Solved Random application crashes and BSODs

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Chambers1041

PCHF Member
Oct 4, 2021
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Hi all,

I have an issue which has been effecting me for a few months now. I have posted multiple threads on the microsoft community help forums and gotten nowhere with it after trying plenty of troubleshooting steps. I have now decided to ask here to see if I can get a fresh set of eyes to help me out.

So there a few different issues which happen at varying times, seemingly at random:

1) my PC will freeze up and multiple applications (game, browser, discord, spotify) will crash all at the same time. Then maybe about 30 seconds later everything stabilises and I can use my PC fine.

2) PC freezes up, goes to BSOD. A few frequent ones are: PFN_LIST_CORRUPT, REFERENCE_BY_POINTER, MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. There are a few more but I haven't managed to take a picture on my phone to keep track of the stop codes.

PC then boots up fine afterwards.

3) Same as above, but instead of booting fine the PC lights will turn on and fans will spin, but no monitors or peripherals will recieve power. I fix this by unplugging the power cord, holding power button for a few secs and then plugging the cord back in.


Windows community has had me try reinstalling/repairing windows, running driver verifier, SFC/scannow, DISM repairs. All to no avail. They mentioned that some of my minidumps are pointing to RAM corruption, and so today I have unplugged my newest RAM sticks. I usually run 4 sticks of 8GB RAM, but have now gone back two sticks. I haven't had any BSODs since doing this, however I did have a couple of nasty application crashes and at one point the entire system froze up, the screens went black and I could hear a piece of looped audio from the game I was playing. Windows event viewer points to 3 different applicaitons crashing due to kernelbase.dll



Hopefully I have provided a decent description of events that usually occur for somebody to assist me in troubleshooting. I am happy to start from scratch and provide any logs etc.
 
Couple of things of note in Speccy but the two most notable are that the SSD to which you have installed Windows is not large enough, it needs to be at least 256GB, you are down to 17% of free space on the present drive (20GB) and any future major update/s Windows 11 included may not have enough room to install.

Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #2, Partition #1
Disk Letter: E:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 9E5D780B
Size: 930 GB
Used Space: 883 GB (94%)
Free Space: 46 GB (6%)

You are in danger of losing all of the above data, as to why is explained below;

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available on a HDD and an SSD between 10 and 15% as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

Sort out the free storage space issue and if after doing so you still get BSOD post back with a new Speccy url and the latest dmp/s by using the method below;

1. Copy any dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump onto the desktop.
2. Select all of them, right-click on one, and click on Send To> New Compressed (zipped) Folder.
3. Upload the zip folder using the Attach button, bottom left of the dialogue input box

Regarding your previous three dmps, problems with Windows itself are responsible for two of them and Nvidea drivers the other one, we can`t do anything about this until the space has been freed up on E: and in an ideal world Windows and the system drivers have been clean installed on a drive of appropriate capacity.
 
phillpower2 said:
Couple of things of note in Speccy but the two most notable are that the SSD to which you have installed Windows is not large enough, it needs to be at least 256GB, you are down to 17% of free space on the present drive (20GB) and any future major update/s Windows 11 included may not have enough room to install.

Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #2, Partition #1
Disk Letter: E:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 9E5D780B
Size: 930 GB
Used Space: 883 GB (94%)
Free Space: 46 GB (6%)

You are in danger of losing all of the above data, as to why is explained below;

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available on a HDD and an SSD between 10 and 15% as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Data only storage devices should not be allowed to get any lower than 10% of free storage space of the full capacity of the drive/partition on the drive, this also to avoid data corruption.

Please note that storage devices can physically fail if the amount of free storage space is allowed to drop below the required 10 or 20/25% minimum.

Sort out the free storage space issue and if after doing so you still get BSOD post back with a new Speccy url and the latest dmp/s by using the method below;

1. Copy any dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump onto the desktop.
2. Select all of them, right-click on one, and click on Send To> New Compressed (zipped) Folder.
3. Upload the zip folder using the Attach button, bottom left of the dialogue input box

Regarding your previous three dmps, problems with Windows itself are responsible for two of them and Nvidea drivers the other one, we can`t do anything about this until the space has been freed up on E: and in an ideal world Windows and the system drivers have been clean installed on a drive of appropriate capacity.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the response and for the detailed explanations.

I have ordered myself a 1TB SATA SSD to replace the C drive, and an external drive to help me move some of the data around and store files from the E drive.

Based on shipping estimates I should be able to get back to you around midway through next week.
 
You are welcome :)

Chambers1041 said:
I have ordered myself a 1TB SATA SSD to replace the C drive, and an external drive to help me move some of the data around and store files from the E drive.
Click to expand...

That is exactly the sort of plan needed (y)

Bit of info below regarding what is needed when clean installing Windows but can I just mention an addition here, being that you are replacing C: with a 1TB device when you install Windows you should install it on its own 256GB partition on the device, this protects it from corruption and makes it easier to back up.

How to put Windows on its own partition is explained here

Once Windows has been clean installed you must then install first the chipset drivers, then the storage/SATA drivers and third the graphics drivers, the drivers can either come from a disk provided by the hardware manufacturer or downloaded and saved to a flash drive etc, this is a must and Windows should not be allowed to check for updates before it has been done as more often than not Windows installs the wrong drivers or in the incorrect order and this can cause all sorts of problems.
 
