Hey everyone! I'm dealing with a frustrating issue on my Windows 11 machine where I keep getting a 'Critical Process Died' BSOD. My system crashes a few seconds after booting up. Here are my current specs:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7800X3D
- GPU: 9070XT
- RAM: 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5
- Cooler: Arctic Cooler 360
- Motherboard: MSI B650
- Storage: 2TB WD Black M.2 NVMe Gen4 SSD
I've tried quite a few things to fix it:
- Reinstalled Windows (it worked for a month, then back to crashing)
- Ran RAM tests (all good)
- Reseated my RAM and SSD
- Used commands like SFC /Scannow, but Windows keeps finding and 'repairing' corruption
- Tried various DISM commands
- Disabled XMP and reduced my RAM speed
Before this, the BSOD would show up mostly when I launched games or switched monitors, but now it won't even let me boot into Windows. I suspect the SSD might be failing since it's older than most of my components. Any advice would be super helpful!
2 Answers
You mentioned having the WD Black SSD—if you're on Windows 11 24H2, check if your SSD needs a firmware update. There's a specific fix for that model which has been causing BSODs for some users. You can find a guide online, but just a heads up, it might be tricky if your system won’t boot into Windows. Let us know if you can access any firmware update tools or if you need help finding alternatives!
To really get to the bottom of your BSOD issues, you'll need to locate the dump files which are essential for analyzing the crashes. If you can access Windows in Safe Mode, check the C:WindowsMinidump directory for any dump files. If you find any, zip them up and upload to a file sharing site. The more dump files you have, the better for diagnosing the problem. If you don't have zip software, you can right-click on the folder and select 'Send to -> Compressed (Zipped) folder'. The guide I linked shows how to create a Small Memory Dump if you're only seeing one or none at all. Good luck!
I also read that having multiple dump files can be really helpful for the analysis, so definitely gather whatever you can find!
Yeah, I've noticed the SSD acting up for a while now. Is there any way to update firmware without booting into Windows?