PC Freezing and rare BSOD after every component changed.

Wobitancrawfodi said:

When you have a brand new PC and a brand new OS on freshly formatted new SSDs with all software installed from scratch and have the same problems where do you go from there?

Let's see.

If you removed all the components, and now you have a brand new 100% computer with all brand new components... then my suggestions are:

1. Try booting live Linux and see what happens, if it works, then it's software. You can also try live Windows, like... using Ventoy.

2. Check for overheating, try using your computer fully open with a fan pointed to the critical components, yes I've been there, and not always overheating is as easy as it seems.

3. Check your RAM, memtest, and if possible, try a diff RAM. I've had RAM that was failing but somehow didn't show any errors during memtest, that's why I'm suggesting this.

4. Check your hard drive health and cables.

5. Check your GRAPHIC CARD drivers, if possible try using your computer without the drivers (using universal-generic microsoft display driver), you won't be able of suspend/sleep, but it's worth as a diagnostic test.

6. Try a diff Windows install... for some reason, I had 2 computers where the installer didn't show errors, but the ending Windows would fail, until I installed everything differently (using USB, or applying a generic Windows backup image to the disk)

7. Check your power connection, perhaps the energy is not what's needed in volts or amps, it's easier with laptops to check around this.

8. If everything failed and everything is brand new 500%, then perhaps it's your motherboard, or some incompatibility with a component. Yes, I've been there, as weird as it may sound, I've had RAM that worked perfectly on one computer, but failed randomly on another computer.

9. Check your motherboard model, firmware, and search the web for reports of any issues with it.

10. Not my favorite, but check your power lines, sometimes there is too much noise affecting the power on your computer and inducing problems. This can happen if certain devices are around, near, or on the same line, like motors, or some lights.

Good luck.

Megahertz said:

Wobitancrawfodi, you didn't answer: Did you install as Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT?
I suggest you download a fresh USB Win 10 22h2 iso using MCT and do a Repair install
It isn't normal to have a brand new computer with same problems as the old one.
What do they have in common? Same Win 10 USB flash drive, Power Supply etc?

I couldn't agree more. This is why its so damned infuriating.

Hardware wise The old and new PC have no internal components in common.

Software wise - all of the programs are the same except for MS Office. We took this opportunity to get it updated from 2016 to 2021.

Software version wise - we updated firefox to the latest esr. For other programs we have tried multiple versions where older versions where available. For things like game launchers where you are forced to use damned web installers - we get whatever version that have on their site. For offline installers we tried a couple of different versions.

This cocaine-like addiction to automatic updates and taking total control away from users that is forced upon us drives me insane. It's impossible to create a stable, predictable environment where every time you turn your PC on something updates.

Now, based on my response, many people will say it's the Windows image that is at fault. I'd be inclined to consider that however, when 11 other PCs are using the same image and having no problems, several of which are also gaming PCs, I struggle to blame the image. But, just in case, I downloaded the ISO again and recreated the image. Didn't make any difference.

@itsme1. Thanks for those suggestions. We don't use third party firewalls and there is no A/V installed. It's always the first thing to be removed.

The memory kits we have tested are all in the QVL. I've currently got it configured as 1DPC 1R. (16GB). The kits were originally 2DPC 1R (32GB). So two different kits and two different configurations, with XMP first enabled and then disabled. I've now also tried a third kit 3200-14-14-14 16GB 1DPC 1R. Same symptoms.

It is possible a brand new component is faulty, though unlikely. I have two spare Z790-A Pro's awaiting for my next two builds, which I've postponed exactly for that reason. If I can't find any other solution I'll swap the motherboard, which given we tried 3 memory kits and 2 GPUs and 2 PSUs and 3 Mice and 2 Keyboards I feel would point to the motherboard rather than any other component.

However - This problem occurred on the old hardware. Identical problem in every way - which tends to suggest that the hardware might not be the culprit.

@hroldan. Thanks for those suggestions. Have worked through all of the scenarios you suggested except 1 and 10. I have a PSU tester which I used and it says the new PSU is good. I put a thermometer inside the case - lame I know - but I don't have a PC temp tester. We of course watched the temps and fans.

I've spent the last 3 months trying to solve this. Spent a lot of time scouring the 'net for problems, written to several software developers, who for the most part completely ignore my contacts.

The difficulty with option 1 is that not everything he runs is available for linux. And since the PC could last 5 minutes to a couple of days without crashing that would not be a viable option. I think I will have to scrape together some more $$ and buy some more parts and build an identical system which I can test here and then I could do that test.

MisterEd said:

Place the motherboard on top of its box and assemble the minimum components. For example, CPU, RAM, and GPU (if not using an APU). Connect the video cable and power supply. The only trick is finding a way to start the PC. Do you know how to do that without connecting to the front panel?

If that runs stable for awhile shut down. Connect a drive to install Windows. Start the computer again and see if you can install Windows.

Building test benches etc is easy. Done that many, many times.

Please disregard all posts from patriceltic.. Those posts are not related to my issue.
I'm not having issues installing anything.

Wobitancrawfodi said:

@hroldan. Thanks for those suggestions. Have worked through all of the scenarios you suggested except 1 and 10. I have a PSU tester which I used and it says the new PSU is good. I put a thermometer inside the case - lame I know - but I don't have a PC temp tester. We of course watched the temps and fans.

I've spent the last 3 months trying to solve this. Spent a lot of time scouring the 'net for problems, written to several software developers, who for the most part completely ignore my contacts.

The difficulty with option 1 is that not everything he runs is available for linux. And since the PC could last 5 minutes to a couple of days without crashing that would not be a viable option. I think I will have to scrape together some more $$ and buy some more parts and build an identical system which I can test here and then I could do that test.

Understood. While Linux won't have all the software you need (like Photoshop or Autocad), there are many things you can do using Wine (for a while), in order to test for longer periods and see if temperature/fatigue becomes an issue. I wouldn't suggest using a virtual machine inside Linux unless you use an entirely diff Windows.

The power issues might be difficult. If there is something in your line, you could easily overcome it using an UPS, specially isolated (on backup mode) and do the same things to confirm if the same fails. If there is an issue with your power unit inside your computer... then it will be more difficult to diagnose.

I wouldn't give up on using Linux just to see what happens.