Multiple BSOD Stop Codes, System File Corruption, RAM Issues

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  1. Posts : 15
    Windows 10 Education
       #1

    Multiple BSOD Stop Codes, System File Corruption, RAM Issues


    So, I have a few different issues stacked on top of each other. Faulty RAM, old drivers, and system file corruption. BSODs directly related to what seems like all three.
    I've been lurking on tenforums for years, but these issues are out of my experience so I need help despite being a power user moderately familiar with PC maintenance.

    Sorry about the long post, I'm trying to get all the relevant information set out. I've formatted it to make it easier to read.
    Why haven't I fixed these earlier? I've also been dealing with health issues that had to come first. I didn't want to touch the PC issues by myself while stressed out everything else and the machine otherwise operates normally.
    I'm in Australia, but I am at my computer almost 24/7, most active between 8am - 12am GMT / 7pm - 11am AEDT / 3am - 7pm EST.
    Files all attached at end of post because it's a bit long.

    There seem to be two or three layers of problems:


    1. the RAM's faulty, or going bad, or something is wrong with the page file (?),
    2. my system files have corruption, but fixable corruption,
    3. outdated drivers (the classic problem, I know, I know),
    4. my SSD is nearly full (~50GB free of 932GB) and doesn't have much room to breathe.


    Am I correct that the system file corruption needs to be fixed first? What are the first steps?
    I've used WinDBG to analyse some of the dump files but am not sure how to interpret the results.

    System file corruption:

    - sfc /scannow fails with message "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.".
    - Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth fails at 3.8% with message "Error: 14098 The component store has been corrupted."
    (both are in elevated/admin CMD)

    I understand this can be fixed with a Windows USB ISO but don't know how to proceed.
    Both DISM and SFC have succeeded in the past, following previous BSODs. CHKDSK has successfully completed a couple times in 2022, but not for a few months.
    SSD health was good last time I checked (about 88% in CrystalDiskInfo).

    I ran Windows Memory Diagnostic and it found hardware errors. Pretty telling even without doing MemTest86, but I don't know if I can get replacements. I can't afford new sticks and have not yet contacted the store I purchased from about a replacement because I only ran the WMD test in late December. I may be out of warranty and ineligible for replacements.
    It's possible the RAM has been bad since the beginning but I didn't notice because I used to only leave the PC running for 8-12 hours at a time.

    I know this makes a difference but don't fully understand why: the PC has been plugged in and powered for over a year. It's plugged into a UPS/sine wave battery backup and has not been unplugged from that. The last time the UPS was fully drained and unplugged was during bad storms in mid 2022. The PC has been shut down/turned off many times.
    Windows

    Windows 10 version is Education (I got my key from TAFE, a university), 21H2 build 19044.1889.

    I have a pending major update, I believe it's 22H2. The update has been prompting to install since Nov/Dec but I've been continuously pausing it because I don't know if I should install it before fixing the system files.

    Other various updates (security, driver, etc) have installed without an issue, and very often right after a BSOD.
    Should I install the update? Will that repair the system files?
    Drivers, versions, overclocking, etc

    BIOS has never been updated. Version: 7C02v30 (11/07/2019), states E7C02AMS.350 in BIOS interface. I've read that if it's stable, you should leave it alone, is it a good idea to update in this case? Later versions have greater memory compatibility (relevant because my model of RAM is not on the QVL, but a very similar set is).

    GPU driver is 516.94 (9th August 2022). I've hesitated to update because I've read about a lot of instability for this card (1660S, Turing) on newer drivers, and for all of 2022 the recommended driver was 511.79 (14th Feb 2022). Windows updated the driver automatically in Aug-Oct 2022 and I have had nvlddmkm.sys show up in some BSOD dump files, pointing to the NVIDIA driver in those cases. That's consistent with what I've read because nvlddmkm has apparently been a consistent problem for a decent chunk of people, but have not rolled back the driver because Windows will just update it again.

    CPU is not overclocked, but had 'Game Boost' setting enabled, which does some sort of overclocking, turned on until about 23rd Dec. I turned it off when I realised what it did.

