Vista to XP to Win 7 to BSoD

Hi all,
Wish my first post was for better circumstances, but here it goes! My wife uses a Toshiba L305D-S5895 laptop I bought a few years ago (2009?). Anyway, it originally came with Vista x86 and I quickly removed that and put XP x86 on it. I've recently (last weekend) upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and things were great until last night. We received two BSoD within half an hour of each other. I quickly Googled this issue and found myself here. I have been reading the forums and have done some things you all recommend.

First, I ran the memtest86 overnight and got no errors. I also did the "Verifier" and get the BSoD immediately. In fact, doing the "verifier," I was not even able to see my desktop. It Blue screens just as the desktop starts to show, or way before it. I let that run for an hour or so, collecting data from the system dumps.

I have included the .DMP files, the RaMMon html file, the CPUID screenshots, and the SF analysis in the zip file.

On a side note, a friend of mine has the exact same laptop and installed Win7 x64 at the same time and has not received and BSoD, BUT I told him to run the memtest and verifier and his memory came back without error, and he has the exact same issue with the verifier where he is unable to even see his desktop.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated as I really would like to keep all machines in my house on Win 7 and not have to go back to XP with my tail between my legs.

SF_DMP_CPUID_RaMMon.zip

Reading your text has raised many questions that I'd love to have answered before saying a whole lot. You should just get the Win7 in order... nothing should be motivation for going "back to XP". I read about a lot (in forums) but, I have never had a BSOD on a Win7 machine. What was going on just before the BSODs? What security are you using? I'd like to discuss a few concerns w/ you before telling you what I think or suggesting what to do (next). Ultimately, a Repair or Rebuild will probly be needed but, followed by no more BSODs. How was the move done from XP to W7? Drew

Thanks for your quick response Drew!

The first BSod came when my wife booted up, and as soon as it showed the desktop, it happened. The Second came from her trying to transfer photos from her iPad2 to the computer. A dialogue box popped up saying something about choosing which files to xfer and then while she was reading it (10 secs of being up) it Blue screened. The rest of the BSODs came from the verifier.
I am using AVG free edition for security.
What concerns do you have?
I am not opposed to a repair or rebuild at all as this is a fresh(ish) install of 7 and would not involve much data loss.
The move from XP to 7 was a full wipe/reformat. I don't think I wiped any partitions during this install.

Ok, thanks for a bit more info & background.

I don't want you going through a lot of grief trying to find root causes/problems & or be trying to 'fix' things... so, since, not a big deal @ this point in time, rebuild it. I don't know what media you are using... Retail version, burnt DVD, OEM, etc. (wish I did). Anyway, format & use "Custom Install", of course.

Do not use AVG.

After the OS is live, 1st thing, install MSE. Next, grab ALL the MS Updates. Eventually make sure you are using the latest iPod (Apple) software & drivers before doing anything more w/ the iPod.

I own a Toshiba laptop w/ Vista. All my other machines are Windows 7. I, too, have an iPod. I have never had a BSOD & nor should you. There's either something corrupt somewhere or there's a conflict w/ some software or hardware that is not playing nice w/ the machine. None of it is reason to revert back to XP. You are right, it makes good sense to have all (your) machines on 7.

I'll, also, point you to this (see link) for future reference. Will give you DOs, Don'ts, procedures & 'Best Practices'.
A few Tips - A (Potentially) Useful, Valuable Compilation

Cheers,
Drew

Thanks Drew,
I will install Win 7 again. The version I use is from Microsoft through my school (completely legit) which i have burned to a DVD.

I have MSE on my other laptop and love it (so un-intrusive) , but she is not a fan. If it will fix the issues here, I will definitely switch.

As far as the Updates, I always make sure the OS is completely updated before installing any software(except for virus protection).

The apple software was the latest version direct from their website and was installed/configured before the iPad was plugged in.

A note about the BSOD, I had this laptop when Windows 7 RC came out and installed it on this laptop. It too had serious blue screen issues so I removed it. This machine has never worked well with 7, which tends to make me think it's a hardware issue.

Also, as I mentioned, my friend has the exact same laptop and he has 7 on it too, though I'm not sure where he got his copy of 7. It seems strange to me that his would have the same issues as mine unless it were a hardware/driver issue or something else that is similar between our two machines.

Also, the link you provided is great and I do almost everything on that list already. I have a hard time trying to teach/convince others (namely my wife lol) to do the same. I LOVE to keep my machines as clean (software and physically) and smooth running as possible and take good care of them.

So, just curious. After another clean install, lets say the issue still persists, what do we do then? I will report back in a couple of days (maybe later tonight) after installing/updating.

If you burnt a DVD from an ISO it must be done @ a very slow spd, x4 or preferrably less. Did you or can up run the Win7 Advisor on that laptop?

Download: Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

Trust me, it will be happier w/ MSE instead of AVG.

Cheers,
Drew

I did burn at a very slow speed, I think it was 4x (it was a while ago). I have used it to install on two other computers and they have been problem free.

I just ran the Win7 Advisor and it says 4 system requirements have passed, 7 devices are compatible, and 11 programs are compatible. So now that I have this list, can I count those out as being the culprit? How to I get a list of things that didn't pass?

Toshiba offers drivers on their website and instructions how to upgrade to Windows 7 from Vista and XP which I followed. I didn't install any of their software until after the BSoDs occurred, but they didn't seem to help.

I haven't gotten a BSoD today other than running the verifier. A question I have is, is it possible to run the "verifier" thing without getting a BSoD? Meaning, is there actually an issue if I get a BSoD while running the verifier? I haven't gotten a BSoD today other than running the verifier.

Ok, cool; reckoned you'd likely used slow spd burn, if it had been burnt.

Yes, count those items out as being culprits. The Advisor's results should provide the other things... stuff that might need attention.

I hate to seem a twit but, what are you meaning by "verifier"?
Better make sure we're on the same page before I think further.

Cheers,
Drew

Ok, I'm installing Windows now. I downloaded a new copy and burned it at 4x speed.

The "Verifier" I speak of is actually the driver verifier and more info on it can be found here.

So my question again is, if i run the driver verifier and get an error, does that mean there is an issue? Is it possible to run it and not have an error?

I finished downloading a fresh copy of 7 last night and burned it at 4x and have since installed. I have only updated Recommended Updates, no Optional ones yet. The only program I have installed is MSE.

The verifier is actually the driver verifier that I found mentioned several times on this windows7Forums site. I believe what it does is puts extra stress on components which if there is a faulty driver, will cause them to fail and result in a BSoD. Is this correct?

I ran it on my laptop (not the laptop that is crashing) and haven't had a single issue since last night leading me to believe that if a computer doesn't have a faulty driver, it can run the driver verifier without issue.

This led me to the idea that the laptop with issues has a problem with a driver, so I came up with an idea. Like I said before, the ONLY thing I have installed on the problematic laptop is installed recommended updates and MSE. This means there are a lot of drivers that aren't installed yet in the optional updates. So what I have done, is turned on the driver verifier on the problematic laptop and let it run, which I was NOT able to do prior to the latest fresh install of 7. It would immediately result in a BSoD. So far, It's been 2 hours and not a single crash.

What I plan to do now is install only install one driver from the list of optional updates and let the laptop run for a few hours in the driver verifier mode. Then if no crash, I will install the next driver in the list of updates and let it run for a few hours. Eventually one of these drivers I am installing will create a crash and I can identify the faulty driver.

Does this sound like a good plan?