Kit Cargile

BSOD, been around since Windows inception. This, in the past has been a gruesome frustrating event that creates temporary data loss and sometimes causes long term damage and corruption. Here is a simple, free tool that can assist you in locating the source of this event to hopefully help you locate the cause.

BSOD can be caused by a myriad of things from bad drivers, bad software, or hardware issues.

:How to install and use this tool:

Basic Requirements

• Windows 7 OS
• Your user is an Administrator of the computer (not a limited account)
• May require showing file extension of known file types, explained below.
• Patience. You must not immediately shut down or disconnect power  and let the BSOD do it's work which is usually only a couple minutes. If you have an incomplete DUMP file then this process will not work until the next BSOD happens and completes.

Windows 7 32/64 bit

*Requires that you have .NET 4 installed. The installer will check for this and alert you if requirements are not met. Install these if the installer presents the option. Else run Windows updates check and install .NET 4

(Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4)

1. Logon with an account that has Administrator rights, If there is the only user of the computer then most likely it is an Administrator account.
2. Download and install the SDK with Windows Debugging Tools.
   1. Debugging tools are available in a much larger SDK, download and install selecting only the Debugging Tools.
   2. Download the web-installer from http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=191420 and open the file to start the installer.
   3. During installation you are required to accept the License agreement, following a some prompts, accepting the default values and clicking NEXT until you reach this screen
      
      
   4. Using this image as your guide unselect all items except for the Debugging tools.
   5. Click NEXT, Ready to begin installation - Click NEXT
   6. After installation completes you may uncheck 'View the Windows SDK Release notes' and click Finish
3. Open a command prompt as Administrator, run the command to check the DMP file for errors.
   1. Press the Windows Key and release, type CMD and wait for the menu to refresh with the results.
   2. Right Click cmd.exe in the list and select Run As Administrator
      
      
   3. UAC prompts to allow the application, click YES to approve the action
   4. COPY the following text and paste it in the CMD window. *This can only be done with a mouse Right-Click select PASTE*
      For Windows 7 64-Bit:
      

      "C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows (x64)\dumpchk.exe" /y srv*c:\symbols *http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols c:\windows\MEMORY.DMP

      For Windows 7 32-Bit:
      

      "C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows (x86)\dumpchk.exe" /y srv*c:\symbols *http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols c:\windows\MEMORY.DMP

      Press ENTER
      
      
      
   5. The results are displayed and Probable cause is listed.
      
      
      
      
   6. Usually a quick google search will show the company/device responsible for the file. In my case this is related to the ATI Video drivers recently installed a few days before. As you might notice from the search results other users are having a similar problem. http://www.google.com/search?q=atikmdag.sys

To resolve this issue the new ATI drivers were uninstalled and a previous driver release from December was reinstalled.

The Probably Cause can easily be caused by drivers it may not always be as simple as Video Drivers like this example and this tool can provide a base to work from to assist in isolating the error. If the results show probable cause by ntkernel it could indicate a hardware issue which may need review and repair. This can be a simple issue of incorrectly seated memory(easy fix) or a motherboard going bad(complicated fix).