BSOD issues - help needed

Hey everyone!

I've been running into some trouble over the last few days. I keeps hitting a Blue Screen of Death. Once the computer finally boots back up, things look totally messed up—menus and icons are all changed and weird. It takes a few restarts before everything looks normal again. Any advice on how to fix this?

OS👋Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit
Motherboard: Asrock A55icafe
Memory: 4 GB DDR3 1333Mhz
Drive: 160GB Hitachi hard drive
Processor: AMD Athlon II X4 641 2800

Go ahead and download WhoCrashed—once you've got it installed, just hit the Analyze button. It'll generate a report explaining exactly why your PC decided to restart. If you could just copy that log and paste it here on the forum, we can take a look at what's going on.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Grab WhoCrashed. Once it's installed, just hit the Analyze button. It'll generate a log explaining why your PC restarted. Copy that log here on the forum so we can take a look.

On Mon 22.9.2014. 13:44:04 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntkrpamp.exe (nt!ExFreePoolWithTag +0 x1B1)
Bugcheck code: 0x19 (0x20, 0xFFFFFFFF956E1510, 0xFFFFFFFF956E16F0, 0xA3C0240)
Error: BAD_POOL_HEADER
Bug check description: This indicates that a pool header is corrupt.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. more often Memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy Drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: ntkrpamp.exe .

Google search: ntkrpamp.exe BAD_POOL_HEADER

On Mon 22.9.2014. 13:44:04 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\092214-16921-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntkrnlpa.exe (nt+0x121C6B)
Bugcheck code: 0x19 (0x20, 0xFFFFFFFF956E1510, 0xFFFFFFFF956E16F0, 0xA3C0240)
Error: BAD_POOL_HEADER
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntkrnlpa.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows ® Operating system
company: Microsoft Corporation description : NT kernel & system
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a pool header is corrupt.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. more often Memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy Drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

Since we're looking at a driver issue, it’s probably not a hardware problem—at least, that's my best guess. What kind of programs are you running, and have you kept them all up to date lately? Also, is Windows Update turned on? It might be worth checking if there are any pending updates waiting to be installed.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Grab WhoCrashed. Once you have it installed, just hit the Analyze button. It’ll pull up a log explaining exactly why your computer keeps restarting. Copy that log and paste it here on the forum so we can take a look.

Larry Ortiz5 said:It sounds like a driver issue, which means hardware probably isn't the culprit here. What programs are you running, and have you updated them lately? Also, make sure Windows Update is turned on and check if there are any pending updates waiting to be installed.

I’m running GomPlayer, Winamp, uTorrent, Adobe Reader, and PowerISO. Windows Update is active, and I have a few pending installations. However, I just ran MemTest and it flagged about 20 errors.

Twenty errors? How much RAM are you actually running? I mean, are you rocking a single 4GB stick or just two 2GB sticks?

Larry Ortiz5 said:20 errors? What kind of RAM setup are you running? Like, one 4GB stick or two 2GB sticks?

Just one 4GB stick.
I even reinstalled the OS twice in the last week.

Maybe try popping that RAM stick into a different slot on the motherboard and running MemTest again? If it still flags an error—well, shoot, I guess you might be looking at buying some new memory after all.

Larry Ortiz5 said:Try moving that RAM stick to a different slot on the motherboard and run MemTest again. If it still flags an error, well, you might just need to pick up some new memory.

Already tried that. Still getting errors. I even tried cleaning the contacts with a rubber eraser. Could there be a compatibility issue between the RAM and the motherboard? This PC is slow. It’s acting like total junk.

The RAM is compatible. Honestly, I don't think you have much of a choice here—you’re probably looking at buying a new stick... As for what else might be junk? Maybe the hard drive is starting to fail.

Larry Ortiz5 said:The RAM is compatible. Honestly, you probably just need to buy a whole new setup. Junk? Maybe a failing hard drive..

Could be. I was actually thinking about grabbing a new SSD instead.. oh well, life goes on.

You might be able to save enough by checking out Craigslist to pick up some RAM... If you were living in Washington, D.C., this would probably be right up your alley.

http://www.craigslist.org/ram-memory/...ad-12832680

Larry Ortiz5 said:You might save some cash by checking Craigslist for RAM. If you were living in Washington, D.C., this would be a solid move.

http://www.craigslist.org/ram-memory/...ad-12832680

I'm not from D.C. Is that manufacturer any good? I don't follow the trends much.

That sounds good 👍 You could always just send it through the mail... By the way, where are you located? Maybe someone nearby is selling one...

Larry Ortiz5 said:It’s a good deal. 👍 You could even have it mailed to you. Where are you located, anyway? Maybe someone nearby is selling one.

Iowa. I already checked. There isn't much out there right now.

In that case, just reach out to my guy.

EDIT: I was just checking the government store for $17 and it looks like you could snag new RAM for a better deal—though I’m not sure what the shipping costs would run you. Honestly, if I were you, I'd probably just grab it from the shop... I mean, there's nothing like having something brand new, right? But hey, it's your call. 🙂

http://www.gov.us/product_info.php?products_id=14951