PC gets restarted automatically..?

[karthik316_1999]

Hello all...
Well.., the problem is as specified in the title and when I checked the event log under control panel > admin tools corresponding to the appropriate time when the error occured... there were the following errors under the 'system' tab...

Not sure how to post an image so wil just type it out..

Event ID: 7000
Category: None
(This particular error is been reported very frequently)

The Dev_CBIDDRV service failed to start due to the following error:
The specified driver is invalid.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

----------------

Event ID: 1003
Category: (102)

Error code 000000d1, parameter1 08b0093c, parameter2 00000002, parameter3 00000001, parameter4 b7310384.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Any help?

[Allan]

Did you recently install or update any hw, sw or drivers?

Open Device Manager. Click on VIEW - SHOW HIDDEN DEVICES
Any errors?

[karthik316_1999]

Wow..!!! That was an incredibly amazing fast reply..! Thans for helping Allan...

Well.. I dont remember updating any s/w except for win sp3 updates that i regularly do.
With respect to h/w drivers, Yes. I did update my Nvidia video card's drivers to the most recent one. This was because I accidently deleted the c:\nvidia folder thinking that it contains only the setup files which was not the case. I was told that the drivers themselves were accessed only from there by the system.
Had the "Blue Screen of Death" errors showing up with reference being given to "nv4_disp.dll" which is the Nvidia driver..
Post the driver upgrade, the problem was fixed..

[Allan]

First, the nvidia folder DOES only contain the setup files and CAN be deleted. Second, you did not answer my question about device manager.

[karthik316_1999]

And the device manager thing..
There were no yellow exclamation marks if that's what you meant by an error..

But under the tab 'Portable Devices', my Nokia symbian phone was listed with a red cross over the 'tv like icon'. I assume it just means the device isn't connected at present..

[karthik316_1999]

Thought of answering the question in the second post... and quite frankly  did not expect a reply before that ..!!

[Allan]

1) The problem is almost certainly related to the driver update. Try rolling back the driver to the previous version. If you uninstalled the older driver before installing the new one, do you still have the older driver? If so, uninstall the new one and install the old one.

2) You said the system is rebooting. Go to System Properties - Advanced - Startup & Recovery Settings and uncheck "automatically restart". Next time there's an error you should get a blue screen error.) Post the entire contents of that error here.

[karthik316_1999]

I have the recent memory dump de-bugged as below if that could help you..

Microsoft ® Windows Debugger Version 6.11.0001.404 X86
Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP]
Kernel Complete Dump File: Full address space is available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\windows\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is:
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 3) UP Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS
Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036
Machine Name:
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x80554040
Debug session time: Wed Feb 17 03:51:11.343 2010 (GMT+5)
System Uptime: 0 days 8:20:29.927
Loading Kernel Symbols
....................................... ........................
....................................... .........................
.......................
Loading User Symbols

Loading unloaded module list
.....................
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 7E, {c0000005, b13e8d2f, b84efc4c, b84ef948}

Probably caused by : afd.sys ( afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48 )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

kd> !analyze -v
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (7e)
This is a very common bugcheck. Usually the exception address pinpoints
the driver/function that caused the problem. Always note this address
as well as the link date of the driver/image that contains this address.
Arguments:
Arg1: c0000005, The exception code that was not handled
Arg2: b13e8d2f, The address that the exception occurred at
Arg3: b84efc4c, Exception Record Address
Arg4: b84ef948, Context Record Address

Debugging Details:
------------------


EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx" referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

FAULTING_IP:
afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48
b13e8d2f 897904 mov dword ptr [ecx+4],edi

EXCEPTION_RECORD: b84efc4c -- (.exr 0xffffffffb84efc4c)
ExceptionAddress: b13e8d2f (afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+0x00000048)
ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)
ExceptionFlags: 00000000
NumberParameters: 2
Parameter[0]: 00000001
Parameter[1]: 00000004
Attempt to write to address 00000004

CONTEXT: b84ef948 -- (.cxr 0xffffffffb84ef948)
eax=88ec3008 ebx=00000000 ecx=00000000 edx=4a320033 esi=88d72820 edi=88d72850
eip=b13e8d2f esp=b84efd14 ebp=b84efd1c iopl=0 nv up ei pl nz na pe nc
cs=0008 ss=0010 ds=0023 es=0023 fs=0030 gs=0000 efl=00010206
afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+0x48:
b13e8d2f 897904 mov dword ptr [ecx+4],edi ds:0023:00000004=??
Resetting default scope

PROCESS_NAME: System

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx" referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER1: 00000001

EXCEPTION_PARAMETER2: 00000004

WRITE_ADDRESS: 00000004

FOLLOWUP_IP:
afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48
b13e8d2f 897904 mov dword ptr [ecx+4],edi

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x7E

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: NULL_CLASS_PTR_DEREFERENCE

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from b13dbc18 to b13e8d2f

STACK_TEXT:
b84efd1c b13dbc18 88d72820 88d72898 88d72820 afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+0x48
b84efd34 b13dbbbc 88d72820 b13da7a8 b84efd60 afd!AfdFreeConnectionResources+0x41
b84efd44 b13d886a 88d72898 8a2e9850 89ce8848 afd!AfdFreeConnection+0x5c
b84efd60 8056bd45 89ce8848 00000000 8055b17c afd!AfdDoWork+0x51
b84efd74 80534c1a 8a2e9850 00000000 8a4c4b30 nt!IopProcessWorkItem+0x13
b84efdac 805c61ee 8a2e9850 00000000 00000000 nt!ExpWorkerThread+0x100
b84efddc 80541e02 80534b1a 00000001 00000000 nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x34
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!KiThreadStartup+0x16


SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: afd

IMAGE_NAME: afd.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 48a40333

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr 0xffffffffb84ef948 ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: 0x7E_afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48

BUCKET_ID: 0x7E_afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48

Followup: MachineOwner

[karthik316_1999]

Well, I dont have the old driver with me... Even if i did and installed it, i'm guessing I would get the nv4_disp bsod like before..
Nevertheless, do you suggest that I try out the second option first before having a driver rollback done?
Also, is the BSOD likely to stay all night? cuz I'm most likely to take a nap now..

[Allan]

If the error generates a blue screen then yes, the error message will remain up until you "hard" reboot. After making the change above you'll need to reboot before it takes effect.

[karthik316_1999]

Was the memory dump file above able to tell you anything?

[karthik316_1999]

So far there have been no BSOD's...
but the same Dev_CBIDDRV error is being shown several times in the event logger...
any help?

[Allan]

Are you saying there are no problems other than the entry in event viewer? STAY OUT OF THE EVENT VIEWER

[karthik316_1999]

Pretty sharp advice there..!
Okay.. let me then wait for the next possible BSOD..
btw.., can i remind you of the memory dump above?

[karthik316_1999]

Hi allan.. Last night there came up the BSOD..
It had the words "Bad pool header"..

[dahlarbear]

The program below will extract information from the minidumps on your system and display them in a format that makes it easier to look for similarities or differences.  Since you seem to be getting different Stop Codes on your BSODs, it might prove useful.

Procedures "borrowed" from Broni:

Download BlueScreenView
No installation required.
Double click on BlueScreenView.exe file to run the program.
When scanning is done, go Edit>Select All.
Go File>Save Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt.
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all content, and paste it into your next reply.

[Allan]

I'd like to see a copy and paste of the ENTIRE message in case a specific file is mentioned.

However, as a starting point, these are the most likely causes of that error:

1) Hardware (download and run a memory diagnostic utility for starters)
2) Drivers - update your video, audio, and NIC or Wireless drivers
3) Check for a bios update

[karthik316_1999]

Okay.. here is the BSOD.txt file from the s/w... This should help i guess... 

