Troubleshooting Unscheduled Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Crashes: A Case Study
Introduction
System stability issues such as Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes can be frustrating and challenging to diagnose. These random system failures often require a methodical approach to identify their root cause. In this article, we will examine a recent real-world scenario of intermittent BSOD crashes, exploring troubleshooting steps, diagnostic tools, and potential solutions.
Background
The user initially experienced sporadic system crashes approximately one month after upgrading hard drives and installing a new GPU, the 5080FE. Notably, these crashes commenced before the reinstallation of Windows 11 but persisted afterward. The crashes occurred approximately once or twice per month, with a few exceptions—specifically, once in July, August, and multiple times in September.
Summary of Crash Events
- First crash: July (single occurrence)
- Multiple crashes: August and September, with increasing frequency
- Most recent crash: September 16th while gaming (Borderlands 4)
System Actions and Diagnostics
Following initial crashes, the user undertook several troubleshooting steps:
- Adjusting Overclocking Settings:
- Reset MSI Afterburner configurations
-
Disabled XMP profile in BIOS
-
Eventual System Maintenance:
- Reinstalled Windows 11 to rule out software corruption
- Updated Intel chipset drivers
- Performed memory diagnostics (Windows Memory Diagnostic), revealing no errors
- Ran System File Checker (SFC /scannow), which repaired corrupted files
- Executed disk checks (CHKDSK), with no issues identified
- Booted into Safe Mode, used Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to completely remove GPU drivers, reseated GPU hardware components
Troubleshooting Findings
Despite these efforts, crashes persisted, with some key details:
- The crash dump files consistently pointed to ntoskrnl.exe, Windows’ core kernel process.
- Specific error codes included DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION, often associated with hardware or driver conflicts.
- Crash frequency remains low but unpredictable, occurring roughly 2-3 times per month.
Next Steps and Future Plans
The user is preparing for a significant hardware upgrade scheduled in two weeks — replacing the CPU, motherboard, RAM, and case. This upgrade aims to eliminate potential hardware failures as the source of instability. If crashes continue post-upgrade, the suspicion shifts toward the
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