Very Confusing BSOD -"system thread exception not handled"

[Darkus505]

G'day guys.

Got a weird one for you today. 

 

So, this Blue Screen Of Death took me by surprise today. 

I was sitting there at my desk on a Zoom Meeting - not really paying attention, I had just opened a YouTube tab on my 2nd monitor and BOOM blue screen. 

 

And ever since, the computer won't load or start into windows, and simply blue screens shortly after windows attempts to boot, and gives me the "SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED" and interestingly does NOT give a .sys or other kind of file that could be the problem, as similar system thread exceptions I've seen online will tell you the culprit. 

 

This is odd as this system has worked solid as a rock with no overclocks for fully 2 or 3 years

 

The Specs:

Gigabyte Gaming K3 z270 Mobo

Intel Core i7 7700k

Nvidia GTX 1080 (Gigabyte)

32 GB Corsair Vengeance Ram

Intel 730 250gb ssd (boot drive, but plenty of mass storage HDD)

800 watt PSU (EVGA bronze)

 

I've searched online and here on the forum and none of the non drastic solutions seem to have helped

 

It fails to self diagnose/repair

 

I've tried every Command Prompt input I've come across. - no luck

 

Tried both a Windows Recovery Drive, and Windows Media Creation tool. - no luck

 

Removing all USB devices - no luck

 

Unplugging and re plugging all power leads inside the PC - nothing. 

 

I can't even boot into safe mode! And turning off Forced Driver Signatures doesn't help either.

 

Both Safe Mode and Disabled Forced Signatures lead to the same "System Thread Exception Not Handled" error with no file listed as the issue. 

 

As far as I can tell, my next only step is to "Restore Windows 10" which will either remove all files and programs, or just all Programs. - this isn't super ideal because that SSD isn't backed up (yeah, yeah, I know) and while this isn't the end of the world because it's mostly just boot drive/OS crap/drivers.. I'd much rather not have to scrap it all because of the headache it would be having to re-install every driver, program and software (I have my Adobe suite on that SSD)

 

If anyone has a good suggestion or work around, or has an idea that I've not thought of. Lemme know!

 

Cheers.

 

P.s. let me know if you need more info, or clarification. I can give you what you need to know but it might take me a little longer as I'm running on an older, crappier PC as a spare or my phone to do things with

[boggy77]

sounds like it might be a ssd failure

[Moonzy]

what frequency are you running your RAM at?

4x8GB? what rank is your memory running on?

 

sounds like CPU/RAM is unstable to me

[jim rousanidis]

Hello,

Try these commands in the cmd.

chkntfs C:

Restart. If it doesn't work try

sfc /scannow

and

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

If this didn't work either try

Bootrec /fixMbr

Bootrec /fixBoot

Bootrec /ScanOS

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by jim rousanidis
Missing instructions

[Darkus505]

5 hours ago, Moonzy said:

what frequency are you running your RAM at?

4x8GB? what rank is your memory running on?

 

sounds like CPU/RAM is unstable to me

It's a 2x16 GB kit, and it's got no overclock, and I've even disabled XMP as part of my troubleshooting. 

 

[Moonzy]

7 minutes ago, Darkus505 said:

It's a 2x16 GB kit, and it's got no overclock, and I've even disabled XMP as part of my troubleshooting. 

 

Try running CPU tests like Intelburntest

And memtest86

[Darkus505]

5 hours ago, jim rousanidis said:

Hello,

Try these commands in the cmd.

chkntfs C:

Restart. If it doesn't work try

sfc /scannow

and

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

If this didn't work either try

Bootrec /fixMbr

Bootrec /fixBoot

Bootrec /ScanOS

 

Hey there! Thanks for such a in depth reply

 

I'm going to be writing this reply as I go through your steps

 

Chkntfs C : comes back as "The type of file system is NTFS. C : is not dirty"

After a restart, nothing changed 

 

SFC /scannow: I ran this command and after it scanned, it responded with a "verification 100% complete. Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested Operation"

 

Trying to use your DISM /online /cleanup-image command replies with "Error 50. DISM doesnt support servicing windows PE with the /Online option, the DISM log file can be found at X:\windows\logs\dism\dism.log"

 

Bootrec /fixMbr: "the operation completed successfully"

 

Bootrec /fixBoot: "access is denied" (legit that's all it says...)

 

Bootrec /ScanOS: after waiting for it to finish it replies "successfully scanned windows installations. The identified windows installations: 0. The task completed successfully"

 

(That last one is a little concerning)

 

After doing all this I attempted to re start the computer and I still get the same "System Thread Exception Not Handled" BSOD as before 

 

 

Blast.

 

any other ideas you might have?

