BSOD 124 error while gaming

Hey everyone, I've been getting 124 stop error BSOD's for over six months now.

BlueScreenView says the problem seems to be caused by the following file: hal.dll.

System Specs

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU: Intel Core i5 2500k 3.30 @ 4.60MHz
RAM: 4.00 GB Dual Channel DDR3
Motherboard: ASUS P8P67 Pro
Graphics: Geforce 480GTX 1.5GB VRAM
Sound: SB XFi Gamer

This happens when playing certain games, these include Red Orchestra 2, Bad Company 2, GTA VI, CoD Black Ops, Shogun 2 and Medieval 2 Total War. They usually crash after 5 - 20 minutes without fail. But other games (like Battlefield 3 and the Mass Effect games) I've played for hours and hours without a problem.

I built the system myself apart from the motherboard, RAM and CPU which were already put together and overclocked.

I thought it might be a RAM problem so I've run Memtest86 for several hours and it made 8 passes but detected no errors. I don't think its an overheating problem as all of my temps are below 50 at max load. I've also run chkdsk with no errors.

I don't have any viruses and my system isn't particularly dusty.

I've attached a folder with my dump files and screens of CPUZ, any help would be greatly appreciated as this has been driving me mad trying to find a solution.

Thanks!

The problem is almost always the same.

Corrective software maintenance steps:

Scan for Windows System File Integrity errors.
Run chkdsk to find and detect hard disk drive errors.
Run Start -> Search -> dxdiag -> Check digital signatures and look under Display tab / Notes for errors.

Tell us if there are Windows System File Integrity violations or hard drive disk errors.

Completely remove and re-install your NVIDIA graphics card drivers.
Upgrade or uninstall AVG.

If this fails to resolve or identify the problem, it may very well be a hardware failure as described in the reports below. The BSODs are too frequent and the symptoms you are describing are consistent with a failing video card or severe corruption of Windows. The most likely scenario is that your video card is overheating or unable to render 3D graphics for any prolonged period of time.

Final options:

Clean the PC chassis, fans, and all PCI-E devices (video card).
Reseat the video card
Replace the video card.


On Sat 2/4/2012 6:01:25 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\020512-23914-01.dmp
uptime: 02:35:55
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005797028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Thu 12/22/2011 10:50:03 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\122211-33056-01.dmp
uptime: 00:41:47
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA800500A028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sun 11/13/2011 12:16:10 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\111311-24523-01.dmp
uptime: 00:45:17
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA80057A3028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sat 11/12/2011 4:13:13 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\111211-27768-01.dmp
uptime: 00:21:46
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005776028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sun 11/6/2011 5:52:08 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\110611-24414-01.dmp
uptime: 01:00:01
This was probably caused by the following module: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys (Unloaded_Unknown_Module_00000000`00000000+0x124)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA80057BB028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
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: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys .
Google query: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR




On Sun 11/6/2011 4:51:02 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\110611-25771-01.dmp
uptime: 00:11:58
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005053028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sun 11/6/2011 12:45:09 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\110611-27190-01.dmp
uptime: 00:41:46
This was probably caused by the following module: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys (Unloaded_Unknown_Module_00000000`00000000+0x124)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8004F48028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
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: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys .
Google query: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR




On Fri 11/4/2011 7:55:49 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\110411-24429-01.dmp
uptime: 01:42:44
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA800503A028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sat 9/24/2011 9:04:09 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\092411-36036-01.dmp
uptime: 00:13:47
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005010028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Sat 9/24/2011 2:51:33 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\092411-39951-01.dmp
uptime: 02:06:14
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005BE1028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Tue 9/20/2011 6:31:38 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\092011-40872-01.dmp
uptime: 00:42:08
This was probably caused by the following module: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys (Unloaded_Unknown_Module_00000000`00000000+0x124)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA80043BB028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
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: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys .
Google query: unknown_module_00000000`00000000.sys WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR




On Wed 9/14/2011 1:03:51 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\091611-38828-01.dmp
uptime: 00:37:36
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005BC1028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Wed 9/14/2011 10:48:14 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\091411-64022-01.dmp
uptime: 01:18:30
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA8005BAE028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Tue 9/13/2011 11:45:26 AM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\091311-32885-01.dmp
uptime: 01:46:05
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA800503B028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.


On Fri 8/19/2011 8:26:50 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Users\Mike\Downloads\New folder (1)\New folder\081911-44585-01.dmp
uptime: 01:36:23
This was probably caused by the following module: hal.dll (hal+0x12A3B)
Bugcheck code: 0x124 (0x0, 0xFFFFFA80047D3028, 0xBE200000, 0x5110A)
Error: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\hal.dll
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Hardware Abstraction Layer DLL
Bug check description: This bug check indicates that a fatal hardware error has occurred. This bug check uses the error data that is provided by the Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA).
This is likely to be caused by a hardware problem problem. This problem might be caused by a thermal issue.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

Thanks for the quick reply. I think I've made some progress.


As you suggested, I checked for hard drive errors and Windows System File Integrity violations, both came up with no errors.


So I removed my GTX480 graphics card and replaced it with an old geforce 9 series card then installed the new drivers. This seems to have fixed my BSODs and I was able to play Red Orchestra 2 for over two and a half hours without any problems when previously I could only play it for no more than 20 minutes before it blue-screened.

So fingers crossed it was a faulty grahics card.

Thanks for your help.

021212-33431-01.dmpBad news, after a week of no problems I get another BSOD. Exactly the same one. I thought it was my graphics card, now it looks like its something else. I really don't want to install windows again. Any ideas? Here is the latest dump file.

Thanks