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Recently my Windows 7 x64 machine has been randomly crashing on me. Having recently installed a memory stick, I assumed that it was that, but after resolving that issue (See my question from before) and running multiple tests on the memory without any failure it appears that I have taken care of that issue.
However the PC still randomly crashes. After the crash whenever I look into the Event Viewer I see the same crtical error from Kernel-Power with Event ID of 41. Also with each crash there is a volmgr Error of Event ID 46 and a Wininit Warning with Event ID of 11. This crash happens randomly, and I just can't figure out what the cause is.
Here are the specific Errors and times that Windows reports:
- Critical EVID 41 9/4/2010 9:42:07 PM
Critical EVID 41 9/3/2010 6:10:37 AM
Error EVID 46 9/4/2010 9:42:06 PM & 9:42:12 PM; 3:56:28 PM & 3:56:37 PM; 11:32:00 AM & 11:32:15 AM;
Error EVID 46 9/3/2010 3:29:06 PM & 3:29:12 PM; 6:10:37 AM & 6:10:46 AM
Error EVID 6008 9/4/2010 9:42:15 PM
Error EVID 6008 9/3/2010 6:10:58 AM
Warning EVID 11 9/4/2010 9:42:24 PM; 3:59:46 PM; 11:32:25 AM
- Warning EVID 11 9/3/2010 3:29:24 PM; 6:10:58 AM
The PC crashes whenever I'm away. I have checked my power settings, and although I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking for I feel that everything is OK. Hibernate and sleep are off. Display is turned off after 15 min of inactivity, and the power setting is set to High Performance.
There have also been crashes while using the machine, for example:
- Had a Word file open
- Pandora was running (just switched to a commercial when it shut down)
- I was scanning a document
- Had Super User up :)
While these aren't very demanding applications the system shut down, it froze for a moment and then full system shutdown with a restart right after.
Looking at the error reporting brought up the exact same issues explained above, with an the additon of:
- Application error (EID 1000) referring to the application of dlcxjswx.exe (However I think that may be my scanning software, it kept coming up with an error whenever I scanned)
After updating all of my drivers, I had to restart the PC. During the restart after updating the Realtek drivers, the system crashed once again. I am not sure if Realtek is the culprit but thought it might be important. Also, this prompted me to dig even deeper into the event viewer. Under the volmgr error EVID 46, the details tab shows "\Device\HarddiskVolume2" which happens to be my OS hard-drive. Does this mean that the drive is the issue (with it being a SSD/Hard Drive Hybrid)?
Heres my system info:
- Case: HAF 932
- Motherboard: EVGA P55 LE
- Chipset: P55
- Processor: Intel i5-750
- Memory: 2x2 GB 1067; 2x1GB 1333 All modules are OCZ
- Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT
- Power Supply: 750 Watts
- Hard Drive: Seagate momentus xt 320 gb (OS); Seagate 750 GB; Seagate 1 TB; WD green 640 GB
Resolved
After opening the PC case and doing a "deep" inspection of everything on the PC, I saw something caught my eye. I looked further, and saw that both a USB and Firewall connection to the motherboard was not connected properly. It was actually connected one set of pins to the right of what it should be and upside down. Stupid mistake I know, but I found it out. I also updated drivers on everything and also have a replaced the PSU. So far, no more crashes.
So to everyone, double and triple check all your connections before you assume it's a software issue :P
Can you describe the crash itself better? Is it a BSOD? Is it a hang? Is the computer suddenly off? ...? – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-07T17:29:54.890
According to my knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong, there is no BSOD in Win 7. Since most times the crash is while I'm away there I only have this one experience to share, but what happened was pandora switched to a commercial, and then the audio stared to repeat/skip for a brief second, and then crash... the PC is restarting. – James Mertz – 2010-09-07T17:39:08.037
BSODs still exist with Windows 7, but as you don't see one and the event log doesn't list that either it doesn't chrash there... I've though further about this and read a sentence and answered based on that sentence which makes a bit more sense because of the kernel power errors. – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-07T17:41:27.457
@Krono - Windows 7 does have a BSOD, it's much rarer than in previous versions, but it does exist for some serious kernal failues and the like. – DMA57361 – 2010-09-07T17:43:05.170
Good to know, then I'm not getting a BSOD that I know of. – James Mertz – 2010-09-07T17:48:12.333
The
Crash dump initialization failed!
event that occurs after the boot means that it was unable to get to the BSOD phase during the crash, it's more likely to be a serious driver or hardware issue related to a device that is unable to sleep properly. This causes serious problems which prevents a BSOD (and thus the crash dump troubleshooting information) to appear and thus it just hangs and reboot instead... – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-07T18:03:55.627If my sleep is turned off though, why then would the hardware cause an issue with the sleep function? – James Mertz – 2010-09-07T18:13:02.863
Oh, sorry... But as I read your message as a pause between my studies it was probably the "Too Long; Didn't Read" scenario. Hmm... Could "Display is turned off after 15 min of inactivity" be the problem then? Is the time between the moment you leave the computer and the generated event constant or random? – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-07T19:16:02.503
Have you tried to run the computer without the extra memory stick for some days? You most recently installed this... Even if tests just fine, it might have another odd effect on the system. Sorry to suggest so much, but as there is no exact cause we can see I guess it's best to try different things to exclude things and to find where the cause lies... – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-07T19:23:13.547
The fact that your OS harddrive appears in the details for error 46 might be a red herring, since the crash dump gets written to the system drive. Are you overclocking? Could the system be overheating? What details (bugcheck code and parameters) are listed for event ID 41? This KB article might help: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2028504/en-us
– Velociraptors – 2010-09-08T00:16:53.440Nice thoughts Velociraptors, I didn't know that event ID 41 does list the BSOD parameters. Hopefully there is some useful data in there... I don't think this is overclocking/overheating as his PC doesn't show this behavior while he is on it. – Tamara Wijsman – 2010-09-08T10:02:11.917
A Google of Windows 7 64-bit kernel 41 crash is very common over various hardware configurations which leads me to suspect a bug in the OS. I DL'd sp1 and all the newest drivers. Since then, I've not had a crash. By the way, it didn't reset, it just became un-responsive could not even ctrl-alt-del, but the mouse still moved. It was random and frequent. So... start with the updates and get back on the result. – None – 2011-05-03T18:14:01.910