BSOD with virtually every update for Windows

bdcosmo · Mar 12, 2009

Hi folks.

Brand new here although I've been reading and trying to find soloutions for my problem but nothing seems to exactly fit exactly. Here it is:

I bought this laptop (Dell Inspiron 1545) in December 08. It came with Vista x64 and has performed nicely for me. With the exception of Defender updates and Malicious Software Tool, every single update for Windows, Security Updates, .NET 3.5, virtually all important updates results in BSOD upon restart after updating. I have to restore from safe mode a lot of times as the last restore point set by update also bluescreens. I have to go back farther than that.

Any ideas? The system is as it was when I bought the computer since NONE of the updates have worked. I'm new to Vista and new to x64 but have owned and used computers since the mid 80s so I'm not a total newbie...

Thanks!

Barman58 · Mar 12, 2009

Re: internet connectivity problems with vista

If you are having problems with WU try this ....

Using CheckSUR to repair Windows Vista update problems « the back room tech

H2SO4 · Mar 12, 2009

You may find *.DMP files in your \windows\minidump folder. Each one is a summary of some key data at the time of a BSoD which can help to pinpoint the reason. If you zip up a few of the latest ones and upload them here, someone may be able to give you more info.

bdcosmo · Mar 12, 2009

Thanks for responding!

barman58, I get "invalid syntax" when typing in the command line provided for the CHECKSur installation. ?

H2S04, the minidump folder is empty.

I just reinstalled the first of the updates to fail, KB961260, and the info on the BS was
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and the error 0X0000000A, 0XFFFFF80001E8C989, 0x000000000000880, 0X00000000000000C, 0X00000000000001

I don't know if that's relevant info or not...thanks again, still trying!

H2SO4 · Mar 12, 2009

In order to be able to generate a dump, the system must have a pagefile on the boot partition (where \windows lives) that's at least 500MB in size or preferably even bigger.

Also, run SYSDM.CPL, Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery "settings", and check that the dump type is set to "small memory dump".

After that, a DMP file should be written during each subsequent BSoD.

Barman58 · Mar 12, 2009

bdcosmo said:
barman58, I get "invalid syntax" when typing in the command line provided for the CHECKSur installation. ?

Rather than type the instruction into the command prompt I would suggest you copy and paste - Spaces are very important and unfortunately the post isn't very clear on exactly where they go in the string - hopefully that will help

bdcosmo · Mar 12, 2009

Nigel, I did that, got the same invalid syntax error. I dunno... :confused:

H2SO4, everything is set right, does system restore save those files intact?

I appreciate your help, hopefully can get to the bottom of this. Thanks!

Barman58 · Mar 12, 2009

HI bdcosmo,

It is a bit confusing - I can only assume that the error you are getting is not related to this KB - at least it's one to eliminate :confused:

bdcosmo · Mar 12, 2009

Nigel, Definitely not this ONE...I get a BSOD after every important update. The security, windows, everything. The only updates that don't do this are the Defender and Malicious Software Tool updates. I'm waiting in queue at Dell Support to see if they have any ideas. I'm thinking it might be related to drivers? Config? Other than this the comp and OS work flawlessly but I'm concerned that the lack of updates has me vulnerable or at least behind the curve on fixes/patches...

Thanks!

Barman58 · Mar 12, 2009

Hi bdcosmo,

The BSOD code that you quoted above is unfortunately a bit generic, (A lot are :rolleyes:

), but is normally related to something accessing memory that it should not.

MS have an article on technet that explains some of the causes and possible solutions, you may want to check it out and see if it leads you anywhere

Anyway the info is here ...

Microsoft Corporation

From what I understand one thing to do is a memtest (F8 at start of windows boot cycle).

hope this helps a little

pooch · Mar 12, 2009

bdcosmo said:
barman58, I get "invalid syntax" when typing in the command line provided for the CHECKSur installation. ?

Hi bdcosmo,

When you copy and paste this command do not copy the comma at the end of the string

The download address for CheckSUR is here Scroll down to it;
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=947821

bdcosmo · Mar 12, 2009

Update: Problem solved by a Dell tech. It was an out of date video driver. Got it updated, all updates installed and working. I had no idea the driver was outdated, it didn't show as such but all's well that ends well, right? Lesson learned! Thanks again for your replies!

Barman58 · Mar 12, 2009

Glad to hear you have things working :party:

Strange thing was - one of the possibles in the microsoft thing was faulty drivers

bdcosmo · Mar 13, 2009

barman58 said:
Glad to hear you have things working

Strange thing was - one of the possibles in the microsoft thing was faulty drivers

Yeah, it was...and, admittedly, out of date drivers are a big problem with this. However, with a computer that left the factory 3 months ago, how do you know when a driver needs to be updated critically enough to cause this major a problem? I mean I didn't think about a driver being outdated already on a computer this new. Is there an easy way (for someone without a lot of time, patience and intimate knowledge) to check for updated drivers and whether or not it is critical to update? I've always operated under the impression that unless your computer is having a problem not to update drivers as that can cause it's own set of problems. (If it aint broke don't fix it...)

Thanks...life's an education and I'm willing to learn.

H2SO4 · Mar 13, 2009

bdcosmo said:
...
However, with a computer that left the factory 3 months ago, how do you know when a driver needs to be updated critically enough to cause this major a problem? I mean I didn't think about a driver being outdated already on a computer this new. Is there an easy way (for someone without a lot of time, patience and intimate knowledge) to check for updated drivers and whether or not it is critical to update? I've always operated under the impression that unless your computer is having a problem not to update drivers as that can cause it's own set of problems. (If it aint broke don't fix it...)

Thanks...life's an education and I'm willing to learn.

There's a huge difference between "outdated" and "defective". A driver becomes nominally outdated once newer versions add significant new capability, or once substantial gains are made in efficiency or speed of execution.

Defective in this context means critically buggy - a driver which caused the complex edifice that is kernel-mode OS operation to come crashing down in a heap.

All complex software is buggy. Even Space Shuttle code. The law of diminishing returns says that once a certain point is reached it takes exponentially more work for each next bug to be found and ironed out, and each software developer has a choice to make about where they're willing to say "good enough" and call it quits on their internal testing. That's simple commercial reality. If anyone subsequently runs into a bug under normal operation, like you presumably did, the developer will have to decide whether their "fix it" costs are warranted given the percentage of users experiencing the problem. More unpleasant reality.

I forgot why I started this novella.

Ah yes - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" does not apply to BSoDs. Something is very broken indeed :D

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