    RAM has A-XMP enabled but never had apparent stability issues until 2022. A-XMP is a recommended overclock for the model of RAM. I assume I should go turn this off shortly.
    BSODs

    I've been getting a variety of BSODs since about December 2021/January 2022 (first recorded one is 12/01/2022 but looking at my chat records I had one before it). They happen several times a month, sometimes more often (there are instances of two within a few hours of each other).

    I tend to leave my PC on, no sleep mode or fast startup, so the PC stays awake and just shuts off the monitors. This is because I'm usually actively working on things and frequently fall asleep without shutting down.
    I've begun restarting the PC about once every 24-48 hours and this seems to prevent some of the BSODs.

    I used to shut it down every night, which might have prevented them through 2020-2021 if the RAM's the problem. I've had the occasional BSOD since building the PC, but they've been more or less frequent over time, e.g recently. A few seem to have been very likely from bad driver or program updates, like in April 2022 when I suddenly got ten BSODs between 1st and 21st April, 5 in the first week and all of them 0x12B and 0x4E.


    These BSODs happen when I'm doing regular activities on the PC, and some have happened while I was elsewhere and it was idling (returning to a rebooted PC and a BugCheck log entry). I always have Firefox open, sometimes also Chrome, and generally have another program open, usually MS Word, Excel, Clip Studio Paint (an art program, not relevant to the issues), one of a few games that I play regularly, and sometimes Blender or GIMP.

    I disabled Firefox's disk caching out of concern for wear on the SSD (I have Firefox open about 90% of the time), which forces it to cache in the RAM. Should I set this back to default? I'm not sure if it's making the memory-related issues worse, but I'm getting suspicious.
    In all but one or two cases the PC has rebooted from the bugcheck looking none the worse for wear. It's only rebooted to a diskcheck once and happily finished that.

    Razer Central (for keypad) and Logitech G Hub (for mouse) are always running in the background. Steam isn't running unless a game is.
    The software for the lights and etc on the GPU and RAM, Mystic Light and iCue, do not run unless I open them to change the settings. They fight.
    Razer keypad and Wacom tablet (purposefully outdated driver because it's stable for my older model tablet) are always plugged in with drivers running.

    I never max out my CPU or RAM in day-to-day usage.
    I have Afterburner installed but do not normally run it, and only use it for the analytics (temp, etc). Haven't touched any of the overclocking-adjacent settings in that program, I don't overclock aside from the RAM XMP.

    List of BSODs/stop codes

    BSODS I've gotten:
    MEMORY_MANAGEMENT (0x1A)
    FAULTY_HARDWARE_CORRUPTED_PAGE) (0x12B) (fairly 'common')
    PFN_LIST_CORRUPT (0x4E)
    PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (0x50)
    BAD_POOL_CALLER (0xC2)
    CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION (0x109) (relatively recent)
    SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (0x7E)
    REFERENCE_BY_POINTER (0x18)
    KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR (0x7A)
    SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION (0x3B)
    KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE (0x139)
    The last 2 months of BSODs:
    3rd Feb (today, pfn_list_corrupt) (happened while I was writing the draft for this post),
    1st Feb (yesterday, critical_structure_corruption),
    27th Jan (memory_management),
    18th Jan (memory_management),
    8th Jan (bad_pool_caller),
    7th Jan, two (faulty_hardware_corrupted_page followed by memory_management 90 minutes later),

    29th Dec (bad_pool_caller),
    23rd Dec (system_thread_exception_not_handled),
    22nd Dec, two (faulty-hardware_corrupted_page and reference_by_pointer 14hrs later),
    15th Dec (kernel_data_inpage_error),
    14th Dec (faulty_hardware_corrupted_page),

    12th Dec (faulty_hardware_corrupted_page),
    8th Dec (memory_management),
    6th Dec (faulty_hardware_corrupted_page),
    25th Nov (critical_structure_corruption),
    23rd Nov (page_fault_in_nonpaged_area).



    Files
    Folder Link

    Latest DISM log
    (2nd Feb)
    Photo of BIOS (23rd Dec)
    Photo of Windows Memory Diagnostic (23rd Dec)

    Please let me know if you need anything else. The V2 Log Collector seems very thorough.

