Clean W10 install: BSOD - system thread exception not handled 2023

Memtest86 is good, but no RAM tester can detect all possible RAM failures. I would suggest that you adopt a slow and careful step-by-step approach to troubleshooting this clear hardware issue.

I would suggest that you strip the PC to the bare minimum. Unplug all external devices except monitor, mouse, and keyboard. You've already removed the GPU, so remove all but one RAM stick (and try other RAM sticks too). Remove unnecessary PCIe cards (extra USB ports cards, WiFi cards, for example). If it fails in as stripped-down version as you can achieve then I'd look at the PSU, and then the motherboard.

This isn't a software issue though.

OK, for this and other thread on this forum the same conclusion.

On Friday day zero my old rig functioned perfectly, including video editing with Premiere Pro CS6 and a trail of Premiere Pro 2023 (cloud)

On Friday day zero, I unintentionally seemingly - probably shut down my desktop while Windows 10 was still installing the March 2023 update. I did this because I saw the "I am ready" screen while in reality W10 was not ready updating at all.

On Saturday day one, I noticed vertical lines in the announcements while the PC was running through the BIOS start-up and never got to the Windows.

In the next several days, I tried every trick announced by Windows, this forum and many other sources. Trying to roll-back, repair, etc etc and in the end clean install of W10 and then W7 (maybe the age of my equipment made problems). Nic, nada, nothing. no dice.

Finally, I gave up and brought my PC to our local PC shop who we have been working with 20+ years.
End verdict:
- One PCIe x16 slot on the motherboard kaput
- One Geforce GTX 570 kaput.

They replaced the GTX 570 with the much smaller Nvidia GT 1030, installed at the second PCIe x16 slot
They reinstalled Windows 10 including the March 2023 update.

Now its working good again ...but ....

..... off course the LAN private network (mostly wired) got messed up and does not work how it should, but this is a normal problem after most Windows update.

Any idea how I can complain to MS for messing up m system?

I am now looking for threads on how to get this $%^#$%@ lan working again.

I don't believe for a second that powering off Windows whilst it was mid-update was the cause of your hardware failures. But if you really think Windows broke your hardware, here are 11 ways to contact Microsoft: 11 Ways to Contact Microsoft - wikiHow

ubuysa said:

I don't believe for a second that powering off Windows whilst it was mid-update was the cause of your hardware failures. But if you really think Windows broke your hardware, here are 11 ways to contact Microsoft: 11 Ways to Contact Microsoft - wikiHow

In and by itself, no. However, there is a high probability of a causal link. The process of installing the update somehow initiated a cascade of events that ended up with a non-functional PCIe slot and a non-functional GPU.

Think about it. I switched off a fully functional PC and the next morning I was not able to start this PC normal and continue working. The only event that could cause this: Windows March 2023 update. That both these equipment failures happened at the same time as the not successful installation of the March 2023 update is rather too much of a coincidence.

Thinking backwards, if at that moment my first response would have been to do a clean reinstall or ask my service shop to do it, I am fairly sure this equipment would still be working!

You know what they say: nothing so dangerous as a little knowledge.

I tried to solve this by myself and also with help of my nephew (a computer man) and internet. This resulted several times in a frozen PC and advice like "do three quick reboots" to get into the repair program etc.

Its like most old stuff. It works as long as you leave it alone. The moment you try to make it work better or repair one part or shake it, one part will get a bit out of line which will push another thing to the side and before you know it age catches up and it breaks.

--

• Yes, it was 10 year old stuff, but 10 year old good quality stuff that was always used well below maximum capacity.
• Yes, my continuing to reset-restart to get this update to work almost certainly put too much stress on the system.
• But also YES, if MS had made a problem-free update which would have stopped as it should have or cautioned me that it was encountering not-compatible components, my equipment would still be working today.

As said at the beginning of these threads, I am not the only one with problems. If you check W10 March 2023 update problems, there are rather a lot of threads. Now if you count that only a fraction of the people with problems will actively go onto forums to complain about it, probably we are not talking about one or two persons with some small problems.

MS Windows updates are notorious for "not always going as smooth as they should". The best example is how everybody keeps complaining that after almost every Windows update over the last 2 - 3 DECADES, initially there are problems with LANs going down and PCs and laptops on a home or small office LAN not seeing each other any more.

Robo said:

In and by itself, no. However, there is a high probability of a causal link. The process of installing the update somehow initiated a cascade of events that ended up with a non-functional PCIe slot and a non-functional GPU.

Think about it. I switched off a fully functional PC and the next morning I was not able to start this PC normal and continue working. The only event that could cause this: Windows March 2023 update. That both these equipment failures happened at the same time as the not successful installation of the March 2023 update is rather too much of a coincidence.

