|
Problem description: I have had two instances where my computer has gone to poo poo. Both of them have happened after my computer has shut down into Sleep Mode, and I have tried to wake it up (which is typically the only way I shut my system down). The first time this happened was a week or so ago, where after turning the computer back on, nothing was connected to the system; The monitor was dark, my headphones had no power, my keyboard and mouse were dead. Forcing the system to power down and back up, I got a bluescreen and an error message, but it went away too fast for my to take anything away from it. Today, when I woke my computer up, it was another bluescreen (or aqua screen, in this case), and I managed to write down that it said the video scheduler had a fatal error, before the screen went away. Then it went to a black screen and was asking about a reboot or boot disk or something along those lines, and wouldn't go past that message. I turned the system off and back on, and the same message came up. Turned it off again, back on, and after an error message, things booted up OK. Attempted fixes: I'm just kinda lost at the moment. I don't know what's causing this, so I don't know what to do to fix it. At the very least, my virus scan (MSE) has consistently come up clean, including a full scan last night. I believe I have minidump files from both times the system went nuts, but I have no idea what to do with them. I have access to them, but nothing to open them with. I looked into it a bit, and it appears there is a debug program in Microsoft .NET Framework that should work with them and that might provide some insight. I have .NET Framework... but have absolutely no idea how to access it. It's in my computer somewhere, just taunting me. So if anyone can help me sort that out, that would be great. Recent changes: No hardware added. I ran TDSKiller and ADWCleaner shortly before this started, which I would hope is only a coincidence. I was looking to see if they might catch anything in my system that MSE was not, but I left things alone. -- Operating system: Windows 7 64 Bit, Home Edition System specs:Dell XPS 8300, Intel Core i7-2600 CPU 3.40GHz, 16GB RAM, 2TB hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6700 graphics card. Location: US I have Googled and read the FAQ: To the best of my ability with the little I currently know about the problem.
|
#
?
Sep 17, 2014 21:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 04:06 |
|
|
Check the Dell website to see if a BIOS update is available for your system. If so, verify the system can complete at least one pass of Memtest86+ without errors, and if so, update the BIOS. After the BIOS update install the latest Intel Chipset INF and Rapid Storage Technology drivers from the Intel website, and the latest Catalyst drivers from the AMD website. Do not install any drivers you find on the Dell website, they are obsolete.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2014 00:17
|
|
|
There appears to be an updated BIOS from Dell, so I have that downloaded but haven't done anything with it yet. I'm hung up on that Memtest thing though, because if I'm understanding right, the only way to run it is to first put the file onto a disk or USB drive, and I don't have any of that stuff. If there's an unconventional way to do this and run it all from my system, I don't know how. Edit: Cleaned up my response to make it more clear. Jamesman fucked around with this message at 01:16 on Sep 18, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2014 01:02
|
|
|
In that case just run the Windows Memory Diagnostic from Start, Search, Memory and proceed with the update if it passes. The Windows Memory Diagnostic isn't as thorough, but the point is just to check that your RAM isn't so hosed that it would screw up the BIOS update, which could kill the motherboard.
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2014 01:16
|
|
|
Memory test ran without any errors. Went to update the BIOS, and apparently it's the same version as the one I already have, so I guess there is no newer version. My BIOS was dated older than the one on Dell's site, so I thought it was newer. Intel chipset was up-to-date according to Intel website. Updated Rapid Storage driver. Updated Catalyst drivers. Restarting after this post so updates can take effect. What's the next step, then? Just waiting to see if things break again?
|
|
#
?
Sep 18, 2014 02:05
|
|
|
Out of curiousity if you have the minidumps still would you mind posting them? For reference, Windbg is the tool you would use to read them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 22, 2014 00:58
|
|
|
Mo_Steel posted:Out of curiousity if you have the minidumps still would you mind posting them? For reference, Windbg is the tool you would use to read them. I do still have them, yes. I don't know where to upload them to share them, there. Windbg is supposed to be part of .NET Framework, which I have. I just have no idea how to access the program(s). They're on my system, but I have no understanding of how to launch them.
|
|
#
?
Sep 24, 2014 22:02
|
|
|
You can get it standalone here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852365.aspx Scroll down to "Standalone Debugging Tools for Windows (WinDbg)"
|
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2014 03:05
|
|
|
Mo_Steel posted:You can get it standalone here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/hardware/hh852365.aspx  This is what I'm talking about, though. I apparently have it somewhere on my system already, so I don't want to complicate things by trying to download that and seeing what will happen. I am curious how to access Framework, and in turn, the debug tools already installed on my system. It's kind of frustrating to know there are resources already on my system that I seemingly cannot access, and downloading redundant versions of them doesn't really address that. Edit: Being stubborn about this because I view it as a problem, and I want to properly solve it instead of ignoring it and potentially creating a new one by "bypassing" it. I hope that is understandable. Jamesman fucked around with this message at 10:10 on Sep 25, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 25, 2014 10:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 7, 2024 04:06 |
|
|
Jamesman posted:
It's included in "the SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4.0", not in ".NET Framework 4.0." You can tell this because in the part right after you highlighted in that description it says to install debugging tools standalone by looking in the SDK installation wizard.
|
|
#
?
Sep 26, 2014 01:33
|
|