    I have 3 brand new blank 32GB USB sticks for fixing this (e.g for a Windows Installation media/ISO, MemTest86, etc), and also an external HDD I backup personal files to.
    Last edited by Nattle; 02 Feb 2023 at 11:54. Reason: Just fixing the line breaks for readability
      My Computer


  2. NTN
    Posts : 972
    W10 19045.2546
       #2

    "my SSD is nearly full (~50GB free of 932GB)"

    1. I think you should first try to shrink your space, it have to be some programs, files and stuff you could move to another drive....or some cleaning?....or uninstall some of it with Revo Uninstaller?
    Or else you are risking an error when updating the Windows.
    2. Try to do the pending update in Windows, it may also will fix the driver issues.

    If you are doing those two steps, the status may have changed...
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 15
    Windows 10 Education
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I just had another BSOD, memory_management again. Three in a couple days is unusual, let alone 2 within 12 hours. Here's the minidump file.
    This time it happened immediately after a youtube video finished playing in Firefox. This isn't the first time that's happened, as I've noticed that several of the previous BSODs occured either right after closing Firefox or finishing watching a video in Firefox.
    I re-enabled the Firefox disk cache just in case the browser caching to memory only is an issue.
    The minidump does seem to suggest Firefox caused this crash, but I'm not sure:

    PROCESS_NAME: firefox.exe
    --
    BUGCHECK_CODE: 1a
    BUGCHECK_P1: 41792
    BUGCHECK_P2: ffffef00e5f40e18
    BUGCHECK_P3: 8000000
    BUGCHECK_P4: 0
    --
    MODULE_NAME:
    hardware

    IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption

    STACK_COMMAND: .cxr; .ecxr ; kb

    FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: MEMORY_CORRUPTION_ONE_BIT



    NTN said:
    "my SSD is nearly full (~50GB free of 932GB)"

    1. I think you should first try to shrink your space, it have to be some programs, files and stuff you could move to another drive....or some cleaning?....or uninstall some of it with Revo Uninstaller?
    Or else you are risking an error when updating the Windows.
    2. Try to do the pending update in Windows, it may also will fix the driver issues.

    If you are doing those two steps, the status may have changed...
    Thank you for the reply!
    I have been cleaning it up. I've been looking at what else I can remove today, before the new BSOD.
    I want at least 150GB free at all times but most of what I have installed or sitting on the drive is important. I've been picking at things to remove for a while (I don't have any downloaded films, large amounts of music, etc...).
    About 300GB is a backup of personal files from a 12-year-old previous PC. I have them on my external HDD but hesitate to delete them from the PC until I get another HDD to back them up to/for general storage/installing large programs.

    I've read that SSDs should ideally have at least 10% of their space free so I've been trying to keep to that, but...
    I had actually cleared up ~90GB in September. The difference has filled up, and seems to be filled with temporary files.
    I haven't downloaded or installed anything new large enough to make a difference, and Settings -> Storage states 50GB of temp files, and that an enormous 42GB of it is Windows Updates.


    Is there a possibility that installing 22H2 with corrupt system files might make the issue worse, or does Windows Update replace/repair them as part of the update process?
    Could this low amount of free space be part of the problems causing the crashes?
    Last edited by Nattle; 02 Feb 2023 at 18:55. Reason: typo
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 890
    10 Pro/11 Pro Dual Boot
       #4

    Nattle said:
    I just had another BSOD, memory_management again. Three in a couple days is unusual, let alone 2 within 12 hours. Here's the minidump file.
    This time it happened immediately after a youtube video finished playing in Firefox. This isn't the first time that's happened, as I've noticed that several of the previous BSODs occured either right after closing Firefox or finishing watching a video in Firefox.
    I re-enabled the Firefox disk cache just in case the browser caching to memory only is an issue.
    The minidump does seem to suggest Firefox caused this crash, but I'm not sure:

    PROCESS_NAME: firefox.exe
    --
    BUGCHECK_CODE: 1a
    BUGCHECK_P1: 41792
    BUGCHECK_P2: ffffef00e5f40e18
    BUGCHECK_P3: 8000000
    BUGCHECK_P4: 0
    --
    MODULE_NAME:
    hardware

    IMAGE_NAME: memory_corruption

    STACK_COMMAND: .cxr; .ecxr ; kb

    FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: MEMORY_CORRUPTION_ONE_BIT





    Thank you for the reply!
    I have been cleaning it up. I've been looking at what else I can remove today, before the new BSOD.
    I want at least 150GB free at all times but most of what I have installed or sitting on the drive is important. I've been picking at things to remove for a while (I don't have any downloaded films, large amounts of music, etc...).
    About 300GB is a backup of personal files from a 12-year-old previous PC. I have them on my external HDD but hesitate to delete them from the PC until I get another HDD to back them up to/for general storage/installing large programs.

