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PC crashing every 10 mins - help please

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
Intel Core I7-9700
256GB SSD
3TB HDD
16GB RAM
Nvidia GTX 1660TI


PC crashing via blue screen of death (Kmode exception not handled) every ten mins. Reboots, and repeats the cycle.

I've looked it up online and common issues are driver issues, faulty RAM or external hardware.

Google indicates this error normally seems to indicate after the "kmode exception" text a code to help point you in the right direction, but mine does not.

I've gone through every driver and updated if newer versions were available.

I've unplugged any external hardware.

I've used the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool to thoroughly check the system's RAM, no issues detected.

I've disabled or removed any software that has been installed since the PC was set up around Christmas.

I've tried to go into safe mode (both with and without networking enabled) and it crashes instantly and reboots back to normal mode.

No viruses or malware detected by Defender.

So I'm at a loss. Any ideas??
 
Red

Red

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,641
Have you checked the temperature of your CPU and GPU? Is this a new build?
 
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

Banned
Apr 25, 2020
3,418
Sounds like it could be a storage failure or as above, overheating CPU. Also see if your PSU is emitting any strange smells
 
Mesoian

Mesoian

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
26,431
Check your temps and check your windows error logs.

Also be prepared to reinstall windows if it really is a software problem.
 
Kuro

Kuro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,591
Try only 1 stick of RAM at a time to see if maybe it just isn't a bad stick.

Also boot into BIOS to check temps.
 
Zoon

Zoon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,397
Try booting with the iGPU, one stick of ram and SSD. If you don't encounter issues then start adding the rest of the parts.
 
MazeHaze

MazeHaze

Member
Nov 1, 2017
8,577
Did you unplug the ram and plug it back in? This happened to me once and reseating the ram fixed it.
 
water_wendi

water_wendi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,354
Crashing in safe mode? My guess is hardware. Take out what non-essential hardware you can.. all ram but one stick etc.. and see if you still get issues.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
water_wendi said:
Crashing in safe mode? My guess is hardware. Take out what non-essential hardware you can.. all ram but one stick etc.. and see if you still get issues.
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Yeah, while it ran the RAM check, it did not reboot or crash, and that definitely took longer than 10 mins. But literally as soon as it finished and booted back into windows, it rebooted, as though it was anxious to reboot because it hadn't gotten the chance in the nor al 10 min window.
 
Soap

Soap

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,170
Likely PSU related. Same thing happened to me and it was the PSU dying.
 
Red

Red

Member
Oct 26, 2017
11,641
This happened to me sporadically on an old build because of a hardware fault. I had 12GB RAM installed. The computer would sometimes boot with 10GB available—in which case, it would run fine. But if it booted with all 12GB available there was a chance it would crash to a BSOD shortly after turning on. Re-ordering the RAM sticks made no difference. I don't know exactly the reason it happened but my guess is a bad slot, or memory bus.

Check your temps first, but keep an open mind to hardware faults.
 
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

Banned
Apr 25, 2020
3,418
StrykerIsland said:
Will do and report back.
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No worries. The average temperature for most processors on idle load should be anywhere between 35-45 degrees celsius, depending on factors like environment and ventilation. Averaging in the 50's is okay but is normally a sign that you need thermal paste. Anything higher than that with no game or resource heavy app running and it means you've got problems.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
Ok, definitely not a temperature issue. PC was off all night, I just tried to boot and she crashed immediately. Hits the desktop and that's all she wrote now. Checking RAM sticks now.
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
Check the event viewer in windows prior to crashes, it might give you more information. Right click on start and you'll see the option.
 
Pwnz

Pwnz

Member
Oct 28, 2017
14,279
Places
Boot memtest and let it run for 12 hours

The other suggestions are good. Always start with RAM with this stuff. Depending on when bad memory is used in software it can mimic other issues.
 
Aureon

Aureon

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,819
In order of likeliness:
- Corrupted drivers \ essential files (Try booting from live sticks, clean install windows)
- Faulty ram (reseat ram, try single stick)
- Overheating CPU (reseat heatsink)
- Faulty PSU (swap psu)


Marcus Aurelius said:
No worries. The average temperature for most processors on idle load should be anywhere between 35-45 degrees celsius, depending on factors like environment and ventilation. Averaging in the 50's is okay but is normally a sign that you need thermal paste. Anything higher than that with no game or resource heavy app running and it means you've got problems.
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50 is okay, even 60 is okay for CPU temp.

PCs will safety shutdown between 90-120, depending on model.

StrykerIsland said:
Ok, definitely not a temperature issue. PC was off all night, I just tried to boot and she crashed immediately. Hits the desktop and that's all she wrote now. Checking RAM sticks now.
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An incorrectly seated heatsink will send a cpu in safety protection shutdown in seconds.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
Red said:
What's your PSU? Wattage? Also, when did this start happening?
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Standard HP Pavilion PSU, nothing fancy that I'm aware of.
Inside the tower is extremely clean, not a drop of dust, made pulling the RAM out very simple.

