HP p6710f Windows 7 and CRASH

[bearcat22]

Thanks for taking a look.  

Using Windows 7 64 bit, HP desktop model p6710f.
Was getting Blue Screen crashes almost daily.
The machine has 4 RAM slots. First two contain the original RAM, last two nothing.
Pulled second slotted RAM and rebooted. Machine seemed to work fine
for about one day, then Blue Screen again.
Have had various codes, this one was DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL

Purchased two new RAM sticks from Amazon.

8GB Total memory using 2pc of 4GB 1333MHz Module 240pin dimm DDR3 10600. Genuine CMS brand, CMS is one of the most trusted names in the Computer Memory industry and this product carries a Lifetime Warranty from CMS. Expansion: 4 Sockets Maximun Memory: 4 GB with 32-bit OS 16 GB with 64-bit OS Features HP Pavilion p6710f HP Pavilion p6715f HP Pavilion p6716f HP Pavilion p6719c

Installed both new RAM sticks into the expansion slots, while leaving in the one old stick.
Rebooted, and computer worked faster and better than when brand new.

This was fine for about 24 hours.

I did run into something very strange. While streaming Netflix, I got an error message.
None of the movies would play, no matter which one I selected.
Netflix tech support told me to try Internet Explorer. Strangely, the movies WOULD play
with IE.

I noticed that Amazon Prime also would not play their video on the Chrome Browser.

I checked, and Chrome is up to date. No solution to this, as I would rahter not have to
switch browsers each time I want to watch a movie.

Went to bed leaving the computer running as I
always do.
Woke to something strange. I had left it running with a Chrome browser screen up.
What I saw instead was Not a blue screen, but the screen you see that offers options on how
to start Windows.
I chose Start Windows normally. The computer seemed to reboot fine.

Yet after only a few minutes of using the relaunched Chrome, the browser froze, the
mouse pointer would not move, no keyboard response. Could not even launch
CTL ALT DEL

Had to physiclly turn off computer. Removed the one remaining
old RAM stick, leaving the two new RAM where they were. Rebooted.
Seems fine now.

[Grzwacz]

Greetings,

Welcome back to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

I think you may have a hardware problem (memory or HDD). So the first step would be to run HP boot time diagnostics (Link). 

Your PC uses  HP Vision Diagnostics. 

Run system and components tests.

I would also run a Check Disk (Link) to verify system files. A clean bill of health should eliminate system file corruption.

The next possible cause could be malware. 

Regards

[bearcat22]

Thank you.  Please note the date of my last post, and note THIS post's date.

Since the last post, things seemed fine until about 15 minutes ago.

While running chrome, Audacity, WMP and Open Office at the same time, 

suddenly a very loud Buzzing sound came from the speakers and the entire screen turned

into a lot of tiny specks with many different colors.

I quickly physically turned off the machine.

I pulled the two brand new RAM sticks and moved them from the blue expansion slots into the old grey first two slots.

When I rebooted, I got a screen I have never seen before 

that says:

Windows Boot Manatger

Choose an operating system to start  or press TAB to select a tool

Windows 7

To specify an advanced option for this choice, press F8

Tools: Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.

I chose to start Windows Memory Diagnostic tool

Status:  Hardware problems were detected. To identify and repair these problems you will need to contact the computer manufacturer.

So, in regards to YOUR post, Grzwacz, I have only just seen it and have not yet 

performed any of the tests you reccomend.

I am going to do that now, except that I will wait until tonight to run Check Disk.

It usually takes at least 24 hours to run that.

Here is an OLD and the most recent Check Disk:

TimeCreated : 2/12/2019 4:43:19 AM
Message :

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
609792 file records processed.

File verification completed.
17558 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

0 EA records processed.

78 reparse records processed.

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
713980 index entries processed.

Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.

0 unindexed files recovered.

CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
609792 file SDs/SIDs processed.

Cleaning up 94 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 94 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 94 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
52095 data files processed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
33708768 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
609776 files processed.

File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
3617609 free clusters processed.

Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

963120127 KB total disk space.
947637676 KB in 397611 files.
270512 KB in 52096 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
741503 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
14470436 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
240780031 total allocation units on disk.
3617609 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 4e 09 00 b6 dc 06 00 59 a7 0c 00 00 00 00 00 .N......Y.......
18 87 00 00 4e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....N...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

TimeCreated : 2/5/2019 4:45:35 AM
Message :

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is OS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 5)...
609792 file records processed.

File verification completed.
17024 large file records processed.

0 bad file records processed.

0 EA records processed.

78 reparse records processed.

CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 5)...
712182 index entries processed.

Index verification completed.
0 unindexed files scanned.

0 unindexed files recovered.

CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 5)...
609792 file SDs/SIDs processed.

Cleaning up 75 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 75 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 75 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
51196 data files processed.

CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
36779304 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying file data (stage 4 of 5)...
609776 files processed.

File data verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying free space (stage 5 of 5)...
4119010 free clusters processed.

Free space verification is complete.
Windows has checked the file system and found no problems.

963120127 KB total disk space.
945642280 KB in 380243 files.
257288 KB in 51197 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
744519 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
16476040 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
240780031 total allocation units on disk.
4119010 allocation units available on disk.

Internal Info:
00 4e 09 00 5b 95 06 00 26 12 0c 00 00 00 00 00 .N..[...&.......
4e 89 00 00 4e 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 N...N...........
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

Windows has finished checking your disk.
Please wait while your computer restarts.

