Update: If you’re puzzled because you’re getting STOP errors (the Blue Screen of Death) and they scroll off your screen before you can read the details, here’s the solution: Get details about the Blue Screen of Death.
Trying to figure out what’s causing a Windows STOP error (more commonly known as the Blue Screen of Death, or BSOD) can be a challenge. One likely candidate is bad hardware; if the error messages are random and the shutdowns appear unpredictably, you should suspect a faulty power supply or bad RAM.
Another common BSOD cause is a faulty device driver. Typically, you should be suspicious of any installed drivers that are not digitally signed, especially if they were written for an earlier version of Windows.
Windows XP includes a powerful troubleshooting tool called Driver Verifier (Verifier.exe). It’s a terrific way to identify flawed device drivers. It’s also a surefire way to screw up your system if you use it incorrectly. Read on for the details and important cautions.
Driver Verifier works by testing each driver you specify at startup; if it finds a problem, it stops your computer predictably with a BSOD that accurately explains the true problem. Although this doesn’t sound like a huge improvement (your system still won’t work, after all), Driver Verifier performs a critical troubleshooting step: identifying the problem. You can then correct the problem by removing or replacing the offending driver. (If you’re satisfied that the driver really is OK despite Driver Verifier’s warning, you can turn off Driver Verifier for all drivers or for a specific driver. Any driver that Driver Verifier chokes on should be regarded with suspicion, but some legitimate drivers bend the rules without causing problems.)
Driver Verifier works at startup to thoroughly exercise each driver. It performs many of the same tests that are run by the Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Labs as part of the certification and signing process, such as checking for the way the driver accesses memory.
Beware: If Driver Verifier finds a nonconforming driver – even one that doesn’t seem to be causing any problems – it will prevent your system from starting. If you use the advice in this article and have trouble starting your system, I won’t be able to help you. Use Driver Verifier only if you’re having problems. In other words, if it ain’t broke …
To enable Driver Verifier, click Start, Run. In the Open box, type verifier and press Enter. In the Driver Verifier Manager dialog box (shown here), select Create Standard Settings.
Click Next and select the type of drivers you want to verify. Because unsigned drivers are the most likely cause of problems, I recommend that you choose the default option: Automatically select unsigned drivers.
When you click Next, you get a list of all unsigned drivers on your system. Note that the list will contain some hardware drivers and some file-system filter drivers, such as those used by antivirus programs, CD burning software, and other low-level system utilities.
At this point you have two choices:
- Go through the list and make a note of all drivers identified and then click Cancel. No changes are made to your system configuration; all you’ve done is gather a list of suspicious drivers, which you can then try to remove or disable manually.
- Click Finish to complete the wizard and restart your computer. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS OPTION, for reasons that will become obvious with the remainder of this article. If you choose this option, don’t blame me if things get even messier than they already are.
Did you ignore my advice and choose Option #2 anyway? Fine. If your computer stops with a BSOD when you next log on, you’ve identified a problem driver. The error message includes the name of the offending driver and an error code. To resolve the problem, boot into Safe Mode (press F8 during startup) and disable or uninstall the problem driver. You’ll then want to check with the device vendor to get a working driver that you can install.
To disable Driver Verifier so that it no longer performs verification checks at startup, run Driver Verifier Manager again and select Delete Existing Settings in the initial dialog box.
Alternatively, click Start, then Run, and type verifier /reset in the Open box. (If you haven’t yet solved the driver problem, of course, you’ll be stopped at a BSOD, unable to disable Driver Verifier. In that case, boot into Safe Mode and then disable Driver Verifier.)
You can configure Driver Verifier so that it checks only certain drivers. To do that, open Driver Verifier Manager, select Create Standard Settings, click Next, and select the last option, Select driver names from a list. This option lets you exempt a particular driver from Driver Verifier’s scrutiny – such as one that Driver Verifier flags but you are certain is not the cause of your problem.
For much more detailed information about the Verifier utility, including command-line options and error codes, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 244617, “How to Use Driver Verifier to Troubleshoot Windows Drivers.”
[This material was adapted from Windows XP Inside Out, Second Edition.]
Just wanted to say thanks for helping me solve a problem on my Windows XP system. Somehow I started the verifier program not realizing that I created a big headache. Immediately I noticed that my computer performed sluggishly and also noticed that my CPU usage was spiking up to 100 percent at times. I suspected that I created this problem when I starting fooling around with the verifier but I wasn’t sure. I suspected probably a virus or spyware but my system is protected and I run anti-spyware programs frequently.
I went to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and it was no help. All I wanted to know was HOW TO DISABLE
….the DRIVER VERIFIER. I got the answer here at this website. I rebooted the machine and it’s back to normal. Thanks again for this great resource.