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini022610-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/26/2010 5:26:13 AM
Bug Check String  : BAD_POOL_HEADER
Bug Check Code    : 0x00000019
Parameter 1       : 0x00000020
Parameter 2       : 0x88d7b000
Parameter 3       : 0x88d7b1c8
Parameter 4       : 0x0839f680
Caused By Driver  : nltdi.sys
Caused By Address : nltdi.sys+49ea
File Description  : NetLimiter Driver
Product Name      : NetLimiter 2
Company           : Locktime Software
File Version      : 1.0.14.1
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini022610-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini022010-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/20/2010 6:56:55 AM
Bug Check String  : DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Bug Check Code    : 0x000000d1
Parameter 1       : 0x08b0093c
Parameter 2       : 0x00000002
Parameter 3       : 0x00000001
Parameter 4       : 0xb7310384
Caused By Driver  : NVENETFD.sys
Caused By Address : NVENETFD.sys+3384
File Description  : NVIDIA Networking Function Driver.
Product Name      : NVENETFD
Company           : NVIDIA Corporation
File Version      : 1.00.00.05009
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini022010-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini021710-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/17/2010 6:02:19 PM
Bug Check String  : SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code    : 0x1000007e
Parameter 1       : 0xc0000005
Parameter 2       : 0xb13e8d2f
Parameter 3       : 0xb84efc4c
Parameter 4       : 0xb84ef948
Caused By Driver  : afd.sys
Caused By Address : afd.sys+3c18
File Description  : Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5657 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini021710-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini021510-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/15/2010 9:45:19 PM
Bug Check String  : BAD_POOL_CALLER
Bug Check Code    : 0x000000c2
Parameter 1       : 0x00000007
Parameter 2       : 0x00000cd4
Parameter 3       : 0x00000000
Parameter 4       : 0x88f8e518
Caused By Driver  : ntkrnlpa.exe
Caused By Address : ntkrnlpa.exe+21cc5
File Description  : NT Kernel & System
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5913 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini021510-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini021010-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/10/2010 8:49:28 AM
Bug Check String  : BAD_POOL_HEADER
Bug Check Code    : 0x00000019
Parameter 1       : 0x00000020
Parameter 2       : 0x89754680
Parameter 3       : 0x89754998
Parameter 4       : 0x0a630003
Caused By Driver  : hal.dll
Caused By Address : hal.dll+4100
File Description  : Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini021010-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini020910-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/9/2010 11:44:57 PM
Bug Check String  : KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code    : 0x1000008e
Parameter 1       : 0xc0000005
Parameter 2       : 0xbd1f6ffa
Parameter 3       : 0xaedfd878
Parameter 4       : 0x00000000
Caused By Driver  : nv4_disp.dll
Caused By Address : nv4_disp.dll+4ae0e8
File Description  : NVIDIA Compatible Windows 2000 Display driver, Version 196.21
Product Name      : NVIDIA Compatible Windows 2000 Display driver, Version 196.21
Company           : NVIDIA Corporation
File Version      : 6.14.11.9621
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini020910-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini012210-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 1/22/2010 9:39:06 AM
Bug Check String  : KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code    : 0x1000008e
Parameter 1       : 0xc0000005
Parameter 2       : 0x00000020
Parameter 3       : 0xaf6f0bc4
Parameter 4       : 0x00000000
Caused By Driver  :
Caused By Address :
File Description  :
Product Name      :
Company           :
File Version      :
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini012210-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini011610-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 1/16/2010 11:32:07 AM
Bug Check String  : KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code    : 0x1000008e
Parameter 1       : 0xc0000005
Parameter 2       : 0x308a2401
Parameter 3       : 0xb0378c68
Parameter 4       : 0x00000000
Caused By Driver  :
Caused By Address :
File Description  :
Product Name      :
Company           :
File Version      :
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini011610-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini011310-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 1/13/2010 11:25:10 PM
Bug Check String  : DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Bug Check Code    : 0x000000d1
Parameter 1       : 0x003ed9ee
Parameter 2       : 0x00000002
Parameter 3       : 0x00000000
Parameter 4       : 0xb16e2f13
Caused By Driver  : epfwtdi.sys
Caused By Address : epfwtdi.sys+3f13
File Description  :
Product Name      :
Company           :
File Version      :
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini011310-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

[Allan]

No, that dump file is all over the place. I want to see the bsod message.

[karthik316_1999]

I'd like to see a copy and paste of the ENTIRE message in case a specific file is mentioned.

I suppose the above post is wanted you wanted..? If its something else, pls let me know...

However, as a starting point, these are the most likely causes of that error:

1) Hardware (download and run a memory diagnostic utility for starters)

Can I get some guidance on this.. I tried searching and saw some s/w's like memtest86+ and all that but not sure how to use them... should i waste a cd/dvd for this? Is it not possible to run it without burning an ISO as such..?

2) Drivers - update your video, audio, and NIC or Wireless drivers

My mobo has the nvidia nforce networking integrated controller and it was only very recently that I updated my display drivers to the latest one from nvidia's website.. (like i said.. after the bsod's with nv4_disp.dll file... which is also seen in my previous post..)
Should the NIC (i dont have a wireless) drivers be updated along with this package and do i need to look out for them elsewhere?

Speaking of NIC's .. something runs into my mind.. about the Event viewer... although i have been asked to stay out of it ..!
There are a lot of occurences of this Event ID 1003

"Your computer was not able to renew its address from the network (from the DHCP Server) for the Network Card with network address 0015F25D0911.  The following error occurred:
The operation was canceled by the user. . Your computer will continue to try and obtain an address on its own from the network address (DHCP) server."

3) Check for a bios update

Yes, I have the updated one...

[karthik316_1999]

No, that dump file is all over the place. I want to see the bsod message.

Is it possible to view/retrieve last night's BSOD from somewhere now? Otherwise, the only possible way i guess should be to sit and write down the codes the next time it occurs !

[karthik316_1999]

Oh okay... i get it...  There was an option to display the blue screen from within the s/w itself... Here is the contents of last night's bsod..

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: nltdi.sys

BAD_POOL_HEADER

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x00000019 (0x00000020, 0x88d7b000, 0x88d7b1c8, 0x0839f680)

*** nltdi.sys - Address 0xafd7f9ea base at 0xafd7b000 DateStamp 0x00000000

[Allan]

Did this problem start after you updated the video driver?

[karthik316_1999]

Nope..

[Allan]

Go to ADD / REMOVE. Is there a program named Net Limiter? If so, please uninstall it. If not, go to Administrative Tools - Services and set the Net Limiter service to disabled and reboot.

[karthik316_1999]

Yes, it was me that installed this s/w called "Netlimited 2 Monitor" cuz i wanted to know which applications in particular are consuming my bandwidth and it was quite helpful.. Why... could this be causing the problem?

One more thing... this restart problem existed even before I installed this particular application...

Anyways, since you had suggested... it will uninstall it.. and keep you posted of further issues..

[karthik316_1999]

Just received the next BSOD..

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: ntkrnlpa.exe

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x0000000a (0x09268244, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x804fb524)

*** ntkrnlpa.exe - Address 0x805406bb base at 0x804d7000 DateStamp 0x4b1e9e60


==================================================
Dump File         : Mini022710-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 2/27/2010 3:26:33 AM
Bug Check String  : IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Bug Check Code    : 0x0000000a
Parameter 1       : 0x09268244
Parameter 2       : 0x00000002
Parameter 3       : 0x00000000
Parameter 4       : 0x804fb524
Caused By Driver  : ntkrnlpa.exe
Caused By Address : ntkrnlpa.exe+696bb
File Description  : NT Kernel & System
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5913 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini022710-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

[Allan]

Okay, you're getting all sorts of different errors. I suggest you download memtest and run a diagnostic on ram. I then suggest you boot to the Recovery Console and run chkdsk /r. Then update all drivers (video, audio, nic or wireless or both) - get them from the OEM websites, not from Windows Update. Then check for a bios flash.
If none of this works we'll try a diagnostic startup.

