Very frequent BSOD, Lock-ups, freezes. Sometimes without even running any applications.

Windows Version 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3476)

PC specs in profile.

Hi, My PC is roughly 5 years old. I have had infrequent BSODs over the years, but nothing that ruined the experience. However, in the last 3 or so months they have become increasingly more often. 14 in the last 7 days according to my Event viewer.

Currently most of the crashes are PC lock-ups where I have to hold down the power button, these do not create dump files and I can only track when they happened based on event viewer critical Kernel-Power Logs. 14 critical, 368 errors, 358 warnings in the last 7 days. Occasionally i get Bsods, and I even started getting unexpected PC restarts I did not order. Most happen while playing games. But in the last week some even happen minutes after turning on the PC before even launching any games. Some happen with discord open, some discord is off. Some happen while recording via Nvidia Shadowplay, some happen with Shadowplay forced closed. Some happen with Razer synapse running, but they still happen with synapse forced closed. So i don't think any overlays are causing it.

I have no overclocking to my knowledge. The PC shipped with Overclocking, but I disabled it years ago in an attempt to stop Bsods in the past. I tried using MSI after burner for a while, even trying to undervolt my GPU and still no fix. Sometimes the GPU is 80 C at the crash, but some times it is <50C at the time of the crash, I know this from having heat graphs pulled up on the other monitor so I can see the temps at the time of crash when the whole PC freezes.

Lastly, my friend thinks the cause is that either my nvme C drive is failing, or my 1tb D drive. I have no clue how to test this, wouldn't there be other symptoms if that was the case? I haven't lost any data to my knowledge.

I will mention I made the switch to windows 11 only 1 month ago in an attempt to fix crashes, and things were great for like 2 weeks, no crashes, games running better, but now things are the worst its ever been.

Currently I am so desperate that I am either considering to fully reset my PC via the flash drive it was sent with, or swapping every component one peice at a time, starting with the motherboard until i have a stable pc. But I literally don't know if that would work if the problem is software not hardware.

-Kevin.

PS. Thanks if you took the time to think on this one.

adding more info from Event viewer.

I will note that the Game input Service control manager was fixed, I followed a guide to delete the old one

Edit: Also this is a common error I don't know what to do with -
The ZeroConfigService service terminated with the following error:
%%2147770990

Today is 03/20.

1) What was performed on 03/09?
a) clean install
b) reset save files
c) factory reset
d) something else?




2) Run Tuneup plus > post a share link







3) Create a new restore point:





4) Open event viewer > post share links for system and application

Thank you for taking the time to write that out!

1. It was a clean install of windows 11 via windows update
2. Attached below, Am i reading correctly that it thinks my ram is bad? I ran Memtest 4 days ago with no issues, and that RAM was bought less than 2 weeks ago.
3. I created a System restore point for today 3/22. - This was for the c:drive
4. Find here via Google Drive - Application Application.evtx
System - System.evtx

For start, the BIOS is very old (6x BIOS updates have been released - since the release of the one you have installed). I would start with that:


Among those BIOS updates - some are critical security updates. Coincidentally, that's also relevant to a recent bugcheck - tied to last BSOD:

"KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE (139)
A kernel component has corrupted a critical data structure. The corruption
could potentially allow a malicious user to gain control of this machine."

Even tho, the faulty component - points to corrupted GPU drivers. Would strongly recommend a DDU clean install - for Nvidia Drivers - to avoid conflicts with leftovers from previous drivers:


A failing SSD (filled with bad sectors) - can also be a caused for drivers getting corrupted. Check its health status using:


- and also run a test (diagnostic scan) with Samsung Magician: Samsung Magician Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global


You should start with the SSD diagnostic - so you won't end-up corrupting the BIOS file.

Your GPU - probably needs a physical maintenance after all this time (change of thermal paste).

Scannow:



There was no RAM that was predicted to fail.





1) Please read this link on Windows Driver Verifier (WDV):

Enable and Disable Driver Verifier in Windows 10



2) Create a new restore point:




3) Learn the methods to recover from BSOD caused by WDV by booting into safe mode and running one or more of these commands:

verifier /reset

verifier /bootmode resetonbootfail







4) Plan to run the tool with various customized test settings.

a) Test all non-Microsoft drivers

b) Test no Microsoft drivers

c) For the first run of WDV select the 3 customized tests displayed in the TF tutorial






5) Whenever the WDV tool is started if there is no immediate BSOD then open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:

verifier /querysettings

Post a share link.



