Returning Blue screens

DerDee

New Member
Messages
1
Dear last resort,

I've got a computer which functions as Server and Mediaplayer connected to my TV. For this I bought a brand new windows 8 disc and installed it with that (first time upgrade, second time clean install).

After the upgrade (just after windows 8 released) it took a while, but got blue screens suddenly and they kept coming in a shorter and shorter periods. Just before reinstalling I could only boot up before another one would occure.
After a total fresh reinstallation my pc worked fine for another few weeks, after that it started happening again. Now at a state where it can't stay on for a whole day which is rather critical for a server, and even when getting a blue screen it doesn't reboot automatically leaving it on the blue screen till I notice it which in my opinion can't be good and the pc is therefore powered off.

I've tried to search for solutions but non of them gives me any results, sooner or later my pc keeps getting a blue screen. I also can't point any cause of blue screens since it's happening randomly if you ask me, it could have some relation with playback of video, but that is also not always the case.

I've added my dumps in hopes that one of you can help me out or point where I should look.
As my thread start said, you are my last resort, windows 7 is the other alternative.

Thanks for your help,

DerDee
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home build
There are a couple of things you can do, but I need to ask, is this the regular Blue Screen o Deth or is it the Blue (or sometimes black in my case) screen that pops up right after the user is loaded?

What you should do is, if you have the install disk, is try an In-Place Install while the system is booted, you can do that from the desktop. But before you do that, the SFC /scannow option is still in the system buried deep. If you can't get to it via a command prompt you can use a manager program like Yamoksoft Windows 8 Manager to invoke it.

I would start by doing this, what are you doing, running a Plex, iTunes, or Windows Media Player media server? You have to remember that if you use one of those, and then install others, they conflict sometimes. For Plex, your system has to be spotless, no updates, no dot net updates other than what the program downloads for you and installs. These may conflict with the versions needed for other media servers, and dot net is the number one thing that can get corrupted and cause the same failures you are describing including Blue and Black death screens.

After you do the full restore of all your original system files using SFC, if it still fails, then and only then can you try the In Place Install.

The thing that bothers me is that when you buy a new PC they always neglect giving you a windows 8 install disk with the exact version of Windows 8 you bought. They make you depend on that buggy "Restoration Partition" and the thing to remember about those, is that you still need the install disk for it to work right. So I always delete those partitions and keep the install disk within a foot of my PCs at all times.

Start windows, and just get to the desktop, and even if you can't get to that, as long as the system is running even with the Black Screen of Death where you have a mouse and nothing else, you can CTRL-ALT DEL and invoke the SETUP.EXE from the CD/VD in the drive. Or better yet, get a flash drive and use a USB formatting tool to move the entire install disk onto that, it will have to have the Grub Loader installed. You can look that up and find the tools you would need - It will go a lot faster if you do it from a flash drive.

As long as you have the Install Disk and you can invoke the Setup exe from it using Task Manager if you have to, then you can basically do an "Upgrade" which will re-install Windows 8 right over the top of the failed or buggy installation. I had to do this about 6 times before I got it stable.

Just do NOT allow it to download updates and opt out of "help microsoft etc" - When you get to the install section, choose Upgrade.

Believe me, I've tried going through all of the stuff from the Error reports and system logs, but it is just way easier to perform an In-Place install - IF you can do it.

If not, I'd just do a fresh install right over the old one, thus allowing you to save all of your personal files, you can drag them all back and then re-install all the programs you have, just make sure you have every program at hand, save those to a different flash drive.

Maybe that's not that you were hoping to hear, but I've been doing this with Windows XP through 7 and now 8, I've gotten to be an expert at restoring my OS. I've been using this same computer with basically the same programs since XP, I've upgraded it through all of Vista and 7 and now 8, But just remember some errors in the previous versions of windows get copied over to the new configuration. As long as you are installing the exact same version of Windows 8 you should be OK, because the corrupot system files WILL be deleted and fresh versions installed - And for safety, download ONLY System updates and never Security updates. Just the compatibility and reliability updates.

I hope that is helpful, if this is a new machine, it should be able to be restored just don't do it by pressing "F11" because that has always failed for me.

[edit] And - You say you've done "Fresh Installs several times" - This tells me, that something you are installing later or maybe even something that came with the system is simply not compatible with Windows 8. A lot of these systems were created as Windows 7 systems and they are just installing Windows 8 without testing them very well. So what may work great for Windows 7 may not work at all for Windows 8! It's very important that when you install your applications, first set UAC down to the lowest but do not shut if off totally: When you install an application never elevate it to Administrative Privileges, this will cause all kinds of problems running the programs. You need to be runing applications and installations simply as "user" with Admin Privileges, not Admin outright - Windows 8 doesn't like to change permissions.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
    Internet Speed
    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
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