    I've read that SSDs should ideally have at least 10% of their space free so I've been trying to keep to that, but...
    I had actually cleared up ~90GB in September. The difference has filled up, and seems to be filled with temporary files.
    I haven't downloaded or installed anything new large enough to make a difference, and Settings -> Storage states 50GB of temp files, and that an enormous 42GB of it is Windows Updates.


    Is there a possibility that installing 22H2 with corrupt system files might make the issue worse, or does Windows Update replace/repair them as part of the update process?
    Could this low amount of free space be part of the problems causing the crashes?
    press windows key + r (run box) and type in cleanmgr
    choose c drive
    choose clean up system files
    choose c drive again
    check all the boxes (caution, will empty recycle bin if you use it)
    click ok

    p.s. windows is saying you have a hardware ram problem. (your image of the memory diagnostic)
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 15
    Windows 10 Education
    Thread Starter
       #5

    tomdsr said:
    press windows key + r (run box) and type in cleanmgr
    choose c drive
    choose clean up system files
    choose c drive again
    check all the boxes (caution, will empty recycle bin if you use it)
    click ok

    p.s. windows is saying you have a hardware ram problem. (your image of the memory diagnostic)
    Thanks! I ran it (keeping thumbnails as they are only 300MB and the error and memory dump files, 1.5GB) and it cleared up about 4GB of space, now 53GB free.
    I still have the 42GB of paused updates. Is it a bad idea to install them before fixing the corrupt system files? That's why they're paused.

    (There was a period around August where Windows Update consistently failed for a while but that was fixed either by my running chkdsk or an update, I don't remember)

    Ran SFC and DISM again just to double check, both unchanged:
    SFC: "Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation."
    DISM: "The component store has been corrupted."

    Side note - should I wait to rep/thank people until marking as solved?

    Edit: I uninstalled a game to free up another 15GB. I only have about 10 games installed and they're all below 20GB except for one, which I play daily. 70GB free is still not great but it's better!

    - - - Updated - - -

    (Feb 6th)
    I just had another BSOD, though 3 days since the previous one was an improvement for this week. [This is the dump file]

    It's faulty_hardware_corrupted_page (12b) again, and once again occured when I closed Firefox. Instantly once I closed the browser.

    It seems apparent that the RAM is faulty and causing some of the BSODs, and is probably responsible for the system corruption as well. I'm contacting the store in the morning about a replacement (I was hoping not to because it means if I get a replacement I'll be without as computer for 2-6 weeks), but what needs to be done to repair the system files?
    I'm quoting some of this dump from WinDBG below, I'm not sure how to interpret most of the analysis.

    Edit to add: I'm noticing that the system is booting up a little slower than normal, it would be related to these problems wouldn't it?

    FAULTY_HARDWARE_CORRUPTED_PAGE (12b)This BugCheck indicates that a single bit error was found in this page. This is a hardware memory error.
    Arguments:
    Arg1: ffffffffc00002c4, virtual address mapping the corrupted page
    Arg2: 0000000000000496, physical page number
    Arg3: 0000018d19645280, zero
    Arg4: ffff8501ea3af000, zero

    SYMBOL_NAME: nt!ST_STORE<SM_TRAITS>::StDmPageError+10a

    MODULE_NAME:
    nt

    IMAGE_NAME: ntkrnlmp.exe

    STACK_COMMAND: .cxr; .ecxr ; kb

    BUCKET_ID_FUNC_OFFSET: 10a
    Last edited by Nattle; 06 Feb 2023 at 00:59.
      My Computer


  6. NTN
    Posts : 972
    W10 19045.2546
       #6

    COMPRESSING INDIVIDUAL FILES OR FOLDERS
    Click Start, and then click My Computer.
    Double-click the NTFS Volume that contains the folder or folders you want to compress.
    Right-click the file or folder you want to compress, and then click Properties.
    On the General tab, click Advanced.
    Click to select the Compress contents to save disk space check box, and then click OK.
    In the Properties dialog box, click OK.
    In Confirm Attribute Changes, click the option you want.