Just wanted to provide an update - drives have arrived and I will be working on getting everything set up over the next few hours.
 
Another update:

New C drive installed and windows fresh installed.

I also installed the chipset, SATA, and graphics drivers in that order as you suggested.

This whole setup process also may have helped to troubleshoot my issue already. I installed my 2 newest RAM sticks again (totalling 32gb) before my first boot. The PC made 3 long beep sounds which would repeat. Looking this up on the AsRock site I found that this meant there was a RAM problem. This was in the order of oldest sticks in slot 1+2, newest sticks in slot 3+4.

I then uninstalled the 2 newest sticks, and sat my 2 original sticks back into slot 1 and 3. The PC booted fine.

I then tried installing all 4 sticks again, this time with the 2 newest sticks in slot 1 and 2, and the older ones in 3 and 4. This gave me the beeping again.

I then tried having the 2 newest sticks in slot 1 and 3 and leaving the older sticks uninstalled. This booted fine.

I am now left thinking that maybe my entire issue is related to this, and that it is most likely an issue with the RAM slots on my motherboard. Would this be an accurate assumption? I haven't had a chance to test applications yet to see if I get any blue screens, but this stuck out immediately.
 
Chambers1041 said:
This whole setup process also may have helped to troubleshoot my issue already. I installed my 2 newest RAM sticks again (totalling 32gb) before my first boot.
Click to expand...

This should not have been done without first posting back to be advised on the next suggested step.
 
Apologies, only tried this because I physically couldn't boot the PC and went into a bit of a panic. I am still currently using the 16GB (2x8GB) setup with no issues thus far. What would you advise I do from here?

Edit: misread your response. I see now you are referring to me going back to the 32GB setup, originally I thought you had quoted my whole troubleshooting process. I understand I should have just booted with the 16GB setup that I was using beforehand. Will follow suggested steps only from here on out.
 
No problem it`s just that it is most frustrating when we are helping someone and they go off, do their own thing, end up in troble and then post back and say "didn`t work"

Chambers1041 said:
I then tried installing all 4 sticks again, this time with the 2 newest sticks in slot 1 and 2, and the older ones in 3 and 4. This gave me the beeping again.
Click to expand...

This was because you had a mismatch of RAM in both channels.

Chambers1041 said:
I then tried having the 2 newest sticks in slot 1 and 3 and leaving the older sticks uninstalled. This booted fine.
Click to expand...

The computer booted fine because you had matching RAM in the correct slots.

The acid test would be to now insert the two original 8GB sticks into the other two slots to see how things go with the 32GB of RAM in the most appropriate slots.
 
No problem it`s just that it is most frustrating when we are helping someone and they go off, do their own thing, end up in troble and then post back and say "didn`t work"
Click to expand...
I can completely understand this, won't do it again.

I will have some time later on to play around with the RAM and do what you have suggested. I wasn't even aware the RAM could be mismatched, I made sure to buy the exact same model number of RAM to avoid this kind of thing. Will report back with results after testing!
 
Thanks (y)

No rush here as I will most likely not be around until Sunday UK time now.

When you purchase a dual channel kit of RAM you will get two identical sticks that are from the same batch, they may be the exact same spec of RAM as what you have previously had but they are not from the same batch and being out of the wrapper new will be all shiny and new, the original RAM will be nicely bedded in but just not want to place nicely with the newer RAM.
 
phillpower2 said:
Thanks (y)

No rush here as I will most likely not be around until Sunday UK time now.

When you purchase a dual channel kit of RAM you will get two identical sticks that are from the same batch, they may be the exact same spec of RAM as what you have previously had but they are not from the same batch and being out of the wrapper new will be all shiny and new, the original RAM will be nicely bedded in but just not want to place nicely with the newer RAM.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the delay, been a little busy. Just plugged in the older sticks into slot 2 and 4 while the newer ones are in 1 and 3, and I got the same 3 long beeps from the motherboard.
 
Try restoring the MBs default factory settings in the BIOS, they are sometimes listed as one of the following " factory defaults" "most stable" or on newer boards "optimized" please note that if you have both the "most stable" and the "optimized" options in the BIOS you should choose the most stable" option as in this instance the "optimized" settings are a form of overclocking that can cause instability.

If the above does not work it suggests that your original and new RAM are incompatible.
 
Thank you, I'll have some time later on to play around with the RAM again and will give this a shot.

I also just got my first BSOD in over a week, this time for SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

Not sure if that's related or helps at all but thought it would be worth mentioning. I'll report back when I've tried your suggestion.
 
Alright so I have just spent about 15 minutes looking through the BIOS and I've not been able to find anything related to factory settings, even with some of the other wording you mentioned. I also tried googling for where this may be in the AsRock BIOS but all I can seem to find are people referring to resetting the CMOS battery. So I haven't been able to perform your suggestion.

Would it help if I take some pictures of the options in the BIOS?
 
1. Copy any dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump onto the desktop.
2. Select all of them, right-click on one, and click on Send To> New Compressed (zipped) Folder.
3. Upload the zip folder using the Attach button, bottom left of the dialogue input box

Chambers1041 said:
Alright so I have just spent about 15 minutes looking through the BIOS and I've not been able to find anything related to factory settings,
Click to expand...

Did you not get a user manual with the MB, if not, you can download a copy from here

See pages 53 and 54.
 
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