BSOD 0x0000001E every night, no idea why...

[raybob]

Well, every single night for the past 5 days in between 12AM and 8AM my PC has been blue screening. Throughout my PC's life, it's had some problems blue-screening but I've always been able to fix it. Since June 2009 when I installed my OS, I've had to restore backups at least 3 times, and I used to have a ton of problems with Vista refusing to start, etc., but it always got over it and worked eventually. In fact, up until now I haven't had a BSOD since 2010. Anyway, the BSOD cited low disk space as my issue. My disk space is that same as it's been for a year, and it's not low, so that can't be the issue. Next I thought about my OCZ Vertex going bad again (I'm on my 3rd one) but that can't be the issue since I performed checks on it and all went well... additionally every time it died before it would simply lock up the computer not BSOD. Anyway this BSOD really worries me because it happens consistently and I haven't been able to reproduce it during the day. I've tried MemTest (no errors), Prime95 for my overclock (ran for an hour, no errors, stable temps) as well as running my AntiVirus which I thought could be the problem since it runs only at night. This BSOD is especially bad for me because it increases the risk of data corruption since 3 of my 4 disks are encrypted (the ones with web-server data, only 1 of which I have a recent backup of), as well as because I'm trying to run a website with a virtual machine. Yes, my PC stays on 24-7 and since June 2009 when I built it has run over 17,000 hours, according to HD Tune. One thing I did was view the Windows Error Log, and one thing I noticed was that it seemed to be having a continuous problem with Windows.edb. I tried restoring it from a backup AND deleting it, neither solved the issue. Also, in the report I generated just now I noticed some odd things... it said my USB drive is unable to start which is incorrect because I'm using it now, and it also said it doesn't have a registered anti-virus. Wtf? AVG is running right now and it's never alerted it to me before. Like I said, my OS has a long history of data corruption and lots of weird problems that usually seem to fix themselves. Anyway, this BSOD completely baffles me and I would really appreciate some help. I have attached a 3% compressed ZIP folder with the data I'm supposed to put here. Also my PC was built in June 2009 and not until December 2010 did I start a web-server.... yes I went a bit overboard on the specs but I was just coming off a PC with an Athlon 64 and 512MB of RAM
Also, I'm just remembering now that a few days before this nightly BSOD started, a few odd things happened while I was using the computer. First, I was just browsing the internet and all of a sudden the computer became deathly slow. I looked into Task Manager and it said my RAM usage was at 5.94GB and there was over 12GB on the page file! I looked at the processes and explorer.exe was taking over 2GB of RAM. That was right after I received some Windows error message (sadly I can't remember what it said). I shut down my VMWare to clear up 1.5GB of RAM, and as soon as the RAM usage was down, explorer.exe immediately grew to fill in the space, so I was back to the same situation as before. Next, I just went and ended the process explorer.exe. Of course, that didn't fare so well so I had to reboot. No problems after that. However, another oddity was that all of a sudden a file called ntuser.dat started appearing on my G:\ drive. I have no idea why that was there, that belongs in the user profiles on the C:\ doesn't it. Odd. Also, just this morning when I rebooted from the blue-screen, my custom login screen background had reset to default!! Clearly something very odd is happening here. Also, I just ran sfc /scannow in the CMD and it said it found some corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.... Another neat piece of information is that for some reason my Firefox keeps randomly locking up....

Do you think this is hardware or software? Clealy there's some data corruption going on here.




SPECS: (homebuilt, June 2009)

Windows Vista Home Premium x64
4 drives, an OCZ Vertex 60GB, WD 1TB, Samsung 1.5TB, Samsung 2TB
Gigabyte EX58-uD3R Motherboard
6GB OCZ Platinum DDR3 RAM
750W PSU, Voltages are fine
EVGA GTX 275 GPU
ASUS TV Card
5 Optical drives, 3 internal, 2 external
Core i7 920 CPU at 3.2GHz (tested stable)

 

[usasma]

First, remove all overclocks and run the system at stock speeds for a couple of days. Does the BSOD still occur?

Next, disconnect all non-essential devices (such as the optical drives, TV Card, 2 or 3 of the hard drives, and any USB devices) and test for a couple of days. This will tell us if it's an issue with the PSU (when it's under load). While 750 watts is respectable, it's definitely not a lot - especially if this isn't an 80+ (or more) certified PSU.

Windows Error Reporting isn't an exact thing - you must take it with a grain of salt.
We will have to check out the USB stuff - but the 'missing" antivirus isn't unusual (it's just because Windows doesn't recognize your antivirus).

