General software instability, multiple program crashes (but Win is fine?)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Haus of Tech Support > General software instability, multiple program crashes (but Win is fine?)

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Problem description: Over the past few days I've had a sharp drop in program stability, with things from Chrome tabs to videogames to antivirus programs seizing up with errors and crashing seemingly at random. The Windows error messages are generally unhelpful but the games at least seem to point to some registry errors or missing/corrupt dll files, maybe? Perhaps ironically the only thing not exhibiting any symptoms of instability is Windows, which seems to be working perfectly well.

Attempted fixes: Chkdsk, defrag, updated every driver I could think of, verified game files through Steam, thought about replacing some dlls manually but decided to get some imput here first. Ran HijackThis, log attached.

Recent changes: Computer was offline for two weeks on vacation, updated everything as soon as I came back a week ago. Plugged in Xbox 360 controller at same time.

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Operating system: Windows 7 64-bit, SP1

System specs: Intel Core i3-4170 @ 3.7 Ghz, 2x4 GB RAM, ASRock H97M-ITX/ac motherboard, MSI GeForce GTX 970 graphics, EVGA 220-GS-0550-V1 550W PSU, Samsung 850 EVO 250GB SSD, Western Digital 10EZEX 750GB hard drive

Location: The glorious American state of Ohio

I have Googled and read the FAQ: Yes

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hijackthis posted:

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.5
Scan saved at 12:47:21 PM, on 3/21/2016
Platform: Windows 7 SP1 (WinNT 6.00.3505)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v11.0 (11.00.9600.18057)

FIREFOX: 42.0 (x86 en-US)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\Update Core\NvBackend.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbam.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Stickies\stickies.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver\Application\iusb3mon.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\bin\steamwebhelper.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
C:\Users\Spanky\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=255141
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=255141
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htm
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exe,
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In SSV Helper - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_73\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: Windows Live ID Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O2 - BHO: Logitech SetPoint - {AF949550-9094-4807-95EC-D1C317803333} - C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPointP\32-bit\SetPointSmooth.dll
O2 - BHO: Java(tm) Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre1.8.0_73\bin\jp2ssv.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [USB3MON] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller Driver\Application\iusb3mon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Steam] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe" -silent
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [Sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')
O4 - Global Startup: Stickies.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\Stickies\stickies.exe
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files (x86)\common files\microsoft shared\windows live\wlidnsp.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\program files (x86)\common files\microsoft shared\windows live\wlidnsp.dll
O11 - Options group: [ACCELERATED_GRAPHICS] Accelerated graphics
O18 - Protocol: wlpg - {E43EF6CD-A37A-4A9B-9E6F-83F89B8E6324} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Live\Photo Gallery\AlbumDownloadProtocolHandler.dll
O23 - Service: Adobe Acrobat Update Service (AdobeARMservice) - Adobe Systems Incorporated - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\armsvc.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Apple Mobile Device Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Apple\Mobile Device Support\AppleMobileDeviceService.exe
O23 - Service: Bonjour Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: BlueStacks Android Service (BstHdAndroidSvc) - BlueStack Systems, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\BlueStacks\HD-Service.exe
O23 - Service: BlueStacks Log Rotator Service (BstHdLogRotatorSvc) - BlueStack Systems, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\BlueStacks\HD-LogRotatorService.exe
O23 - Service: BlueStacks Updater Service (BstHdUpdaterSvc) - BlueStack Systems, Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\BlueStacks\HD-UpdaterService.exe
O23 - Service: Intel(R) Content Protection HECI Service (cphs) - Intel Corporation - C:\Windows\SysWow64\IntelCpHeciSvc.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA GeForce Experience Service (GfExperienceService) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\GeForce Experience Service\GfExperienceService.exe
O23 - Service: Google Update Service (gupdate) (gupdate) - Google Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe
O23 - Service: Google Update Service (gupdatem) (gupdatem) - Google Inc. - C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ieetwcollectorres.dll,-1000 (IEEtwCollectorService) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\IEEtwCollector.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Intel(R) HD Graphics Control Panel Service (igfxCUIService1.0.0.0) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\igfxCUIService.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: iPod Service - Apple Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Logitech Bluetooth Service (LBTServ) - Logitech, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\LogiShrd\Bluetooth\lbtserv.exe
O23 - Service: MBAMScheduler - Malwarebytes - C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbamscheduler.exe
O23 - Service: MBAMService - Malwarebytes - C:\Program Files (x86)\Malwarebytes Anti-Malware\mbamservice.exe
O23 - Service: Mozilla Maintenance Service (MozillaMaintenance) - Mozilla Foundation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Maintenance Service\maintenanceservice.exe
O23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Network Service (NvNetworkService) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\NetService\NvNetworkService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Streamer Network Service (NvStreamNetworkSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NvStreamSrv\NvStreamNetworkService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Streamer Service (NvStreamSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NvStreamSrv\NvStreamService.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (nvsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Realtek Audio Service (RtkAudioService) - Realtek Semiconductor - C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA\RtkAudioService64.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: Steam Client Service - Valve Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Steam\SteamService.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Wat\WatUX.exe,-601 (WatAdminSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\Wat\WatAdminSvc.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)

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End of file - 11164 bytes

# ? Mar 21, 2016 18:31

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# ? May 3, 2024 06:50

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

Run the portable zip edition of CDI to check HD health:
http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

Also, uninstall Java unless you really need it for something.