Thinking backwards, if at that moment my first response would have been to do a clean reinstall or ask my service shop to do it, I am fairly sure this equipment would still be working!

You know what they say: nothing so dangerous as a little knowledge.

I tried to solve this by myself and also with help of my nephew (a computer man) and internet. This resulted several times in a frozen PC and advice like "do three quick reboots" to get into the repair program etc.

Its like most old stuff. It works as long as you leave it alone. The moment you try to make it work better or repair one part or shake it, one part will get a bit out of line which will push another thing to the side and before you know it age catches up and it breaks.

--

• Yes, it was 10 year old stuff, but 10 year old good quality stuff that was always used well below maximum capacity.
• Yes, my continuing to reset-restart to get this update to work almost certainly put too much stress on the system.
• But also YES, if MS had made a problem-free update which would have stopped as it should have or cautioned me that it was encountering not-compatible components, my equipment would still be working today.

when was the last time it was dusted inside and out? pets?

Actually the main reason why Windows Updates fail to install properly is down to the way the end user manages their system. Microsoft test their updates extensively and on a clean Windows system they will always install. I can't remember, for example, the last time I had any update fail to install.

The problem is the users are either afraid or unwilling to reinstall Windows every now and then (I reinstall once a year, when the March upgrade comes around - I always clean install that upgrade). This means that many (most?) people's system is polluted by drivers for hardware no longer used, by software (and their drivers) no longer used and not uninstalled, and by software with bad uninstallers that has left stuff (especially kernel drivers) behind.

In addition, many users will run registry cleaners thinking they're helping, when they're more likely creating issues for themselves. ('ve never personally seen any problem that could be convincingly laid at the door of redundant registry entries). Many third-party antivirus tools still make use of undocumented features that cause Windows updates to fail when they change those features (or they cause the antivirus tool to fail).

Even worse, many (most) users will implement fixes consisting of registry hacks, installation of 'fix-it' tools and the like which they glean from questionable websites, and without stopping to wonder whether the author actually knew what they were talking about. Not everything you read on the Internet is accurate.

I was in charge of the operating system support team in a large IBM mainframe installation for a number of years. We supported over 5000 concurrent users from each mainframe (I managed three), and failure there really wasn't an option. An unplanned outage would have been severely career limiting. The one key thing you lean from a job like that is discipline, and sadly that's the one thing missing from the way most end users manage their Windows systems - that's why Windows updates fail so often.

@Robo that's not aimed at you, it's just a general rant.

Several months ago and again three weeks ago, including compressed air. And yes, it was a bit dust, but not as dirty as some others I know.

I had CoreTemp installed, and since the cleaning several months ago (really needed) mostly showed the cores between 40+ to 65C.

Now with the smaller card, with a lot of tabs open and music streaming, is shows all four cores between 40-59 C.

Also, the load was already lowered by having the OS on one and the main daily data on two other SSDs, with the HDDs inactive for occasional extra backup.

So the system was clean, and the cleaning action happened weeks ago so was not causing this event either.

- - - Updated - - -

ubuysa said:

The one key thing you lean from a job like that is discipline, and sadly that's the one thing missing from the way most end users manage their Windows systems - that's why Windows updates fail so often.

@Robo that's not aimed at you, it's just a general rant.

More or less the same my nephew always mentions when I bitch about MS (he was coordinating server security etc in a big firm).

One remark about that though: when designing weapons the good overseers or military says: very impressive but can a simple soldier in the field handle it and repair it?

I have a 58-year old US army truck with a multi-fuel engine. They build those trucks and engines more or less the same for 15-20 years, and even a simple private (or somebody like me) can repair them. Without major problems, that this is still running.

Translation:
1) most PC users are PC-illiterate and do nothing but switching on and off. My partner is one of those. I am not allowed to touch her laptop . Nevertheless, that laptop also had problems with LANs after any updates.

Now she has a new laptop with pre-installed W10 Pro, and I now have a clean professionally installed W10 as well. We still have a problem of those two machines not seeing each other on the LAN.

2) you do not make or test software in more or less controlled situations. You give it to the biggest accident-prone person who keeps messing things up. And you give it to anybody who hates PCs and just switches them on and off and want them to work always. And to etc etc etc. And not for 5 minutes but for longer. If the software update works perfect in these conditions, you are delivering a good solid product.

3) Regular complete clean reinstall of Windows10. You have to be rather PC savvy to get that done on anything than a rather new machine. On my old rigs I always end up with warning signs in device manager and spending ages trying to get legacy software installed.

OK, I enjoy these rants too much, so end of mine