Windows 7 BSOD - started with 7 A. Dump, now getting BSOD F4

Hey everyone.

So, I've got a Dell Latitude 3540 (with these specs bought from CDW) that's just over a year old (warranty expired 🙄). Everything was smooth sailing until the day before yesterday when it suddenly threw a BSOD with a 7A error right after waking up from sleep. It happened once or twice more in a row, even when I tried booting into Safe Mode. After that, I ran a System Restore to go back about 20 days, and it worked fine all day until tonight, when the exact same thing happened again. During that evening session—just had a few apps open, nothing heavy for the CPU—the screen froze, went black, and then hit me with a BSOD.

Yesterday, I decided to just wipe it and reinstall Windows, and since I'm a student, I put on an original version of Windows 7 Professional SP1. Spent half a day messing around with drivers, but finally got everything sorted. Once the drivers were in, I ran Defraggler, which claims the status of Hard Drive A is good. The laptop seemed fine afterward, so I shut it down completely last night. This morning, I let it boot up for a few minutes (wasn't sitting right next to it), and just as the desktop loaded and I went to open Firefox, it froze again and slapped me with a BSOD F4. Regarding the dump file, it was set to kernel, so it's about 300MB; I can upload it if needed, but it might take ages. I've switched the setting to small, so if another BSOD hits, I'll get that dump uploaded.

CrystalDiskInfo is describing the status of Hard Drive A as Caution, despite what Defraggler says. Not sure if this is a red flag yet; attaching a screenshot:



I ran Chkdsk last night right after the Windows reinstall. I also just ran the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, which said the RAM is totally fine.

Anyone have any advice on what to try next?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: looks like it actually did generate a minidump. Here it is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3i...ew?usp=sharing

It just happened again. This time I've got a 7 A. Dump file for you: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3i...ew?usp=sharing

Here’s what Windows is reporting:

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.49
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 7a
BCP1: FFFFF6FC40009770
BCP2: FFFFFFFFC0000185
BCP3: 000000009D6C8860
BCP4: FFFFF880012EED18
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Uffff... This is going to be a headache to figure out. Until someone who actually knows their way around a minidump takes a look, I can only ask: have you noticed if this happens while it's on battery or plugged into the wall? And if it's happening on AC power, does the thing even have a battery in it?

Also, did you try running a disk check using the built-in chkdsk tool in Windows?

I've been running this thing plugged into the router via Wi-Fi the whole time... and honestly, I haven't even tested it on battery yet since it's just been sitting on AC power. I'm going to try swapping to the battery now, but I'm not really sure how to pinpoint what's failing and what isn't, especially since this doesn't seem to happen under heavy load—it feels almost totally random.

Like I mentioned, I ran chkdsk and the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, and everything looks fine :/

Quick update: I popped a fully charged battery in, unplugged the power adapter—everything just went black, leaving nothing but the desktop background on the screen (no taskbar, nothing), then it rebooted (but without a BSOD). When it comes back up, it seems okay; the battery is in, and plugging/unplugging the charger doesn't cause issues. But, when I leave the charger in and pull the battery out, I get a BSOD again, this time an F4. Here's the readout:

Problem signature:
Problem event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.49
Locale ID: 1050

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: f4
BCP1: 0000000000000003
BCP2: FFFFFA80067CAB30
BCP3: FFFFFA80067CAE10
BCP4: FFFFF80002D85940
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Dump: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3i...ew?usp=sharing

Right now, it's running on the charger without the battery.

🤷 chkdsk usually flags some bad sectors on whatever
CrystalDiskInfo is pointing out...
So, what's the deal—is it running on AC power now with the battery pulled? I'm actually curious to see how this plays out. Please give me an update once you have one... 😬

Yeah, it's back on the charger now, just like it was before I tried messing with that battery and everything went sideways.

Ran some SeaTools tests and pulled these results. Not sure if this actually helps anyone, but here they are:

Quote : model Number HGST HTS541075A9E680
Firmware Revision: JA2OA590
Fix All Fast - Started 07/25/2015. 14:09:51
Fix All Fast failed on July 25, 2015, at 2:10 PM.
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4
SMART status check - kicked off July 25, 2015, at 2:10 PM.
SMART Status - Passed 07/25/2015, 2:10 PM
Short DST - Started July 25, 2015. 2:10:25 PM
Short Generic - FAIL July 25, 2015. 2:10:42 PM
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4
Identification - Started July 25, 2015. 2:11:29 PM
Short Generic - Started July 25, 2015. 2:11:38 PM
Short Generic - Pass 25.7.2015. 14:13:12
Short DST - Started 07/25/2015. 2:21:18 PM
Short Generic - FAIL 7/25/2015. 2:21:35 PM
SeaTools Test Code: 6C9AC2A4

Also:

Send that readout over to Seagate support, though if you ask me, it sounds like you're looking at a dying disk...

Yeah, looking at those errors, it’s pretty clear some crucial Windows services have just checked out—which is why you're hitting that BSOD. If you decide to go through the trouble of a clean Windows reinstall and the same thing keeps happening, then we’re almost certainly looking at a hardware issue—either your RAM or the Hard Disk Drive.
To test the RAM, if you've got more than one stick in there, you can try pulling them out one by one to see if the instability clears up.
As for the Hard Disk Drive—if you don't have a spare lying around—you could actually pull it out entirely and boot the system from a live DVD instead (maybe something like Hiren's, Linux, or Knoppix...) and if everything runs smoothly that way, well, that would suggest the Hard Disk Drive is indeed the culprit. You might also want to try swapping out the cables connecting the drive, just to rule out a faulty connection while you're at it.

Yeah, smart move... You should probably double-check those hard drive connections first...