Random crash

Another question... If you reboot in Safe Mode and run it for a while, does it crash?

Ron

Random crashes are hard to diagnose. They can be hardware, software or both... Do they always occur when you're using the same app, eg playing a video, using Microsoft Word...?

Open Windows Event Viewer and look for error messages around the time of a crash that might be informative about the problem.

Power off and unplug

Press/hold power button for ~15 sec

Open the case and carefully remove and reinstall the RAM modules and PCI cards in their slots

Used canned air to blow out all the dust bunnies (not a vacuum cleaner!)

Reboot and press F12 before Windows starts to load

Run all the hardware diagnostics, including extended hard drive and memory tests

Assuming no hardware failure messages from the diagnostics, reboot and run chkdsk c: /f on the hard drive to fix any file system errors.

Run Windows System File Check (sfc /scannow)  to replace any missing or corrupted system files. You'll need the Dell Win 7 Reinstallation CD/DVD.

Ron

Hi Ron

Thanks for the suggestions, I will run through them shortly and report back. I have been keeping a record of crash/reboot events and there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. Quite a lot of the time it is video related (playing a game, watching youtube etc) and sometimes it restarts when surfing the internet or during playback of music files.

Phil Handley

Quite a lot of the time it is video related (playing a game, watching youtube etc) and sometimes it restarts when surfing the internet or during playback of music files.

Start by updating your video driver. Uninstall the video driver in Device Manager and reboot. Then install a fresh download of the latest video driver that's compatible with your hardware and your version of Windows. Get the driver directly from the manufacturer's site (eg, ATI or nVidia) because Dell tends to be way behind on video drivers.

You may also need to uninstall and reinstall Adobe Flash too, but only after you reinstall the video driver. Follow the directions here for the proper way to uninstall Flash. Then reboot and install a fresh download of their latest version.

Ron

Have completed all tests, there were some problems with system files which have now been fixed (chkdsk c: /f) but no other reported errors. Have also reinstalled the latest ATI driver from AMD and reinstalled Adobe Flash. There are a lot of critical errors reported in the Event Log which I will look into and report back. Also, I have not tried running in Safe Mode so will do this soon.

Phil

Hi Ron

Thought I would post this as I had a system crash/restart this morning using a specific software package.

Log Name:      Application
Source:        Application Error
Date:          07/03/2011 12:16:08
Event ID:      1000
Task Category: (100)
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Phil-PC
Description:
Faulting application name: WebPlus.exe, version: 12.0.4.31, time stamp: 0x4c73c36d
Faulting module name: ntdll.dll, version: 6.1.7601.17514, time stamp: 0x4ce7ba58
Exception code: 0xc015000f
Fault offset: 0x000845c1
Faulting process id: 0x159c
Faulting application start time: 0x01cbdcbd8ba984b9
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Serif\WebPlus\X4\Program\WebPlus.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
Report Id: ae29728e-48b4-11e0-97de-002564859be6
Event Xml:

 
   
    1000
    2
    100
    0x80000000000000
   
    25954
    Application
    Phil-PC
   
 
 
    WebPlus.exe
    12.0.4.31
    4c73c36d
    ntdll.dll
    6.1.7601.17514
    4ce7ba58
    c015000f
    000845c1
    159c
    01cbdcbd8ba984b9
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Serif\WebPlus\X4\Program\WebPlus.exe
    C:\Windows\SysWOW64\ntdll.dll
    ae29728e-48b4-11e0-97de-002564859be6
 

That message says WebPlus caused a crash this time. Doesn't necessarily mean that WebPlus will cause the next crash. So you'll have to watch for these messages whenever there's a crash.

But in the meanwhile, you should check if there are any updates/patches to the version of WebPlus you're using. There are a number of threads on the internet with the identical problem with WebPlus vs Win 7 as you're having, eg here, so that suggests WebPlus might be the problem.

If the version you use was originally released for XP, you might set it to run in Compatibility Mode for XP. Right-click the shortcut for the program and select Properties. Click the Compatibility tab and select XP, assuming that option is available. Then see if the problem is fixed.