[karthik316_1999]

Looks like this post is just in time.. Last night soon after the IRQ BSOD, I had the memtest program run continuosuly for the past 7 hours. It gave me more than the required 'passes' (6 and i stopped it when it was around 80% to complete the 7th one)  with 0 errors.  So, hopefully my memory modules are out of the show.. 

[karthik316_1999]

My drivers, as I said in the earlier post, are all up-to-date including the BIOS. Only thing i'm not sure is where to look for the NIC drivers in particular... am not finding it on my mobo manufacturer's website... though im very certain it should be having the latest ones..

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?model=A8N-VM(space)CSM&SLanguage=en-us

The recovery console, let me see about it.. guess you need a start up disk for it.. which i need to search for..
Guess we need to be looking for the diagnostic startup already.. 

[JJ 3000]

My money is on a slowly dying PSU.

Borrow a power supply of equal or greater wattage and swap it into your computer. If you stop getting all of these random errors with a different PSU, you will need to buy a new one. You may also want to blow the dust out of the computer while you are working inside of it.

[dahlarbear]

1.  Bad Driver.  My money's on a corrupt or bad driver.  You have several different drivers "blue screening".  I believe they are the "victim" of another driver which is corrupting their memory space.

2.  Driver Verifier Manager.  This utility may be used to troubleshoot and isolate driver issues.  Hopefully you'll be able to catch the driver accessing memory outside of its address space.  Choose your configuration settings wisely, as the "extra" checking it adds will slow system down.  Settings will remain until you rerun "verifier" and remove them.  See Mark Russinovich's "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis" webcast for guidance.  It's about two/thirds into the video (or 2/3 into YouTube part 5/9).

To access:  "Start -> Run -> type "verifier" without quotes then press <Enter>.

3.  Webcast.  There's a wealth of information in Mark Russinovich's "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis" webcast:  TechNet Webcast: Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis (Level 400).

To avoid jumping through Microsoft's hoops to access the webcast you might try the following link 1 of 9 on YouTube:  YouTube's Version: Part 1 of 9.
   
Look to right of YouTube's video box and under related videos you should see link to next part as you need it; e.g. "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis 2/9".

Get plenty of popcorn - 85 minute video.

4.  Reference(s):
     a.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver_Verifier
     b.  Using Driver Verifier to identify issues with Windows drivers for advanced users
     c.  How Windows XP's Device Driver Verifier Works

[karthik316_1999]

My money is on a slowly dying PSU.

Borrow a power supply of equal or greater wattage and swap it into your computer. If you stop getting all of these random errors with a different PSU, you will need to buy a new one. You may also want to blow the dust out of the computer while you are working inside of it.

I'm afraid my skills at hardware are not this competent...! I will need to call in an engineer if this is supposed to be done.. plus im not sure where to look for a spare PSU...
Is there someother way to check if the PSU is indeed the exact problem?

[karthik316_1999]

1.  Bad Driver.  My money's on a corrupt or bad driver.  You have several different drivers "blue screening".  I believe they are the "victim" of another driver which is corrupting their memory space.

2.  Driver Verifier Manager.  This utility may be used to troubleshoot and isolate driver issues.  Hopefully you'll be able to catch the driver accessing memory outside of its address space.  Choose your configuration settings wisely, as the "extra" checking it adds will slow system down.  Settings will remain until you rerun "verifier" and remove them.  See Mark Russinovich's "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis" webcast for guidance.  It's about two/thirds into the video (or 2/3 into YouTube part 5/9).

To access:  "Start -> Run -> type "verifier" without quotes then press <Enter>.

Does the Youtube video link contain information on how to use this 'verifier' thing? unless otherwise, i guess i dont know my way around this.. I tried typing in it at Start>Run but all i was presented with was Next next next and then finally finish?! maybe.. i dont know what options im to choose to do what it does...

[karthik316_1999]

Earlier, allan had asked me if i could find any errors in Device Manager after enabling View > Show Hidden Devices..
That time, none was present.., but now there is a yellow exclamation mark for the item "Dev_CBIDDRV" under Non-plug and play Drivers.

[dahlarbear]

...but now there is a yellow exclamation mark for the item "Dev_CBIDDRV" under Non-plug and play Drivers.

1.  Dev_CBIDDRV.  I've not been able to find any useful data regarding this driver on the Internet.  What is the driver status?

Within Device Manager -> right-click on Dev_CBIDDRV -> select Properties -> General tab -> "Device status" subsection.

Does the Youtube video link contain information on how to use this 'verifier' thing? unless otherwise, i guess i dont know my way around this.. I tried typing in it at Start>Run but all i was presented with was Next next next and then finally finish?! maybe.. i dont know what options im to choose to do what it does...

2.  Youtube Video Link.  Yes, it explains how "verifier" may be used to troubleshoot hangs and crash dumps.  Perhaps you should watch the entire video for "context" regarding your current issue.  (Entire video, as in parts 1 through 9.)

I gave you the video link because you seemed interested in crash dump analysis and I thought you could handle it.  So what's the problem...  No "popcorn" in the house?

3.  Recovery Console.  Did you find your Windows XP installation CD?

4.  Diagnostic Startup.  This is still an option, although with your blue screens so far apart; this could take some time.  Can you duplicate the problem at will (or is it random)?

[karthik316_1999]

1.  Dev_CBIDDRV.  I've not been able to find any useful data regarding this driver on the Internet.  What is the driver status?

Within Device Manager -> right-click on Dev_CBIDDRV -> select Properties -> General tab -> "Device status" subsection.

This device is not present, is not working properly, or does not have all its drivers installed. (Code 24)

Click Troubleshoot to start the troubleshooter for this device.

2.  Youtube Video Link.  Yes, it explains how "verifier" may be used to troubleshoot hangs and crash dumps.  Perhaps you should watch the entire video for "context" regarding your current issue.  (Entire video, as in parts 1 through 9.)

I gave you the video link because you seemed interested in crash dump analysis and I thought you could handle it.  So what's the problem...  No "popcorn" in the house?

Actually I had crossed my bandwidth limit for last month... 

3.  Recovery Console.  Did you find your Windows XP installation CD?

Yes, I have.. Will do it sooner or later..

4.  Diagnostic Startup.  This is still an option, although with your blue screens so far apart; this could take some time.  Can you duplicate the problem at will (or is it random)?

No.. it is strictly out of my control and at random.. (only thing is 99.9% of the time, it occurs when I'm away from my computer... leave it un-attended with the internet connection ON... i.e.., throughout the night...which i do for the sake of downloads mostly...)

[karthik316_1999]

Okay.. bumped into something now..
Hit my XP cd-rom into the drive, configured BIOS to boot from CD, Windows setup loads, I hit the 'R' key to start the repair using the recovery wizard after which I guess I'm supposed to be prompted to select the windows installation that needs to be repaired followed by the admin password and all that....

But then, soon after I hit the 'R' key , it says "Examing disk configuration..." and then gives out the message
"The volume contains one or more unrecoverable problems"
and then the c:\> prompt is shown. Thats it..

The chkdsk command or not even the DIR command will work.. Typing the command gives out an error again.. (says something like could not be executed or something....)

