BSOD DPC Watchdog Violation on both Win8 and 10, no Dump File

I'd like to start off by saying that I've had this error since I bought this laptop. Should I have returned it as soon as I realized it crashed randomly? Yes. Did I? No, because I was dumb.

Anywho, it's almost two years old, and I decided I might as well take another go at fixing it. I say another because I already tried once but then got tired of trying. I actually originally asked for help on eightforums when I still had Windows 8. Here's the original thread:

Repeating BSOD DPC Watchdog Violation - Page 2

I'll reiterate the problem here.

I receive a DPC Watchdog Violation BSOD randomly. I have gotten these BSODs over the past couple of years, and I've gotten pretty used to them. They appear without any pattern. Sometimes upon startup, sometimes when I'm browsing the internet, sometimes when I'm doing nothing at all. I'm pretty certain it crashes during sleep too, as I know I put the computer to sleep during the night time, but when I turn it on in the morning, it boots up from a shut down state.

From the previous post, you can see that I updated all my drivers (the most common reason for this BSOD) but the crashes continued. I keep my drivers up to date anyways out of habit. The biggest problem with this BSOD for me is that no dump file is created. When the BSOD appears, it tells me to wait for some info to be collected, but the percentage hangs at 0% forever.

One of the suggested solutions I found online was simply to reinstall Windows 8 - unfortunately, my computer came with it pre-installed, and I didn't have a CD to reinstall it. I didn't want to lose all my files so I never did this. However, the Windows 10 upgrade has arrived, and so I thought with a fresh operating system, maybe the problem will go away. It didn't. (Though my computer runs significantly better on 10)

With that out of the way, I was basically left with the conclusion that the problem must be in the hardware. The last few posts from the eightforums thread actually suggested to do some hardware testing, but I never got around to it... Until the past few days.

I ran SeaTools Long Test on my hard drive. Passed without error. I ran Memtest86 on my RAM, and voila - 2 errors on the second pass. I was never happier to see errors in my life. At least now I knew where the problem was.

My laptop (Dell Inspiron 3537) has 6GB of RAM, split into two sticks, one with 2GB, one with 4GB. Optimistically, I took out the 2GB stick hoping that the problem was with that stick. I was right, and Memtest ran 3 passes without errors. Funnily enough (who knows maybe its a placebo), but I'm pretty sure my computer is running faster now with 4GB than it was with 6GB. So I was confident that I found the problem. (this was about an hour ago)

And then it crashed again. Just like always. Woo.

So recap:

• DPC Watchdog Violation
• No dump file
• Both Win8 and Win10
• No problem with Hard Drive
• No problem with RAM (after taking out 2gb stick)
• All drivers updated

Honestly, I'm considering just getting a new laptop, but it would really be a shame, because aside from the crashes, this laptop works perfectly fine. If anyone can help out, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks so much (:
Rneogy

EDIT: Uploaded the zip thing. Attachment 33275

Unfortunately, you have no dump files, which are what we usually go by to determine the cause. Pleas make sure your computer is configured for Small Memory Dumps https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/5...dows-10-a.html. After doing that, please go to C:/Windows and make sure there is a file there named Minidump, if not, create one.

Next please right click on the start icon and select Command prompt administrator, give admin permissions and copy/paste this into the window that opens and press enter sfc /scannow . If you decide to type it in, please notice the space between the sfc and the /. We want it to say no integrity violations were found. If it says there where corrupt files that could not be repaired, please reboot and run it again. You may have to run it 3 times with reboots in between each time.

Also, I know you have run it before, but please take the time to run it again. It needs a minimum of 8 complete passes run in the same session to completely test the ram.