Ron 

hi Ron

WebPlus has settled down again, probably a corrupt file but the software itself is fully up to date and compatible with Win7 although I have taken the Service Pack 1 which could have caused some issues. System continues to crash/restart randomly, looking in the log I see there are issues with Bonjour, though not critical, which is an Apple app for Itunes I think. There are several other warnings like this:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        MsiInstaller
Date:          11/03/2011 13:07:30
Event ID:      1004
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      Classic
User:          Phil-PC\Phil
Computer:      Phil-PC
Description:
Detection of product '{E3BFEE55-39E2-4BE0-B966-89FE583822C1}', feature 'CORE_APPLICATION_FILES', component '{3439E7CA-DAD9-4F2F-9CFC-263F185F0638}' failed.  The resource 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\supportsoft\readme\assdk_support_chart.xml' does not exist.
Event Xml:

 
   
    1004
    3
    0
    0x80000000000000
   
    26467
    Application
    Phil-PC
   
 
 
    {E3BFEE55-39E2-4BE0-B966-89FE583822C1}
    CORE_APPLICATION_FILES
    {3439E7CA-DAD9-4F2F-9CFC-263F185F0638}
    C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\supportsoft\readme\assdk_support_chart.xml
    (NULL)
    (NULL)
   
   
 

I have no idea what this is referring to. There are also warnings pointing to 'the adaptor':

Log Name:      System
Source:        BTHUSB
Date:          11/03/2011 13:07:02
Event ID:      3
Task Category: None
Level:         Warning
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Phil-PC
Description:
A command sent to the adapter has timed out. The adapter did not respond.
Event Xml:

 
   
    3
    3
    0
    0x80000000000000
   
    170096
    System
    Phil-PC
   
 
 
   
   
    00000800010000000000000003000580580C00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000580C000000000000
 

and critical errors like this:

Log Name:      System
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Power
Date:          11/03/2011 13:06:47
Event ID:      41
Task Category: (63)
Level:         Critical
Keywords:      (2)
User:          SYSTEM
Computer:      Phil-PC
Description:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.
Event Xml:

 
   
    41
    2
    1
    63
    0
    0x8000000000000002
   
    170023
   
   
    System
    Phil-PC
   
 
 
    0
    0x0
    0x0
    0x0
    0x0
    false
    0
 

To me it looks like a completely random, unconnected list of errors but you may have other ideas.

Phil

Yes, they do look like a random set of crash errors, related to the touchpad, bluetooth (BTHUSB) etc.

And all of this makes me wonder if you might have a malware infection.Suggest you go to the malware removal forum and read the FAQs at the top of the page. Then follow the instructions to post a HijackThis log file on that forum. Let the experts review the log to see if they can spot and remove any malware. Be sure to mention your PC model, version of Windows, symptoms, and how you've tried to fix the problem.

And if there's no malware, then you may either need to run a Windows System File Check (sfc) to replace any missing/damaged Windows files, or run a Repair/Reinstall, and/or start suspecting a failing hard drive...

Ron

I'm hardly a malware expert, but I glanced at your HJT log over in the malware removal forum. I see evidence you have (or had) watux.exe which is considered to be unsafe. Your log says watux.exe is missing, so some security app may have tried to remove it and ended up causing other problems.

You may have some other malware lurking too...

It may take a day or so for one of the malware experts to respond to your post so have patience. They spend amazing amounts of time going over each user's HJT log file and there are only a limited number of qualified experts over there to handle all the logs that get posted. And they're all volunteers!

 I'm sure one of them will help you get this system right again...

Ron

Hi Ron

Many thanks for your help and pointing me in the right direction. I have had a reply from the malaware forum so will be following their instructions from now on to try and reach a solution. I will try to keep you updated on the progress but for now thanks again and lets hope this is resolved soon.

Regards

Phil

Just finished going through this.  The answer in my case was that my Studio, with one month of warranty left, had accumulated lint from knitting yarn around the power button inside the case.  I also created a problem for myself by moving a FiOS router diagonally closer to the computer and it was interfering with the power.

The symptom was that after a normal shutdown, the system tried to power itself up.  Multiple times.  Never reaching boot.

After a technician replaced the motherboard, power supply, fan, and heat sink (but NOT the power button, didn't even look at it), first thing in the morning I could sometimes get to boot but it would crash after no more than 20 minutes.  Moving the router farther away from the computer helped but didn't solve the problem.  

The fix installed a second motherboard and power supply, replaced the power button cables, and cleaned inside the front cover around the power button.

What RoHe says about hard to diagnose is true, especially when my logs of the situation turned up no consistent behavior at all. Sometimes I could get to the F12 boot options.  Sometimes I could run them.  Sometimes they would complete.  One time I ran the Setup Repair app for an hour and it found no errors, but the system still wouldn't boot or stay booted.  I could not use Safe Startup unless the computer decided to give me the choice.  

Today I am very happy, the computer has been working fine for 3 hours and last night I caught up on a couple of hours of things I was working on.