Blue screen of death occurs every few hours. 3

[piaff1]

During the last week my PC shuts down with blue screen and the following error codes.
0x0000007F
0x00000008
0x803D3130
0x00000000
0x00000000
This has only just started to happen. Some days the PC is on for up to 8 hours before this happens and sometimes it occurs after only 2 hours. The crash seems to occur most often when the PC is not actively in use. I have done a registry scan, Ran check disk, checked my drivers up to date, removed any programs which I suspect of causing conflict, tried removing my external drives in case they were pulling too much power. Any help would be appreciated please.

These are my system details:
Summary
Product Name
Veriton M670G
Operating System
Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Business , Service Pack 2
Chipset
INTEL Q45+ICH10DO
Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
System Memory
2048 MB
Hard Drive
WDC WD3200AAJS-00B4A0, 298.09 GB
EPSON Stylus Storage USB Device, 0 Bytes
Generic USB CF Reader USB Device, 0 Bytes
Generic USB MS Reader USB Device, 0 Bytes
Generic USB SD Reader USB Device, 0 Bytes
Generic USB SM Reader USB Device, 0 Bytes
Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 USB Device, 931.51 GB
Maxtor 5000DV v01.00.00 USB Device, 152.66 GB
Maxtor OneTouch USB Device, 698.64 GB
CD/DVD Drive
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH40F
Video
Intel(R) Q45/Q43 Express Chipset
Total Available Graphics Memory
766 MB
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio
Intel(R) High Definition Audio HDMI
Network
Intel(R) 82567LM-3 Gigabit Network Connection
Serial Port
Enabled
UUID
0021978DB7C620090319143800000000
Serial Number
PSM6GE1U0191100BEF1800
BIOS Version
R01-A2
BIOS Release Date
11/20/2008

Processor

Processor
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8400 @ 3.00GHz
Cores
2
L1 Cache
Data Cache 32 KB x 2
Execution Trace Cache 32 KB x 2
L2 Cache
6 MB

Memory

Current Memory Size
2048 MB
Supported Maximum Memory Size
8192 MB
Memory Type
DDR3
Slot 1 Installed Size
1024 MB
Slot 2 Installed Size
Not Installed
Slot 3 Installed Size
1024 MB
Slot 4 Installed Size
Not Installed

CPU shows up as error.
187deg max 80deg Fan speed 1305RPM
But this has always been the same since I bought the PC 14 months ago so I assumed it was just a problem with the monitoring software as never any problems with PC before.
System temp is 41deg limit shown as 60 deg. Fanspeed N/A

 

[gbaughma]

187deg max 80deg Fan speed 1305RPM

CPU Heat sink grease.

Use Arctic Silver.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[vacunita]

as Greg points out, your CPU is about to melt its so hot. Make sure the fan, dissipator and heat sink grease/paste/gel etc are all o.k and functional.

Looks like a tremendous build up of heat.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[piaff1]

Thank you both. I have opened the case and blown the dust out of the fan, (there was only a little). Not knowing much about the assembly of modern computers I notice that there is a very large circular shroud over the fan and heatsink, so that I can't get to the CPU. Any hints for disassembly would be welcome please. Also I don't know what you mean by greasing the CPU. Could you explain in more detail please? I don't want to break it. The last PC I took apart was about 10 years old and they seem to have changed a lot since then.

 

[JimInKS]

My win 7 x64 system became unstable after installing windows updates from last month Feb 8. I reverted to a restore point before that time (and turned off automatic updates) and everything has been ok since. I haven't had the time to install the updates one by one to see if I can identify the culprit.

Have you recently run windows update on the computer? If so I would try reverting to the previous configuration to see if that corrects the problem.

 

[vacunita]

The CPU takes a small amount of grease or gel or paste over it where it touches the heat-sink to transfer heat off unto the heat-sink, and fan. If there's too little the transfer is not as good, and heat can and will build up.

Normally fans and heat sinks have clips or tabs that hold them in place. You may need to check your manual for specific disassembly instructions though.




----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Behind the Web, Tips and Tricks for Web Development.

http://behindtheweb.blogspot.com/

 

[BadBigBen]

Removing of the HSF (socket 775, 1156, 1366):

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2231&page=7

then use a lint free cloth, with some denatured isopropyl alcohol (96% solution) to clean off the old compound...

see Page 6 link above, and or:

Thermal Paste and How To Use It

http://www.techpowerup.com/printarticle.php?id=134

or

How To Correctly Apply Thermal Grease (page 10 & 11)

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/How-To-Correctly-Apply-Thermal-Grease/274/10

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[piaff1]

Thank you everyone. I've just checked in my BIOS and it's giving the temperature of my CPU as -67, but still listing it as 187 in my monitoring software, what's going on I wonder?

 

[BadBigBen]

Degrees Celsius and degrees Fahrenheit, I would think (though the math does not add up. as 67 degrees C is equal to 153 degrees F (way too HOT))...





Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[piaff1]

That's what I thought Ben, but it does seem strange that the monitoring software that came with my PC "Acer empowering Technology" and was preinstalled should give maximum in C and actual (supposed!) reading in F. I always thought PC's were supposed to be good at math, but as they say "garbage in - garbage out"

Just a thought though - could it be that myPC is reacting to the false reading in their empowering software and closing the system down?

 

[flyboytim]

The Intel spec sheet says 72.4C is the max recommended temperature for this processor.

However, the factory applied thermal grease is not likely to evaporate, and the processor has not been separated from the heatsink, so I would suspect a fan speed problem - perhaps it could be cured by a drop of lubricating oil:

http://www.dansdata.com/fanmaint.htm[/URL]]The most common, and cheapest, kind of fan bearing is the "sleeve" type. It's a simple design; the steel shaft just sits in a solid bushing. The bushing is likely to be made from sintered bronze, which is porous metal that's impregnated with lubricant at the factory. When that lubricant runs out, the bearing will start to wear, and make a distinctive buzz. The wear will get worse and worse, the buzz louder and louder, and the fan slower and slower, until finally it stops.

This process can take weeks for larger, slower fans, but can happen a lot faster to smaller, higher speed fans. A failed CPU cooler fan probably won't leave you with a dead CPU, but it will make your computer hopelessly flaky until it's replaced.

Different fans have different bearings, and various ways to access the bearing sleeve - the simplest I have come across is on an Acer laptop - the shaft just drops into the bushing and is held in place by the magnet in the rotor being strongly attracted to the iron in the stator - the fan and rotor just lift away from the stationary bit.

JUST One SMALL drop of light machine oil is necessary - Sewing Machine oil is good. Too much and the excess oil will be thrown off to combine with collected dust as a greasy slurry.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[gbaughma]

While I agree that thermal grease doesn't evaporate, I have seen it dry up/get crusty.

Often manufacturers are using a "pad" instead of actual compound. I have seen those go bad as well.

Removing the heat sink, cleaning both surfaces, and proper application of some Arctic Silver would be the solution.

As far as the fan is concerned, a drop of oil has never worked for very long; a good ball-bearing fan replacement if the fan is making noise or getting sluggish is the "correct" cure.

However, since the fan is running at 1300+ RPM, if it's not making any noise (buzzing/vibration), it is probably OK.

The problem with using oil is that it attracts dust; the dust and the oil mix and become a sludge. Plus, if the bushing has started to wear, oiling it won't help. It *may* appear to help for a short time, but since the bushing is wearing, it allows more space for more dust and more sludge.



Just my 2¢

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

http://parallel.tzo.com

 

[piaff1]

Is there any software which would monitor my CPU and see what temperature it really is running at, before I set to work on the heat sink?

 

[BadBigBen]

Speed Fan

http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

to get back to the sensors: some are just not accurate enough, and some software will read them wrong... try the above, it has worked for me in the past...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[flyboytim]

http://www.alnico.com

- SpeedFan 4.42 is designed for this. However it can only report the temperature given by the sensors in the chips.

It seems to be more limited in what it reports under Windows 7 than it was under Windows XP, maybe an UAC issue, I will report back on that.

Now you have me worried about my laptop's GPU in the upper 60s, with my processor happily coasting in the low 40s. Time for a pasting myself.

http://www.fxxxingcomputers.co.uk

 

[piaff1]

OK, so it doesn't look like a problem with the CPU. I've run Speed Fan and I can't get the CPU temp above 41 even if I run videos, Lightroom and Photoshop altogether. Funnily enough it ran all these without crashing. It seems to crash when I've gone away and left it. Anymore ideas please.

 

[BadBigBen]

the 7F STOP (BSOD) usually indicates a hardware issue, but also can be caused by Software (that uses kernel mode drivers, such as many AV's)...

the second parameter (0x000008) indicates a double fault, see below KB article...

Double fault
A double fault occurs when an exception occurs while trying to call the handler for a prior exception. Normally, the two exceptions can be handled serially, however there are several exceptions that cannot be handled serially and in this situation the processor signals a double fault. The two primary causes for this are hardware and kernel stack overflows. Hardware problems are usually related to CPU, RAM, or bus. Kernel stack overflows are almost always caused by faulty kernel-mode drivers.

source: General causes of "STOP 0x0000007F" errors

ok, now it's time to run a MemTest...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[piaff1]

I have checked everything with Sisoft Sandra and no faults found, but now when I run Speed Fan I get the following message before it opens. "Speedfan:Speedfan.exe - Bad Image" at head of dialogue box, then in dialog box "C:\ProgramFiles\AcerEmpoweringTechnology\eDataSecurity\x64\libeay32.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error." Incidentally this is the program which monitors my CPU at 187 deg.
Any ideas please? No crash yet today.