I've been dealing with some annoying crashes and freezes on my PC for the past couple of weeks. The screen sometimes goes black and the PC restarts, but more often, it just freezes up entirely. Right now, I usually have to hold the power button to reboot it, which obviously isn't ideal. This mostly happens shortly after I turn it on in the morning, but it can happen a few more times during the next hour or two. Out of the blue, I also got a BSOD with the error code "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION". I've had this PC for about 4 years without any major issues before this, and I don't recall changing anything significant that could've caused it. My main concern is that it might be a hardware issue since I use it heavily for work and gaming. The only thing I did recently was update the NVIDIA graphics driver, but that didn't seem to help. I'm hoping to rule out any software issues before I start swapping out parts. Let me know if you need more info!
2 Answers
The DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION can be tricky because it often relates to CPU thread issues. Your dump file might not clarify much, but that's pretty common. It might be worth running a tool that gathers system information and logs to help us troubleshoot effectively. It’s called Specify. Just download it, run it, and it’ll give you a link to share for us to check out your system specifics!
Make sure to give that tool a shot! It’s super helpful, and hopefully it’ll lead us to the root of your issue.
It sounds like you're experiencing some frustrating issues! First off, let's get some dump files analyzed – they provide valuable insight into the crashes. If you're able to boot into Windows or even Safe Mode, check the Minidump folder at C:WindowsMinidump for any files. If you find any, zip them up and share them via a file hosting site like MediaFire. Having multiple dump files is ideal since it gives us better data to work with. Also, consider changing your dump settings to create Small Memory Dumps; this way, they won’t be overwritten. It might help identify where the problem lies! Good luck!
Thanks for the tip! I ran Specify and here’s the report: https://spec-ify.com/profile/8ad421b2. Let me know what you think!