I tried searching for this particular error online.. but then all of them seem to have got this error half way through the chkdsk command only and we were at all able to boot into windows.. had problems with boot.ini file and all that.. which I hopefully do not have..! I can log into windows and work with whatever i want just fine.. but the error shows up even before I could type in anything..!

Help !

[karthik316_1999]

okay... just an update to the one who is going to reply to my posts..

After that error, i suspected my drive and downloaded the seagate seatools disk check utility from here

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools

Was told the DOS version was more intensive and scanned the surface of the disc sector by sector.. so burnt the ISO, booted from it and performed the "Long Test" for about 2 hours. with the result being a "pass".

Also, tried the Recovery console which went onto the c:\> prompt this time without an error. (Although I was not asked to select Windows partition or prompted for the admin password)

But the moment i typed in chkdsk,  got the same error
"The volume contains one or more unrecoverable problems"

I was not able to access the other partition apart from where Windows was installed which I guess is normal when within the recovery console?
This time I made a note of the error that came up when I typed in the DIR command..
It was:
"An error occured during directory enumeration"

Maybe the command is not supported in the recovery console and the error is normal again?

That being secondary, why is the chkdsk throwing back such an error when my 500GB HDD has been scanned completely without errors?!

[karthik316_1999]

Oh yes, forgot to mention this..
The OS on my system is Windows XP professional sp3 with all current updates installed and the bootable CD with which I tried the recovery console was the original Windows XP professional without the service packs..
Just thought of letting you all know of this.. might me this is the reason for those errors...

[karthik316_1999]

anybody?

[JJ 3000]

You can still get into your computer at this point, right?

Start backing up all of the data that you want to save now.

[karthik316_1999]

May i ask why a backup is needed at this point? Am I going to be suggested to do something else post that?
Cuz.. thats 400GB of data..!

[JJ 3000]

Well....
It seems to me that your computer problems are compounding by the day. If I were you, the first thing I would do is make a back up of all of the stuff that I didn't want to lose. You may have luck with doing a clean install of windows. You are spending  a lot of time and effort trying to clean up your system and a clean install may be the quickest fix.

However, my opinion is still that your power supply is dying. My first clue was the title of this thread. Also, random and intermittent problems almost always point to a PSU problem.  We've gone for several days now trying to solve your problem. If you are not comfortable swapping out your PSU, then you should call a technician. Power supplies are one of the most difficult PC component to replace and if you don't know what you are doing you can cause more damage. Static electricity can fry your motherboard.

My best advice at this point, would be to call a professional.

[karthik316_1999]

Well, though I hope the PSU is not a problem.. you might have a valid point there. You would not be surprised hearing this then.
About 4 months ago, I had a 250GB seagate drive and was getting the same BSOD's. Trying to break my head for a cause, made a fresh installation of windows but it did not help. So I ended up buying this new 500GB one..! (The 250GB is now added up as a secondary drive to my other PC and is working just fine...)

Now, again this problem with the 500GB as well.
We have tested the HDD, the RAM both are ok. So, that leaves behind the mobo, pci cards, graphic cards and of course the PSU. Nobody has suggested that my pci, pci-e cards or the mobo could have a problem.. so why not the PSU?

Also, I have had problems with the power connectors coming out from within my PSU. Have several of them branching out with some working and some not ..

But then there are several reasons for me not to believe this as the cause of the problem!

1. The title of the thread again! -> It restarts automatically because I had the option enabled to do a restart instead of presenting a BSOD.. simple aint it?! Though i truely understand a random restart could be because of the psu..

2. Assuming this problem has been there for past 5 months, shouldn't the problem have been worser now .. past the BSOD's and all that... atleast should it not give out some other very obvious PSU failure symptom?

3. The problems occur ... as i said... almost always only when I leave the computer un-attended for downloading.. so could it be something related to a remote attack or a virus or something... I mean.. why is it so very difficult for us to judge the cause when windows provides us with so much information via Event logs, BSOD's... !?

4. Considering the messages in the BSOD, the errors in the device manager.. IRQ conflicts and all that.. does that not indicate problems with the drivers indeed....?

I dont know.. I am so much confused.. 

[karthik316_1999]

Why isn't someone suggesting something...  What happened to Allan and all those who were assisting me?

Last night..
there was yet another BSOD..

==================================================
Dump File         : Mini030210-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 3/2/2010 5:30:15 PM
Bug Check String  : DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL
Bug Check Code    : 0x000000c5
Parameter 1       : 0x00000004
Parameter 2       : 0x00000002
Parameter 3       : 0x00000001
Parameter 4       : 0x80545573
Caused By Driver  : ntkrnlpa.exe
Caused By Address : ntkrnlpa.exe+696bb
File Description  : NT Kernel & System
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5913 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini030210-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: ntkrnlpa.exe

DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x000000c5 (0x00000004, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x80545573)

*** ntkrnlpa.exe - Address 0x805406bb base at 0x804d7000 DateStamp 0x4b1e9e60

[karthik316_1999]

This was blue screen message that was captured by the s/w "Bluescreenview".
But then I remember seeing the words Driver Verifier and all that in the original BSOD..

Guess only option left is that, I must watch that Youtube video to try to understand things myself.

[jkolak]

This is a volunteer board, so turnaround isn't as fast as we might like sometimes.

The other issue is that as the level of difficulty of the issue increases, the number of people qualified to help you diminishes.

The last helper that was on here wrote:

Well....
It seems to me that your computer problems are compounding by the day. If I were you, the first thing I would do is make a back up of all of the stuff that I didn't want to lose. You may have luck with doing a clean install of windows. You are spending  a lot of time and effort trying to clean up your system and a clean install may be the quickest fix.

My best advice at this point, would be to call a professional.

For my own best stab at it, after reviewing your current status, it looks like you were here:

"The volume contains one or more unrecoverable problems"
and then the c:\> prompt is shown. Thats it..

This means you are not going to be able to save your installation or recover your data.

Also you wrote:

That being secondary, why is the chkdsk throwing back such an error when my 500GB HDD has been scanned completely without errors?!

What you are getting mixed up here is that Seagate diagnostics said there was no PHYSICAL problem with your drive. CHKDSK is telling you that your data directories are bad and thus Windows cannot read your drive.

This leaves you in the position of simply erasing the hard drive and starting over. If your data is REALLY, REALLY valuable, you could ship it to a professional hard drive recovery company for several hundred to a few thousand dollars, or you could download a hard drive recovery program that will analyze the drive sector by sector without regard to the directory and recover some recognizable data formats to salvage document and image files, etc. This will most likely require you to remove the hard drive and slave it to another working computer.

[karthik316_1999]

Hi jkolak, thanks for coming forward to assist...

1. As far as the advice of JJ 3000 goes, I have stated in my reply that a complete re-install might not help cuz I have been receiving these BSOD problems in my old 250GB hard drive as well and had a reinstall on windows done on it, that still did not solve the problems..
I pretty much install/use the same applications everyday so the errors are more likely to occur due to some driver conflict. That much I guess is assured. It is just that someone needs to guide me how to get to the bottom of it.

2. Though I receive the "The volume contains one or more unrecoverable problems"
error, I'm able to login to windows and use the computer just as though they are all normal. So I guess I can make a backup even to a dvd directly..? (assuming that the OS is going to become unbootable sooner or later.....)

3. One of the posters,  "dahlarbear" hit the nail right on its head by guessing that the problem might lie with a bad driver.. All of a sudden, he is nowhere to be seen now...  guess i'll have to be patient until they return..
Meanwhile will go through those Youtube videos...

Thanks for the help again..!

