Huge problems, can't even clean install because of BSOD

zbook · Jul 23, 2023

Indicate whether you can or cannot boot Windows 10 to the desktop in normal boot or safe mode.

If the computer cannot be booted without BSOD then remove all RAM modules and test one RAM module at a time in the same DIMM.

adalwar · Jul 23, 2023

In order to test RAM there is "Windows Memory Diagnostic" tool.
Alternativly there "Memtest86" a very good tool. It lets you create a Boot Disk for it to run.
If you can anyhow Boot from a USB-Drive, look at options and see if can get to a command prompt. Run Check Disc on Drive C [command : Chkdsk c: /F /X /sdcleanup]
If there are noerros in Memory Tests and Checkdisk runs OK, then probably the problem has to be around PSU.

First of all : Enter BIOS and load "Optimizide Defaults" [I think pressing F9] Save & Exit.

glasskuter · Jul 23, 2023

Folks, suggesting what has already been suggested or has already been done is not helping him. His explanations have been very clear what started out as one problem of blue screen while gaming has morphed into a situation where more than one piece of hardware is now involved in the issue. Disregarding mine and everyone else's suggestions, this is one where you have to lay the series of events from start to finish out on in a flow chart from where he started, what has been done, and where he is now after both he and a repair shop have taken actions.

psinferno · Jul 23, 2023

yes, thanks for all the suggestions. like glasskuter wrote, i already tried several things (also took the RAM out and used memtest86).

yesterday i spoke to the guy in the shop and he's still not sure what it is. now he also considers the mainboard and told me that he might just give a new mainboard and a new cpu since it's warranty anyway. so probably i will get it back next week with a new cpu, mainboard and ssd...i would take that but i have to wait until tuesday.
and i found out that the guy is actually a salesperson without professional technical knowledge, just as a hobby he assemblies pc's. and he's a trainee as well. but i just hope it gets resolved by next week

glasskuter · Jul 23, 2023

psinferno said:
the guy is actually a salesperson without professional technical knowledge

Just curious here. You don't have to name the store, but is it a local shop or a big box store you are dealing with? I thought they had already changed the motherboard and ssd (post 16)

psinferno · Jul 23, 2023

i live in switzerland and for switzerland it's a well known store (they have like 20 branches or something like that).
first he told me that he changed the motherboard but it still didn't work, a day later he told me that it works with a new motherboard and new cpu. So i don't know what to believe exactly

glasskuter · Jul 23, 2023

Thank you. If it's anything like the big stores here I fully understand what you are dealing with. They offer"support" but don't put real support people in the positions to deal with problems. Many times they work on commission so it does make it difficult to trust they actually did what they say they did. At least now you know the issue was fixable and it was most likely the motherboard that fixed it.... or a combination of both the cpu and motherboard. That's unlikely but always possible.

Considering the circumstances of what you have gone through, I strongly suggest if you still have the GPU out of the machine, that you make sure it is put back into the machine and correct drivers loaded before it leaves the store and that you test everything is running as it should before you take it home.

Regarding your original problem of games crashing----If it happens in the future----Here's a bug in you ear.
I'm not a gamer myself, but I have read enough "games crashing" reports on this forum to know that the physical hardware nor Windows is always the problem for that to happen. GPU drivers, problems within the games themselves, and third party software are also common things that can cause it.

glasskuter · Jul 23, 2023

glasskuter said:
Regarding your original problem of games crashing----If it happens in the future----Here's a bug in you ear.
I'm not a gamer myself, but I have read enough "games crashing" reports on this forum to know that the physical hardware nor Windows is always the problem for that to happen. GPU drivers, problems within the games themselves, and third party software are also common things that can cause it.

Let me add extreme overclocking to that list.

adammb91 · Jul 23, 2023

psinferno said:
hi there

i had a running desktop gaming pc running with Win11.
It run well, but because a game started to crash a lot i decided to make a clean install of win11.