[bearcat22]

There is nothing on that link page called "HP Boot Time Diagnostics"

[bearcat22]

CRASHED AGAIN!!!!  

[bearcat22]

And another crash:

A problem has been detected and windows has shut down to prevent damage

Memory_Management

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 1a
BCP1: 0000000000041790
BCP2: FFFFFA800052ED20
BCP3: 000000000000FFFF
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\030819-21356-01.dmp
C:\Users\beatcat\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-50825-0.sysdata.xml

[bearcat22]

Started running HP PC  Hardware Diagnostics Windows  Extensive Test, and kept doing other things.

After about an hour, the test was still running.  I was in Google Chrome and once again the screen and mouse froze.

CTRL ALT DEL did nothing.

Restarted and am now running the Fast Test instead.

Short Drive Self Test says "Cancelled" but I did not cancel anything.

Disk Read Verify  PASSED

Video Memory Fast Check PASSED

IRQ PASSED

ROM  PASSED

CPU Stress Test

[bearcat22]

Ran again, and all System Tests PASSED.

Ran all Componet Tests, all PASSED

[Grzwacz]

Hi Bearcat22,

Did you run a current Check Disk?

Are you troubleshooting the system with only a mouse, keyboard, and monitor connected to your PC?

We may be drilling down to the power supply. You may have to try a new power supply. I would do this hardware swap as a last resort. The problem is either Windows file corruption, bad drivers, hardware, or malware.

You might want to replace the CR2032 motherboard battery. Let the PC sit for about 20 minutes before installing the new battery.

Did you run the Windows Memory test found in: Control Panel, Administrative Tools? Or run MemTest86 (Link).

Maybe you should run an offline malware scan. Try the free, offline Trend Micro scan (Link). You can install this software on optical media or a USB stick.

This is a very unusual situation. I really thought you had HDD or memory problem.

You may have to install Windows clean if you can't isolate the cause. Continuing problems after a clean install should be hardware related.

You should back up data before doing a clean operating system installation. But first verify you are malware free. You might inadvertently backup the malware if you are infected.

You could have a intermittent hardware problem. This type of problem is very hard to diagnose.

Additional thought I missed in previous responses: Did you install a discrete graphics card? Remove this component and check stability using onboard graphics. Or install a PCIe GPU if you are using onboard graphics.

Regards

[bearcat22]

Thanks for your response, Grzwacz.
You asked,

"Did you run a current Check Disk?"

I tried to many times.  It crashed during the Check Disk.  I will try again overnight.

 
You asked, "Are you troubleshooting the system with only a mouse, keyboard, and monitor connected to your PC?"

 No.  I also have a cable running from the headphone jack to a pair of speakers. The mouse runs off a USB antenna, wireless.  The keyboard is hard wired.  I occasionally have a cable put in for a few minutes to do printing.  I occasionally plug in a USB microphone to do recordings.

You said<  "We may be drilling down to the power supply. You may have to try a new power supply. I would do this hardware swap as a last resort. The problem is either Windows file corruption, bad drivers, hardware, or malware."

 I believe I have checked files before, but will try again.  As for drivers, I have no clue WHAT needs a driver, and I have no clue HOW to update the drivers.   As for hardware, I just ordered two more brand new RAM sticks from the same source, just to test.    As for Malware, I just updated and ran Malwarebytes, and it turned up abut 69 "Potentially Unwanted Programs" that I then quarrantined.  I am now running a test with Trend Micro House Call.

You said<  " You might want to replace the CR2032 motherboard battery. Let the PC sit for about 20 minutes before installing the new battery."

I will look into that as a possibility if nothing else works.

You said<  " Did you run the Windows Memory test found in: Control Panel, Administrative Tools? Or run MemTest86 (Link)."

Yes, I have run that before.  It said

Status: Hardware problems were detected. To identify and
repair these problems you will need to contact the computer manufacturer.

I suspect all HP will tell me is that the machine is out of warranty and they refuse to help unless I buy a five thousand dollar tech support subscription.

 You said<  Maybe you should run an offline malware scan. Try the free, offline Trend Micro scan (Link). You can install this software on optical media or a USB stick.

I will try Trend Micro.  Running now. Seems like it will take a couple hours to finish.

 You said<   "This is a very unusual situation. I really thought you had HDD or memory problem.
 You may have to install Windows clean if you can't isolate the cause. Continuing problems after a clean install should be hardware related.
You should back up data before doing a clean operating system installation. But first verify you are malware free. You might inadvertently backup the malware if you are infected.
You could have a intermittent hardware problem. This type of problem is very hard to diagnose.
Additional thought I missed in previous responses: Did you install a discrete graphics card? Remove this component and check stability using onboard graphics. Or install a PCIe GPU if you are using onboard graphics."

I have never put anything in this machine except the RAM sticks described above.  I am not opposed to a clean install, but have no clue how to back up data.

Note that the "Long" scan using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows
never finishes.  The computer crashes every time I run the Long scan.

Note that I just ran Control Panel, System and Security Windows Update and it says

I'm going to run ChkDsk again tonight while the computer is disconnected from the internet.

The culprit I suspect is that the RAM simply can't handle memory hogs like Chrome, MS Security Essentials, Netflix, etc.

Will look forward to your response, thanks.%MCEPASTEBIN%