Help Troubleshooting BSOD on a Fresh Win7 Install.

[IsaiahKitaeff]

*** SOLVED! The issue was an incompatibility with the 1TB HDD ***

 

Hello everyone,

 

I'm working on installing a new version of Win7 64bit on an ASUS G73SW and am running into some very annoying BSOD problems. I keep getting the STOP: 0x000000F4 error.

I've used Darik's Boot and Nuke several times to clean the HDD and install Win7, but each time once I finish installing the OS and actually start doing things like install Chrome, install Nvidia drivers, etc., I run into BSOD's. Below is the information that I got from analyzing a BSOD literally minutes after doing a clean install with a legit key and everything.

 

I have tried running Memtest several times with no errors, several programs to test the stability of the drive (all indicating no health errors) and have installed all Windows updates.

 

Does anyone know why this might be happening? I had not done anything on the install besides open IE and begin to install and download Chrome.

The only modifications made to the notebook would be a new 1TB HDD installed, and the new OS.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is driving me crazy haha. Please let me know if there is any other information needed.

 

EDIT: I'm not sure if it's important, but the battery seems to have died. It won't hold a charge and needs to be plugged in to start.

 

 

 

************************************************************************

Microsoft ® Windows Debugger Version 6.3.9600.17298 X86

Copyright © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

Symbol search path is: *** Invalid ***

****************************************************************************

* Symbol loading may be unreliable without a symbol search path.           *

* Use .symfix to have the debugger choose a symbol path.                   *

* After setting your symbol path, use .reload to refresh symbol locations. *

****************************************************************************

Executable search path is: 

*********************************************************************

* Symbols can not be loaded because symbol path is not initialized. *

*                                                                   *

* The Symbol Path can be set by:                                    *

*   using the _NT_SYMBOL_PATH environment variable.                 *

*   using the -y <symbol_path> argument when starting the debugger. *

*   using .sympath and .sympath+                                    *

*********************************************************************

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error 0n2

*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for ntoskrnl.exe

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for ntoskrnl.exe

Windows 7 Kernel Version 7601 (Service Pack 1) MP (8 procs) Free x64

Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS

System Uptime: 0 days 0:12:43.841

*********************************************************************

*************************************************************************

Probably caused by : csrss.exe

 

Followup: MachineOwner

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[TehTotalPwnage]

Remove the NVIDIA drivers and run it temporarily without them. It should default to Microsoft' display drivers. Let me know if you encounter BSODs without the NVIDIA drivers.

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Yes I am. I was getting BSOD's before even trying to install the Nvidia drivers.

[tmlhalo]

Try installing all the Asus specific drivers from the support page on the laptop before installing other updates. At minimum the ones related to chipset and storage.

[IsaiahKitaeff]

I've downloaded all the drivers, and keep having BSODs while trying to install them. I eventually got them all installed, still getting F4 blue screens

Possible dying HDD? Memory issues even though Memtest was clean?

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Now I seem to have gotten rid of all the BSODs from working with the registry, drivers, updates, etc. But now I have a serious hang on the Windows logon screen. I've been starting at the Windows icon doing a little breathing effect for 20 minutes now.

 

Any idea on how to fix this? Windows recommends doing a seemingly useless system repair that accomplishes nothing.

[tmlhalo]

From your original post, you said you changed the hdd to a 1 tb one? Did you install that recently and that is why you are re installing Windows now or was there already a working OS on the new 1tb drive and this was a just because re install? You can error check the hard drive by going to computer, right clicking on the drive in question, proprieties, tools, and run error checking. This will check for damaged sectors. If you can't get back into Windows at all, you can try it with the installation media. Will provide a link.

 

https://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=6565

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Thanks for response,

 

I replaced the HDD and had Win8 installed, but used Darik's Boot and Nuke to clean it, and install Win7. So it has had an OS on it before and has been formatted three times.

I've run chkdsk on it a few times, and never had any "bad sectors" or errors. Which is strange, as this sounds like a failing HDD possibly, correct?

 

As of now, I really can't log in reliably because of these hanging issues on the Windows screen. That's what I really need to fix right now.

[tmlhalo]

So It has had Windows 8 on it before, but never Windows 7? As of right now it does sound like an issue with the hard drive because of the "STOP: 0x000000F4 error". Though just to be safe and possibly save you money I wouldn't rule out other problems and trouble shooting just yet. Some motherboards have some special features related to using Windows 8 (usually related to boot or power management), and I would make sure to clear the BIOS in case any of those still happen to be enabled. You could also try updating the BIOS via another computer and a USB stick if that doesn't work. Lastly for troubleshooting maybe grab a Linux distro (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 64 bit is fairly easy to install and close to Windows). The idea there would be if the Linux Distro is installing, booting, then running fine for 3+ hours then it is back to software related problems. At that point it could be something as the OS image you're installing from is possibly bad. (got corrupted on usb, cd scratch, etc)

[IsaiahKitaeff]

I'm sorry, I might not have been completely clear; this notebook is made to be used with Win7 Home, I have installed Win7 Pro on a new HDD after removing Win8 from the same HDD.

The BIOS is the most recent version, thankfully I don't have to flash it. (A little scared to try honestly haha)

I booted from Hiren's Boot CD into a VM of Windows XP and didn't have any crashes or anything, so I think you are right about it being driver/software related.

 

I'm currently installing every tiny little driver that I may need, such as card readers and audio drivers from the ASUS website. If this doesn't work would my next bet be replacing the HDD?