Customized tests will then be posted for the next run of WDV.



WDV can run continuously during the testing.



For any BSOD post a new V2 share link into the newest post.

Wow, You both are awesome, I seriously appreciate the time compiling these steps. Tomorrow I will will complete all the steps you laid out for me and then report back. I did have 3 total crashes today. One just browsing, one playing a steam game, and then another about 30 seconds after rebooting from the 2nd crash.

Please post a new V2 share link into the newest post.

1st - Ran Crystal Disk - My 250GB NVMe C drive is 78% - Good. D: 1TB SSD 91% Good. And 3TB HDD Good.

2nd - Ran Samsung Magician - My C: drive is incompatible for scan. Probably because its a corsair drive. My D drive was 100% cleared by the health scan. I have decided I am going to buy a new 1 TB Samsung 990 NVMe to replace my current 250gb. I have been struggling with space issues on the C:drive, especially after win 11 update. I used to keep 30gb free, now I'm struggling to keep more that 10 GB free even after deleting and moving a bunch of files.

3rd - I fully purged the riot client from my system because I had a small worry that vanguard was causing at least one of my problems.

4th - I am being completely bamboozled by my Bios update. When I attempt to use the FLASH service to update, it shows the flash drive completely empty. I tried two different flash drives. I also tried all 6 versions and an older version. The bios will not recognize any of the updates, and yes I placed the file directly in the root, not in any subfolder, and it was extracted. My mother board's current version is E7B17IZ1 VA.25 Date: 10/23/19. That version does not exist on MSI's website. The only similar thing I could find online was this reddit post where a guy received an MSI motherboard with the wrong Bios version and the motherboard wont recognize the correct version due to built in protections. -
Should I follow the steps he did in an attempt to place the correct bios version on this board?

5th- I ran Driver Verifier with all non-Microsoft drivers. No crash after 30 minutes while eating. I then ran it with Microsoft drivers. I then ran it with all drivers and here is the result:
C:\Users\Kevin>verifier /querysettings

Verifier Flags: 0x00100610

Standard Flags:

[ ] 0x00000001 Special pool.
[ ] 0x00000002 Force IRQL checking.
[ ] 0x00000008 Pool tracking.
[X] 0x00000010 I/O verification.
[ ] 0x00000020 Deadlock detection.
[ ] 0x00000080 DMA checking.
[ ] 0x00000100 Security checks.
[ ] 0x00000800 Miscellaneous checks.
[ ] 0x00020000 DDI compliance checking.

Additional Flags:

[ ] 0x00000004 Randomized low resources simulation.
[X] 0x00000200 Force pending I/O requests.
[X] 0x00000400 IRP logging.
[ ] 0x00002000 Invariant MDL checking for stack.
[ ] 0x00004000 Invariant MDL checking for driver.
[ ] 0x00008000 Power framework delay fuzzing.
[ ] 0x00010000 Port/miniport interface checking.
[ ] 0x00040000 Systematic low resources simulation.
[ ] 0x00080000 DDI compliance checking (additional).
[ ] 0x00200000 NDIS/WIFI verification.
[ ] 0x00800000 Kernel synchronization delay fuzzing.
[ ] 0x01000000 VM switch verification.
[ ] 0x02000000 Code integrity checks.

Internal Flags:

[X] 0x00100000 Extended Verifier flags (internal).

[X] Indicates flag is enabled.

Active Rule Classes:

5 - I/O verification.
10 - Force pending I/O requests.
11 - IRP logging.
21 - Extended Verifier flags (internal).
34 - WDF verfication.
37 - File system filter verification.

Boot Mode:

Persistent

Rules:

All rules are using default settings

Verified Drivers:

All Drivers

6th - Here are updated Event Logs - System Log 3.24.evtx
And attached below is new BSOD log

Please restart WDV with these 4 groups of customized test:


Group 1


Group 2


Group 3


Group 4



For each group if there is no immediate BSOD then open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:

verifier /querysettings

Post a share link.



For any BSOD post a new V2 share link into the newest post.

