Windows freezing, then black screen...

[fiav]

Problem:
I'm currently experiencing computer freeze for about 10 seconds, then all 3 of my monitors plugged in go black but my main is on, but is black. I can still hear what's going in the computer such as a discord call or a youtube video. I restart the pc and all of it is good for about 30 min to 2 hours until it happens again. (with just a youtube video playing. Nothing else opened.)

PC History:
I've been getting these problems for about 2 years. I noticed when I plugin my External Samsung SSD T5 in to my computer, this happens.. 
When I full format(not quick format) my main SSD and do not plug in any external drives, it works completely fine no issue. I even wiped the external drive completely full format.

What I've done:
I thought this could have been malware spreading, but I've downloaded every free anti malware and scanned countless times. Still occurs..

I used a seperate laptop and wiped the external SSD full format before plugging it into my main desktop pc. Still occurs...

I've ran SFC and many solutions I've found on the internet. Still occurs..

I had this problem 2 years ago on a completely seperate build, and I got this new build 6 months ago. Still occurs..

PC Specs:

OS: Windows 11 (this problem happend on windows 10 2 years ago..)
Motherboard: ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING 
CPU: i9 9900k
GPU: 3080 Ti
RAM: 32 GB DDR4

After this problems occurs, I restart the PC and everything works as expected, Until about 30 mins to 2 hours. I opened event log and at the exact time it happend I got these errors... 

 

I've googled the nvlddmkm error, and those are related to nvidia drivers.. But I'm telling you once I plug in my external SSD this occurs...

Event Log Errors:
Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered.


The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event: 

\Device\Video3
0000(0000) 00000000 00000000

The message resource is present but the message was not found in the message table

 

[Bombastinator]

Any overclocks?  If so remove them and check again.  Also might want to roll back to win10 just for diagnosis.  Win11 is beta.  There’s very little info about it which makes things harder.  PSU along with PSU age may also matter.  Tempted to say reset cmos as well just to get any possible crap out of the way.  This is a quick way to remove any overclocks and set bios to its default setting. I don’t know if you need special bios settings to make win11 work so maybe rollback then reset cmos.

[fiav]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Any overclocks?  If so remove them and check again.  Also might want to roll back to win10 just for diagnosis.  Win11 is beta.  There’s very little info about it which makes things harder.  PSU along with PSU age may also matter.  Tempted to say reset cmos as well just to get any possible crap out of the way.  This is a quick way to remove any overclocks and set bios to its default setting. I don’t know if you need special bios settings to make win11 work so maybe rollback then reset cmos.

 

Yes I have a overclocked CPU now, but 2 years ago when this first happened, nothing was overclocked.

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, fiav said:

 

Yes I have a overclocked CPU now, but 2 years ago when this first happened, nothing was overclocked.

I’m just pointing out that with such things as an overclock or a beta OS things get harder to diagnose. To even start the process that needs to be done.  Not about fixing the problem, but merely about making it more possible to diagnose.  I would also have said do a mini dump, but with a crash so hard a BSOD doesn’t even come up I don’t think one would contain anything.  This whole “used a computer with problems for two years” thing doesn’t help, but it only may or may not be the same problem.  One possible question is what is the same from 2 years ago?

[fiav]

Just now, Bombastinator said:

I’m just pointing out that with such things as an overclock or a beta OS things get harder to diagnose. To even start the process that needs to be done.  I would also have said do a mini dump, but with a crash so hard a BSOD doesn’t even come up I don’t think one would contain anything.  This whole “used a computer with problems for two years” thing doesn’t help, but it only may or may not be the same problem.  One possible question is what is the same from 2 years ago?

ah ok I see. the only thing that is the same from 2 years ago is the SSD itself. 

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, fiav said:

ah ok I see. the only thing that is the same from 2 years ago is the SSD itself. 

A problem with the SSD seems unlikely.  With all different hardware and software it’s effectively not the same computer.

[fiav]

Just now, Bombastinator said:

A problem with the SSD seems unlikely.  With all different hardware and software it’s effectively not the same computer.

Yeah 2 years ago I had an AMD build, now I have an intel build.. the only thing the same is the SSD. So things are hard to figure out.

