Screen flashes black and then goes back to normal (dwm.exe)

Handler · 16 Apr 2016

Hello!

This just started happening Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. I haven't installed anything in that time frame. Right after the event happens I look in the event log for applications and see this :

In chronological order this is first

Faulting application name: dwm.exe, version: 10.0.10586.0, time stamp: 0x5632d756Faulting module name: dwmcore.dll, version: 10.0.10586.212, time stamp: 0x56fa2126
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x0000000000079d75
Faulting process id: 0x1f2c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d1984019c3391c
Faulting application path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\dwm.exe
Faulting module path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\dwmcore.dll
Report Id: 89f54fce-0d1a-4dac-a106-69d21a8b9207
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

Ten seconds later this

Fault bucket , type 0Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: dwm.exe
P2: 10.0.10586.0
P3: 5632d756
P4: dwmcore.dll
P5: 10.0.10586.212
P6: 56fa2126
P7: c0000005
P8: 0000000000079d75
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
C:\Windows\Temp\WERB797.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\Windows\Temp\WERB7A7.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443c0 e867_3cb49cc2_cab_1e06b7b5\memory.hdmp
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443c0 e867_3cb49cc2_cab_1e06b7b5\triagedump.dmp

These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443c0 e867_3cb49cc2_cab_1e06b7b5

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 89f54fce-0d1a-4dac-a106-69d21a8b9207
Report Status: 4
Hashed bucket:

And one second this

Fault bucket 120452809501, type 4Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: dwm.exe
P2: 10.0.10586.0
P3: 5632d756
P4: dwmcore.dll
P5: 10.0.10586.212
P6: 56fa2126
P7: c0000005
P8: 0000000000079d75
P9:
P10:

Attached files:
C:\Windows\Temp\WERB797.tmp.appcompat.txt
C:\Windows\Temp\WERB7A7.tmp.WERInternalMetadata.xml
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443c0 e867_3cb49cc2_cab_1e06b7b5\memory.hdmp
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportQueue\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443c0 e867_3cb49cc2_cab_1e06b7b5\triagedump.dmp

These files may be available here:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\WER\ReportArchive\AppCrash_dwm.exe_31b27b4cf7c24654bf9bf22b37fca443 c0e867_3cb49cc2_2342cad0

Analysis symbol:
Rechecking for solution: 0
Report Id: 89f54fce-0d1a-4dac-a106-69d21a8b9207
Report Status: 0
Hashed bucket: f06ad5ec4db696fbc9b11815fc9879b3

I've ran a sfc /scannow which came back with some minor errors but none related to this. Also ran Malwarebytes which came back clean. And anti-virus is clean. The only thing I haven't done yet is stick in the Win10 install DVD and choose repair. I wanted to see if there was a simpler solution.

Thanks for any help and if you need more info just ask and I'll provide it!

Dave

dalchina · 17 Apr 2016

Hi, try an in-place repair install, it's a very useful feature.
Precede it with this in case sthg has happened to your file system:

Windows key + X, click command prompt (admin)
chkdsk C: /F
Make sure the result is clear or fixed.

An In-place upgrade repair install will fix many things, but not those where the settings are not changed by the procedure.

For this you need an installation medium with the same base build as you have installed.

Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade - Windows 10 Forums

This will refresh Windows, after the manner of a Windows installation.
- all/most associations will be unchanged
- all your programs will be left installed
- you will lose any custom fonts
- you will lose any customised system icons
- you may need to re-establish your Wi-Fi connection
- you will need to redo Windows updates subsequent to the build you have used for the repair install
- Windows.old will be created
- system restore will be turned off- you should turn it on again and I recommend you manually schedule a daily restore point.
- you will need to redo any language downloads including the display language if you changed that)

This is one of the better features of Win10: as each major build comes out, that's your updated reference build, and as updates are mostly cumulative, there will be few to do.

Recommendation:
Before you perform this major repair procedure, do create a disk image.

Please consider using disk imaging regularly. It's a brilliant way to
- preserve your system (and your sanity)
- back up your data
- restore your system to a previously working state in a relatively short time

Recommended: Macrium Reflect or Aomei Backupper (free) + their boot disk/device + large enough external storage medium.

Handler · 17 Apr 2016

@dalchina thanks for the heads up!

By the time you responded I had looked at the repair options and I saw what you where explaining in there. Wasn't to sure how it worked but if I loose nothing and the only thing is I have to redo a few setting and fonts .. so be it!

As far as imaging goes .. I don't have any place to put the image when it's being created.. =( I have quite a bit of free disk space should I create a partition and put the image there?? I'm not sure how big the image will be either. I agree that would be the way to go! Software? I've used Conezilla a handful of times and I know that does imaging but I've mainly used to do metal to metal copies of HDD's,. Let me know more about this imaging if you would!

Thanks for responding!

bro67 · 18 Apr 2016

Ugh, that error. This has been around since Windows 7. It is an odd error, because it only affects certain GPU chipsets, drivers and ACPI drivers.

I do not know if Microsoft has a hotfix for 10. Thry do have one for 10.

It is more common on systems that use the NVidia GPU chipset.

dalchina · 18 Apr 2016

Hi, thanks bro67. Any ideas as to why it might have started to happen, where it didn't happen before?
Driver update? Coincidence?
@Handler - could you complete your system specs please?

Note that with the in-place upgrade repair install your Windows (and drivers) will be reinstalled. Suggest proceeding with that, as your PC was working, then investigate the issue further if unlucky- hopefully bro67 has ideas on that.

Imaging:
Can be done over a network or to an external disk, and of course to another partition.
However the usual point of imaging is to create it on a physically separate medium - so it's a backup.
Imaging allows you, for example, to replace your imaged disk - e.g. if it fails.

Macrium and Aomei - and several others- create a base image (largest) and then allow you to create images of the changes (smaller, faster) so you have a set of images - you can restore from any of the dates.

bro67 · 18 Apr 2016

It started back when Windows 7 had issues with certain NVidia drivrs.

As for imagining. I use Clonezill to do drive images. It will not let you expand or shrink partitions, without using GParted.

I use a Lenov ix2-4 as my NAS storage. All backups are done through NFS folders.

dalchina · 18 Apr 2016

...sorry... meant on this particular system, assuming it had been ok for some time with Win 10..

Handler · 18 Apr 2016

@dalchina sure .. here it is!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...PC%20specs.txt

BTW I have an older NAS, its only about 320GB. I probably would have to clear some stuff off of it since I have got garbage on it since Jesus walked the earth! Really going to have to investigate this.

Samsung User · 18 Apr 2016

Hi have you tried a SFC /Scannow
Command Prompt (Admin)
My friend this weekend had the same trouble
Did the above it found a fixed a corrupt file
Seems to be ok now been running for 24 hours and no flashes or black screen

dalchina · 18 Apr 2016

@Handler: SFC /Scannow is worth a shot.. it'll take a while to run. Does nothing with drivers, but detects and attempts to repair system files.

Please post back with the result; also look thru the CBS.log file and if the ONLY corrupt file reported is OPENCL.DLL you can ignore that, noting you have a NVIDIA GeForce GT 430. (I think MS has fixed that problem of erroneously reporting that though).