# ? Mar 21, 2016 23:16

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Zogo posted:

Run the portable zip edition of CDI to check HD health:
http://crystalmark.info/download/index-e.html

Also, uninstall Java unless you really need it for something.

Uninstalled java, ran CDI and my drives are good.

Could I be looking at malware here? How would I go about checking?

# ? Mar 22, 2016 23:50

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

McSpanky posted:

Uninstalled java, ran CDI and my drives are good.

Could I be looking at malware here? How would I go about checking?

It's possible. There were a few things in the log that could be illegitimate.

Try a scan with WDO: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-is-windows-defender-offline

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:13

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Zogo posted:

It's possible. There were a few things in the log that could be illegitimate.

Try a scan with WDO: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-is-windows-defender-offline

Did this, also ran EMET, the CCE suite, chkdsk, memtest and passworded my Windows user account and set the notifications to max level. For all of that I've received not so much as a warning notification of a suspicious program, process or registry entry, caught no files more dangerous than some ad cookies, and now Windows is starting to BSOD.

I want to die.

# ? Mar 24, 2016 04:03

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

Use http://www.hwinfo.com/download.php and check CPU temperatures.

If the CPU temperature is okay I'd temporarily disconnect the GPU and use the onboard video and also disconnect the non-OS drive. That would isolate the issue more.

Also, how old is the PSU?

What are the BSODs saying exactly?

# ? Mar 24, 2016 22:16

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Running HWiNFO, reporting average CPU temps of 56 C and a peak of 61. I'll give the hardware disconnects a shot when I can, got some minor physical problems right now. PSU's as old as everything else, got it late June last year when I built the system.

I was a dumb frustrated idiot and spacebar'd through most of the BSODs and a few happened while I was away from the computer, but I did catch one that said the error was "memory management", that's when I did all the stuff in the previous post.

# ? Mar 26, 2016 16:15

Taiso: Feb 20, 2002; Crush them now!

you can get an dump analyzer and go back and see what they were.

Edit: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

# ? Mar 26, 2016 17:12

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Taiso posted:

you can get an dump analyzer and go back and see what they were.

Edit: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

Thank you, I was looking for something like this! I dumped all the bluescreens into a plaintext c/p here: http://pastebin.com/K6dXvb51

# ? Mar 26, 2016 22:14

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

McSpanky posted:

Thank you, I was looking for something like this! I dumped all the bluescreens into a plaintext c/p here: http://pastebin.com/K6dXvb51

Open CMD prompt and try: sfc /scannow

# ? Mar 26, 2016 22:40

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Zogo posted:

Open CMD prompt and try: sfc /scannow

Did this, it said Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but couldn't fix all of them, details in CBS.log. That log file is pretty technical so I copied the whole thing to Google Drive, I believe the access settings are correct: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4gflBm7BeSJRGlkUm9nbEVabms/view?usp=sharing

By the way, thanks for all of this, I really do appreciate it.

# ? Mar 27, 2016 13:17

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

Make sure you run CMD as administrator when using that command. If you still get that "windows resource protection" message then try doing it in safe mode.

# ? Mar 28, 2016 21:53

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

Did it in safe mode, came back "did not find any integrity violations".

# ? Mar 29, 2016 06:47

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

McSpanky posted:

Did it in safe mode, came back "did not find any integrity violations".

There's a decent chance that the SATA cables or one of the HDs is dying. CDI is good but it's not guaranteed to find HD issues. Based upon those BSODs I'd lean toward an HD issue.

# ? Mar 29, 2016 21:15

McSpanky: Jan 16, 2005

I should be able to make my HDD bootable and run Windows off of it to check system stability vs. the SSD, right? Though I guess replacing the cables would produce the same effect?

# ? Mar 30, 2016 02:27

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# ? May 3, 2024 06:50

Zogo: Jul 29, 2003

McSpanky posted:

I should be able to make my HDD bootable and run Windows off of it to check system stability vs. the SSD, right? Though I guess replacing the cables would produce the same effect?

You could do that but it'd be simpler just to disconnect the HDD temporarily and boot the OS SSD. Or putting a Linux OS on DVD or USB flash drive and booting from that with no HD. If you booted from a Linux OS with both disks disconnected that would narrow things down somewhat.

Replacing the cables is a separate issue. Logically, it could be an HD issue or a cable issue. Even more unlikely but it could be both HD and cable issue.

# ? Mar 30, 2016 21:38

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Haus of Tech Support > General software instability, multiple program crashes (but Win is fine?)