Even the BSOD crashes!

[westonschmeston]

My Lenovo ideapad Z575 running Windows 7 Ultimate crashed the other day. Every time I try to reboot, it gets the Windows boot screen and crashes right at the exact same spot while the logo is loading. Then it goes to the BSOD for a split second and then even that crashes and it shuts down. Then I try to run Startup Repair and it says that it cannot repair this computer automatically. Here are the problem details:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: StartupRepairOffline
Problem Signature01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem Signature03: unknown
Problem Signature04: 21200172
Problem Signature05: AutoFailover
Problem Signature06: 20
Problem Signature07: NoRootCause
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I tried running CHKDSK through cmd and that found no problems. I created a USB Windows installation repair disk and when I boot from it and try to run Startup Repair it says that it can't find any problems. I don't have any System Restore points or System Images to roll back to. I'm fine doing a clean install, but I need to backup my files first (I don't have any backups). I don't know how to do that without going through Windows.

[patio]

1st thing i would do is DLoad and run the Free diagnostics from the HDD manuf. site...run the Long test
2nd i would DLoad and run MemTest for the RAM...

Both should be run from a bootable CD so follow the info on building them.

[westonschmeston]

Okay, I ran the Western Digital (my HDD) Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows test, both quick and extended, and it came back with no errors. I'm currently running memtest86+ from a bootable USB to see if there are any issues with the memory. If nothing shows up as problematic there, what's the next troubleshooting step? Thanks for your help.

[Calum]

P.S. what you're probably seeing is the system automatically restarting after the BSOD, which is default behaviour.  One of the options you should be given on the startup menu, along with start windows normally, safe mode, etc, should be to disable automatic restart on system failure.  If you don't see this menu, tap F8 when booting next time, before the Windows logo appears, and you'll be given this menu.  You should then at least be able to see the complete BSOD which may help diagnose the issue.

[westonschmeston]

Okay, first pass on memtest86+ is complete and there are no errors. I'm at a loss.

[westonschmeston]

Thanks Calum!

Now I'm at the BSOD. It says "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA". And under technical information it says "*** STOP: 0X00000050 (0xFFFFF880009AA000, 0x0000000000000000, 0xFFFFF8000347767A, 0x0000000000000000)".

[Allan]

Download BlueScreenView:
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html
unzip downloaded file and double click on BlueScreenView.exe to run the program.
when scanning is done, go to EDIT - Select All
Go to FILE - SAVE Selected Items, and save the report as BSOD.txt
Open BSOD.txt in Notepad, copy all of the content, and paste it into your next reply

[patio]

Although we sympathise with your current issues i have to say that i got a kick out of the title...
I've been volunteering at this and other Forums for many years and to hear  "Even the BSOD get's a BSOD" is Classic...
     
Hope you don't take it the wrong way and i also hope we get you sorted...

patio.

[westonschmeston]

Haha, no offense taken, patio. Thanks for your help.

Allan, I'm not sure how to get BlueScreenView to run when I can't even get past the Windows loading screen. I've looked for ways to run it from a bootable USB, but so far I haven't found anything. Suggestions?

[Allan]

can you boot to safe mode?

[westonschmeston]

No, it starts to load Windows files, but then it stops and I have to manually power down. Would this be an issue with the drivers? How do I isolate which driver exactly? I don't recall installing any new hardware recently or even updating any drivers manually. Would it help to list all the drivers that it's showing are loaded when trying to boot to safe mode? Is there a way I can just download a package of all drivers and reinstall them at once? I saw there was an option for drivers on the USB Windows Startup boot disk I created with Rufus.

[Allan]

Okay, a couple of things. First of all, when you run memtest you need to let it run several hours (even overnight) - 1 pass means nothing. Having said that, if Windows starts to load before the crash I'd think it was a corrupt installation except that the same thing happens in safe mode. Do you recall what you were doing when the system crashed the first time?

Here's are some things to try:

1) Boot to your Windows 7 dvd and run startup repair options.

2) Reboot and as soon as the system starts begin tapping the F8 function key. From the advanced boot options screen, try "last known good configuration"

3) Rerun memtest for several hours

The fact that you can't boot to safe mode could mean one of several things. Most likely are: hardware issue, boot sector virus, or a severely corrupted Windows installation.

[westonschmeston]

I'll let memtest run again overnight tonight. When I boot in safe mode, it doesn't crash, per se, but it freezes up as it's loading drivers/Windows files. It doesn't matter if it's regular safe mode, with networking, or with command prompt. They all freeze up like that and I have to restart.

I was just working on a Word document when it crashed. The thing is, it had crashed a few times a couple weeks ago just randomly. When I'd restart, it would only list the optical drive and the LAN as the boot options. Then I'd shut down and restart and it would start like normal (booting from the HDD). After it did that a couple of times, I thought maybe it was because I had a microSD card in an adapter inserted in the computer. I removed that and it stopped crashing for over a week. Then this crash happened and I haven't been able to get past the Windows loading screen since then.

I have a bootable Windows 7 Ultimate USB I created, but when I run the startup repair option from there it says that it cannot repair the problem (same as when I try startup repair from the currently loaded Windows). And I've tried booting from last known good configuration, but it just runs into the same problem where it crashes right as the Windows logo is loading.

I guess my only option right now is to run memtest overnight and see if that tells me anything that could help.

[Allan]

One other thought is a repair install: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3413-repair-install.html

[westonschmeston]

I'm backing up my files using Ubuntu to an external 3TB hard drive in preparation for doing a Repair Install. The total file size is approximately 430GB and I'm just copying them over. I let it run overnight and I have to reboot in the morning. Then I check the Properties of the copied folder and see that it's only about 410GB. Is there any way to find out what those 20GB are that didn't copy without having to re-copy the entire 430GB again?