[karthik316_1999]

Forgot to add this information.. Just as I was reading your previous post (and downloading stuff in the background) the screen went blue  and the error contents seem to the following:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: bdftdif.sys

KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x1000008e (0xc0000005, 0xafdbb661, 0xad7e4ac4, 0x00000000)

*** bdftdif.sys - Address 0xafdbff12 base at 0xafdb6000 DateStamp 0x00000000


==================================================
Dump File         : Mini030310-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 3/3/2010 2:31:20 AM
Bug Check String  : KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code    : 0x1000008e
Parameter 1       : 0xc0000005
Parameter 2       : 0xafdbb661
Parameter 3       : 0xad7e4ac4
Parameter 4       : 0x00000000
Caused By Driver  : bdftdif.sys
Caused By Address : bdftdif.sys+9f12
File Description  :
Product Name      :
Company           :
File Version      :
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini030310-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

I searched the particular .sys file and it turned out to be a file associated with my Bitdefender Internet Security Suite.. Looks like there is some conflict with the drivers of some other firewall applications that might have its files remaining on the drive.. I was not able to find out a correct resolution however...

So.. as you can see.. it is after all a driver that is giving us so much headache..!

Also, I should say i'm now 100% sure by now that this is seen only when I put ON some kind of downloading .. Will be testing by leaving the PC ON with some other tasks running such as a video playing all night, leaving the broadband still in the "Enabled" state with no activity and see how it goes...

Gotta keep trying stuff like this until more suggestions pour in..!

[jkolak]

I see. Somehow I forgot in reviewing your posts that this is a running computer.

I would suggest at least temporarily uninstalling Bitdefender. Be sure you have another free antivirus application available to immediately install. Avira seems to interfere with other software less than others.

It seems logical that Bitdefender could also be interfering with downloads, thus explaining the shutdowns while you are away during downloads.

[karthik316_1999]

If i'm ask for a best internet security suite+anti virus .. which one would you recommend? I was using ESET before Bitdefender but heard it was less reactive to attacks....

[karthik316_1999]

Pathetic thing is.. having ESET installed also did not prevent the BSOD's from occuring...

[patio]

Not really pathetic at all...
Most BSOD's are caused by the operating system itself...corrupt drivers and/or user errors...
Has nothing to do with infections 94% of the time...

[karthik316_1999]

Hi Patio,
What I meant was with respect to the driver corruptions and not infections.. As we can see, my current problem is partially due to a driver conflict with the Bitdefender software.
Now, even when I had ESET installed, I used to get the BSOD's.. meaning.. The anti-virus/firewall software's driver conflict alone is not the reason for the BSOD's..
Hope i'm understood 

[BC_Programmer]

Not really pathetic at all...
Most BSOD's are caused by the operating system itself...corrupt drivers and/or user errors...
Has nothing to do with infections 94% of the time...

In This case, it's probably failed memory. In fact, I'd bet money it's failed memory, looking at some of the BSOD codes and drivers:

BugCheck 7E, {c0000005, b13e8d2f, b84efc4c, b84ef948}

Probably caused by : afd.sys ( afd!AfdFreeNPConnectionResources+48 )

7E is SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED.

afd.sys is a well tested Driver file, and is highly unlikely to cause this on it's own.

Also, this nearly PROVES that this is corrupted/failed memory, as far as I'm concerned:

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx" referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

This should NEVER happen in kernel mode code, and especially not in a Windows Core system file like afd.sys.

More impossible scenarios:

PROCESS_NAME: System

ERROR_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at "0x%08lx" referenced memory at "0x%08lx". The memory could not be "%s".

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: NULL_CLASS_PTR_DEREFERENCE

This also should never happen in production drivers- and in fact won't, unless you have bad memory.

and the BSOD's being mentioned go on- BAD_POOL_HEADER, (guess where headers are stored ) BAD_POOL_CALLER... etc.

And the dumps from Reply #17- completely random drivers with completely random error codes.

next, you say that you've tested RAM. This means the fault could be that of the CPU.

Is anything overclocked in this machine?

The Fact that your BSOD errors are all over the map with different driver files and different codes points completely and with absolutely no respite to memory corrupted. Bad RAM is not the only cause of this. As JJ3000 mentioned, this could be the fault of a failing power supply. In fact, it could even be caused by a bad motherboard.

The only thing we know for sure at this point is that memory is having it's values changed while the PC is on, something that should never happen.

[karthik316_1999]

Hi BC_Programmer,
Thank you very much for the analysis and wealth of information...

To reply to your questions..
I have a AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor on a ASUS a8n vm/csm motherboard.
RAM is a DDR2 400 MHZ 1GB + DDR2 400 MHZ 512MB
Video Card: 256MB XFX Geforce 7600GS

Nothing is overclocked...

Now, we have taken up all the crucial components of my PC...! The CPU!, mobo... 
I am sure worried with this now...

So how do u suggest that we proceed... I dont have the least of the clue..

[BC_Programmer]

Hi BC_Programmer,
Thank you very much for the analysis and wealth of information...

To reply to your questions..
I have a AMD Athlon 64 3000+ processor on a ASUS a8n vm/csm motherboard.
RAM is a DDR2 400 MHZ 1GB + DDR2 400 MHZ 512MB
Video Card: 256MB XFX Geforce 7600GS

Nothing is overclocked...

Now, we have taken up all the crucial components of my PC...! The CPU!, mobo... 
I am sure worried with this now...

So how do u suggest that we proceed... I dont have the least of the clue..

I really don't know. First thing I'd do is completely rule out software issues by performing a clean OS installation.

[karthik316_1999]

I have seen ppl in other forums make use of s/w's like Hijack and all to debug several system errors.. any such thing possible in my case..?
Cuz re-installing is going to be a severe pain considering all the applications and especially updates that I have made..!
plus as I have said earlier, these kind of BSOD's also existed in my old 250GB HDD............

[BC_Programmer]

I have seen ppl in other forums make use of s/w's like Hijack and all to debug several system errors.. any such thing possible in my case..?

Hijackthis helps resolves malware issues, not driver problems.

plus as I have said earlier, these kind of BSOD's also existed in my old 250GB HDD............

Then it's a hardware issue. Either your PSU, CPU, or motherboard are failing.

[karthik316_1999]

1. How do you say it's an issue with the CPU?

2. Any ways that we could start up with to start eliminating the components one by one..

3. Lets please note that in both the 250 GB as well as 500GB HDD's.. this BSOD issue had occured "Only when I do heavy downloading with download accelerators/p2p clients" (hope u dont mind me mentioning the word p2p).

Otherwise, "100% i cannot replicate this issue at other times" when browsing the net for hours together, working on office applications, heavy gaming, watching videos, or running any other application for that matter. Why would this be?

[JJ 3000]

2. Any ways that we could start up with to start eliminating the components one by one..

Yes. Start replacing them one by one. I'd start with the memory first, since it's the easiest to replace, then the PSU, then the CPU, and finally the motherboard.

[karthik316_1999]

Well .. I'll wait for someone to answer the rest of my questions 

[jkolak]

1. How do you say it's an issue with the CPU?

This was part of the discussion on the random driver faults. It is an alternative explanation as to the RAM being bad. If the RAM is good, then faulty CPU can explain RAM errors.

3. Lets please note that in both the 250 GB as well as 500GB HDD's.. this BSOD issue had occured "Only when I do heavy downloading with download accelerators/p2p clients" (hope u dont mind me mentioning the word p2p).

Otherwise, "100% i cannot replicate this issue at other times" when browsing the net for hours together, working on office applications, heavy gaming, watching videos, or running any other application for that matter. Why would this be?

If you feel that the computer is stable except for running download accelerators and p2p, then you should remove these programs as your last effort before swapping hardware. Also, if you have more than one RAM module, you can try removing them one at a time.