Hi there, Can you help, I am at end of my tether. Blue screens mainly occur when opening or moving from one website to the other(CPU peak %100 frequently) with random Stop messages. I have used verifier to try trace problem. I have checked all non-verified drivers and all seem ok. Then checked ALL verified drivers and got ‘BAD_EXHANDLE STOP 0X000000A7 – kenel mode handle table detected an inconsistent handle table entry state’. I traced the driver down to be ntoskrnl.exe. This driver never appears in any blue screen message, but when I analyse some of the memory dumps(Windows debugger) it always says it is “unable to load image ntoskrnl.exe, Win32 error2″ I have done complete DELL diagnostics on all system memory, processor, mainboard etc and all checks out OK! Any ideas? Please?
Zorron,
Ntoskrnl is a core Windows component. If you’re getting random error messages and you’ve checked all drivers out, that’
s a strong indicator that you have bad hardware. Could be a short on a motherboard, a bad memory module, or a power supply problem.
I’m constantly getting only one type of blue screen error, 0x0D1, 0xF8368Dc9 IRQL less then equal? Especially when i’m downloading, what does this relate to? Can it be fixed?
please help! my laptop cannot get into Windows in any mode (safe mode or normally)! all i can see is the blue screen and STOP: 0x0000007e 0xc0000005 0x80566dc3 0xf7b9d45c 0xfb9d15c when I try to get into Windows after turning on the laptop so I am at a loss as to how to solve the problem.
Tan, try using Recovery Console to repair your system. Details here.
Hi Ed
My PC has crashed a couple of times now to a BSOD with a stop error I can’t read quick enough. I see nothing in event viwer, is there any other log of what happened? What the stop error was and what the 4nvd.dll(possibly!) or whatever it was that flashed past is?
Thanks in advance
Al,
See the update at the top of this page!
Hi and Help!!!
with the error message 0×0000007 KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR which according to ‘microsoft help and support’ is “Because of a Memory Leak in the Daprotim.sys File”. And of course I have no idea of what that means and why exactly my laptop is running extremely slow. Is something very wrong with it? What should I do?
I got a BSOD
Thank you.
I chose “select all drivers installed on this computer”, clicked finish and rebooted.
At first start-up I obtain the BSODF with the following code:
STOP: 0x000000C4 (0x0000003B, 0×00000002, 0x8AFFCFEC, 0×00000000)
At second start-up I obtain the BSODF with the following code:
STOP: 0x000000C4 (0x0000003B, 0×00000002, 0x8D83CFEC, 0×00000000)
If I dig into the 0XC4 bug code I find:
0x3B
Current IRQL Object to wait on Timeout parameter The driver called KeWaitXxx at an IRQL of DISPATCH_LEVEL or higher.
Then what?
Louis,
Were you experiencing problems before you ran Verifier? If so, you want to look for the driver that was causing the problems. If you experience problems only when Verifier is running and at no other time, I don’t recommend that you try to do anything.
The C4 bug is associated specifically with Norton AV in some cases. See this KB article, for instance. But it could also be something else, including a number of things that are essentially harmless.
Thanks for your prompt reply.
I was and I still am experiencing random BSOD before running verifier. Usually I get 0xD1 stop code.
I don’t know how to identify the faulty driver. I have checked and updated all possible drivers. I also swapped RAM with a troublefree system without improvement.
Thanks for the information. I ran Verifier.exe before reading your advice and had the “blue screen” panic hit.
I had hoped that with verifier.exe I might find a clue as to why my USB 2.0 ports were suddenly not able recognize my compact flash card inserted into a USB 2.0 reader, but could recognize it if connected to a USB 1.1 reader. I’ll have to find another method to track down the problem.
You’re a life saver (the life of my PC!)
Sometimes in Windows XP most of the problems can be solved very easilly, like for eaxample in the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ (BSOD) some of the original windows components can repair most of the ‘wrong’ moves that we all make. To fix it very easy, you need the Windows xp cd and a boot in the safe mode (press F8 at startup), go to >Start >run, and type ‘sfc scannow’. After that a window with the scanner appears and is going to ask you for the Win XP Cd.
Works for cleaning exploited systems too.
That’s all. Reboot and everything should be just like new!
I run the Verifier and choose the drivers to be verified; on reboot I get the BSOD. So far so good. If I want to go further, I cannot seem to locate any logfile or error messages (other than what appears on the blue screen). I can reboot with the F8 key and reset the verifier, but without the ability to create a logreport, this utility is pretty much useless to me. Is there any mechanism to write to a logfile?
Chandra,
The basic information you need is in the Windows system logs. Open Event Viewer from Administrative Tools to see those log files.
You can also disable all unsigned drivers and then restart with Verifier running. By selectively adding drivers back in you can tell quickly which one is the culprit.
For more detailed information you would need to install a debugger.
Ed,
That was real quick. Thank you. I will look into the Event Viewer and see whatelse I can find.
I have the problem while trying to install windows xp media center. Sometimes it comes up early in the install, sometimes it comes on almost at the end. What can caus e this problem, and can I fix this? PLeas if possible, can i get the reply emailed to me, as this not a pC i normally use. Thanks.
dump phiscaal memory on bsod, can’t spell ok I found no way out of this. do you know
Jeff