Looping BSOD and restarts

AfterDusk

Hi all,

Wondering if I could get some urgent help. Major problem with my laptop atm (Dell Insp 1545, Win 7 x64) and I need it for work. Over the last couple of days, I'd been having trouble with random programs not responding, mostly Firefox (only since it updated the other day). Well, today it led to a BSOD, followed by another and another - it loops like that. When it restarts it goes through a phase of 'Windows Explorer has stopped working', 'Windows Explorer is restarting', only for that process to go on and on until the Blue Screen appears. It never appears long enough for me to read anything about the error

It works fine if I start it in 'Safe Mode', but if I run it in 'Safe Mode with Networking' it doesn't and I get another Blue Screen. To be safe I'm using IE (never thought I'd say that!) on my desktop at the minute, just in case it is related to this. I have the laptop running in safe mode and I'm backing up everything on it just in case.

Could it be a trojan/virus, or something less sinister? If it is a virus, is there a way to remove it without harming my other files or doing a fresh install of Win7?

PS. Mods - If this is not in the right forum, please move it on.

Thanks in advance,

Neil

ressem

Could be malware.
Running hijack this (http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/) to produce a log of suspect software would help.

Unlikely to be firefox (that's been patched already to 3.6.2 if you ran the latest updates, Wednesday I think?)

Could also be malfunctioning windows explorer plugins (all the plugins that bring up context menus when you right click, create different thumbnails etc).

If you use Safe mode, is there anything in the windows event logs?
Failing that can you look for a (most recent) minidump file from
c:\windows\minidump\minidump.dmp

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263

They can be used to get an idea of where the fail occurred. You can post it up here if you don't have another PC able to run the debugger and download the symbols to help read the file.

AfterDusk

Thanks for your reply. I can't run hijack this in safe mode and I can't run in anything other than safe mode so basically, that's no help . In fact the laptop is just restarting now after another bsod, this time in safe mode. Any other advice? (I don't really understand how to read the minidump)

Thanks for the help

Neil

AfterDusk

Ok, update. My desktop (also Win7 x64) has also just had a BSOD. I understand that they may not be related, but I'm extremely worried now. If they are related, would it have something to do with an update? (Windows Update will install updates at my next restart/shut down) Or could it be because I've copied some flies onto the desktop as back up??

Please help!!

Thanks

Neil

AfterDusk

Another update - It's now saying (on the black 'boot' screen) it's 'Memory write/read' issue. So does this mean it's RAM related, and if so, how do i get it fixed.

Capt'n Midnight

If it's a Dell then you should be able to run the diagnostics during startup
F10 or something on the menu BEFORE windows

if it doesn't get as far as "press F2 for setup" then it's fairly sick , check for ABCD Led's on the back - some models have them.

If memory is faulty then it needs to be replaced.
If you have several DIMM's then maybe only one is faulty.

If in warrany call Dell - else http://www.shop4memory.com will tell you what type of memory your PC needs and you can use their prices as a guide if you want to look for cheaper ram elsewhere


Note: to be sure it's a real memory problem and not just malware crashing windows, turn off the computer and unplug from the mains and then press the on.off for a few seconds, then try to get into the diags menu,

AfterDusk

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

If it's a Dell then you should be able to run the diagnostics during startup
F10 or something on the menu BEFORE windows

if it doesn't get as far as "press F2 for setup" then it's fairly sick , check for ABCD Led's on the back - some models have them.

If memory is faulty then it needs to be replaced.
If you have several DIMM's then maybe only one is faulty.

If in warrany call Dell - else http://www.shop4memory.com will tell you what type of memory your PC needs and you can use their prices as a guide if you want to look for cheaper ram elsewhere


Note: to be sure it's a real memory problem and not just malware crashing windows, turn off the computer and unplug from the mains and then press the on.off for a few seconds, then try to get into the diags menu,

Hi and thanks for the response. I can no longer access the diagnostics screen. It's been slowly but surely deteriorating all day, which is very strange. I get the 'DELL Inspiron' Screen (where it says press F2, etc) but if I press any of the buttons, or even leave it for Windows to load, I get the "Memory write/read failure" (I can't remember the rest of the line after that, and I'm damned if I'll turn it on again tonight! I've had enough for one day) and then after that sentence, its says "Memory decreasing". So I can't even load Windows or diagnostics anymore.

EDIT: It is in warranty, and I plan on calling them on Monday when the line is open again.....

Regards

Neil

AfterDusk

Was on to DELL earlier and they got me to open it up (I didn't want to do this without them saying so, thinking it would invalidate the warranty). Anyway it was a faulty RAM stick (the 2GB one of course), so now I'm on 1Gig till they send out the new one. Although when I got it working again I ran an avast scan, which found a trojan.... Is it possible that could have caused it or is it merely coincidence?

Thanks for all the help anyway,

Neil