BSOD 3-4 minutes after every boot

[Chicxulub]

Hi all. Here is my tale of woe.

I built this computer about a month or so ago. All was well for several weeks, and then I started getting hanging and crashing about 4 minutes after bootup. This would happen even in safe mode. I re-installed Windows 7 a couple of weeks ago, and for a while, all seemed fine.

Now, the computer is hanging and crashing again (to blue screen) in the same fashion. Even happens in safe mode. I have enabled minidumps, but there are never any minidump files in the minidump folder. In fact, the BSOD hangs at "Collecting data for crash dump ... Initializing disk for crash dump . . ."

The BSOD says for technical information: *** STOP 0x000000F4 (followed by some lengthy series of letters/numbers which I will reprint here if useful.)

There is very little on this computer in the way of software. I think we have Skype and Skyrim, plus Mozilla Firefox and the usual plug-ins.

Please help! Thank you!

 

[Shintaro]

OK, from the MSI site:
1/ They say to ensure that you are using AHCI mode with Hot plug support on for SSD.

2/ There was a BIOS released 20th Jan 2012. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H67A-G43--B3-.html#/?div=BIOS

3/ Sandisk SSD doesn't seem to be *officially* supported.http://www.msi.com/file/test_report/TR3_2436.pdf

4/ Make sure you have all the *latest* chipset drivers installed. http://www.msi.com/product/mb/H67A-G43--B3-.html#/?div=Driver&os=All

5/ Try regular HD to see if the problem is the SSD.

Let us know how it goes.
Hope this helps.

 

[Ace]

Please read this thread for BSOD assistance: https://www.w7forums.com/get-bsod-and-crash-debugging-assistance-t9023.html

 

[Chicxulub]

Ace:

Thanks - I cannot post any dump files because I do not have any. I have enabled the feature but there has never been anything in my "minidump" folder. When the system crashes, at the BSOD screen it hangs and does not generate a crash dump file.

Is there something else I am supposed to do before posting a BSOD thread?

Thanks again -

 

[Shintaro]

If the system loses the SSD therefore %systemroot% cannot be written to.

Have a look anyway in windows directory for any .dmp files. Other than that have you tried what I suggested?

 

[Chicxulub]

Shintaro,
I'm working on updating the BIOS as we speak. Trying to figure out how to make sure I'm in AHCI mode (without asking a bunch of stupid questions here on this forum). Will report back. Thanks!

 

[Chicxulub]

Ok, updated BIOS (using MSI's Live Updater), and enabled AHCI with hot plugging on the relevant SATA ports (was able to do this without reinstalling OS via a tutorial). Still getting the hang then BSOD within about 5 minutes after booting.

Ran chkdsk and came up with a bunch of errors about bad sectors.

All signs pointing to the SSD ... Unless there is anything else to suggest, I guess I'll haul myself down to Best Buy in the morning and grab a HD to see what happens when I swap out my current SSD.

 

[Shintaro]

Have you turned your sleep mode off?? SanDisk SSD's have a problem with that. Set the Power Settings to "Always on"

 

[Shintaro]

That would be in the BIOS as well as in Windows?

Just a question, does it blue screen close to the same time everytime? If it does that would indicate some type of timer.

 

[Chicxulub]

Yeah, enabled AHCI in BIOS as well as Windows. I believe I already turned sleep mode off; am currently in the middle of another chkdsk and will confirm when its done.

It blue screens right around 4 minutes after booting up... you can nearly set your watch to it. I wish I could get a crash dump to look at...

 

[Shintaro]

Real strange that it is reporting errors in check disk. The whole point of SSD is that there is no moving parts. Just make sure all power mamangement is off. Other than that I am out of ideas, sorry.

 

[Shintaro]

Actually I did read somewhere that people have had to install in IDE mode, then switch back to AHCI mode after installation.

 

[Chicxulub]

Problem resolved, so far as I can tell...

Shintaro, you had the solution. I was slowly & with great labor going through the various driver updates posted at the MSI website for my particular motherboard. Complicating the process was the fact that I had about 4 minutes on the machine before it would hang and crash. Finally, borrowing my wife's laptop, I downloaded the larger drivers from the MSI site (the ones I couldn't quickly download on my borked machine) and then migrated them over via USB drive.

The solution was the "Intel Rapid Storage Technology" driver. After installing it, the machine wanted a reboot, then after reboot, it popped up a message that it was suddenly re-recognizing my Sandisk SSD. It automatically updated some other drivers and wanted yet another reboot. After reboot, everything has been running smooth.... no more hangs, no more crashes, no more BSOD.

Thanks for hanging with me through this!

 

[Shintaro]

No problem. Happy that you have your computer up and working.