Multiple BSOD’s on Windows 7 Pro x64

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Hi All!
I’ve been grappling with a major BSOD crisis on a few of the Windows 7 machines I manage. The most common address implicated is NTOSKRNL.exe+75b80. These machines have the following in common:

[*]They are HP Laptops
[*]Running Windows 7 Pro x64
[*]With the latest version of Norton Internet Security
[*]IE 11 installed
[*]Switchable AMD and Intel graphics

I went through the standard troubleshooting:

[*]Windows memory diagnostic
[*]Memtest (7+ passes)
[*]chkdisk and sfc
[*]Scanning with multiple AV and anti malware scanners
[*]Updated Drivers – especially graphics

Everything turned up OK. FInally I have some suspects…

The first suspect is Norton. I discovered that trying to do anything with NIS would cause a BSOD. I restored a working image to one laptop that happened to have NIS deactivated as the license was expired. Everything was nice and stable till I updated the license and reactivated/updated NIS. Immediately – BSOD.
However, when I removed NIS and installed MSE instead, everything was stable until I started using ie 11 (I use Chrome as my primary browser). Again – BSOD.
I kind of hoped/expected that if it’s happening to my machines, probably others have posted about it online, but I couldn’t find any help.

Does anyone have any ideas?

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Does BlueScreenView confirm NIS as a culprit?

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Ensure that any old security software has been fully removed by using the correct uninstall/removal tool(s): http://www.carrona.org/avuninst.html Norton and ZoneAlarm are probably the worst offenders for leaving bits behind that later cause problems.

If the problem continues, carefully read and follow the instructions here: http://www.sysnative.com/forums/bsod-crashes-kernel-debugging/68-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions-windows-8-7-vista.html When done, post the required info and attached the zip file here, we’ll take a closer look at what’s been happening.

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Hello,

Sorry for the trouble. I am Vineeth and I am from the Norton Support team.

Do you remember the STOP error you have received? This looks more like a memory error which may be caused due to an old driver.

Can you try updating the drivers such as Ethernet, Graphics card etc and see if that helps? You can also try removing the Windows Update KB2670838 and see if that helps!

Thanks!

Vineeth

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There have been reported issues with IE 10 and Windows 7. I would suspect that if such issues exist, they would be worse with IE 11 than with IE 10.

Try uninstalling IE 11 (which will put you back to your previous version of IE), to see if the IE issues go away.

Even though you use Chrome rather than IE, IE is hard-coded into Windows, and so it will always be a factor in Windows.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Thanks to all for your help.
@ rui – the bluescreenview report didn’t seem to implicate NIS in the “caused by” column
@ satrow – I used Revouninstaller Pro, and first did the removal by uninstalling the logged installation. I did some poking around and indeed found remnants, which I proceeded to remove with RevoUninstaller forced uninstall feature. It seems to have helped, but time will tell.
@Vineeth – As I mentioned in my original post, I tried updating whatever drivers I found offered, but it didn’t seem to help. I did recently come across a post on the Norton forums directing me to the KB article you mentioned. I will have to test and post back.
@ mrjimphelps – Your point is well taken. However, precisely because IE is hard-coded into windows, I prefer to use the most up-to-date version. If there are bugs than MS should fix them ASAP!

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@ mrjimphelps – Your point is well taken. However, precisely because IE is hard-coded into windows, I prefer to use the most up-to-date version. If there are bugs than MS should fix them ASAP!

I hope you don’t have to live with the bugs for too long, waiting for Microsoft to fix them.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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However, precisely because IE is hard-coded into windows, I prefer to use the most up-to-date version. If there are bugs than MS should fix them ASAP!

I haven’t updated to IE 11. I don’t hold high hopes for it having its bugs fixed soon. Maybe you will have to wait for IE 12…

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Thanks to all for your help.
the bluescreenview report didn’t seem to implicate NIS in the “caused by” column

From my experience using Norton products several years ago, I will always suspect Symantec of causing these strange failures. On one machine only try to create a full system Image, then completely remove NIS (Norton Removal Tool). I would also look for leftover stuff from Norton, perhaps using CCleaner (both normal cleanup and Registry just looking for Norton stuff). Once you are certain NIS is gone, try adding one of the free AV/AM products available as a trial. I use AVG AV 2013 Pro. It’s free version uses the same engine. If this one machine starts to act normally, then you can be reasonably certain NIS was causing the problem. At that point you would have to choose which product to replace NIS with in your particular environment.

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I don’t know whether it’s the specific web sites I visit but IE 11 works fine for me.

Jerry

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BSODs sometimes do not last very long, i.e. the system moves on. One way of capturing the error is to take a cell phone shot of it. That, at least, is permanent, if you need to refer to it. This is how I tracked down memory overheating issues that were causing BSODs.

Dell E5570 Latitude, Intel Core i5 6440@2.60 GHz, 8.00 GB - Win 10 Pro

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BJ

We can give you a much more specific answer if you upload the DMP files to skydrive (or some other file sharing service) and put a link to them in your next post. My gut feeling says your first suspect (symantec) may be the underlying cause but cant tell till we see the data.

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Hi All!
I’ve been grappling with a major BSOD crisis on a few of the Windows 7 machines I manage. The most common address implicated is NTOSKRNL.exe+75b80. These machines have the following in common:

[*]They are HP Laptops
[*]Running Windows 7 Pro x64
[*]With the latest version of Norton Internet Security
[*]IE 11 installed
[*]Switchable AMD and Intel graphics

I went through the standard troubleshooting:

[*]Windows memory diagnostic
[*]Memtest (7+ passes)
[*]chkdisk and sfc
[*]Scanning with multiple AV and anti malware scanners
[*]Updated Drivers – especially graphics

Everything turned up OK. FInally I have some suspects…

The first suspect is Norton. I discovered that trying to do anything with NIS would cause a BSOD. I restored a working image to one laptop that happened to have NIS deactivated as the license was expired. Everything was nice and stable till I updated the license and reactivated/updated NIS. Immediately – BSOD.
However, when I removed NIS and installed MSE instead, everything was stable until I started using ie 11 (I use Chrome as my primary browser). Again – BSOD.
I kind of hoped/expected that if it’s happening to my machines, probably others have posted about it online, but I couldn’t find any help.

Does anyone have any ideas?

I have had the same issues but with both IE 10 and 11. Another problem is before the BSOD happens I can search one time and the tab changes but the screen does not and the system locks up. If I do not search then the BSOD will happen with in five or so minutes. I am not running Norton but Bit Defender and have turned that off to test. Also the Google toolbar seems to make it even more unstable.

Any ideas.

Thanks

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I have had the same issues but with both IE 10 and 11. Another problem is before the BSOD happens I can search one time and the tab changes but the screen does not and the system locks up. If I do not search then the BSOD will happen with in five or so minutes. I am not running Norton but Bit Defender and have turned that off to test. Also the Google toolbar seems to make it even more unstable.

Any ideas.

Thanks

Without any data to work with, we can only guess (feels like it might be graphics-related); see para #2 in Post #3 for a method to collect the data or upload the crash dump file as suggested in Post #11.

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