Why is my computer always crashing?

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Sgt_Strider

Gawd
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Oct 29, 2003
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At about 11 PM last night, my computer started crashing on me. I would get the BSOD with a very long error message. I only have enough time to write down some of it before it restarts. The error message starts with 0x000000F4.

After the BSOD, the computer will restart. Then it'll get stuck and just shows the message that it's loading the operating system. I go into the BIOS and my SSD (primary drive) isn't even shown. It's just blank. The only way the BIOS will display the SSD is after I shut down the computer by holding down the power button.

My only solution to the problem right now is to shut down the computer and then start it up again. Then the BIOS will detect the SSD and boots up the OS (Windows 7). At first I thought this may just be a one time thing, but it happens at least 1-2 times an hour. I don't want to constantly power down the computer by holding down the power button because it's abruptly shutting down the machine and I'm afraid I might cause data corruption on the hard drive. This is why since last night, I haven't done any serious work because I don't know when the BSOD will occur. The last thing that I want is to cause data corruption on my hard drive (secondary drive). I can't figure out what's cause this problem. Does anyone here know what's going on?
 
Which SSD and what MOBO are you using?

I had almost the exact same problem with my new haswell Z87 build (or sounds like it). The Intel SATA controllers didn't like my old SSD's and would cause the computer to not see them at random. I sold the old drives for newer ones and the problem went away. On my LGA775 setup, it was fine though.
 
You could try running chkdsk to see if there's any errors and attempt to fix them. No guarantee. Press F8 when you turn your computer on and load into safe mode with command prompt. Type, chkdsk c: (or whatever you have your primary drive set as) to check it, or just use, chkdsk :c /F

/F Fixes errors on the disk.
/V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every file on the disk. On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information (implies /F).
/L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified number of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current size.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid (implies /F).
/I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index entries.
/C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder structure.
/B NTFS only: Re-evaluates bad clusters on the volume (implies /R)
"CHKDSK x: /F /R" would perform a full scan (including bad sectors) and attempt to fix them.
Click to expand...


Just with some quick googling it looks like some people had the same BSOD error due to malware, or the hard drive not being set as the master drive (just set to auto).
 
What changes have you recently made to the computer, driver of firmware wise? Any software installations? Any settings changes (even minor)?

If you have recently installed something, that could be the problem. If you are getting blue screens without having changed something recently, then it's probably a hardware issue.
 
Yep time to run memtest86 - ram is the most common culprit of bluescreens.
 
Sgt_Strider said:
At about 11 PM last night, my computer started crashing on me. I would get the BSOD with a very long error message. I only have enough time to write down some of it before it restarts. The error message starts with 0x000000F4.

After the BSOD, the computer will restart. Then it'll get stuck and just shows the message that it's loading the operating system. I go into the BIOS and my SSD (primary drive) isn't even shown. It's just blank. The only way the BIOS will display the SSD is after I shut down the computer by holding down the power button.

My only solution to the problem right now is to shut down the computer and then start it up again. Then the BIOS will detect the SSD and boots up the OS (Windows 7). At first I thought this may just be a one time thing, but it happens at least 1-2 times an hour. I don't want to constantly power down the computer by holding down the power button because it's abruptly shutting down the machine and I'm afraid I might cause data corruption on the hard drive. This is why since last night, I haven't done any serious work because I don't know when the BSOD will occur. The last thing that I want is to cause data corruption on my hard drive (secondary drive). I can't figure out what's cause this problem. Does anyone here know what's going on?
Click to expand...


First thing's first --

You need to disable the automatic restart function of Windows so you can actually get a readout of the BSOD. I also suggest setting it to do a small memory dump for some light debugging.

To get to these settings, while in Windows, press Window-key+Pause/Break, click "Advanced System Settings", under the "Advanced" tab, click "Settings" under "Startup and Recovery", then check the box for "Write an event to the system log", uncheck "Automatically restart", and select "Small memory dump". You can also get to this dialog from the Control Panel and the Start Menu -- type "Advanced settings".

Then, next time you BSOD, you'll be able to see the actual error code, as well as having a memory dump to debug with windbg (or a more user-friendly program like WhoCrashed).

This will help hone in on what's causing the crash, which I'd put my money on being a driver issue -- namely, the SATA/RAID controller, and then video card drivers after that.


Troubleshooting suggestions beyond that:

-Disconnect and unplug all non-essential hardware
-Boot into safe-mode and see if/what/when crashes (helpful to narrow down rogue programs and/or drivers)
-Check memory: run a few passes of memtest86 on boot
-Check disks: run full chkdsk analysis
-Check if your SATA controller's mode has flipped in the BIOS, from AHCI/RAID->IDE (or vice versa)
-Check your BIOS' voltage and overclock settings, to make sure nothing was inadvertently changed (maybe even clear CMOS and load defaults)
-If running RAID, check your RAID setup/configuration and disk integrity
-Check for updated firmwares/BIOS for your motherboard, SSD, and SATA controller (like Snowknight suggested)

Seconding Snowknight's suggestion of checking for updated SSD firmware, the 1-hour thing sounds like it may be related to something going to sleep -- the system, any monitors, hard drives, etc. So also troubleshoot this by disabling any and all sleep functions, particularly monitors and hard drives. You can use a free program called "Hard Disk Sentinel" that keeps drives from ever spinning down, even external drives.

(Obviously SSD's don't spin-down, but they do have their own internal sleep functions, cooked into their firmware)
 
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Some people missed an important point in their replies. System Restore and System File Checker can be helpful to deal with frequent crashes. Do check system errors and check if the problem still persists. If that doesn't fix your problem, follow the instructions given below:

Use System Restore

1. Click Start, type "System Restore" in the Search Box.
2. Press ENTER.
3. Click Next, select a restore point and confirm.

Use System File Checker

1. Insert Windows installation disc.
2. Click Start | Run.
3. Type "SFC /SCANNOW" and press ENTER.
4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
 
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