BSOD on Windows 11 Installation Media


g0phr

Member
Local time
11:43 PM
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1
OS
Windows 11
Hi all, so I seem to have gotten myself in a little pickle. I just built a high-end PC for work and upgraded it to Windows 11 from 10. All was good for 2 weeks and the machine ran smoothly. After a recent windows patch, I started getting frequent BSOD errors (BAD_POOL_CALLER, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, SECURITY_FAILED_INITIALIZATION). Eventually, the Windows 11 installation seems to have corrupted itself and got stuck in a boot loop where I couldn't boot to recovery without a BSOD.

I'm going down the path of re-installing a clean version via a USB created with windows installation media tool. The USB is able to be booted from and Windows 11 can be installed*, however, during the process I experienced several BSOD either at boot initialization of the install media (spinning dots with windows logo) or in the wizard itself. After a few attempts, I was able to get all the way through the install wizard and it wanted to restart to finish up. This install did not work though and I still am experiencing BSOD when booting up.

Since I'm seeing BSOD on the USB itself, I'm starting to suspect there is something deeper going on with either the hardware or some issue with compatibility. I ran memtest86+ overnight and it did 2 passes without any errors. The onboard self-tests for the drives all reported OK as well. I tested the USB on two other machines so it doesn't seem like a bad drive.

At this point, I'm sort of stuck. I need help figuring out why even the installation media is having problems with BSOD crashes. I'm betting whatever the root cause ends up being is also the reason why the prior installation started having problems. Is there anyway I can get BSOD logs to debug or at the very least run a diagnostic beyond what I've already done to rule out any specific hardware problems?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3995WX 64-Core
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI
    Memory
    128GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    RTX 3080
    Hard Drives
    M.2 NVMe Sabrent Rocket Q4 (2TB), 970 EVO SSD (2TB)
Welcome to the forum. That is one heck of a PC build, probably the most high end I've seen around here. Congrats. I know the hardware guys will step in here to help, but in the meantime, if it were me I would turn off any overclocking in bios, remove all but one stick of ram and the M.2 and give the installation a try. If it still fails, swap the stick of ram and try again. If you have another graphics card swap it as well. I agree it's pointing to hardware. Check to make sure you are running the latest bios.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 22631.3296
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 7080
    CPU
    i9-10900 10 core 20 threads
    Motherboard
    DELL 0J37VM
    Memory
    32 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    none-Intel UHD Graphics 630
    Sound Card
    Integrated Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1tb Solidigm m.2 +256gb ssd+512 gb usb m.2 sata
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell Premium
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Internet Speed
    so slow I'm too embarrassed to tell
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 22H2 19045.3930
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Optiplex 9020
    CPU
    i7-4770
    Memory
    24 gb
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Benq 27
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    256 gb Toshiba BG4 M.2 NVE SSB and 1 tb hdd
    PSU
    500w
    Case
    MT
    Cooling
    Dell factory
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless
    Keyboard
    Logitech wired
    Internet Speed
    still not telling
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender+MWB Premium
Please see the posting instructions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz
    Motherboard
    Product : 190A Version : KBC Version 94.56
    Memory
    16 GB Total: Manufacturer : Samsung MemoryType : DDR3 FormFactor : SODIMM Capacity : 8GB Speed : 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Quadro K3100M; Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
    Sound Card
    IDT High Definition Audio CODEC; PNP Device ID HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76E0
    Hard Drives
    Model Hitachi HTS727575A9E364
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
    Other Info
    Mobile Workstation
Possibly a defective CPU.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro x64 23H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5900X
    Motherboard
    ASRock B550 PG Velocita (UEFI-BIOS P3.40)
    Memory
    32 GB G.Skill F4-3200C16D-32GVR
    Graphics Card(s)
    Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6750 XT
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware AW3423DWF OLED ultrawide
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital Black SN850 1 TB NVMe SSD
    PSU
    eVGA Supernova 750 G3
    Case
    Corsair 275R
    Internet Speed
    VTel FTTH 1 Gb down and 1 Gb up
  • Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Ryzen 7 5800X3D
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (UEFI-BIOS version 3405, which fixes " LogoFail" bug according to Asus)
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Sparkle Titan Arc A770 16 GB
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 970 Pro 512 GB NVMe SSD
    PSU
    eVGA Supernova 650 GQ
    Case
    Fractal Focus G
Can you boot the PC into the BIOS screens and is it stable for a long period or does it turn off or shut down? This will be an indication that the motherboard or other hardware is faulty.

If you can operate reliably in the BIOS screens, then try and boot from a USB drive which has an bootable windows OS such as the following:

If this crashes then you know you have a serious hardware problem and can start to test/replace the individual components. There will be some useful diagnostic tools on the Kyhi rescue media that you can try but in the end I always prefer swapping for known good components for a definitive test.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface
    CPU
    Intel Core i5
    Memory
    8GB
    Internet Speed
    900MB/s
    Browser
    MS Edge
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender
  • Operating System
    Win 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface 3
    CPU
    Intel i5 - 10th gen
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris plus

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