Kevohl said:

4th - I am being completely bamboozled by my Bios update. When I attempt to use the FLASH service to update, it shows the flash drive completely empty. I tried two different flash drives. I also tried all 6 versions and an older version. The bios will not recognize any of the updates, and yes I placed the file directly in the root, not in any subfolder, and it was extracted. My mother board's current version is E7B17IZ1 VA.25 Date: 10/23/19. That version does not exist on MSI's website. The only similar thing I could find online was this reddit post where a guy received an MSI motherboard with the wrong Bios version and the motherboard wont recognize the correct version due to built in protections. -

Click to expand...

Was your flash drive formatted as Fat32 (or else - it won't be recognized)? Would also recommend the lowest capacity flash driver (32 GB or lower). And check multiple USB slots (sometimes it works only with a specific USB slot - usually the fastest).

There's also the option for an automated BIOS update (you just have to scan for it - and it will do all the preparations automatically - after hitting install) - using their Windows app MSI Center:


No need for a flash drive - cause it will use your SSD for booting the bios. Here's how you use it:


Personally, would prefer the M-Flash way - but i see their app was updated just recently to 2025-03-24 - and after all this version - should be more stable (and safer to use) now. It's definitely more user friendly - compared to the classic/manual way of a updating BIOS.

...nobody has checked RAM frequency set in BIOS? This computer has 4 sticks of 32GB 3600MHz RAM. Is it running at 2666MHz as supposed to? This CPU can rarely handle much RAM controller overclock when all 4 lanes are in use. With 2 lanes it runs happily @3600MHz and even beyond...

SlicEnDicE said:

...nobody has checked RAM frequency set in BIOS? This computer has 4 sticks of 32GB 3600MHz RAM. Is it running at 2666MHz as supposed to? This CPU can rarely handle much RAM controller overclock when all 4 lanes are in use. With 2 lanes it runs happily @3600MHz and even beyond...

Click to expand...

There's some truth to that (harder to manage 4x dims compared to 2x) - so it's more of a "trial and error (you just have to try - and see if it works - if stable or not)". After all - not all CPUs (same model) - are alike, it's truly an OC & Stability lottery. With the release of 14 gen - bumped into unstable CPUs - even at default/recomended values (limiting/crippling TurboBoost speeds and voltage - proved to be enough to solve CPU stability issues). The motherboard has a saying too (if it can actually work with 4x or not). With XMP enabled - this OC (as far as CPU is concerned) - is more of a default setting. You'll have to disable it and set the multiplier manually. Ram tests are usually enough to trigger OC, you also get a lot of errors - if actually unstable.

neves said:

Was your flash drive formatted as Fat32 (or else - it won't be recognized)? Would also recommend the lowest capacity flash driver (32 GB or lower). And check multiple USB slots (sometimes it works only with a specific USB slot - usually the fastest).

There's also the option for an automated BIOS update (you just have to scan for it - and it will do all the preparations automatically - after hitting install) - using their Windows app MSI Center:

Click to expand...

Yes, Both flash drives were in FAT32, and I just checked all USB slots. It shows that it can see the flash drive. It just tells me that the flash drive is empty. It does not recognize any of the 7 bios updates on either flash drive. And one flash drive is 4 gb and the other is 16 gb.

I then downloaded the MSI center and run the scan. It came back saying that I had no update available as seen in the attached screenshot.

I truly believe that I have a board with the wrong Bios installed like in that reddit post I shared.

I will try contacting MSI, but I am considering doing the Bios update from the Reddit post using cmd.

I also posted a sceenshot showing my motherboard name and serial number just to show it actually is a MPG z390. The current version of bios is E7B17IZ1 VA.25 10/23/19 which is not listed as any version of the z390.

When available please update the progress with the steps in post #10.

Kevohl said:

Yes, Both flash drives were in FAT32, and I just checked all USB slots. It shows that it can see the flash drive. It just tells me that the flash drive is empty. It does not recognize any of the 7 bios updates on either flash drive. And one flash drive is 4 gb and the other is 16 gb.

I then downloaded the MSI center and run the scan. It came back saying that I had no update available as seen in the attached screenshot. View attachment 129312

I truly believe that I have a board with the wrong Bios installed like in that reddit post I shared.

I will try contacting MSI, but I am considering doing the Bios update from the Reddit post using cmd.

I also posted a sceenshot showing my motherboard name and serial number just to show it actually is a MPG z390. The current version of bios is E7B17IZ1 VA.25 10/23/19 which is not listed as any version of the z390.

