17 R3, blue screen error, bad pool header

Hi, did you ever get any further with this?

I have a new Alienware 17 R3, i7 6820HK, 980 GTX 4GB, 16GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD, 512GB SSD (Windows 10)

The last week or two I have been getting sporadic Bad Pool Header crash/restarts. I would say they generally occur once per evening. My gut feel for cause would probably be the Killer drivers (which I changed most recently) or failing that I guess a hardware issue. Is there a way to assess if it is hardware before I start trying the needle in the haystack which driver is to blame method?

Some others have reported that they removed the Dell Support program the BSOD stopped in Alienware 15's.   In my experience with an earlier Alienware 14,  Hardware failures were easily identified.   Most of the problems I saw were M$ Windows problems.   Likewise, I suspect that this BSOD is Windows, not Alienware hardware.  I suspect a M$ update will eventually fix this BSOD problem.  

Interestingly my problems started upon installing Support Assist. 

I had a problem with the bluetooth (it messed up all my Killer WiFi drivers) so had installed Support Assist and the new Killer drivers.

I will try and remove Support Assist and see if things improve

R15 bought in mid Feb.  with bad_pool_header issues that results in a blue screen crash every time.  I also believe is the dell support software since every time I access it, it crashes.

$1700 on this piece of junk computer!  More time troubleshooting it that actually working with it.  First it was the video drivers, then the cable to the SSD went bad, now this?  ***!!!

I apologize, but my frustration has maxed out!

Last Dell/AlienCrapWare.

Dell,

These computers are LEMONS!!! 

But it is easy to solve. Download the latest drivers from the Alienware website, uninstall the current drivers and install the new ones. Takes 15 minutes. I am running my new Alienware  without ANY problems for more than a month now.

I downloaded all the drivers for my Alienware with a release date from February 2016 or newer and installed them.

Have you tried running SupportAssist? Try it & let us know ...cause that's what's causing all of us the BSOD issue to date.

Ynnoz,

I appreciate your optimism and positivism regarding the quality, support and customer satisfaction of Dell/Alienware.

Now let me elaborate on my frustration.

Right out of the box:

- Problem #1: As soon as I did an update on my drivers (which the task bar alerted me to), I started to have the BSOD that was caused by a conflict between the nVidia and Intel's video drivers.  Several calls to Dell (clueless) Support and 3 "Factory Restores" later (and you know how long each takes, right?), it was concluded that the drivers needed to be removed under "safe mode" and "Auto-detect" disabled so that I could load the Intel's website specific driver FIRST and then nVidia second.  16 to 20 hours wasted to include returning my first 15R for another 15R just to prove to hard-headed Dell techs that it was NOT a hardware issue, since they insisted to have the laptop shipped to their nearest warehouse to have the M/B swapped.  I was starting a class within a week and could not afford being computerless for that long.

- Problem #2: Hard drive disappeared.  Called Dell and immediately was told that it was a faulty SATA cable.  Really?  Was advised, once again, to shipped laptop.  I informed them that it was not possible, since I had already started my online class.  I told them to ship the cable and that I would install it.  4 hours wasted.

- Problem #3: Dell Support Software induced BSOD.  Fix: uninstall software.  So far, so good.  I'm not going to install new drives due to the experience I had with problem #1.

- Problem #4: Warranty expiration date does NOT match day of purchase.  3 calls later and a copy of sales receipt sent and issue is still NOT resolved.  

I am extremely pleased with the computer when is working; fast, good looking, and boots in no time (my industry: CADD).  But I was not expecting to receive a product that had not been thoroughly tested prior to release.  This is my 5th Dell and it's been by far the one with the most problems.  Sage and Origin is next for me. 

So, you tell me is easy to solve?  Yes, this one issue is a walk in the park compared to the rest.  But is the one that broke the camel's back.

I have had 0 crashes since completely removing the Support Assist software.

I just did it via control panel uninstall programs.

Everyone,

I just received email confirmation back from PC DOCTOR (who provides the Dell SupportAssist program) - a new update is due out tomorrow, which includes a fix for our BSOD ISSUES so many of us were experiencing because of it. Apparently, PC DOCTOR was able to finally track down the root cause of the issue/conflict that was causing the problem.

Naturally I'll download as soon as it's out & test to see if this frustrating issue Is finally behind us!  If so........YESSSSS! FINALLY!

I've had my 15 R for just over a week and have the bad_pool_header BSOD every day.  I've been trying to backtrack through system updates, dell driver updates and any software I've installed on the machine in the past 9 days.  In an act of desperation I started searching around for anything I could use to analyze a dump file.  I stumbled across one utility and it immediately fingered the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver.  see attached graphic... I'm going to see if Intel has a newer driver or an older one that's less problematic.

Hope that helps.

I have the Support Assist version 1.2.6793.01 AND my Alienware 17 R3 is still crashing.  

What is the Support Assist version that is working?

All,   I've been pursuing this BSOD issue related to SupportAssist, and went as far as to report and work with PC DOCTOR on trying to find a resolution to it (i.e. gave them crash logs, memory.dmp file, etc.). Long story short, I received an email reply back from them on 3-24-16, which informed me that a new version of SupportAssist would become available on 3-25-16.   Guess what? I think THEY FINALLY FIXED IT! I've downloaded SupportAssist version 1.2.6793.01,

Well, that's great and all - but where did you download this from? The Dell installer/launcher doesn't adequately identify just what it is going to install, and I don't want to let it reinstall the previous rubbish.

Hi All, I cant get support assist installed at all. I have an Alienware M18x R2 running Windows 10 Pro, I have upgraded from the standard build and when I try to install it I get the following. I am running the aulauncher as admin but still I cant get the darn thing installed, would welcome help

Hi,

Thanks alot SYRIC , You helped us alot,

Finally a solution, I'll update to the new version & let you know if there is an issue.

Rgds,

Rukshan

Rukshan,

Thank you for the kudos/shout out brother! ***, we were on in this issue together. I'm just thrilled we FINALLY have justice (lol), and the faulty program has been FIXED! Now we can get back to enjoying this expensive piece of equipment w/o concerns that the hardware is faulty/defective/bad! (Well, at least in regards to this BSOD issue that Support Assist was giving so many of us!)

CHEERS!