First of all i decided to upgrade the ME firmware and the BIOS firmware (Asus ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming). I did so according to the Asus website and there were no errors, the new versions also are now displayed in the BIOS.
But after upgrading the BIOS the PC didn’t start and just resulted in blue screens (Page_Fault_in_nonpaged_area, Kmode Exception not handled, System Thread Exception not handled, NTFS_File_System, …and many other different errors).
So I decided to do a clean install with USB-stick using the media creation tool.
Also there where some errors in the setup process, but when pressing OK they sometime disappeared and it continued. But as soon as it starts to copy files (step 2 in the installation process) the BSOD come back with the exact same error as when trying to boot from the SSD.

In all this process i never opened the PC or did something on the hardware side. Meanwhile I also pressed the clear cmos button on the mainboard, that had no impact as far as i can tell.
Then i decided to downgrade the BIOS to an older version, that also worked but suddenly the Win11 setup says that my PC ist not compatible with Win11, but this is a high-end PC who already run with Win11.
So I decided to erase the SSD within the BIOS and made an USB-stick with the media tool with Win10, just to be sure. But still the same Kmode and other exceptions are happening.

I’m stuck and I just want a clean install that my kid can play again. Right now, I can’t even boot or anything, the SSD is probably empty and no installation works and I also have no running OS to do something there.

I would really love if someone can give me a hint what I can do. I have no clue what to do next.
thank you so very much

Hey, I am literally having the exact same issue, but on the ASUS Prime Z690-P. My PC froze and gave a BSOD loop when I restarted it. I tried system restore, refresh, and a clean install; it BSOD each time. The BSOD stop code was different just about every time with the same errors you mentioned. I cannot do a clean install of Windows 11 or Windows 10 now. The only difference is I did not update my BIOS until after all this started. Here is what I have eliminated as a cause:

1) RAM (Corsair Vengeance DDR5 16 GB x2) - I ran countless memtest and windows memory diagnostics, they all came up clean. I also replicated the issue with each stick separately.
2) GPU (EVGA FTW3 Ultra 3060 Ti) - I replicated the issue with both on-board GPU and with an old GTX 1060
3) PSU - I replaced my old PSU with a new one. Did not solve the issue
4) SSD - I replicated the issue on both my WD Black SN850X 1T (NVMe) and Samsung SM843 Pro 480 GB (SATA)
5) Misc accessories - I removed my Soundblaster sound card, removed all USB devices, and tried different keyboard and mouse
6) Installation media - I tried 3 different USB sticks and created the install media using either the Windows Media Creation tool or Rufus. These same USB sticks were able to install Ubuntu with no problems

I am at a loss as to what to do. I just wanted to post here in support because this is the only other thing I've seen where somebody described my exact issue.

glasskuter · Jul 23, 2023

Well, we really should not hijack this users thread. Your issue is not EXACTLY the same since his system was originally running but crashing in games. He then updated his bios, resulting in BSOD with inability to reinstall Windows.

Please go to the BSOD section of this forum. Copy and paste your above post into a new thread with a link to this thread saying your issue is very similar. Name the thread "BSOD Asus Rogue Various stop codes even when installing Windows." Though you will not be able to collect any log files,this is just in case the BSOD experts here require any further information from you as well as to get a post in the BSOD section that other Asus mobo owners can reference if necessary.

That said, let me commend you in your troubleshooting, pretty much eliminating the issue being ram, psu, GPU and ssd. You've done all the tests I would have recommended. IMO that leaves only your motherboard/CPU. Though of course it can be the cpu, my first suspect would be the mobo. But I will admit, I am NOT a hardware expert. @psinferno and I may have just guessed lucky. The fact his BSOD issue began with a bios update was a good clue. Yours is slightly different.

Hopefully @zbook who handles the majority of our BSOD issues or one of the others can provide new ideas. All I can suggest is if your system was a self build that you contact Asus technical support telling them everything you did to prove what the trouble is NOT. Official Support | ASUS USA

Best of luck to you.

psinferno · Jul 30, 2023

update:
i got the pc back two days ago. They didn't find ou what exactly caused the problem, so they changed the mainboard, cpu and ssd (for free) and now it runs great again.
so probably nothing i could have done at home i guess. good thing that there was warranty and they finished it within one week. even if that sounds long, i'm satisfied how it ended