday (and this morning) has now blue-screened FOUR times,
each
time when restoring from hibernate. At first, I thought it may be my 3G
data
card, but the event even occurs when the data card is NOT installed. The
only
answer I can think that may be relavent [relevant?] is the patches that
were
applied last week as part of "Patch Tuesday".

Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

What is the answer?

Has Microsoft screwed up again (for the second month in a row)?

This behaviour is beginning to make me think I should be dumping Microsoft
in favour of something known to be robust, namely Linux.

Seeing that your mind is already made up, I definitely recommend Linux.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Two thoughts come to the mind:
- Ranting rarely gets you anywhere. Factual, well-documented
and non-emotional reports have a far greater chance of being
considered.
- This is a newsgroup, a discussion forum. You would be very
lucky to attract the attention of a Microsoft staffer with your
note. If you want Microsoft to pay attention then you have to
approach them directly or post your complaint in a forum where
it gets ***a lot*** of attention.

About your current problem: I think that the recovery from
hibernation is the least stable part of Windows. How stable
is it under Linux (if available at all)? Is there a correlation between
which tasks, or how many tasks, are open at the time of entering
hibernation and the likelyhood of a subsequent crash? Are there
any settings on your machine to tune the hibernation process?

Pegasus

My mind is by no means made up, and my original rant did NOT in any way
suggest that it was. I have been using Microsoft products for over twenty
years now and need to use them for my work, which means that I have to
rant
to ensure that Microsoft actually pay attention to these issues and FIX
them
promptly.

--
Chris Jones

My HP Notebook which has been running without any crashes now for
several
months, yesterday (and this morning) has now blue-screened FOUR times,
each
time when restoring from hibernate. At first, I thought it may be my 3G
data
card, but the event even occurs when the data card is NOT installed.
The
only
answer I can think that may be relavent [relevant?] is the patches that
were
applied last week as part of "Patch Tuesday".

Has anyone else experienced this behaviour?

What is the answer?

Has Microsoft screwed up again (for the second month in a row)?

This behaviour is beginning to make me think I should be dumping
Microsoft
in favour of something known to be robust, namely Linux.

Seeing that your mind is already made up, I definitely recommend Linux.

 

[Malke]

Gerry

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The STOP errors have been different in each case. I have the crash files for
two of these, but they do NOT tell me very much at all. Both of yesterday's
that I captured was 7E.

As you suggested, I have disabled Auto-Restart. I will see what difference
that makes going forward.

I do not use wireless keyboard for my notebook - there is no point, really.

You didn't include the full Stop Error but the 0x0000007E:
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED usually means bad hardware or a bad
driver. The random nature of the problem that you described also points
to hardware failure. Unless you erroneously installed a driver from
Windows Update (always a bad idea) or changed out some hardware
component, the probability of hardware failure is high. That would
naturally have nothing to do with Microsoft nor would installing Linux
(software) help.

Here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

However, since you have a laptop the better solution is for you to call
HP tech support for repair/replacement under your warranty.


Malke

 

[Terry R.]

On 11/20/2007 2:25 AM On a whim, Chris Jones pounded out on the keyboard

Pegasus

My mind is by no means made up, and my original rant did NOT in any way
suggest that it was. I have been using Microsoft products for over twenty
years now and need to use them for my work, which means that I have to rant
to ensure that Microsoft actually pay attention to these issues and FIX them
promptly.

Hi Chris,

I am beginning to suspect something awry with the update from last week
as well. On my main workstation, I have experienced 2 blue screens in
the last week and this machine NEVER crashes. One the day after the
update and again this morning. A reboot resolved it but that isn't the
point. The only change has been the MS update 943460. If I get another
one, I'm going to restore an image of the partition without that patch.

--
Terry R.

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Gerry]

Chris

Have you taken the precaution of backing up important data files?

Just because error reports "do NOT tell me very much at all" does not
mean that this equally applies to those whose help you are seeking.

Coies of the error reports will appear in Event Viewer. You can at least
post copies of these so that examination of your problem can be taken
forward.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

Background information on Stop Error 7E
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms795746.aspx

THe line under the code can sometimes name a driver.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

What is your Windows XP CD as it is described on the face of the CD?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Gerry]

Terry

Copies of the error reports will appear in Event Viewer. You can at
least
post copies of these so that examination of your problem can be taken
forward.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry

Thanks for your response. I have now noted (following yet another blue
screen), that each one is in fact a 7E stop error. The second parameter on
the second one was 0xC0000005 which translates as

0xC0000005: STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION
A memory access violation occurred.

No further information about any driver is available. My first suspicion was
that it may have been my T-Mobile data card driver, but (as I said earlier),
another stop error occurred even when this device was not installed.

The actual error log entry for the latest stop error is:-

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x1000007e
(0xc0000005, 0x806e494f, 0xf78f7c30, 0xf78f792c)

 

[Gerry]

Chris

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

Try Start, Run, type "sigverif.exe" without quotes and hit OK. What
drivers are listed as unsigned? Disregard those which are not checked.

What is your Windows XP CD as it is described on the face of the CD?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry

I have run sigverif.exe as you suggested. The results show 52 files that
have not been signed

2 in c:\windows\system32\ are VNC drivers with another VNC file in
c:\windows\system32\drivers\ together with btkrnl.sys and btwusb.sys.

all the rest are in c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\ and appear to
be HP Printer driver files

My Windows XP CD is at home, some 90 miles away until Friday, so I am not
able to give you any info on that. It is the original HP XP CD though.

 

[Gerry]

Chris

btkrnl.sys
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cach...btkrnl.sys.html+btkrnl.sys&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2

Quote from link: "The driver can be started or stopped from Services in
the Control Panel or by other programs."

btwusb.sys
http://www.spywaredata.com/spyware/malware/btwusb.sys.php

How old is your computer?

Sigverif tests are not always helpful given that you can get lots of
returns for drivers, which are causing no problems.

If your CD does not include SP2 it can make running tools like System
Filer Checker more complicated. You need to slipstream your original CD
with an SP2 update.

Are there any other problems indicated in Event Viewer?

Try running HD Tune(freeware).

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy
to Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Also do a full surface
scan with HD Tune.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry

As requested, I have run HD Tune and here are the results:
Information:
HD Tune: FUJITSU MHV2080BH PL Information

Firmware version : 892C
Serial number : NW9ZT6A2P3TN
Capacity : 74.5 GB (~80.0 GB)
Buffer size : 8192 KB
Standard : ATA/ATAPI-0 - SATA I
Supported mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)
Current mode : UDMA Mode 5 (Ultra ATA/100)

S.M.A.R.T : yes
48-bit Address : yes
Read Look-Ahead : yes
Write Cache : yes
Host Protected Area : no
Device Configuration Overlay : yes
Automatic Acoustic Management: no
Power Management : yes
Advanced Power Management : yes
Power-up in Standby : no
Security Mode : yes
Firmware Upgradable : yes

Partition : 1
Drive letter : C:\
Label :
Capacity : 66910 MB
Usage : 62.15%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : Yes

Partition : 2
Drive letter : D:\
Label : HP_RECOVERY
Capacity : 9405 MB
Usage : 92.34%
Type : NTFS
Bootable : No


Health:
HD Tune: FUJITSU MHV2080BH PL Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData
Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 100 100 46 44309 Ok

(02) Throughput Performance 100 100 30 22544384 Ok

(03) Spin Up Time 100 100 25 0 Ok

(04) Start/Stop Count 99 99 0 885 Ok

(05) Reallocated Sector Count 100 100 24 0 Ok

(07) Seek Error Rate 100 100 47 2187 Ok

(08) Seek Time Performance 100 100 19 0 Ok

(09) Power On Hours Count 92 92 0 4027 Ok

(0A) Spin Retry Count 100 100 20 0 Ok

(0C) Power Cycle Count 100 100 0 552 Ok

(C0) Power Off Retract Count 100 100 0 122 Ok

(C1) Load Cycle Count 100 100 0 6194 Ok

(C2) Temperature 100 100 0 1048619 Ok

(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 100 100 0 320 Ok

(C4) Reallocated Event Count 100 100 0 454164480 Ok

(C5) Current Pending Sector 100 100 0 0 Ok

(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 100 0 0 Ok

(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 200 200 0 0 Ok

(C8) Write Error Rate 100 100 60 12233 Ok

(CB) Run Out Cancel 100 100 0 59178025 Ok

(F0) Head Flying Hours 200 200 0 0 Ok


Power On Time : 4027
Health Status : Ok

 

[Gerry]

Chris

That seems to give your hard drive a clean bill. When you have free time
I would do a full surface scan just to make sure there are no bad
sectors.

I would now try to check out memory. This link explains how to test RAM:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry

As expected the scan showed no bad sectors.

As to the memory test, I will need to wait until I return home on Friday to
do this, as I have no blank CD's with me to burn.

I guess I will have to live with the PC blue screening when I bring it up
from hibernation.

 

[Gerry]

Chris

Do you get the problem if you don't use hibernation?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Gerry

That is my next test. Tonight, when I put the PC to bed, I will shut down
the PC and see if it blue-screens when I wake it tomorrow. It has just taken
me nearly thirty minutes to restore the working environment from booting up
following the second blue screen of today. So you will appreciate that I do
not willingly shut down my PC rather than hibernate it. Up until this week, I
have not rebooted my notebook for upto a week, only needing to do so when AVG
insist on re-booting to enable their daily updates.

 

[Terry R.]

On 11/21/2007 9:58 AM On a whim, Chris Jones pounded out on the keyboard

Gerry

That is my next test. Tonight, when I put the PC to bed, I will shut down
the PC and see if it blue-screens when I wake it tomorrow. It has just taken
me nearly thirty minutes to restore the working environment from booting up
following the second blue screen of today. So you will appreciate that I do
not willingly shut down my PC rather than hibernate it. Up until this week, I
have not rebooted my notebook for upto a week, only needing to do so when AVG
insist on re-booting to enable their daily updates.

30 minutes to boot? My laptop takes about 40 seconds to the Desktop
(Compaq 2800), and it's 5 years old. Granted, I replaced the slow 4,200
rpm drive with a 7,200 rpm and bumped the RAM to a gig. But even our
oldest Gateway 266MHz laptop only takes about 2-3 minutes to boot.

After seeing so many issues with hibernation on laptops, I now disable
it on client machines.

But my blue screens aren't related to that, as the two I've had are on boot.

--
Terry R.

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