[BC_Programmer]

EDIT:sorry for the length of this post... I just had a large dose of caffeine

1. How do you say it's an issue with the CPU?

In order for half of the Bluescreen errors you have had to have occured, the memory had to have been changed from what it was supposed to be- for example, the one in particular regarding the attempt to access a Null Object  Pointer (or whatever it was) is extremely unlikely, since almost every Pointer dereference (access) is preceded by a check to see if the pointer is null. Therefore, we must conclude that the memory contents changed between the check for null and when it was used.

This means that either another Driver somehow was given control and is buggy (a scenario suggested by dahlarbear) and managed to overwrite the memory holding the pointer (with 0) Or, the memory was changed due to hardware issues.

We've eliminated the memory already; as you said, you performed a memtest. In fact, this could be said to have eliminated Memory, Motherboard, and CPU, too (Although I was quite certain given more thought I'm not quite so certain).

Anyway, my previous post that mentioned the possible causes- Each of them is responsible for holding data for a set period of time; the CPU, for example, holds data in it's cache. This is particularly important and incredibly relevant, since Memtest turns off the cache before testing so that it tests your system memory. If your cache is bad, or unreliable, then data could easily be corrupted while it is in the cache. Note that the corruption could do absolutely nothing- In order for this semi-random corruption to have an effect, the CPU must either write to the cached memory or read from the cached memory- a write to the cached memory will cause the Chipset to perform a write-back transfer to the System RAM (writing to cached RAM also writes to the system memory that is being cached). Allow me to allow for an analogy.

Let's say- this thing is a restaurant. the CPU is the "Diner" and consumes memory, and the waiter brings along a small tray that can contain a portion of the variety of dishes that can be found in the kitchen. There are multiple levels of Cache memory- L1 cache is usually right on the CPU and is fairly small- this could be metaphorized as a dinner plate. the waiter's tray table can be called the L2 Cache (sometimes on chip, sometimes on the motherboard) and the kitchen is the System memory.

This also takes into account the varying access times- the CPU L1 cache is the fastest to access, and the System Memory is the slowest.

Now, Let's say that the CPU needs to read a 16K chunk of memory. the CPU kindly asks the waiter (the memory controller/Front side bus) the CPU first looks at his plate to see if the RAM is there (L1 cache) then asks the waiter (FSB) to find it. the waiter checks his bus table, and not finding it, he returns to the kitchen, and comes back with a tasty 16KB of memory. The CPU reads this memory- and then it stays on his plate. If the CPU wants something else, the waiter goes back to the kitchen, get's it, and puts it on his plate. And if there isn't enough room on his plate for the older Data, it get's stored in the L2 cache (the table).

TO make a long story short- the main idea here is that the cache values are changing as they are "checked out" but unless the CPU writes or reads from those addresses that memory will not be recommitted to System memory and the error will not be noticed.

However, you reiterate a particularly interesting scenario:

3. Lets please note that in both the 250 GB as well as 500GB HDD's.. this BSOD issue had occured "Only when I do heavy downloading with download accelerators/p2p clients" (hope u dont mind me mentioning the word p2p).

You mentioned this before, but I must have grazed over it.

Also, some of the BSOD's do explicitly indicate they are part of the networking components.

you could try to update your Network device driver, or rollback to a previous version.

3. The problems occur ... as i said... almost always only when I leave the computer un-attended for downloading.. so could it be something related to a remote attack or a virus or something... I mean.. why is it so very difficult for us to judge the cause when windows provides us with so much information via Event logs, BSOD's... !?

The same reason it's not always easy to solve a crime/mystery even when you have all the facts. the puzzle pieces need to be put together properly to make sense and take all the other pieces of information into account. It tells you what is wrong. it doesn't tell you how to fix it.

a BSOD is really sort of like if you knew there was a problem with your house- and you got an inspector, and all they said was "your plumbing is wrong"- you still need to gut the house and find out where.


Anyway, I must have missed some of your posts- you pose a few questions that weren't really answered:

Also, I have had problems with the power connectors coming out from within my PSU. Have several of them branching out with some working and some not ..

This is a GIGANTIC RED FLAG as far as I'm concerned. Only time I've ever seen a PSU's Molex connectors start to not work that PSU has been failing. (personal experience- my old K6-2 (Pentium 2 Equivalent)'s PSU had this same problem- the third hard drive would often lose power, confusing the heck out of the PC. Even resulting in BSOD errors, but most of the time it was a hard freeze.

But then there are several reasons for me not to believe this as the cause of the problem!

2. Assuming this problem has been there for past 5 months, shouldn't the problem have been worser now .. past the BSOD's and all that... atleast should it not give out some other very obvious PSU failure symptom?

Not really. referring to my experience with my older PC- I thought the motherboard was possibly unreliable, or too old, due to the issues. I fixed the freeze issues with a new hard drive, but the BSOD's continued (more or less at random, I had them caused by my sound card while playing MIDI files).

I replaced the Power supply.

Every Single Problem dissapeared. (well, except for the Sound driver MIDI issue, which actually turned out to be because of a incompatibility between my sound card and my motherboard). Basically PSU issues are almost never obvious- they always start out subtle. and a PSU can be failing for years (in the case of my old PC, 5 years) and never have anything obviously point to it as the cause- just random, intermittent errors.

Because the Power Supply is such a vital component and powers everything inside the case, almost every problem inside the case can be caused by the power supply. Think of it this way- when your lightbulbs flicker, do you blame the light bulb, or the AC power? The innards of a computer are extremely sensitive to voltage changes and a failing power supply may no longer posess the necessary function to withdraw the "power good" signal when voltages fall too low. the "power good" signal is sent to the PC only when the power is within acceptable limits- this allows the DC output of the supply to "even out" when it first starts, and then the supply can say "alright, power's clean". If the PSU does not send the signal, the PC never boots- it turns on, but nothing happens, since PCs are designed such that without the signal the CPU is stuck in an infinite reset loop.

Now, this brings me to <why> this is the case- why so antsy about power requirements?

Well, too much or too little AC power can do any number of things- recall that memory is refreshed by applying certain voltages to the transistors. If too much is applied, transistors could burn out- if too little, the memory might not be refresh properly.


Anyway- all that being said, I believe the avenue of the network card and/or it's driver is certainly worth investigation.

[JJ 3000]

Not really. referring to my experience with my older PC- I thought the motherboard was possibly unreliable, or too old, due to the issues. I fixed the freeze issues with a new hard drive, but the BSOD's continued (more or less at random, I had them caused by my sound card while playing MIDI files).

I replaced the Power supply.

Every Single Problem dissapeared. (well, except for the Sound driver MIDI issue, which actually turned out to be because of a incompatibility between my sound card and my motherboard). Basically PSU issues are almost never obvious- they always start out subtle. and a PSU can be failing for years (in the case of my old PC, 5 years) and never have anything obviously point to it as the cause- just random, intermittent errors.

Because the Power Supply is such a vital component and powers everything inside the case, almost every problem inside the case can be caused by the power supply. Think of it this way- when your lightbulbs flicker, do you blame the light bulb, or the AC power? The innards of a computer are extremely sensitive to voltage changes and a failing power supply may no longer posess the necessary function to withdraw the "power good" signal when voltages fall too low. the "power good" signal is sent to the PC only when the power is within acceptable limits- this allows the DC output of the supply to "even out" when it first starts, and then the supply can say "alright, power's clean". If the PSU does not send the signal, the PC never boots- it turns on, but nothing happens, since PCs are designed such that without the signal the CPU is stuck in an infinite reset loop.

Now, this brings me to <why> this is the case- why so antsy about power requirements?

Well, too much or too little AC power can do any number of things- recall that memory is refreshed by applying certain voltages to the transistors. If too much is applied, transistors could burn out- if too little, the memory might not be refresh properly.

