I've been dealing with a frustrating situation since I upgraded my brand new laptop with a newer SSD. Initially, my old laptop had a lot of issues such as random restarts and BSODs (Blue Screen of Death). I thought replacing the battery and SSD might help, but it didn't. After multiple Windows reinstalls, I got a new laptop that didn't come with an OS, so I did a clean Windows installation myself. The first day went smoothly, but things took a turn the next day when I installed the newer SSD. After connecting it, I experienced a BSOD right away due to a kernel security check failure. I figured this might have been due to having fastboot enabled and reusing the previous hibernation file. After that, I attempted to transfer my Windows installation to the new SSD but ended up doing a clean install again, leading to more BSODs:
- Using the webcam on Discord caused a 0x10e BSOD (related to dxgmms2.sys).
- Installing Nvidia drivers and connecting to an external display caused a 0x7e BSOD (linked to nvlddmkm.sys).
I thought replacing my whole laptop would fix the issue, but it appears it hasn't. Some thoughts I've had:
- I used the same USB drive for all installations; maybe it's faulty?
- The old SSD might be causing issues even after being wiped and transferred to the new laptop.
I'm pretty lost here and would appreciate any advice. Tomorrow, I plan to get a different USB to reinstall Windows and also remove the new SSD.
4 Answers
Since you mentioned the SSD was previously used in another laptop, think about the health of that SSD. You can run diagnostic tools to check for errors. Sometimes, performing a secure erase before the clean install helps in these situations.
Just a heads up, the problems you're facing could be tied to the Nvidia drivers, especially with recent updates causing issues for some users. If you suspect that’s the case, try doing a clean reinstall of the drivers or go back to an earlier version that worked for you before. Sometimes stability issues stem from updates that don’t play nice with your specific setup!
First off, it sounds like a real hassle! I recommend checking out your BSOD dump files when you get a chance. They can give you insights into what’s causing the crashes. If you can access Windows or even Safe Mode, look for dump files in C:WindowsMinidump. If you find any, zip them up and upload to a site like Mediafire or Catbox.moe. Having multiple dumps is useful, so even if there's only one, that’s better than nothing!
Good tip! Also, if you don’t have a zip program, Windows can compress the files directly by selecting 'Send to -> Compressed (Zipped) folder'.
It’s definitely worth checking that USB drive! If it’s faulty, that could lead to corrupted installs. Maybe try reinstalling Windows with a different USB stick to rule that out. And you could also test the new SSD in another device if possible, just to see if it’s performing well elsewhere.
Thanks for the advice! I’ll consider uninstalling the drivers and trying an older version to see if that settles things.