After a Clean install-hardware error in Reliability Monitor

sportsfan148 · 02 Nov 2020

Hi All, On Saturday morning I clean installed version 2004 Build 19041.450. Ive done loads of clean installs with various versions over the years. This time there were some differences so Im posting to see if others are seeing the same or similar. Below, A screenshot from the Reliability Monitor from the clean install day with details of the error.

After a Clean install-hardware error in Reliability Monitor-screenshot-2-.png

After a Clean install-hardware error in Reliability Monitor-screenshot-1-.png

I always leave the USB drive inserted until installation has completed and Im back at the windows desktop. Then from taskbar I safely remove hardware and remove the USB. On this occasion Safely Remove Hardware wasnt available. I rebooted-and still not available. It also showed In Device Manager Unknown USB Device and Port Reset failed. So I shut down the PC and was going to remove the flash drive then but instead I just thought id try powering up to see if that would Reset the Port and sure enough it did. Safely remove hardware reappeared so at that point I safely removed the flash drive. The first reboot after the installation produced the third hardware error shown in the screenshot. The other two hardware errors seem to have been produced at the point when Windows Setup has finished installing Windows on the hard drive and the PC restarts a couple of times. Im wondering if that was also something to do with the Port Reset failure. Any thoughts on this?

Also for the first time in years I had a couple of yellow exclamations which included SM Bus controller and an unknown device which I knew would get sorted out when I installed the Intel Chipset drivers...its something I havent had to do before though after a Windows 10 clean installation. Usually during setup Windows 10 installs chipset drivers itself but this time that didnt happen either which may have caused this?
Another quirk not seen in years was the red cross on the speaker icon on the taskbar meaning that sound wasnt working. The first PC restart sorted that one out.
For several years now with Windows 10 Ive got used to Device Manager being totally free of any exclamation marks after a clean installation so I thought they were a thing from the past. Anyone else experiencing any of this?
Just to add...everything is working perfectly on my PC

Paul Black · 02 Nov 2020

Hello @sportsfan148,

Can you please perform the following [ this checks for ANY Problem Device Errors ] . . .

[1] Goto this TenForums link => Batch Scripts / Programs.
[2] Goto the heading Find ANY Problem Devices . . .
[3] Download and Run the .bat file [ Find_ANY_Problem_Devices.bat ].

If there are ANY errors it will create a Prob_Devices.txt file on the Desktop!

I hope this helps!

Farvatten · 02 Nov 2020

sportsfan148 said:

A screenshot from the Reliability Monitor from the clean install day with details of the error.

Not sure if these show up in what looks like an excellent Find Problem Devices script, but if you haven't already, look in the Event Logs most likely under Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System for an Red 'X' errors at those specific times seen in the Reliability Monitor.

I know for me, after scratching my head over these rather cryptic generic 'Hardware Errors' messages, I found I could correlated it to an event error when my Nvidia drivers crashed.

Something else I've learned over the years to do with Clean Installs is right after booting into the desktop of a Clean Install, I now wait awhile before pressing 'Check for Updates'. Seems Windows has a set of driver steps it wants to do first and asking for any new stuff at this points throws it off it's game.

sportsfan148 · 02 Nov 2020

Paul Black said:

Hello @sportsfan148,

Can you please perform the following [ this checks for ANY Problem Device Errors ] . . .

[1] Goto this TenForums link => Batch Scripts / Programs.
[2] Goto the heading Find ANY Problem Devices . . .
[3] Download and Run the .bat file [ Find_ANY_Problem_Devices.bat ].

If there are ANY errors it will create a Prob_Devices.txt file on the Desktop!

I hope this helps!

Thanks Paul. I ran the batch file and it just said no problem devices were found.

Paul Black · 02 Nov 2020

sportsfan148 said:

Thanks Paul. I ran the batch file and it just said No problem devices were found.

Thanks for the feedback.

sportsfan148 · 02 Nov 2020

Farvatten said:

Not sure if these show up in what looks like an excellent Find Problem Devices script, but if you haven't already, look in the Event Logs most likely under Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System for an Red 'X' errors at those specific times seen in the Reliability Monitor.

I know for me, after scratching my head over these rather cryptic generic 'Hardware Errors' messages, I found I could correlated it to an event error when my Nvidia drivers crashed.

Something else I've learned over the years to do with Clean Installs is right after booting into the desktop of a Clean Install, I now wait awhile before pressing 'Check for Updates'. Seems Windows has a set of driver steps it wants to do first and asking for any new stuff at this points throws it off it's game.

Hi mate. I already checked Event Viewer....and no red crosses at those times to indicate a problem anywhere. I always do what you suggest as well. I let the clean install settle by waiting for an hour to allow Windows to finish any background downloading. Then, I restart my PC (Im not sure if thats necessary or not) after my router lights indicate that all background downloading has finished. After the restart then I check for Windows Updates

Farvatten · 02 Nov 2020

sportsfan148 said:

Hi mate. I already checked Event Viewer....and no red crosses at those times to indicate a problem anywhere

Actually I think I just got lucky that one time with the Nvidia crash showing up as an event.

You'd think Windows could be a little more forthcoming in the Reliability Monitor about the details of what's clearly been detected as a Hardware malfunction? It's not like the machine reboots and they didn't have time to capture the details.

While not a BSOD, perhaps those V2 and DM log collectors in BSOD forum would show you something?

V2 Log Collector

DM Log_Collector

sportsfan148 · 03 Nov 2020

Farvatten said:

Actually I think I just got lucky that one time with the Nvidia crash showing up as an event.

You'd think Windows could be a little more forthcoming in the Reliability Monitor about the details of what's clearly been detected as a Hardware malfunction? It's not like the machine reboots and they didn't have time to capture the details.

While not a BSOD, perhaps those V2 and DM log collectors in BSOD forum would show you something?

V2 Log Collector

DM Log_Collector

Yeah..Reliability Monitor would be much more useful if it gave you more info. Event Viewer isnt user friendly either. I used to regularly keep an eye on Event Viewer but not so much nowadays unless I know have an issue.

OldNavyGuy · 03 Nov 2020

Paul Black said:

Hello @sportsfan148,

Can you please perform the following [ this checks for ANY Problem Device Errors ] . . .

[1] Goto this TenForums link => Batch Scripts / Programs.
[2] Goto the heading Find ANY Problem Devices . . .
[3] Download and Run the .bat file [ Find_ANY_Problem_Devices.bat ].!

Just an FYI -

Defender displayed a warning about downloading your batch file.

On opening it and looking at the code, I suspect it's because it's using VBScript, which has known security issues.

You could replace that piece with PowerShell, which would likely eliminate the Defender warning.

sportsfan148 · 03 Nov 2020

OldNavyGuy said:

Just an FYI -

Defender displayed a warning about downloading your batch file.

On opening it and looking at the code, I suspect it's because it's using VBScript, which has known security issues.

You could replace that piece with PowerShell, which would likely eliminate the Defender warning.

Yeah..the batch file download got blocked so I had to go into my Edge downloads list and select to run it anyway. I think it must have been Windows Defender Smartscreen in the Edge browser that had blocked it. Its all clever stuff..you knowing the download was blocked from your end..Im guessing that the whole download process must get tracked and flag up issues somehow on your servers at Tenforums?