There is also this thread started by karthik last October:
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,93312.msg631042.html#msg631042

All of this only confirms my original assumption that the power supply is failing.

I reiterate: Random or intermittent problems almost always point to a slowly dying PSU.

Power supplies are one of the most difficult PC component to replace and if you don't know what you are doing you can cause more damage. Static electricity can fry your motherboard.

My best advice at this point, would be to call a professional.

[BC_Programmer]

Yeah I'm going to have to second the culprit as the Power supply.

Even if I do disagree with:

Power supplies are one of the most difficult PC component to replace and if you don't know what you are doing you can cause more damage.

They are one of the easiest! even without being familiar with the hardware, it's merely a matter of removing the old one and putting the new one in, and making sure to keep track of what plugged in where.

Even so, a First time attempt could take the better part of an hour, and I still think that taking to somebody who has done it before and has experience can help, since they can identify a compatible model as well as install it and make sure it works for you.

[karthik316_1999]

I must thank you all once again for those clearly explained posts... much oblidged.. 

While I was also convinced about the PSU with slight doubts on the network side as well.. I wanted to perform a little test and post the result here. I guess this one although simple would prove helpful to us.

Which is leaving the computer un-attended at night with the internet connection ON (with no scheduled downloads and absolutely no internet activity for that matter) and having some videos played in a loop continuously. I guess this would help us narrow down the problem to the network side... is it not? (Since the problem was not to be seen during the day time as I said when I do not use much of the internet bandwidth and do most of the work even heavier ones offline...)

So, I had this little thing done last night for past 9 hours and when I woke up this morning.. the PC was just fine without any problems with the video still playing smoothly...! Does this lead us to something......

Though I still will have my PSU tested sometime in future...

[dahlarbear]

Not everyone wants to play "Dr. Watson" to your Sherlock Holmes.  Suggest you either replace the power supply or buy some popcorn and watch the YouTube video...

[BC_Programmer]

It doesn't narrow it down anyway- once the videos were downloaded once, they were cached, which means that for the rest of the night it was just playing the videos from disk.

[dahlarbear]

The inference is the network related software was relatively "idle".  At some point the Original Poster (OP) needs to focus on one "thing" at a time and do whatever it takes to eliminate "that" as a possible suspect.  The list could be fairly long, but prime candidates still seem to be "power supply" or "driver" (although we don't actually know which program they used to test system RAM).

They could use "diagnostic startups" to control what software runs during testing, but my recommendation was and still is driver "verifier"; to see if they can "catch" a driver behaving badly.

Note:  No, I am not going to provide instructions on how to configure and use driver "verifier".  Mark Russinovich is one of the best presenters in the industry.  I did not provide a link to his "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis" webcast just so I could regurgitate the information.

[patio]

But a working PSU of the same or greater wattage could have been "borrowed" and swapped in there 3 pages ago...

At least he'd know about 1 possibility.

[karthik316_1999]

Okay.. I am back after having watched through all the 9 parts of the video.. (Well.. I very patiently tried to go back and forth the video parts to try to understand but then it was all wayyyyyyyy too advanced for me to 'process' and understand  So i just scrolled through parts 7 to 9 that i thought did not have information needed to resolve my problem or maybe that something that I could not follow. (I am afterall just a normal user..  )

However, the part on Windows verifier that we are looking at was talked about in the last 3 mins of the 5th part and about 4 mins of the 6th part. It was explained till the part where you select the specific drivers that need to be 'monitored'. I guess and hope thats the last step.

So, my understanding is:

1. I use the Bluescreenview software to make a note of the all files that were mentioned in the 10 or so dumps that are stored since a month.

2. See and select these driver in the Windows verifier tool. (Already saw and only just a couple of them were present in the list) --> Maybe i should select the "Load the drivers that are currently not loaded" option?

3. Click Next and complete the process.

I have no idea what happens post this.. Am i also supposed to use other tools shown in the video such as Windows debugger, the 'notmyfault' tool, etc? If so, will I get some assistance from here with those?

Once I receive a reply for this, I will decide the next course of action. Hope I dont have to deal with the other tools or get some help/guidance at this forum if those tools are also needed to complete the analysis.

Thank you.

[karthik316_1999]

But a working PSU of the same or greater wattage could have been "borrowed" and swapped in there 3 pages ago...

At least he'd know about 1 possibility.

I hope it was this easy.. As far as I know, unfortunately there are no shops in my place that could actually 'rent' out a PSU or someone who could agree to have their PSU swapped/borrowed for testing purposes... 

[jkolak]

I hope it was this easy.. As far as I know, unfortunately there are no shops in my place that could actually 'rent' out a PSU or someone who could agree to have their PSU swapped/borrowed for testing purposes... 

Just buy one. You can always use a spare, but you have already told us yours is messed up.

[karthik316_1999]

Guess I'm convinced.. Any specific brand/company that I should look out.. Hope they ship out to India as well..

Oh yeah.. forgot the budget.. Hope I can get a decent PSU for about a 30 US$

[karthik316_1999]

That also reminds me of my other post here http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php/topic,93312.msg631042.html#msg631042

Although it went un-answered for reason that i cannot think of 
can I re-ask a particular question from that long post...


"guess all the power connectors (the 2 black,1yellow,1red design) can be switched between the optical drives,hdd's,fan as they all consume the same voltage.. am i right?"

[jkolak]

Guess I'm convinced.. Any specific brand/company that I should look out.. Hope they ship out to India as well..

Oh yeah.. forgot the budget.. Hope I can get a decent PSU for about a 30 US$

I would buy it at a good, reputable local IT store. What you order from the US will most likely be made in China, so there is no sense to pay shipping to the US, pay the higher US market price, and then ship it to India. In India a quality PS should be about $30, a budget one about $15.

"guess all the power connectors (the 2 black,1yellow,1red design) can be switched between the optical drives,hdd's,fan as they all consume the same voltage.. am i right?"

All the molex connectors have the same capacity. Your peripherals may consume differing amounts of power.

[patio]

Do NOT buy a budget one...

You'll be in the same boat shortly.

[karthik316_1999]

I would buy it at a good, reputable local IT store. What you order from the US will most likely be made in China, so there is no sense to pay shipping to the US, pay the higher US market price, and then ship it to India. In India a quality PS should be about $30, a budget one about $15.

I was misunderstood.. I was asking for brand names of any good PSU's that you might know of and one that is available (for which I said shipped) in India also.. Made the price quote in US$ for your convenience... Nobody would even ship a laptop from US to India..leave alone a PSU 
And yes, I will not go in a budget one...

All the molex connectors have the same capacity. Your peripherals may consume differing amounts of power.

So they can be inter-changed among the devices, correct?

P.S: Any takers on the post regarding Windows verifier?

[karthik316_1999]

Update !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I enabled some of the suspected drivers in windows verifier and the moment I restarted the PC, it was very very slow booting up and loading windows. Once I logged into my profile, within seconds... this message came up with the blue screen....

" A device driver attempting to corrupt the system has been caught. The faulty driver currently on the kernel stack must be replaced with a working version.

..................... The remainder of the message is the standard wordings only.............


STOP: 0x000000c4 (0x00000000, ox00000000, 0x00000081, 0x00000000)"

Now what..!

[karthik316_1999]

However, the sad thing is that I am not at all able to get into windows as the BSOD shows up the moment i login. (I'm making this post from my other OS -- luckily this is a computer with a dual-boot configuration!)

Read that I could disable it by logging into safe mode. But pressing the F8 key does not bring up the screen... maybe its because of the dual boot menu... Guess I will make a delebrate 'turn off' when Windows XP loads and see if I get the "Windows did not shut down properly screen....." from where I could get into safe mode.

