Hello, about two months ago, I started getting various BSOD and almost every time they were different. And they occur almost every day, sometimes even 2-3 times a day (like today). I've tried many fixes and various solutions like memtest86, chkdsk, sfc /scannow, including reinstalling windows, but nothing seems to help. Almost at the same time (around the start of February) I've updated windows and my first BSOD happened. It could've have been a big coincidence as far as I know, because nobody experienced such viscous BSOD streak like I have. Around the time of January and February my (now 4.5 years) HDD Seagate barracuda 3tb (secondary drive) started to make a real nasty noise (like brushing rusty nail through metal) and it lasted about a week and suddenly stopped. I've used CrystalDiskInfo to check SMART and it showed current reallocated sector count 100 and worst 100 too. Buying new one isn't a big deal, but I would like to know if these problems with BSOD and HDD are connected. So my main question is, what could cause these BSOD and is it "necessary" to change HDD into a new one?
Question BSOD problems
- Thread starter KarolisLTS
- Start date
I haven't really reseated any hardware, because cpu, ram and mbd are about few months old, so I've rebuilt my pc pretty recently. The only thing I can think of is maybe almost dead HDD or early february's updates.
It would help us if you can share the main specs of your PC. BSODs are usually difficult to solve, as you've discovered. Is their any particular pattern to whatever you do just before one occurs?
If you have 2 RAM sticks, remove one to see if problem goes away, then repeat for other.
Is Windows on the HDD? If yes, it could be the problem; if not, then it's unlikely.
Does the PSU plug into the wall socket, or is there a UPS or surge protector in between? Is your electricity supply from your local utility company even and reliable—it can be 'dirty' with micro-cut-outs or spikes and troughs.
Reseating isn't about the age, it's about the possibility some component is a bit loose or not properly connected—check for any dirt on contacts while you're doing it.
If you have 2 RAM sticks, remove one to see if problem goes away, then repeat for other.
Is Windows on the HDD? If yes, it could be the problem; if not, then it's unlikely.
Does the PSU plug into the wall socket, or is there a UPS or surge protector in between? Is your electricity supply from your local utility company even and reliable—it can be 'dirty' with micro-cut-outs or spikes and troughs.
I've reseated almost everything and cleaned some dust with compressed air. I had the same thought about removing one of the RAM sticks, but BSOD happens very unexpectedly, sometimes two days in a row and no BSOD, and sometimes (like yesterday) there were 4 BSODs, so it would be hard to tell if there is or there isn't a problem with RAM. Windows is on my SSD and PSU connects directly into wall socket. Tbh I can't really leave that idea, that my HDD is causing all this, because of all pc components, viruses and even drivers, it's the only thing, that was misbehaving in the last few months. But on the other hand, I could be totally wrong about that.
Sure, that's the nature of these kinds of problems, unfortunately.
It's a solid candidate for sure. I assume your OS is on the HDD—Windows 10?—in which case you can at worst do yourself a big favor by getting a SSD for OS and programs—and games too if you get a bigger one. I have a lot of software, so I have a 256GB SSD for Win10 & programs, and a 1GB SSD for games. Once you switch to SSD, you'll never go back
ETA: Oh hang on, I just spotted the HDD is your secondary drive, so you probably already have a SSD for OS. Hmm, that reduces the likelihood of the HDD being the source of the problem, unless your RAM is low so that there's a big swap file on the HDD. As I said, your main specs would be a big help—we're sort of flailing around in the dark atm.
If you have a bad RAM stick, removing it should stop the BSODs—provided of course you still have enough left to run the OS comfortably. If swapping out the 2 or 4 sticks you have doesn't solve it, then you've eliminated RAM as a cause. This kind of troubleshooting is mostly about eliminating what isn't the cause.
Another thought—have you looked in Event Viewer for errors at the BSOD times?
ETA: Something I've found to help game glitches is to switch from full-screen mode to windowed mode. In many games, pressing Alt+Enter toggles between the two.
If Alt+Enter doesn't work, then look in the Graphics section of the game's Options menu.
There are often 2 other modes available: Borderless Window Mode and Fullscreen Windowed Mode. Try whichever you prefer, in short:
Windowed: just like other apps.
Borderless: window, full-screen or not.
Fullscreen Windowed: like any maximized app.
Fullscreen default: games usually start this way.
ETA: Something I've found to help game glitches is to switch from full-screen mode to windowed mode. In many games, pressing Alt+Enter toggles between the two.
If Alt+Enter doesn't work, then look in the Graphics section of the game's Options menu.
There are often 2 other modes available: Borderless Window Mode and Fullscreen Windowed Mode. Try whichever you prefer, in short:
Windowed: just like other apps.
Borderless: window, full-screen or not.
Fullscreen Windowed: like any maximized app.
Fullscreen default: games usually start this way.
Last edited:
A little update. I've found out, that HDD isn't the reason for BSOD by disconnecting it for a whole day, but BSOD still occurred. Then I've tried driver verifier and when it crashed, it showed, that amdxata.sys driver is crashing my pc. As far as I know it's AMD's driver and since, I've changed my gpu from AMD RX480 to Nvidia GTX1080 about a year ago, for some reason problem occurred just now. Can I somehow disable or remove that driver since I don't really need AMD drivers, to "fix" the BSOD problem?
Yes, I do have Ryzen 5 3600, but it's pretty new, I've got it like half a year ago
You should disable amdxata.sys—see this page:
amdxata.sys Windows process - What is it?
Windows 10/11/7 doesn't need amdxata.sys. Click here to know if amdxata is safe and how to avoid amdxata.sys errors.
Key statement:
"This is not an essential Windows process and can be disabled if known to create problems."
PS nice job eliminating the HDD as a cause
I've tried to look for a proper way to disable that driver, but no luck. Seems like nobody is disabling it or nobody wants to share a way how to do it. What is more, every time pc gets BSOD, WinDbg (windows debugger) shows different reason for it. It looks like every software or just windows itself shows different reasons for this problemYou should disable amdxata.sys—see this page:
amdxata.sys Windows process - What is it?
Windows 10/11/7 doesn't need amdxata.sys. Click here to know if amdxata is safe and how to avoid amdxata.sys errors.www.file.net
Key statement:
"This is not an essential Windows process and can be disabled if known to create problems."
PS nice job eliminating the HDD as a cause
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