 

EDIT: Also, as for the installation media being corrupt, I have tried this with three different Windows installation media, sadly

[tmlhalo]

The only last couple things I'd try is clearing any settings in the BIOS that could be effecting the HDD. Like some energy saving feature that is causing the drive to not get enough power. Especially if you did an upgrade from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm. If you do manage to get Window's to boot to desktop i'd try some of the maintenance suites for troubleshooting drivers more extensively. Check eventviewer for possible errors. Driver troubleshooting is kinda out of my range of experience. Though I don't mind sticking around to contribute whatever 2 cents I can add for driver troubleshooting. Though if we can't find a fixable driver issue, worst case scenario is grab a HDD before the seasonal sales end.  

[TrueWhiteWolf]

Yes I am. I was getting BSOD's before even trying to install the Nvidia drivers.

 

try running in low resolution mode it will set it to be the standard vga adapter that should come as a built in thing also safe mode is another good alternative 

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

I've tried seemingly everything, and have eliminated all issues besides the very long hangups on the Windows logon screen. I'm getting a several minute wait-time. However, once I actually get to the desktop everything is running fine.

I've been googling for hours and simply can't find a solid solution. But this points away from any hardware issues correct? Even so, I still have no idea what is causing it.

 

EDIT: I just timed it twice, and got an average time of six minutes from pressing the power button to seeing the desktop. It's so strange. Any ideas?

[tmlhalo]

Since you can get into the desktop, can you hit start then type event viewer? It should pull up a UI with the middle box listing "Critical, Error, Warning...". Mainly looking for interesting ones that appear in the last hour (Restart the machine if it didn't boot up in the last hour so the problems are reported in that column).

I know the free version of System Mechanic will find data conflicts inside of Windows. As well as any registry problems.

Last thing I can think of at the moment is the hard drive is experiencing some fault on reading. It isn't completely broken thus it shows up in BIOS and allows the writes / installing the OS to work normally. Something like CrystalDisk will show more enough about drive health. But if this doesn't give any insight, we do know everything else is fine since you ran a live CD and a VM of Windows XP. The optical drive is on the SATA bus so we know the bus itself is fine and this is all pointing back to the hard drive if we can't find anything software related. 

[IsaiahKitaeff]

I've been working on analyzing the Event Viewer and obviously am having a few Errors, no Criticals however as I have fixed the BSOD problems. I'm trying to deduce exactly what causes these, thanks for pointing that out.

 

I agree that it still points to HDD problems, but it just doesn't make sense; the HDD is less than a year old and has only been wiped three times, and had two OS's installed. Strange, right?

I will run a couple more programs to test the health of the drive, but everything so far is saying it's perfectly healthy.

 

Registry has been cleaned, Virus scans run, but It's still taking four minutes to boot to the desktop. Any more ideas, anyone?

[tmlhalo]

Yeah, it is acting very odd. Some stuff is pointing to software while some stuff is pointing to the hard drive. At this point it might be worth pulling the drive and seeing if the desktop (or other computer) experiences similar issues when booting from it. If you still have the old hard drive with all its information still on it, you might consider cloning it to the larger drive. That would ensure the data itself on the drive is correct and was booting fine from previous use. If the old data on the new drive or the drive works on the other machine that could indicate a problem with that specific SATA port on the bus in the laptop.

You also did reset the BIOS or anything related to the SATA controller back to defaults already too?

As a worse case scenario of not being able to find anything, is the laptop still in warranty?

[vlkn´]

The 1Tb hdd is the problem here(defective, not supported), does your notebook even support that size?

Replace the hdd.

[IsaiahKitaeff]

I have tried resetting the BIOS settings to default, didn't seem to help.
 
As for the notebook not supporting a 1TB drive,I never even thought of that, it just seems like it would be so strange for it not to. According to this link it seems like it should support a single 1TB drive?
http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G73SW/specifications/
If you scroll down to the very bottom and read the #1 asterisk point, it says this: *1 : dual HDD support up to 1.5TB / Solid State Hybrid drive up to 1TB.
 
 
Does that mean 750gb is the max for a single HDD? Only an SSD could be up to 1TB? If so, would I even be getting this type of problem?

[vlkn´]

I have tried resetting the BIOS settings to default, didn't seem to help.

 

As for the notebook not supporting a 1TB drive,I never even thought of that, it just seems like it would be so strange for it not to. According to this link it seems like it should support a single 1TB drive?

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/G73SW/specifications/

If you scroll down to the very bottom and read the #1 asterisk point, it says this: *1 : dual HDD support up to 1.5TB / Solid State Hybrid drive up to 1TB.

 

 

Does that mean 750gb is the max for a single HDD? Only an SSD could be up to 1TB? If so, would I even be getting this type of problem?

yes 750GB  @7200rpm is the max per drive and a max of 1gb ssd/hybrid hdd, this is a hdd combined with a built in sdd.

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Wow, could this really be causing my problems?

 

Currently it is just: Four minute "hang" on the Windows screen on startup and Tons of Errors when Installing Windows updates.

[vlkn´]

Wow, could this really be causing my problems?

 

Currently it is just: Four minute "hang" on the Windows screen on startup and Tons of Errors when Installing Windows updates.

yeah, even a unsupported cd drive can cause the windows installation to last 4 hours +

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Do you think that these miscellaneous problems would disappear if I replaced it with a 750gb 7200rpm drive?

[vlkn´]

Yes, asus wrote 750GB per channel.

It should fix the problem

 

Edit: Sell the 1tb hdd

[IsaiahKitaeff]

Thanks for pointing this out, I can't believe I didn't notice earlier.

 

I'll go purchase a 750gb and try it, thanks again.

[vlkn´]

Thanks for pointing this out, I can't believe I didn't notice earlier.

 

I'll go purchase a 750gb and try it, thanks again.

No problem, and good luck