Click to expand...

More than likely a Custom BIOS modified by Origin PC. You should contact both, see what MSI has to say - since that reddit is 6 years (Afuwin is an universal tool for updating/flashing a BIOS - meaning it works with any brand - tho, that reddit post is a bit vague). If Origin PC included a security feature with their custom BIOS (which is probably why it's not recognized) - forcefully overiding it could brick your motherboard (many motherboards have an automated fail-safe BIOS restore - like Dual BIOS - in case the BIOS gets corupted - but it doesn't work all the time, so you'll be left with a manual restore at that point - which also means you need an extra PC to set it up - in case clearing the CMOS doesn't work either).

Today I did the following things:
First I called Origin PC and I asked for Bios update. They emailed me a tool to flash MSI Bios via Uefi commands. After nearly 3 hours of struggle I discovered I needed to disable secure boot and then I was able to flash the bios. After I was able to use M-flash to update to the most recent MSI bios. I am now up to date, thank you for the suggestion that it was an Origin PC bios, I didn't even think of that as an option.

2nd - I then spent nearly 1.5 hours figuring out how to disable RAID and M.2/Optane Genie. I used safe boot to install ahci driver. I then installed a new PCle 1 TB and used Samsung magician to copy OS over. I then verified it would boot with the new drive. Then the old 250 Corsair drive was removed and the 1TB drive placed in the top slot.

3rd - I went back to using Verifier as asked by zbook -
Config 1 - No Bsod. Querysettings attached below in .txt format to save post length.
Config 2 - Immediate BSoD System Thread exception not handled. This is a BSOD code I've seen quite a few times over the last year since the BSoDs started becoming more frequent. I will attach updated log below after all tests completed. I am worried no logs were generated because after both crashs the PC just sat at 100% gathering data for like 10 minutes until I manually restarted the PC with the power button.
config 3 - This one really slowed down my PC bad, but no BSoD. Query in .txt below.
Config 4 - No BSoD, but it reminded me that I used to get stop code IRQL less than equal all the time, but I have not seen that code for at least a month. Idk if that helps you or not.

Edit: Just also noting I had one lock up this morning about 15 minutes after booting a game. No BSOD, just freeze requiring manual restart. I did not game any more after that but tomorrow I will probably play for a while and report any PC crashes.

neves said:

There's some truth to that (harder to manage 4x dims compared to 2x) - so it's more of a "trial and error (you just have to try - and see if it works - if stable or not)". After all - not all CPUs (same model) - are alike, it's truly an OC & Stability lottery. With the release of 14 gen - bumped into unstable CPUs - even at default/recomended values (limiting/crippling TurboBoost speeds and voltage - proved to be enough to solve CPU stability issues). The motherboard has a saying too (if it can actually work with 4x or not). With XMP enabled - this OC (as far as CPU is concerned) - is more of a default setting. You'll have to disable it and set the multiplier manually. Ram tests are usually enough to trigger OC, you also get a lot of errors - if actually unstable.

Click to expand...

Currently the RAM is said to be running 3200 in bios with XMP on. I upgraded ram only a month or two ago in the hope that my old ram was the cause of the BSODs. I will say after getting the new RAM the BSODs got better for a couple weeks, and then the PC started freezing again. I still have the old ram, but at this point I don't think the RAM is the cause unless you think otherwise.

How come the drivers in the querysettings were missing?

How come group 3 was not run with the displayed customized tests but combined with group 4?


Restart WDV with these groups of customized tests:

group a
group b

group c



For each group if there is no immediate BSOD then open administrative command prompt and copy and paste:

verifier /querysettings

Post a share link.

For verifier /querysettings results please include the full results.



For any BSOD post a new V2 share link into the newest post.

zbook said:

How come the drivers in the querysettings were missing?

How come group 3 was not run with the displayed customized tests but combined with group 4?

Click to expand...

I had selected [Automatically select all drivers installed on this computer] Is this incorrect? Are there specific ones you want me to select? Should I only be doing non-Microsoft or something else?

I did not realize I did not disable config 3 when I added Config 4 settings. Sorry about that, I can run config 4 again if you think I need to.

Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this, I am going to bed now, but first thing in the morning I will run all the WVD settings you outlined. Let me know if there is anything else I need to change.