Regular BSODs on my Aspire M3420 running W8.1

Hi

This is my first post here.

I've had an Aspire M3420 originally running windows 8, now running 8.1, for nearly 2 years. Since day 1 I've had almost daily BSOD with numerous and inconsistent reason codes.

The fact I've done nothing about this is my fault. For family reasons the PC is more important now than before and I need to resolve the problem once and for all.

I've checked all the usual suspects including all the drivers. I've downloaded and paid for one of the commercial driver update utilities and have upgraded all drivers found to be out of date but the problem continues. I've also manually checked for updates to most of the driviers using device manager

Microsoft patches are up to date

I've opened the case, unplugged and reset all the internal cables (I've a reasonable amount of computer knowledge) but the problem continues.

I've also checked the windows memory dump from a number of crashes and, from my reading of the dumps, there is never a consistent cause

Has anyone else experienced similar problems or has any suggestions of what to do next

Declan

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IronFly

Have you ever tried to run with just 1 ram stick (if you have 2 or more)?

download CPU-Z and check if ram voltage are ok:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

dabowez

Thanks for the response

After checking the CPU-Z utility it reports my CPU is running at 1397.17 MHz rather than 3200 Mhz

Could that be a problem, and if so what do I do about it?

Declan

dabowez

scratch that, I now see the lower mhz is it's resting level, as soon as I do some processing the mhz kick up to the correct level

IronFly

CPU frequency is ok, it's just the throttling process working. Smiley Happy

dabowez

I've also checked the ram voltages and they are all the same at 1.5V.

Any other thoughts?

How do I check the BIOS level and could that be an issue?

IronFly

give ram a memtest:

http://www.memtest.org/

dabowez

Back again and no luck, I ran memtest and also the windows memory diagnostics both reported no problems

Any other thoughts, next thing will be to throw the PC out and buy a new one Smiley Mad

JordanB

1. Don't use a commercial driver outfit.
2. Use Acer recovery to restore you PC to factory condition.
3. Make sure all of your cables are in good shape and plugged in properly
4. Get your drivers from Acer download website and windows update.
5. If your system is an Intel system., use the Intel driver update utility from intel's website.
6. See how it runs for a few days before adding any peripherals to it.

After you restore your PC to factory settings, you should use the Intel Driver Update utility (if your system is Intel). That way, your chipset driver (inf) will get get updated automatically first.

Make sure you save any important files before running the recovery software.....like photos, bookmarks, etc.

JordanB

Also, if your system is Intel, you may have to use the "have disk" method to update your graphics driver since Acer typically uses a custom driver. But before you install an updated generic graphics driver, make sure your system is running properly for a few days with the factory driver.

dabowez

JordanB

The M3420 is AMD based not Intel, does that make any difference?

dabowez

Folks

One thing I have just noticed is that my smbus driver is version 6.3.9600.17238, this is dated 2006, I'm pretty sure WIndows 8 was not around in 2006, I don't even think Windows 7 was. I've tried to update this a number of times and each time I end with the same version.

Is the SMBUS driver something I can uninstall and then reinstall, is it not central the whole operations of the PC?

IronFly

this is the support page for your dekstop, download the windows 8 drivers:

http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers/4365;-;Aspire%20M3420

you need to download Chipset drivers and AMD VGA drivers, since ATI/AMD put some chipset and SMBUS drivers on VGA drivers too.

check on windows program and features if any AMD chipset drivers and AMD/ATI VGA drivers are installed and uninstall them, then install the downloaded.

be aware, that probably, for you chipset there's no update so the version can be the same even if drivers are marked 2012.

JordanB

It's normal to have Microsoft drivers dated 2006 for windows 7 and windows 8.1.

The most important thing is to not update any drivers after you've used the recovery software. Wait a few days and see how it works. It's ok if windows update installs new drivers automatically.

If you no longer have BSOD after the factory reset, then you'll only want to install one new driver per week. If you update a bunch of drivers all at the same time, you're not going to know which one is causing the problem and you'll wind up back in the same boat.

Ordinarily I'd agree with Ironfly and his advice to just uninstall them. But since you used a paid driver service, I wouldn't really trust what they put on there. Who knows what drivers they installed.

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