If this also fails to work, someone please post an alternate way..!

[karthik316_1999]

My PC did not require the brutal method after all.. The F8 key worked and I have now disabled driver verifier.. Here is the much awaited message !

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: ntkrnlpa.exe

DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x000000c4 (0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000081, 0x00000000)

*** ntkrnlpa.exe - Address 0x804f8cc5 base at 0x804d7000 DateStamp 0x4b1e9e60



==================================================
Dump File         : Mini030410-01.dmp
Crash Time        : 3/4/2010 11:58:22 PM
Bug Check String  : DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
Bug Check Code    : 0x000000c4
Parameter 1       : 0x00000000
Parameter 2       : 0x00000000
Parameter 3       : 0x00000081
Parameter 4       : 0x00000000
Caused By Driver  : ntkrnlpa.exe
Caused By Address : ntkrnlpa.exe+21cc5
File Description  : NT Kernel & System
Product Name      : Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Company           : Microsoft Corporation
File Version      : 5.1.2600.5913 (xpsp_sp3_gdr.091208-2036)
Processor         : 32-bit
Computer Name     :
Full Path         : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini030410-01.dmp
Processors Count  : 1
Major Version     : 15
Minor Version     : 2600
==================================================

Now, all I do is wait for the experts here... 

[karthik316_1999]

Nobody taken a look into this yet..?
I thought this was the most important step to completely get rid of the problem?

[jkolak]

I can't speak for the other guys here, but these new posts just seem so much of the same thing - driver corruption due to memory corruption most likely due to bad power supply.

So I couldn't see anything new to add, and I suspect others are thinking the same way.

Take care of your hardware.

[karthik316_1999]

Well.. if that was the real reason behind nobody's response.. then I believe they should have had atleast the time to inform the same to me. So that I would not have waited all these hours for a response...

[karthik316_1999]

Suggest you either replace the power supply or buy some popcorn and watch the YouTube video...

The inference is the network related software was relatively "idle".  At some point the Original Poster (OP) needs to focus on one "thing" at a time and do whatever it takes to eliminate "that" as a possible suspect.  The list could be fairly long, but prime candidates still seem to be "power supply" or "driver" (although we don't actually know which program they used to test system RAM).

They could use "diagnostic startups" to control what software runs during testing, but my recommendation was and still is driver "verifier"; to see if they can "catch" a driver behaving badly.
Note:  No, I am not going to provide instructions on how to configure and use driver "verifier".  Mark Russinovich is one of the best presenters in the industry.  I did not provide a link to his "Windows Hang and Crash Dump Analysis" webcast just so I could regurgitate the information.

I choose to watch the youtube video first and took the best of my efforts to have the diagnosis done ! (Although a beginner to all these) Hence, was hoping someone could provide some information post the actual trouble causing driver being identified..

I do understand that this thread has grown into pages and pages ... troublesome for anyone to keep track of and remember.. and also the experts here have gone way beyond the usual degree of help.. But still all I wish to do is follow their advice... and hence the post of the verifier error as recommended by dahlarbear

[karthik316_1999]

Hi.. sorry for asking again but am i going to get further help with the above posted information or is something really wrong? I see people who were assisting me helping out others in other threads but not mine......
Am sorry if there has been some misunderstanding..! Can someone please atleast tell me if I am going to be helped further or has this thread come to an end...?

[BC_Programmer]

Hi.. sorry for asking again but am i going to get further help with the above posted information or is something really wrong? I see people who were assisting me helping out others in other threads but not mine......
Am sorry if there has been some misunderstanding..! Can someone please atleast tell me if I am going to be helped further or has this thread come to an end...?

There is nothing left to "help" with. you've had several people tell you to replace the power supply. Have you done so? doesn't look like it.

The actual driver causing the problem is irrelevant. the problem is almost certainly caused by hardware.

What your doing is akin to blaming your car's computer chip for your inability to go the speed limit when you have four flat tires.

[karthik316_1999]

Agreed. But then there was atleast one person on this forum who suggested that I try out the windows driver verifier. All I wanted to do is check this out and follow his advice to try to see if anything useful turns out before really investing time and money in replacing the PSU.
Was i wrong?

[patio]

Borrow a known good PSU of the same wattage or greater and swap it in there...

Total Cost ?  = $0.00

[karthik316_1999]

I hope it was this easy.. As far as I know, unfortunately there are no shops in my place that could actually 'rent' out a PSU or someone who could agree to have their PSU swapped/borrowed for testing purposes... 

[karthik316_1999]

I really dont understand what is the problem involved in having the driver (ntkrnlkpa.exe) file that is responsible for all the trouble, diagnosed..!
Is there a possibilty that dahlarbear who gave me that suggestion would be able to check it out?

[BC_Programmer]

I really dont understand what is the problem involved in having the driver (ntkrnlkpa.exe) file that is responsible for all the trouble, diagnosed..!
Is there a possibilty that dahlarbear who gave me that suggestion would be able to check it out?

The problem is that there is no problem with the driver to begin with.

There is nothing wrong with the driver.

There is nothing wrong with the driver.

There is NOTHING wrong with the driver.

If there was something wrong with the driver, everybody would know about it, because nearly everybody has ntkrnlkpa,exe, win32k.sys, and many of the other driver files that were named in your blue screen errors.

this is NOT the fault of a single driver (the "single driver theory" reasons I stated above were wrong... turns out if a driver tries to write to an area of memory if doesn't have access to it would fault itself, not another driver). and the error codes and the files that are causing the issue point to an issue on the hardware side, since they completely random. This in addition to the fact that the issues persists across two installs points directly to something wrong with the system itself, and the fact that the issues are so random and intermittent puts a spotlight on the PSU as the trouble-maker.

In fact, of the possible causes (motherboard, CPU, and PSU) the Power supply is the cheapest.

[dahlarbear]

« Reply #68 on: March 03, 2010, 10:14:44 PM »

Suggest you either replace the power supply or buy some popcorn and watch the YouTube video...

Either replace the power supply or watch the video again and again until you understand it.  Clearly you missed several key points...

Core Windows files are "rarely" responsible for a crash, e.g. "ntkrnlkpa.exe" (unless they are "corrupt"); because they are thoroughly tested by Microsoft.  When blue screens identify several different modules, it's either power, hardware, (not sure about heat), or another driver that is corrupting the memory space or data structures of the blue screen modules.  The modules named in your blue screens are probably not the underlying cause; they are the "victims".

You want to target the underlying cause, not the "victim" drivers.  While it's not necessarily wrong to "verify" the victims, that only confirms what you already know.  They're faulting.  You need to catch the driver behaving badly before another driver comes along and trips over its corrupting influence.  The video illustrates how you may use driver "verifier" to do this.

If your diagnostic testing indicates blue screens only occur when your network software is "active", then take a closer look at the network drivers.
     a.  Are your network drivers "signed"?
     b.  Are they the correct driver for your operating system?
     c.  Are there "updated" network drivers available?
     d.  Are you using a "wired" or "wireless" network adaptor?

Take a look at your security software.  Many of them operate at a low level within the operating system (and actively screen network input/outputs).  You could use "msconfig" to perform diagnostic startups (selectively disable "non-Microsoft" security software applications and services).

Perhaps you should boot to "Safe Mode with Networking" to test.  In this mode, most if not all of your security software is not started.

Or you could replace the power supply...  Expensive I know, but it might resolve your issue.

[karthik316_1999]

Finally, got my PSU replaced with a cool 500w one... about a 40$.. quite a decent well known brand here in my country...
Following this, I will perform a clean install of my OS, observe and post back the results..

Thank you all for the advice offered..