    I just tested this on my PC, and a folder with a size of 170mb was shrunk to 120mb, i.e. 30% smaller.
    Probably your folder(s) with the old stuff from the HDD should be a good candidate for shrinking, or some other stuff.....I guess there have to be a lot.
    By the way, a SSD is much quicker when it is not filled up to more than 70% of its capacity or even smaller.

    You seem to be a PC savvy person, so I don't think it shouldn't be to much of a challenge for you to make this...
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 890
    10 Pro/11 Pro Dual Boot
       #7

    Nattle said:
    redacted
    you really need to run memtest
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 402
    Windows 10 and Windows 11
       #8

    If you even suspect that the RAM may be flaky, then you must eliminate this before moving one. One step at a time.

    The Windows memory test screenshot you posted indicated hardware issues and the test had not even run. I also note that the RAM you're using was not on the QVL list for the motherboard. They are a red flag for the RAM in and of themselves.

    I also note from the BIOS image that your BIOS version is old (2019), so it's possible that a BIOS update might be needed for the RAM you're using.

    Even Memtest isn't a guarantee that your RAM is good, so I'd be tempted to run on one RAM stick at a time. It seems to BSOD quite regularly, so you should be able to tell whether it's just one stick that's flaky or whether none of them are stable (in which case it's a compatibility issue).
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 15
    Windows 10 Education
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Just giving an update! I haven't replied or updated yet because I'm waiting to have an opportunity to buy a new set of RAM modules.

    I earn barely enough to feed myself and my main income source is via the PC, so if I initiate a refund on the broken modules now I won't have access to any income for the 2-3 weeks a refund will take, as they have to receive and test the modules.
    The situation remains unchanged, because I'm waiting on the RAM: plenty of BSODs still occuring, SFC and DISM still failing.

    I get the impression from earlier replies that I cannot or should not move on to repairing the system file corruption while the RAM is faulty, so the situation is unchanged. There have been periods where I haven't had a BSOD for days (e.g had one an hour ago, last one was on the 4th).

    I still have 40GB of Windows Updates downloaded and being delayed (1 week at a time, I can install them at any time if it's safe to do so), as I don't know if I should install them, but it also seems like I should just skip that and do an in-place upgrade to repair it after I get new RAM?
    I'll update again when I have anything to share, but thank you to everyone that's helped so far.

    Edit: I have actually updated my BIOS, as I needed to do it to make sure the new RAM will be compatible.
    The new modules I'm going to get are G.Skill Flare X (F4-3200C16D-32GFX), which are not on the QVL for the motherboard itself (B450 Tomahawk Max) because the mobo's QVL is very outdated, and the mobo isn't on the module's QVL either, but the B550 and the Ryzen 3000 CPUs (mine's a 3700X) are, so it seems a sure thing they'll have minimal issues. It's likely G.Skill just didn't test these specific models with the board.
    (It's a B450 series board but shipped with Ryzen 3000 support as standard, and as far as I can tell the only major difference between it and the B550 is the PCIe Gen 3 vs Gen 4.)
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  10. Posts : 402
    Windows 10 and Windows 11
       #10

    The Windows memory test is far from ideal, and even Memtest86 (the recommended RAM tester) isn't perfect, but all the indications are that you have flaky RAM. I don't know how many RAM sticks you have but a good test (in fact the best RAM test) is to remove one stick for a few days and see whether it BSODs. If it doesn't then swap RAM sticks and run on the other one (assuming you have two).

    BTW. Having plenty of free space on your system drive is VERY important. In addition, I never ever fill any SSD more than 50%. This allows the internal wear-levelling algorithm more leeway in balancing wear on the drive and they last much longer. You need a bigger system drive.
      My Computer


 

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