Please Run Memtest86+

   Information

Please download from this site only http://www.memtest.org/ in the middle of the page are the Download links, you can download the ISO.zip or the Auto USB Flash Drive installer.zip

Extract the Zip file. If you chose the ISO image, burn it to a CD using Windows Disk Image Burner or any Image burner you may have. If you downloaded the Auto USB installer, extract it, insert your USB 2.0 Flash Drive and take note of the drive letter. Run the installer, select the Flash Drive Letter, check the format box and press next. It will install memtest86+ to a flash drive. You can use either V4.20 or V5.01. Boot from your selected media. If you use V5.01 it will tell you to press certain buttons at the start, please press no buttons. The test will begin on it's own and continue to run until you stop it. It needs to run for 8 complete passes or until you receive an error. If you receive an error, stop the test. Even 1 error is a fail. Each pass tests a different part of the ram and each of the 10 tests in each pass tests something different. It takes a minimum of 8 passes to completely test the ram, more passes are better. It is quite a long test and will take several hours depending on how much ram you have. Due to the time length it is best to run overnight. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

.

EDIT: Looks like I was using Memtest86 (from PassMark). I'll get the one you linked me to.

Good job, The one I linked to is the best one and probably the most accurate. The test for 4 GB of ram should take around 4-6 hours. That's just a guess. It takes about 10 hours for 8 GB and around 20-21 hours for 16 GB. If it runs more than 8 passes, that is better. If you get an error, just stop the test. Even 1 error is a fail. No need in running more, although it will not hurt anything if you do. It is just not necessary.

A dump is supposed to write everything to ram and then the ram dumps it to the hard drive. You can try running start up repair, https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2...dows-10-a.html. You may have to run it 3 times with attempted boots in between each time.

I ran the sfc scan 3 times with reboots in between, but it still says that there are corrupted files. What do I do now?

EDIT: I also attempted to run MemTest86+, but now I remember why I went with MemTest86 and not MemTest86+. For some reason, MemTest86+ isn't working on my computer. When I try to boot from the USB, it says that the drive is not found. I know this isn't really a problem with my computers ability to boot from USBs, because MemTest86 worked fine from my USB. What do you suggest I do? Unfortunately this means I won't be able to run the RAM tests tonight.

EDIT 2: I even tried booting from a DVD. Unfortunately, I ran into another block in this path. My computer doesn't seem to be able to burn to DVDs successfully, as it runs into an error (error 0x80004005). I don't really care about this; I don't burn DVDs often anyways. Point is, MemTest86+ isn't booting.

EDIT 3: My computer just crashed, and it did the same as always. Froze at 0% on the BSOD when trying to collect error information. I manually turned it off by holding the power button. Afterwards, I checked the Minidump folder, and there were no files there.

Thanks

Hi Rneogy,

I'm sorry for the delay.
I don't know much about MemTest86+, @essenbe is the person to be for that.
Please run the tool again and upload the zip file, I'm aware of the dump problem.
Please perform sfc/scannow in admin command prompt, reboot and try it again.
If the message is not "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violation" please upload the cbs.log file, the file can be found at {windows partition}\Windows\Logs\CBS\. If the file is too large try a 3rd party uploader like dropbox, onedrive, google drive, mediafire etc.

Renogy, When you download memtest86+, you can download the ISO Zip file or you can download the pre configured USB installer. It will install it to a USB drive. We use it all the time and have never had a problem with it. It is a much better test than memtest86. If this will help, these are the instructions I usually give for memtest86+.

Please Run Memtest86+

   Information

Please download from this site only http://www.memtest.org/ in the middle of the page are the Download links, you can download the ISO.zip or the Auto USB Flash Drive installer.zip

Extract the Zip file. If you chose the ISO image, burn it to a CD using Windows Disk Image Burner or any Image burner you may have. If you downloaded the Auto USB installer, extract it, insert your USB 2.0 Flash Drive and take note of the drive letter. Run the installer, select the Flash Drive Letter, check the format box and press next. It will install memtest86+ to a flash drive. You can use either V4.20 or V5.01. Boot from your selected media. If you use V5.01 it will tell you to press certain buttons at the start, please press no buttons. The test will begin on it's own and continue to run until you stop it. It needs to run for 8 complete passes or until you receive an error. If you receive an error, stop the test. Even 1 error is a fail. Each pass tests a different part of the ram and each of the 10 tests in each pass tests something different. It takes a minimum of 8 passes to completely test the ram, more passes are better. It is quite a long test and will take several hours depending on how much ram you have. Due to the time length it is best to run overnight. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask