Help! Persistant BSOD problem [Resolved]

[MPG]

I have been getting the blue screen of death consistantly about 5 to 10 seconds after Windows starts up. When this happens the computer resets immediately. Here is a screen shot of the BSoD
http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k555/MGoldsack/Mobile%20Uploads/Screenshot_2014-04-28-09-05-27.png
The computer is 2 years old, I am running windows 7 and everything was up to date as far as I could tell.

Does not occur when internet router in unplugged. As soon as network reconnects it crashes and restarts instantly.
Runs in safe mode and safe mode with network.

The problem started near the start of April. I tryed system restore to a point in March and February but the system restore failed with the following error
"An unspecified error occurred during System Restore (0x800700b7)"

Is there anything I can do to fix this problem short of a complete reset to factory settings?

[Brother Oni]

A quick check of your BSOD stop code indicates a driver has become corrupted.

Suggested fix is to roll back the driver or reinstall it (http://www.reviversoft.com/blog/2013/11/how-to-fix-the-0x000000d1-blue-screen-of-death/). Given that it happens when your router is plugged in, it would suggest that your network driver is knackered, so start with that.

[MPG]

Thanks for the reply and suggestion.

I tried updating / rolling back the drivers for the network hardware. Unfortunately still dying. The roll back option is greyed out and unavailable. And updating doesn't seem to do anything. Not sure if I'm doing anything wrong.

I'm not the most knowledgeable about computers so im just wondering why a driver may suddenly start causing a problem. No hardware has been added or changed on this computer since the modem/ router thing over a year ago.

I'll probably keep trying various attempts to fix this for 24 hours before completely reseting.


Additionally: my antivirus software seems to have stopped working altogether. Whether the computer has started up normally (no internet connection) or in safe mode.

[Brother Oni]

A question - how are you updating the drivers given that the computer doesn't have network and hence internet access? Are you doing it from a CD/flash drive?

My suggestion is to get hold of a driver (assuming that your network card isn't old enough for Windows to have a basic driver already), then uninstall the network card and restart your computer.

When your computer reboots, it should find the 'new' hardware and look for a driver. Reinstall the driver and it should work.

As for why files corrupt, it may be that the piece of spinning rust the driver is located on has become slightly deformed or out of alignment, or the same has happened to either the FAT (master index of where all files are located) or the registry (where all configuration files are kept), maybe a minute electrical surge has done something odd to one of the files... basically it happens often enough that there's a well documented and fairly painless fix for it.

[factotum]

or the same has happened to either the FAT (master index of where all files are located)

FAT hasn't been the standard format for a Windows hard disk in at least 13 years...NTFS (which is what I'd hope his disk is formatted as) is a fair bit more robust to file errors. They can still happen, of course, just not so regularly.

[Brother Oni]

FAT hasn't been the standard format for a Windows hard disk in at least 13 years...NTFS (which is what I'd hope his disk is formatted as) is a fair bit more robust to file errors. They can still happen, of course, just not so regularly.

Oops, that'll teach me for posting in a hurry. Given that he's using Windows 7, it's going to be NTFS.

[MPG]

Thanks again for attempting to help a relatively tech ignorant person.
The network / internet seemed to work fine while in safe mode.
I went about disabling all the drivers for network, reset and startup normally. Then activating the drivers one at a time till the computer blue-screened again. Seemed to isolate it to two of them.

But dispite finding the problem I don't have any method of fixing it at the moment.

[Brother Oni]

I went about disabling all the drivers for network, reset and startup normally.

:smallsigh:

It's like being back in tech support all over again...

I suggested that you uninstall the drivers so that they all get replaced.

In case you're unfamiliar with the process, Control Panel -> Device Manager -> Network Adapters -> Right click the Adaptor -> Uninstall. Restart the machine and the Plug 'n Play functionality should detect the 'new' hardware and reinstall the drivers.

I apologise if I come across as a bit snippy, but this is the third time I've suggested re-installing the driver.

Edit: Wait, drivers? You have more than one network card?

[MPG]

Umm in the devise manager under the Network adapter heading there are four objects, one that appeared to control wireless, one for wired connection, and two that relate to bluetooth and were likely irrelevant. That is until I select show hidden devices and then there are 13 different things...

No apology necessary working with the barely competent is taxing on anyone's patience.
Sorry for, unintentionally, disregarding that option. I did not uninstall anything because I did not know how I would have re-installed it. I sort of understand what you mean now.

Isn't Plug-and-Play a brand name of old video game systems that hooked up to televisions with A/V cables?

[Brother Oni]

Umm in the devise manager under the Network adapter heading there are four objects, one that appeared to control wireless, one for wired connection, and two that relate to bluetooth and were likely irrelevant. That is until I select show hidden devices and then there are 13 different things...

Ignore the hidden devices, they're generally not at fault. Probably a good idea to hide them again to avoid accidentally doing something.

Given that there's an emachines logo on the casing of your monitor in the photograph, is your computer a laptop? The additional network devices makes me think so. You can download drivers from the emachines website: link (http://www.emachines.com/ec/en/US/content/drivers).

How is your computer connecting to your network? Wired or wireless? That is probably the driver at fault and is the one that needs fixing.



Sorry for, unintentionally, disregarding that option. I did not uninstall anything because I did not know how I would have re-installed it. I sort of understand what you mean now.

As I mentioned earlier, you should find the driver for the network device first if you're sure that Windows 7 doesn't already have a basic one. You can either download it off the website, off a recovery CD (if they gave you one) or off the recovery partition on your hard drive (depending on how your computer resets itself back to factory settings).


Isn't Plug-and-Play a brand name of old video game systems that hooked up to televisions with A/V cables?

Plug and Play (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_and_play). Basically when you start your computer up or when you plug something in, your computer will (or rather, should) detect any new hardware and connect it up automatically, installing drivers as required.

[MPG]

No it is not a laptop.

But point is moot now as problem is resolved.

My comment on plug-and-play was a, bad, joke.

Thank you for your time.

[Brother Oni]

Excellent! :smallbiggrin:

Did you end up resetting it back to factory defaults, or did you manage to fix the driver?

I don't think we had the Plug-and-Play brand over here, so the joke flew over my head.