I'm trying to assist a friend who has been dealing with significant issues on his computer for quite some time. He's experiencing random game crashes, full system crashes while using Windows, and even crashes in Chrome without any error messages surfacing. I've suggested some diagnostic steps, like increasing the paging files for his drives, which helped a bit but didn't fully resolve the problem.
Recently, I visited him to further troubleshoot, as the games we tried were literally unplayable. I attempted to run the "sfc /scannow" command, but it failed with an unrecognized error. Following that, I ran "dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth," which also failed to complete, returning error 1726. None of the standard fixes worked, leading me to propose a fresh Windows installation.
However, after reinstalling, we faced new issues—BSODs that varied each time, and certain programs wouldn't install post-Windows updates. Event Viewer didn't provide useful information, and the same errors persisted during sfc and dism checks. We even tried installing Windows on a newer drive, but experienced similar issues. After hours of troubleshooting without resolution, we speculated that it might be a BIOS issue.
Before we wrap up for the night, I'm seeking advice on other potential solutions, especially regarding a BIOS update. I've seen plenty of fresh Windows installs before, but never one that acted out like this. His computer specs are:
- ASUS ROG Strix Z790-E Gaming WiFi 6E LGA 1700
- 14th Gen Intel i9
- 32GB Corsair Dominator Platinum (8x4)
- RTX 4080
- 4 drives (2 m.2 and 2 disk drives)
Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
Absolutely, the latest BIOS is crucial for your CPU, considering it draws too much power through the motherboard, risking both the CPU and the motherboard itself. Definitely keep that in mind while troubleshooting!
It's worth noting that the 14th Gen CPUs had some inherent flaws that were later fixed through microcode updates. Updating the BIOS could potentially resolve those crashing issues, but if it doesn’t, you may be looking at a hardware problem, possibly requiring a CPU replacement under warranty. Check out the details about the Raptor Lake issue on Wikipedia for more context.
Hey, to tackle those BSODs effectively, you should consider collecting the dump files. These files are crucial as they provide logs of what happened during the crashes. If you can boot into Windows normally or via Safe Mode, check the C:WindowsMinidump directory for any dump files. Zip up any files you find and upload them to a file-sharing site, since those details help diagnose the problem better. Also, ensure you adjust your dump settings to capture Small Memory Dumps for future issues, which can give you consistent data to analyze.
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