Solved Multiple BSODs - usually BAD_POOL_HEADER @ ntoskrnl.exe

rigidmoose

New Member
Messages
3
Hey guys!! I'll try to keep this as anti-tl;dr as possible.

Let me begin with some general specs:
Motherboard: MSI Z77A-G45 Thunderboolt
Processor: i5-3570K
Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 680
RAM: G. Skill Ripjaws 2x4GB
Wireless Network Card: ASUS PCE-N15
OS: Windows 8.1

Since I have re-installed Windows 8 on my desktop and updated it to Windows 8.1, I get a daily BSOD. It's usually (if not always) BAD_POOL_HEADER and suspiciously at the address ntoskrnl.exe+15fa0 each time, according to BlueScreenView. Thankfully, this error does not occur frequently. However, I'm looking to sell this computer soon and I'd like anyone who wants to buy it to not have to deal with this.

I've tried several things:
  • turning off the motherboard's auto-overclock
  • installing the drivers provided by the motherboard's/wireless network card's website
  • installing the latest drivers provided by Realtek/Intel/etc (seeing that the motherboard's and asus's website provides old drivers)
  • making sure I don't have any old, crappy software installed that could be causing this
  • erecting an altar and sacrificing several lambs and goats in hopes it might magically fix it

Usually, it seems to happen while I'm using Google Chrome. So maybe it's something to do with the wireless network card. I really, really hope it isn't a hardware issue. I've installed ASUS's drivers, but I've read on newegg that some users have issues with ASUS's driver, and that Realtek's driver works better (it's more up to date). Also, usually before the computer blue screens, it will start acting very bizarre for a few minutes; any network activity will stop, applications become unresponsive, etc.

If you're interested, about a month ago I asked the same question at Microsoft, and here's the links:
BSOD BAD_POOL_HEADER caused by ntoskrnl.exe - Microsoft Community
Several BAD_POOL_HEADER BSODs - Microsoft Community
Their solutions appeared to fix the problem and i'm thankful for their help, but it continued to happen so I downgraded to Windows 7 and the problem didn't happen anymore. I prefer 8 a bit more though.

Any ideas guys? Any help would be very much appreciated, and thank you in advance :)

EDIT: apologies, forgot to upload the dumps! LOL. I'm uploading them now.
EDIT2: seen a thread about properly posting BSOD issues, so I'm uploading that zip from SF_Diagnostics here
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
The nvidia driver could be a cause to your BSOD's. Have you tried rolling back to a previous version.

NvStreamKms.sys Wed Apr 30 06:59:44 2014 (53604B00)
nVidia Streaming Kernel service - may cause BSOD in Win8.1 systems (found in May 2014). Date/TimeStamp: Tue Apr 29 20:59:44 2014 (53604B00)
http://www.carrona.org/drivers/driver.php?id=NvStreamKms.sys

Please run these tests and report back the results

1. SFC /scannow to check windows for corruption - SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker
2. Disk check for errors on the hard drive - Disk Check
3. Troubleshoot applications by a clean boot - How to perform a Clean Boot Windows 8
4. Memtest86+ paying close attention to part 3 - RAM - Test with Memtest86+
5. Hard drive test from HDD mfg website - Hard Drive Diagnostic Procedure

Please remove Driver Max and Networkx Software for the time being.
Code:
Start Menu\Programs\DriverMax	Public:Start Menu\Programs\DriverMax	Public
Start Menu\Programs\NetWorx	Public:Start Menu\Programs\NetWorx	Public
Use Revo Uninstaller to uninstall stubborn software. Opt for Advance Mode while uninstalling which allows you to remove leftover registry:-
Code:
Built by: 9600.17085.amd64fre.winblue_gdr.140330-1035
Debug session time: Mon Jun  2 02:42:04.386 2014 (UTC + 6:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 20:03:01.047
BugCheck 19, {d, ffffd0002f4b4290, ffffe000d3531010, 26782952fbeeff72}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!ExFreePoolWithTag+a13 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x19_d
PROCESS_NAME:  chrome.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 9600.17085.amd64fre.winblue_gdr.140330-1035
Debug session time: Sat May 31 09:24:47.841 2014 (UTC + 6:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 1:02:50.500
BugCheck 133, {1, 1e00, 0, 0}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt! ?? ::FNODOBFM::`string'+2f67c )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x133
PROCESS_NAME:  networx.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
Built by: 9600.17085.amd64fre.winblue_gdr.140330-1035
Debug session time: Sat May 31 08:13:31.919 2014 (UTC + 6:00)
System Uptime: 0 days 4:19:51.579
BugCheck 19, {d, ffffd000270e5290, fffff800610d2420, 8759635b24835133}
Probably caused by : ntkrnlmp.exe ( nt!ExFreePoolWithTag+a13 )
BUGCHECK_STR:  0x19_d
PROCESS_NAME:  chrome.exe
¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨``
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
Thanks for the response!!! :D

I've uninstalled both programs you've listed. Also:
  • sfc /scannow went through okay, no integrity violations
  • both my SSD and HDD had no errors thankfully
  • did a few memtest86+ passes and everything was okay, no errors

I researched a bit on the NvStreamKms.sys driver you spoke about and ran across this: https://forums.geforce.com/default/...a-streamer-service-may-be-freezing-your-pc/1/

Most of the people had the similar freezing/BSODs to mine, so I've disabled the NVidia Streamer Service in services.msc. I'm hesitant to revert back to an older NVidia driver because the latest stable one apparently has a bunch of DirectX optimizations that will help out with FPS.

Also, I probably still need to do #3 and #5, but so far all day I haven't gotten a bluescreen. I'm going to test this for at least 2 more days and then I'll let you know what's going on!! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
I haven't BSOD'd in the past few days, so I think it's safe to say you've fixed the problem! :D I think it was because of the NVidia Streamer Service.

Thanks so much for the help! :D
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 x64
Back
Top