Computer Freeze because of corrupted USB?

[fr33z3wizar5]

Acer Aspire AM5800-U5801A
Desktop PC Core 2 Quad Q8300(2.50GHz)
6GB DDR3 640GB HDD Capacity
ATI Radeon HD 4650
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Anti-Virus: AVG (free edition)
(I should mention that I really don't use internet as I wanted to keep this comp it as a workstation. The only time I logged on to the net was to register my music software)

Dear all,

I'm a musician and have been using this Acer system for the last year. I use Cubase and have a couple of VST instruments that require me to have 2 usb keys plugged in to access them (Steingberg key and ilok key). Recently, for no reason, my computer would freeze, and I even got the BSOD.

So I unplugged all my usb devices, ran it in safe mode (transferred my data) and began diagnostics on my drives. I ran chkdsk on all my drives and it didn't come up with anything or any fixes.

I began to think that one of my USB ports was corrupted. I have the latest drivers for my usb keys and keep my system up to date via Windows Updater.

What I did was go and purchase an AV powered USB hub, in order to draw heat away from the motherboard...now my keys are plugged into it..as well as my Audio interface (M-Audio FastTrack pro).

Is there a way to test my usb ports to see if they are the cause of my system failure? I went to device manager and checked each one manually, and each one was "working properly". I was considering uninstalling all of them and restarting my computer to see if that would fix the problem.

So here's what I've done so far:
-The first time it froze, I ran the comp in safe mode (without unplugging any USB devices) and it froze and went to the BSOD. So then I unplugged all usb devices (save my mouse and keyboard and ran in safe mode successfully, long enough to back-up my data.
-Ran CCleaner (did complete scan, ran registry cleaner, stopped most programs from running at start-up)
-Ran chkdsk on all my drives (and didn't find anything)
-purchased AV usb hub and have moved my usb keys and M-Audio interface into it

Right now I'm walking on pins and needles with the system, hoping that it won't freeze again! I really appreciate your help!

 

[usasma]

Please provide this information: http://www.vistax64.com/crashes-debugging/282419-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html
Don't use CCleaner as it removes the memory dumps files (which we need).

 

[fr33z3wizar5]

Attached is my .zip folder with the information you requested.

Vista 64 Home Premium came with my computer.
I have service pack 2 installed.
The OS has never been re-installed.
The system is just over 2 years old.

Thank you for your help!

 

[fr33z3wizar5]

Just to give an update:

I've been able to use the system off and on since I posted my first message. I had to uninstall AVG (I read a post saying the Vista and the free version of AVG didn't work well with Vista 64).

The reason this post took so long, was that I ran ccleaner before reading the post, and waited until I saw the bluescreen of death again before posting.

Generally, my comp will simply shut off, or restart without my doing anything. When it happens, I run it in safe mode and check the disk's etc... It runs fine in safe mode.

-fr33z3wizar5

 

[americancritic]

Hello

You should download the following which is MSE.

Anti-Malware, Virus, Spyware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

This also malwarebytes is great software and use there free version here is the link.

Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download

Please run a full updated scan using your anti-virus.

Download and run a full scan using malwarebytes.

Please give us the results of both scans...

Which ever anti-virus you have go to there site and use there uninstall tool and you will be fine, do this first then download the other 2 and run the scans....

 

[usasma]

Thanks for posting americancritic! I have a list of antivirus uninstall tools at this page: Antivirus Uninstallers
FYI:

NOTE: I have severe eye problems which have gotten worse over the last week. I may not be able to respond further until after my surgery at the end of this month or the middle of September. Feel free to PM another staff member for assistance if I do not respond in a timely manner. Please accept my apoloeis in advance.

I'll continue on as well as I am able to, thanks for your patience. Feel free to PM another staff member if it's taking too long.

Please don't use CCleaner again until we're done troubleshooting. It tends to erase a lot of the info that we need to look at (in particular it removes the BSOD dump files and some other reports that I can't recall right now).

The perfmon report shows a problem with a P/S2 Mouse. If you're using a USB mouse, it's safe to ignore this message.

The perfmon report shows missing Event Viewer info - I think that this may e due to CCleaner, but am unsure at this point. I don't generally use the Event Viewer data until I go through all the other usual reports that I use - so this isn't a concern to us right now.

The perfmon report shows that Windows Update is turned off. I can't recall f we discussed this or not, but if we haven't - please turn it on immediately. The systeminfo report shows that an appropriate number of updates have been installed - but this isn't an exact number, and you'll only be able to tell by visiting Windows Update

MSINFO32 doesn't show any BSOD's in the WER reporting category either.
Please check C:\Windows for a file named MEMORY.dmp and check the datestamp to see when it was generated. If the file is there, zip it up and upload it to a free file-hosting service - and post a link here for use to download it.

Then, ensure that the system is set to generate minidumps: Set MiniDump
Check C:\Windows\Minidump for files to upload after each BSOD event. If it doesn't make minidumps, also let us know about that. If that's the case, then we'll need the info from the actual BSOD: How To Find Bsod Error Messages

Since you relate that the problem doesn't occur in Safe Mode, you may want to try "Clean Boot" troubleshooting to identify the offending program/startup:
Perform a clean startup to determine whether background programs are interfering with your game or program
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

The most common crash/hang is in VSTBridgeApp.exe - which belongs to Steinberg Nuendo 4, Digital Audio Workstation software - or it may belong to Cubase (which is by steinberg also). Please uninstall Steinberg HALion Symphonic Orchestra Cubase 5, then test for further problems (if you want to reinstall them, please ensure that you get the latest Vista compatible versions from the Steinberg website).

You have the M-Audio taskbar loading at startup - and we have experienced BSOD's due to this software in the past (haven't seen any recently). Please uninstall the M-Audio software and test for further problems. (if you want to reinstall it, please ensure that you get the latest Vista compatible version from the M-Audio website).

Older versions of Catalyst Control Center have caused problems in the recent past, so please update your ATI video driver software directly from the ATI website ( Global Provider of Innovative Graphics, Processors and Media Solutions | AMD )

Beyond that we'll have to wait for some indications of memory dump files. If you're able to make it BSOD, please do so at least 3 times (after following the steps above). Then check to see if memory dumps are available.

Thanks!

 

[fr33z3wizar5]

Hello

You should download the following which is MSE.

Anti-Malware, Virus, Spyware Protection | Microsoft Security Essentials

This also malwarebytes is great software and use there free version here is the link.

Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download

Please run a full updated scan using your anti-virus.

Download and run a full scan using malwarebytes.

Please give us the results of both scans...

Which ever anti-virus you have go to there site and use there uninstall tool and you will be fine, do this first then download the other 2 and run the scans....

Thank you Americancritic,

Attached you can find the Malwarebytes scan file.

How do I generate a report from the Windows Defender scan? It finished scanning, but I didn't see a report that I can review or submit as an attachment. I've attached a jpeg with the history results from that scan. It said it found "TrojanDownloader:Java/OpenStream.F" and "Exploit:Java/CVE-2009-3867"

Any additional thoughts are much appreciated

 

[fr33z3wizar5]

dear usasma,

Thank you for your extensive reply. I will work to put into effect a number of your suggestions and post the results at a later time.

Many thanks again!