OK, let's skip drivers then, but I just want to let you know that driver download programs can cause problems and I don't trust such programs, I believe manual work and testing is worth much more.
Also I personally assembled/repaired a ton of computers and never had to use things such as drivermax in order to make stuff work, such not needed programs is what is put into category "bloatware" if you ask people like me.
NOTE: You are supposed to complete following steps carefully and report results of each one in order to get further assistance.
If you stuck at some point or don't know how to complete something then please ask instead of skipping the step.
You will need at least one day to complete all the steps.
Now first, why none of the drivers installed so far make any difference? it could be the problem isn't in drivers but in one of the following:
1.) hardware failure
2.) drivers are not designed to work for Windows 8.1
3.) some drivers cause too high DPC
Here is what you can do to identify each of possible problems above one by one:
1.) Hardware failure tests:
MEMORY TEST
To perform memory test visit below link and as explained on that link perform an extended test with at least 2 pass counts:
DOWNLOAD LINK
HARD DRIVE TEST
To check hard drive for problems perform following:
Close down all programs
Press:
Windows key + X
Select:
Command prompt (Admin)
Type:
chkdsk /R /F
If the above command tells you following:
Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another
process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be
checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)
Type '
Y' hit enter and reboot.
TEMPERATURE TEST
Download temperature monitor program from below link:
DOWNLOAD LINK
Run the tool as Administrator ( otherwise the view will be limited )
While this tool is running try to overheat your PC, for example play some resource hungry games and use Windows key to minimize the game and watch for temp each 10 minutes. ( the game would have been played for about 40 minutes or more )
CPU/GPU temp. should not go over 85 or 90 C during that time.
CPU TEST
Visit below links to download software and perform testing.
Intel generic test
Prime number test
2.) drivers are not designed to work for Windows 8.1
I can't help you with this step since you didn't install only original drivers, you'll need to query drivermax and only hope it can tell you what drivers he installed.
However here is a tool which you can use to possibly identify bad 3rd party drivers.
- you're supposed to know what drivers drivermax installed before using the tool
- you're supposed to understand how to use the tool by learning from below link
How to use driver verifier
NOTE: do not test Microsoft drivers, only 3rd party drivers.
3.) some drivers cause too high DPC
Here is a tutorial and download links to check if drivers behave bad in real time:
DOWNLOAD 7zip
DOWNLOAD Windows SDK
DOWNLOAD DPC latency checker
TUTORIAL LINK
If you're unable to follow or understand this tutorial then please zip up the performance file captured by xperf and attach the file here.
Note: Only performance monitor is needed from SDK package.
Hint: the performance file will be large, it's recommended to use 7 zip and zip the file with LZMA2 ultra method in order to compress it up to 10 times of it's original size, before attaching it here.
If so far any of the above tests/steps does not yield bad or not expected results then here is what to do next:
we can assume the problem is with Windows itself, for example if Windows is corrupt it will not work properly and could even cause BSOD.
1.) Core windows file integrity test:
Close down all programs
Press:
Windows key + X
Select:
Command prompt (Admin)
Type:
sfc /scannow
If the above results in error do this:
Press:
Windows key + X
Select:
Command prompt (Admin)
Type:
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
If successful ( after it's complete )
Type again:
sfc /scannow
and see if that worked
2.) Reproducing BSOD in clean boot
Visit below link to learn how to perform clean boot:
LINK
Once you done this try to reproduce BSOD
3.) Reproducing BSOD in safe mode
Visit below link to learn how to start Windows in safe mode:
LINK
Once you done this try to reproduce BSOD
4.) Scanning PC for malware:
There are many software available to make a scan. here are few good ones to perform a scan:
Free Avira Antivirus
Malwarebytes
Kaspersky offline scanner
Few notes about how to perform the scan:
- Full system scan with avira with maximum settings ( that is maximum heuristic and scan of all disks )
- Full system scan with malwarebytes with maximum settings ( that is maximum heuristic and scan of all disks )
- Kaspersky offline is not needed but an alternative to perform a full scan with max settings while Windows is down, in addition performing 2 different scans ( Avira and Kaspersky ) might result in different reports.
5.) For troubleshooting purposes remove ( if any ) of the following programs known to reproduce BSOD:
- Virtual machines
- 3rd party firewalls
- 3rd party Antivirus programs ( most notably: Avira, AVG, BitDefender and few others )
NOTE: using their official removal programs is better than removing manually
- Burning tools (ex. Alcohol, Nero... )
And yes, the driver max deserves to be listed above, because the drivers installed can't be trusted and are a big obstacle to identify problems while performing these test.
The above 5 steps should help isolate problems and I advise you to use them to help identify/isolate problems which could then be used to help identify additional problems or perform additional tests.
Please report results of each test.
In addition to test results provide following information:
1.) For how long are you using this Windows ( when you last time (re)installed windows )
2.) When did BSOD problems first time occur? ( in regard to Windows installation date )
3.) Have you ever installed non signed or untrusted software?
4.) How old is your PC?
5.) When did you last time change hardware components? (if any)
