How can I troubleshoot this BSOD?

L31mr0d

Ok i'm getting this very unclear BSOD... its utterly sporadic, I can go days without it happening and then get it a few days in a row. It will happen when i'm browsing webpages or playing a game or not even at my computer.

The BSOD message is just:

*** Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
*** The system has halted ***

There is nothing in event viewer about this error.

I've ran memtest without issue

I've ran a CPU stress test overnight without issue.

I've DBAN'd all my HDD's to check for bad sectors without issue (had to reinstall my OS)

I've installed SP1 for Vista

.... and its still happening :mad:

It has me stumped.

My last option is that its my PSU. It has only started happening since I installed 2 x 1TB drives. Is there any way to test if it is my PSU?

NeoRox

I got the same message the other day on a Dell, turned out to be a faulty hard drive. I know you used dban on the drive but try the manufacturers utility on the drive just to make sure.

p2kone

graphics card?

Capt'n Midnight

PSU's tend to be dumb. If there is a voltage probem it's unlikely to give the exact same message.

did it list any other informations ?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315223
This behavior can occur if a hardware component malfunctions, or if there are damaged or incompatible drivers installed.

install any drivers recently ?

check if there is a later BIOS for your PC and what it fixes in case that's the problem

might be memory
use the manu diags on the hard drive
might have to run over night to be on the safe side

PS. hdtune is a lot less drastic than dban
see if any smart reports

L31mr0d

ahh :mad: it's come back again.

I'd narrowed it down to the fact that it would only happen when I had a HDD attached, so I disconnected it and the BSOD stopped, so I'm getting that drive replaced. But now all of a sudden, a week later its happening again, with a fresh reinstall of Vista???

I'm at a loss trying to figure out what the problem is, i've tested everything fully without issue, and to make things worse the "Event Viewer" is of no help as the PC just BSOD's without warning. The only thing in Vista to acknowledge it happened is this:

"The previous system shutdown at 14:23:17 on 17/03/2008 was unexpected."



I thought I had figured it out yesterday, as it only seemed to happen when I enabled Dreamscene wallpapers and was flicking through them. So I disabled dreamscene wallpapers and it went away for a day or so. But then just now I clicked back on a webpage and the system BSOD'd???

I can't even think what to test next?

Inquitus

I keep getting your system has halted to prevent any hardware damage, only getting in in the last 3 weeks or so since I installed SP1.

Everything works fine, gaming etc, just random BSOD dumps when surfing the web, using mirc etc

Painin the arse and I blame vista.

Inq

L31mr0d

yeah well I think I sourced the problem. I updated my BIOS and then decided to leave my system at stock clocks... haven't had an issue since.

Like you, I wasn't having these issues before I upgraded to SP1 as well :mad: I hadn't even realised that until you just said it there. Plus I've tested and retested everything at the overclocked settings and nothing, not one error.

SP1 mustn't like my overclocks.

I got this error a few times on my laptop and it turned out to be dodgy ATI display drivers. It also said "NMI: Memory Check/Memory Parity error." Dropped back to Catalyst 6.3 and had no issues at all. The latest ones seem to be fine too. Weird because I thought a parity error would always be a hardware problem.

L31mr0d

Karsini wrote: »

I got this error a few times on my laptop and it turned out to be dodgy ATI display drivers. It also said "NMI: Memory Check/Memory Parity error." Dropped back to Catalyst 6.3 and had no issues at all. The latest ones seem to be fine too. Weird because I thought a parity error would always be a hardware problem.

yeah I came across that error, but i'm not getting the "NMI" part of the BSOD. NMI errors usually mean memory errors and memory errors can be generated from the memory on your graphics card.