Reboot did not change, still crashes after a few seconds. Likely going to have to reinstall windows methinks.
 
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

Banned
Apr 25, 2020
3,418
StrykerIsland said:
Standard HP Pavilion PSU, nothing fancy that I'm aware of.
Inside the tower is extremely clean, not a drop of dust, made pulling the RAM out very simple.

Reboot did not change, still crashes after a few seconds. Likely going to have to reinstall windows methinks.
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Have you or anyone else been doing anything recently that could cause a software problem? Like clashing anti-virus for example?
 
MazeHaze

MazeHaze

Member
Nov 1, 2017
8,577
StrykerIsland said:
Standard HP Pavilion PSU, nothing fancy that I'm aware of.
Inside the tower is extremely clean, not a drop of dust, made pulling the RAM out very simple.

Reboot did not change, still crashes after a few seconds. Likely going to have to reinstall windows methinks.
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this is a prebuilt machine? Do you have experience re-inserting ram before/are you sure they are clicked in all the way? Sometimes ram can be tricky and seems like it's inserted fully even when it's not. make sure you press down firmly in the center of the stick when inserting it and that you hear the top and bottom latch click.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
Marcus Aurelius said:
Have you or anyone else been doing anything recently that could cause a software problem? Like clashing anti-virus for example?
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No clashing antivirus, no. The system literally only has Plex media server installed on it, and all media files are on external drives. The SSD and HDD in the system are basically 100% factory fresh with nothing installed on them outside of a few maintenance programs.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
MazeHaze said:
this is a prebuilt machine? Do you have experience re-inserting ram before/are you sure they are clicked in all the way? Sometimes ram can be tricky and seems like it's inserted fully even when it's not. make sure you press down firmly in the center of the stick when inserting it and that you hear the top and bottom latch click.
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Yes, prebuilt. It's never moved from its spot atop my media center since I bought it, and never had issues prior to a week or so ago, so I'd be hard pressed to explain why the ram wasn't in there properly, if that was the case. But it seemed to go out/in with no issues, I definitely "clicked" it. :)
 
Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius

Banned
Apr 25, 2020
3,418
StrykerIsland said:
No clashing antivirus, no. The system literally only has Plex media server installed on it, and all media files are on external drives. The SSD and HDD in the system are basically 100% factory fresh with nothing installed on them outside of a few maintenance programs.
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Attempt a Defrag on the storage with Windows on it if you can, but expect the system to crash well before the defrag is done if this is indeed a hardware issue. What do you mean by 100% factory fresh? As in they're new and you installed them recently?
 
MazeHaze

MazeHaze

Member
Nov 1, 2017
8,577
StrykerIsland said:
Yes, prebuilt. It's never moved from its spot atop my media center since I bought it, and never had issues prior to a week or so ago, so I'd be hard pressed to explain why the ram wasn't in there properly, if that was the case. But it seemed to go out/in with no issues, I definitely "clicked" it. :)
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yeah sometimes ram just does that. even the tiniest little gap can cause it to crash a system, and sometimes ram just gradually becomes unseated, or one of the contact pins becomes slightly oxidized and reseating it "cleans" the pin and eliminates the issue. Happened to one of my systems randomly, never even moved the thing and one day the ram just needed reseated or else it would consistently crash withing 10-20 minutes of booting, until eventually it would crash immediately when windows booted. It was weird because the sticks were able to pass memory test just fine, but needing reseated was still the issue all along lol. 2 years later now and the machine hasn't bluescreened since.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
Marcus Aurelius said:
Attempt a Defrag on the storage with Windows on it if you can, but expect the system to crash well before the defrag is done if this is indeed a hardware issue. What do you mean by 100% factory fresh? As in they're new and you installed them recently?
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I mean, the 3TB HDD is empty and the SSD only ever had Plex installed on it, so a factory fresh windows install, with the HP bloatware removed is all that's touched the SSD.

Everything else is on external drives.

This makes it easy for me to reset the SSD without losing anything important, which is precisely what I'm doing now. Currently at 60% reset.
 
OP
OP

StrykerIsland

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,155
MazeHaze said:
yeah sometimes ram just does that. even the tiniest little gap can cause it to crash a system, and sometimes ram just gradually becomes unseated, or one of the contact pins becomes slightly oxidized and reseating it "cleans" the pin and eliminates the issue. Happened to one of my systems randomly, never even moved the thing and one day the ram just needed reseated or else it would consistently crash withing 10-20 minutes of booting, until eventually it would crash immediately when windows booted. It was weird because the sticks were able to pass memory test just fine, but needing reseated was still the issue all along lol. 2 years later now and the machine hasn't bluescreened since.
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That's precisely my issue and the chain of events that led to today. If the full reset doesn't solve the issue, I'll take another look at the ram, to be sure. I've currently only got one 8GB stick in there, to help narrow it down.
 
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