BSOD Critical Process Died constantly -> Reinstall Win10 -> BSOD

Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI LGA1151 ATX Motherboard
Intel 6th Gen Core i5 6600K 3.5GHz 91W HD 530 6MB Quad Core CPU
Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) 2400MHz Memory Kit
Palit Geforce GTX 970 Jetstream 4GB GDDR5 Graphics Card
be quiet Pure Power L8 Modular 730W PSU, 80+ Bronze
Samsung SM951 256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
WD WD60EFRX Red 6TB 3.5in Hard Disk Drive - purchased with PC build
Hitachi Deskstar 7K4000 (HDS724040ALE640) - added to my build from old pc
Hitachi Deskstar T7K500 HDT725050VLA360 - empty HD, plugged in earlier as last resort for a clean install of Windows 10.
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit


Hi,

Since August last year I started having problems with BSOD Critical Process Died crashes, these are only fixed by a complete re-install of Windows 10 but after several months the problems start again.

I only use my PC as a media pc, the only game I play is vanilla World of Warcraft on a private server.

The basic pattern is my PC will start crashing with BSOD Critical Process Died, these crashes start off infrequently but get more and more regular.

After a period of time of experiencing these crashes my PC will say "no disk drive found" during the boot up, I then have to go into the BIOS and set my SSD as the boot drive. Sometimes it takes several attempts at booting up for the SSD to even be listed in the BIOS.

When I finally get to Windows 10 login, it takes several attempts to get a stable login without crashing. I haven't turned my PC off for the last week because I don't want to go through the whole lottery of multiple attempts to get a stable login.

The last time I reinstalled was June, so it hasn't taken long for the BSOD Critical Process Died to re-appear. I don't want to keep reinstalling either.

SSD and/or HDD may be failing. "critical process died" usually indicates that there is a problem with a hard drive.

On HDD, run SeaTools for DOS, LONG test -
Info if needed - SeaTools for DOS tutorial | Seagate Support US
SeaTools app - SeaTools for DOS | Seagate

SSD - check for firmware upgrade - SSD Tools & Software | Download | Samsung V-NAND SSD | Samsung Semiconductor Global Website
- run Samsung diagnostic test - same link

If you happen to have another SSD lying around (or even an HDD), swap it out with the current one in the system and reinstall Windows; see if system stabilizes. Doing the swap will either prove or disprove that the SSD is the culprit here.

Yeah, I just had to drive to work to get my laptop as my pc isn't stable enough to successfully create a USB installer

I'm going to install Windows 10 on the old Hitachi listed above

If the SSD is bad how come I get a period of time that is stable after a reinstall?

Famasfilms said:

If the SSD is bad how come I get a period of time that is stable after a reinstall?

I wish that I had a definite answer to that question for you, but all that I can offer you is a theory based on processing crash dumps for 30 years now.

What could be happening is that after you install a fresh copy of Windows, all or at least most of the Windows modules are in good shape. Then as you use the system day after day, file degradation/corruption begins to occur and set in.

Your system is constantly performing SSD/HDD/RAM activities like paging, where kernel data from the SSD is loaded into RAM (all programs/apps must be loaded into RAM before the CPU will execute), then when the program/app is over or user-shutdown occurs (you close the app), the app is then unloaded from RAM and is written back to the SSD. This process repeats itself every second that your system is powered on.

As time goes on and you get farther away from the date of the fresh Windows install, these potential corruptions build up until they get to a point where they render your system useless and/or programs/apps begin to hang, then ultimately crash; then the Blue Screens hit.

So, in my opinion, assuming that the SSD is bad/failing, every time that data is transferred from the SSD and loaded into RAM or unloaded from RAM and written back to the SSD, there is a chance that file corruption occurs.

Famasfilms said:

After a period of time of experiencing these crashes my PC will say "no disk drive found" during the boot up, I then have to go into the BIOS and set my SSD as the boot drive. Sometimes it takes several attempts at booting up for the SSD to even be listed in the BIOS.

When I finally get to Windows 10 login, it takes several attempts to get a stable login without crashing.
<snip>

The last time I reinstalled was June, so it hasn't taken long for the BSOD Critical Process Died to re-appear. I don't want to keep reinstalling either.

That information from your first post (in addition to your statement "...BSOD Critical Process Died crashes") was enough for me to focus on your Windows boot drive. Then you have the ultimate problem when Windows can't even find the hard drive containing the OS to boot your system from. That is a definite indication of hard drive failure. I don't know what else could cause that to happen unless there is a serious problem with your PSU or motherboard.

Ok thanks

I've installed Windows 10 on that ancient Hitachi HD, it's slow but will do until I can order a new SSD

I couldn't update the SSD firmware because the 951 is an oem version, so far haven't found a way to do it.

I've tried installing win 10 again on the ssd but it fails after the first reboot

Famasfilms said:

I couldn't update the SSD firmware because the 951 is an oem version, so far haven't found a way to do it.

I am not a hardware expert at all. My hardware experience over the last few decades - install a stick of RAM and replace an HDD.

But I have never heard of someone not being able to update firmware because the drive is an OEM version. Perhaps this is something new.

Famasfilms said:

I've tried installing win 10 again on the ssd but it fails after the first reboot

As I said in my last post, unless we're dealing with other issues like PSU, motherboard - it is your SSD that is failing.

Yep and I'll replace it asap, just trying to get a stable desktop until then

Has the system with the SATA HDD been stable so far?

ranchomirage said:

Has the system with the SATA HDD been stable so far?

Hey thanks for checking in, yes it was stable but prone to the occasional stutter probably due to age of HD.

I replaced the SSD with a 970 Evo Plus, and everything is working great so far

That is great news!

Be sure to check for SSD firmware updates. Lack of can cause BSODs.