[Bombastinator]

Just now, fiav said:

Yeah 2 years ago I had an AMD build, now I have an intel build.. the only thing the same is the SSD. So things are hard to figure out.

I suspect it’s a totally unrelated issue, if the case/fan stuff is the same it could possibly be  effectively the same issue if it’s hot case.  If the gpu is the same it could be gpu related but with almost nothing the same it practically doesn’t matter. 

[fiav]

11 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I suspect it’s a totally unrelated issue, if the case/fan stuff is the same it could possibly be  effectively the same issue if it’s hot case.  If the gpu is the same it could be gpu related but with almost nothing the same it practically doesn’t matter. 

So what do I do? Yes they are completely separate pcs, like I sold the entire PC to upgrade parts and got a new pc. The only thing that is the problem is the SSD when I plug it in.

 

But I think your misunderstanding my problem as well. In your quote you said " This whole “used a computer with problems for two years” thing doesn’t help"

 

That's not what I said, I said a separate computer from 2 years ago that had 0 issues besides when I plugged the SAME SSD in, caused this problem.

That problem was some what fixed, when I don't plug it in and I reformat, No issues of any kind occur..

[Bombastinator]

30 minutes ago, fiav said:

So what do I do? Yes they are completely separate pcs, like I sold the entire PC to upgrade parts and got a new pc. The only thing that is the problem is the SSD when I plug it in.

 

But I think your misunderstanding my problem as well. In your quote you said " This whole “used a computer with problems for two years” thing doesn’t help"

 

That's not what I said, I said a separate computer from 2 years ago that had 0 issues besides when I plugged the SAME SSD in, caused this problem.

That problem was some what fixed, when I don't plug it in and I reformat, No issues of any kind occur..

That they are different computers was made clear.  The SSD itself isn’t likely to cause such problems though unless it’s never been formatted since the old computer.  The software on it may still carry something.  Doesn’t change the initial thing though. 
Let’s assume cmos has been wiped thus making things clean enough to start looking at stuff.  What are the temps like?(not expecting much from this but it’s a quick and easy check). Only possibly matters if they’re high.  Something with a GPU driver is more likely.   I take it this SSD does not have the OS on it.  It might have pieces of an old OS on it that were never correctly removed. Such things won’t show up in a drive scan. A drive scan might not be a bad idea though just to make sure the thing isn’t failing.  Unlikely if it’s not particularly old and has only been used in a gaming machine.  Another fairly easy thing to do if not wildly quick.  

[fiav]

32 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

That they are different computers was made clear.  The SSD itself isn’t likely to cause such problems though unless it’s never been formatted since the old computer.  The software on it may still carry something.  Doesn’t change the initial thing though. 
Let’s assume cmos has been wiped thus making things clean enough to start looking at stuff.  What are the temps like?(not expecting much from this but it’s a quick and easy check). Only possibly matters if they’re high.  Something with a GPU driver is more likely.   I take it this SSD does not have the OS on it.  It might have pieces of an old OS on it that were never correctly removed. Such things won’t show up in a drive scan. A drive scan might not be a bad idea though just to make sure the thing isn’t failing.  Unlikely if it’s not particularly old and has only been used in a gaming machine.  Another fairly easy thing to do if not wildly quick.  

 

Ok it must be malware, because now it just effected my sound on my headphones. It froze my PC, but didn't black screen, and now my sound sounds like what ever video I play, its like they are underwater.

[fiav]

2 hours ago, fiav said:

 

Ok it must be malware, because now it just effected my sound on my headphones. It froze my PC, but didn't black screen, and now my sound sounds like what ever video I play, its like they are underwater.

 

EDIT: Ok so I got a BSOD error and it said PNP_WATCHDOG and research is saying it could be malware...

[Bombastinator]

32 minutes ago, fiav said:

 

EDIT: Ok so I got a BSOD error and it said PNP_WATCHDOG and research is saying it could be malware...

Malware is rare but happens.  It’s rarely zero day or unique.  Standard anti-malware stuff is usually sufficient for those.  I’ve heard Kaspery and bitdefender were pretty good though that stuff tends to shift and I may be out of date.  There was a time when avg was considered really good but now it is commonly hated for example.  That sort of stuff moves a lot. There should be free downloads for them that require no data or other form of payment, but they don’t always make such easy to find.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Bombastinator