[Darkus505]

7 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Try running CPU tests like Intelburntest

And memtest86

I don't think I can do that as i can't even load Into the OS. It sort of boot loops to windows recovery mode

 

I can't even get into safemode as it will BSOD the same way

[Moonzy]

18 minutes ago, Darkus505 said:

I don't think I can do that as i can't even load Into the OS. It sort of boot loops to windows recovery mode

 

I can't even get into safemode as it will BSOD the same way

Try each RAM stick individually, in each slot

 

You can also try clearing CMOS

[Darkus505]

21 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Try each RAM stick individually, in each slot

 

You can also try clearing CMOS

Just tried both ram sticks in every ram slot on the board and every configuration of stick/slot I could think of AND cleared CMOS

 

Nada. Nothing. 

Still the same BSOD every time

[Moonzy]

Just now, Darkus505 said:

Just tried both ram sticks in every ram slot on the board and every configuration of stick/slot I could think of AND cleared CMOS

 

Nada. Nothing. 

Still the same BSOD every time

Could try other storage devices like others have suggested

[Darkus505]

2 hours ago, Moonzy said:

Could try other storage devices like others have suggested

So!

After a few trials and tribulations and a flakey internet connection, I was able to get an instance of Ubuntu Linux running on my PC off of an SD Card (id have used a USB, but i didnt have a big enough one lying around)

So far, it appears that all of my hardware: CPU, Ram, GPU etc - they all appear to work just fine.

I'm able to access my Boot SSD from inside Ubuntu, and it seems to be  working as intended as a storage device, it appears that all my data is still there.

Is it worth pulling all my data off my SSD and over to one of my larger HDD's in the system, then resetting windows 10 and copying all my old data, files, programs and what not back to the ssd off of the hdd? or would something there not work so well?

It Appears that its just the OS thats gone ka-blewey and not the SSD itself

[Moonzy]

3 hours ago, Darkus505 said:

Is it worth pulling all my data off my SSD and over to one of my larger HDD's in the system, then resetting windows 10 and copying all my old data, files, programs and what not back to the ssd off of the hdd? or would something there not work so well?

I'm not too sure but you can try that

[Ayuen]

POTENTIAL SOLUTION?

Hey I came home last night to my PC doing the exact same thing as you. Looping System Thread Exceptions Not Handled with no ability to get into Safe Mode, no ability to recover via rollback or recoveries. System restore was throwing the following error
"failed to extract the original copy of the directory from the restore point
Source: %programFiles%\WindowsApps

Destination: AppxStaging"
and looking at the startup repair diagnosis repair log in C:\Windows\system32\Logfiles\srt\strtrail.txt was saying "A hard disk could not be found. If a hard disk is installed, it is not responding" even though the files could be browsed in an ubuntu install and there was no reported disc health problems

 

My Solution:

all documentation on a System thread exception with no reported failure file pointed to a driver issue.

I uninstalled all updates in advanced recovery options (both quality and feature updates) until it complained that it couldn't uninstall any further updates.

To get a list of drivers do the following:

• Getting into the Recovery Screen (see above)
• Click "See more advanced recovery options"
• Click troubleshoot
• Click advanced options
• Click command prompt

when you're in command prompt you'll notice you're in Z drive, because the recovery system is virtually mounted.

I used

C:

to change into C drive (where I have windows installed) . your windows may be mapped to a different location

and then ran the following to get a list of my 3rd party drivers:

DISM /Image:C:\ /Get-Drivers >mydrivers.txt

this will pull a list of all of your drivers installed on C:\ into a text file located at the root of C drive. I then used

more mydrivers.txt

to slowly look though all the entries in the driver file. I have a corsair keyboard and the newest drivers listed in that file were corsair ones. I noted the file names formatted as oemXX.inf for all things associated with corsair. especially the corsairvbusdriver.sys

I then used

DISM /Image:C:\ /Remove-Driver /Driver:oem[numbers].inf

to remove all applicable corsair drivers, i think i had 4 all up.

I also enabled the boot log on c:\ by following the command prompt steps on https://www.windowscentral.com/how-enable-boot-log-windows-10 as a just in case this didn't work, but on selecting "continue to windows 10" after closing the command window it booted with no further issues.

I hope this helps

 

 

[Darkus505]

1 hour ago, Ayuen said:

POTENTIAL SOLUTION?

Hey I came home last night to my PC doing the exact same thing as you. Looping System Thread Exceptions Not Handled with no ability to get into Safe Mode, no ability to recover via rollback or recoveries. System restore was throwing the following error
"failed to extract the original copy of the directory from the restore point
Source: %programFiles%\WindowsApps

Destination: AppxStaging"
and looking at the startup repair diagnosis repair log in C:\Windows\system32\Logfiles\srt\strtrail.txt was saying "A hard disk could not be found. If a hard disk is installed, it is not responding" even though the files could be browsed in an ubuntu install and there was no reported disc health problems

 

My Solution:

all documentation on a System thread exception with no reported failure file pointed to a driver issue.

I uninstalled all updates in advanced recovery options (both quality and feature updates) until it complained that it couldn't uninstall any further updates.

To get a list of drivers do the following:

• Getting into the Recovery Screen (see above)
• Click "See more advanced recovery options"
• Click troubleshoot
• Click advanced options
• Click command prompt

when you're in command prompt you'll notice you're in Z drive, because the recovery system is virtually mounted.

I used

C:

to change into C drive (where I have windows installed) . your windows may be mapped to a different location

and then ran the following to get a list of my 3rd party drivers:

DISM /Image:C:\ /Get-Drivers >mydrivers.txt

this will pull a list of all of your drivers installed on C:\ into a text file located at the root of C drive. I then used

more mydrivers.txt

to slowly look though all the entries in the driver file. I have a corsair keyboard and the newest drivers listed in that file were corsair ones. I noted the file names formatted as oemXX.inf for all things associated with corsair. especially the corsairvbusdriver.sys

I then used

DISM /Image:C:\ /Remove-Driver /Driver:oem[numbers].inf

to remove all applicable corsair drivers, i think i had 4 all up.

I also enabled the boot log on c:\ by following the command prompt steps on https://www.windowscentral.com/how-enable-boot-log-windows-10 as a just in case this didn't work, but on selecting "continue to windows 10" after closing the command window it booted with no further issues.

I hope this helps

 

 

HOLY SHIT YOU ARE A GOD DAMN LIFE SAVER

 

I did exactly as you said and scrolled through the 400 god damn driver entries in mydrivers.txt and I figured that I'd give the Corsair drivers a go, but figured there might be some others I might need to kill cause the dates on some of those old drivers were actually disgusting

 

For me, specifically the drivers labelled "OEM111.INF" and "OEM32.INF" which were both signed to Corsair. Removed those. Re booted and bingo! Back to windows! - windows needed me to sign back in with my Microsoft account, and go through the like tail end of the windows install bits, like if I'd like office or if I want my data sent places or if I want a pin on my computer etc. But it works!

 

God damn legend. 

What a hero

 

Thanks so much

[Ayuen]

Awesome to hear!
I just finished uninstalling the Corsair Utility engine and iCUE so it can't sneakily reinstall whatever driver is corrupted. I can go with out RGBs and macros for the moment being until both Corsair and Microsoft get their act together.

[Taibe]

Thank you so much guys and Ayuen! I just had this happen to me today. Turned on my PC that was working fine the night before and it was stuck in boot-loop BSOD with the same error code. I did all the steps and removed any Corsair driver to be sure (There was about 4 of them) and now it works just fine. Must be a Corsair new driver issue or something?

 

I use a corsair keyboard, AIO and RAM if that helps anyone in the future pinpoint it.

[HalosOA]

On 12/16/2020 at 7:12 AM, Ayuen said:

POTENTIAL SOLUTION?

Hey I came home last night to my PC doing the exact same thing as you. Looping System Thread Exceptions Not Handled with no ability to get into Safe Mode, no ability to recover via rollback or recoveries. System restore was throwing the following error
"failed to extract the original copy of the directory from the restore point
Source: %programFiles%\WindowsApps

Destination: AppxStaging"
and looking at the startup repair diagnosis repair log in C:\Windows\system32\Logfiles\srt\strtrail.txt was saying "A hard disk could not be found. If a hard disk is installed, it is not responding" even though the files could be browsed in an ubuntu install and there was no reported disc health problems

 

My Solution:

all documentation on a System thread exception with no reported failure file pointed to a driver issue.

I uninstalled all updates in advanced recovery options (both quality and feature updates) until it complained that it couldn't uninstall any further updates.

To get a list of drivers do the following:

• Getting into the Recovery Screen (see above)
• Click "See more advanced recovery options"
• Click troubleshoot
• Click advanced options
• Click command prompt

when you're in command prompt you'll notice you're in Z drive, because the recovery system is virtually mounted.

I used

C:

to change into C drive (where I have windows installed) . your windows may be mapped to a different location

and then ran the following to get a list of my 3rd party drivers:

DISM /Image:C:\ /Get-Drivers >mydrivers.txt

this will pull a list of all of your drivers installed on C:\ into a text file located at the root of C drive. I then used

more mydrivers.txt

to slowly look though all the entries in the driver file. I have a corsair keyboard and the newest drivers listed in that file were corsair ones. I noted the file names formatted as oemXX.inf for all things associated with corsair. especially the corsairvbusdriver.sys

I then used

DISM /Image:C:\ /Remove-Driver /Driver:oem[numbers].inf

to remove all applicable corsair drivers, i think i had 4 all up.

I also enabled the boot log on c:\ by following the command prompt steps on https://www.windowscentral.com/how-enable-boot-log-windows-10 as a just in case this didn't work, but on selecting "continue to windows 10" after closing the command window it booted with no further issues.

I hope this helps

 

 

This worked for me. At least so far. I'm still plugging all my stuff back in.  I had 5 drivers since I'm using both a k70 and an h115i. Signed up to thank you for this. Would have never figured it out.