Next, we have seen many cases of issues with SSD's that can't easily be fixed. I've got a few basic steps to suggest, but frankly I don't consider SSD's to be reliable enough to use on a permanent basis. I'm not going to upgrade my systems to an SSD until the technology becomes more mature (probably after Win8 comes out).
Anyhow, here's my SSD suggestions:

There's not a whole bunch available to test SSD's.
Here's what I suggest:
- Update the SSD's firmware to the latest available version
- Slow the memory (RAM) down to the next slower speed (I've only seen one person who claimed that this worked for them).
- Use any manufacturer's utilities that you may have. If you don't have any, then try this free one (I haven't used it myself): Crystal Dew World
- Update chipset and storage controller drivers to the latest available from the manufacturer of the device (not the manufacturer of the motherboard)
- Replace the SSD with a platter based hard drive and see if that stops the BSOD's. If it does, then it's likely that there's a problem with the SSD OR an incompatibility with your system.

Explorer.exe issues usually come from 3rd party add-ons (since explorer.exe is protected by the WIndows System File Checker). Use this free tool to selectively disable add-ons (a few at a time) and figure out which one (if any) is causing your problems: ShellExView - Shell Extension Manager For Windows

Some of these symptoms can be caused by malware. I would suggest scanning for malware with an independent scanner (in case your current protection has been compromised). Try one or two of the free scanners here: Free Online AntiMalware Resources

Now we'll address the reports that you've uploaded:

The Perfmon report shows low free space on your C: (12%) and U: (9%) drives. Windows uses free space to perform operations behind the scenes - so low free space will slow your system down. It's recommended that you have a minimum of 15% free space for optimum performance.

Perfmon shows issues with these 2 devices:

Symptom:

Device drivers marked as corrupt.Cause:A device has a configuration problem that prevents it from working properly.Details:The device, ANX2TBX4 IDE Controller, is reporting "tv_ConfigMgrErr39". This device will not be available until the issue is resolved. The Plug and Play ID for this device is ACPI\PNPA000\4-5D18F2DF-0.Resolution:1. Verify the correct driver is installed.
2. Try updating the drivers using Windows Update.
3. Check with the manufacturer for an updated driver.
4. Attempt to uninstall and then reinstall the device using Device Manager.Related:Explanation of Error Codes Generated by Device Manager
Manage Devices in WindowsSymptom:

Device cannot start.Cause:A device has a configuration problem that prevents it from starting properly.Details:The device, FCR-HS219/1 , cannot start properly. It may not have the correct driver installed or may be experiencing a hardware failure. The Plug and Play ID for this device is WPDBUSENUMROOT\UMB\2-37C186B-0-STORAGE#VOLUME#1-19F7E59C-0-_??_USBSTOR#DISK-VEN_KINGSTON-PROD_FCR-HS219#1-REV_9722#091701001518-0#.Resolution:1. Verify the correct driver is installed.
2. Try updating the drivers using Windows Update.
3. Check with the manufacturer for an updated driver.
4. Attempt to uninstall and then reinstall the device using Device Manager.Related:Explanation of Error Codes Generated by Device Manager
Manage Devices in Windows

I haven't found any info on the first device beyond what's stated in the error message. What little is availabe suggests that this might be related to Daemon Tools. I'd suggest uninstalling Daemon Tools to see if it removes this error.
The second device appears to be a Kingston Media Reader device: Kingston Technology Company - Flash Memory - Media Reader

EVGA Precision and Gigabyte ET6 (EasyTune6) has issues with Win7, I'm unsure if it has issues with Vista. I'd suggest uninstalling it to see if it stops the BSOD's.

I've seen issues with AVG PCTuneUp - but not recently. I'd suggest that you update the program to the latest available Vista compatible version.

There are no memory dumps included in the uploaded reports - nor are there any mentioned in MSINFO32. Please do the following:

Upload Dump Files:
Please go to C:\Windows\Minidump and zip up the contents of the folder. Then upload/attach the .zip file with your next post.
Left click on the first minidump file.
Hold down the "Shift" key and left click on the last minidump file.
Right click on the blue highlighted area and select "Send to"
Select "Compressed (zipped) folder" and note where the folder is saved.
Upload that .zip file with your next post.

If you have issues with "Access Denied" errors, try copying the files to your desktop and zipping them up from there. If it still won't let you zip them up, post back for further advice.

If you don't have anything in that folder, please check in C:\Windows for a file named MEMORY.DMP. If you find it, zip it up and upload it to a free file hosting service . I recommend Windows Live SkyDrive - http://skydrive.live.com or another free, file-hosting service. Then post the link to it in your topic so that we can download it.

Then, follow the directions here to set your system for Minidumps (much smaller than the MEMORY.DMP file): Set MiniDump

If there aren't any memory dump files available, then we'll have to assume that this is a hardware problem - and will have to work from there.