i bought laptop on jan 2019. it's an alienware 17 r5 and it has intel graphics card and nvidia graphics card. i put new nvme ssd in my laptop in june 2019 and i installed windows on it. i used it for 1 year after i put new nvme ssd and all was perfect and no bsod and then bsod suddenly started happening end of last month on june 27 i got kmode_exception_not_handled bsod on july 3 i got system_thread_exception_not_handled bsod on july 17 i got memory_management bsod all 3 bsod were caused by ntsokrnl.exe. i did macrium reflect restore to image file which i made on june 21 after i got second bsod and i just got bsod again yesterday. something is wrong because i got 3 bsod in around 1 month. i ran memtest86 at the end of last month. all was ok is my bsod caused by windows\driver issue or is it caused by some hardware component is failing? if a hardware component was failing then shouldn't i get more aggressive bsod like few bsod a day or daily bsod or bsod when i shutdown\restart instead of getting one bsod every few weeks? is there anything that i can do to troubleshoot bsod? i did sfc /scannow. it fixed a link of one drive. memory management bsod could be caused by outdated\corrupted graphics card drivers. my intel graphics driver was outdated and driver date is oct 2019. i updated to recent driver yesterday. my nvidia driver is a few versions old. i updated to recent driver yesterday what do i do if i get another bsod?
I had a bit more GSOD's in my case went away eventualy my guess driver incompatibility got solved during the long run
Each BSOD is caused by the use of an inappropriate or damaged program or the driver. Very rarely is caused by damaged or poorly connected hardware. The most common cause is an unmaintained computer or a damaged operating system. Ie computer is full of junk files, registry is full of obselete keys etc, but often the computer is not simply cleaned of dust and grease and it overheats or some components overheats. And one more thing, the latest driver is not always the best. Usually, a BSOD is not a problem with the computer, but a reminder to the owner that the computer also needs maintenance. It means that it is a problem with the computer owner, but not computer problem. You may not like, what I said, but this is the reality.
If you want to expedite the troubleshooting: - enter the BIOS, load optimized defaults or w/e the laptop allows you to do - backup your data - install OS cleanly, and by that I mean deleting all OS partitions. Don't install any drivers after that, see if anything happens with the Win 10 default drivers. If all is good, install one driver at a time, and allow for a few weeks of usage. Trying to troubleshoot step by step, online, with a system that's "dirty" after years of use, apps installed, OS upgrades, is nearly useless. Most people personalize the OS, run registry cleaners, install new drivers often etc. The chances your hardware is failing are quite low. But the chances that it is badly configured are high. Backup data, start anew, fastest way.
If you still haven't solved your problem, here are my tips - 1. Uninstall any Killer (wifi) softwares from your system if you have them. They cause BSODs. 2. Uninstall Logitech's G-Hub if you have it, that causes BSODs. Both of these softwares and there drivers cause trouble with Alienware systems. Dell knows this, you can ask them to confirm. If it's not these two, then I suggest you do a fresh OS install and run tests to check system stability without downloading any drivers from Dell or anywhere, just let windows install the drivers through update. And dell's e-PSA (which you can get to via diagnostics during boot ), is great for checking hardware errors. I own an Alienware 17R4 for 3.5 years now, I've been through everything. Currently my system is repasted and repadded using LM and Fujipoly pads and runs like a dream. 17 R4 - 7820hk overclocked to 4.4 GHz, nVidia 1080 overclocked to 1895 MHz. P.S. - if you need further help, kindly post your dmp file or it's text equivalent.
Old thread but here is my advice gained from years in IT. Step 1, determine if this is a hardware or software problem. -get your hands on the cheapest possible drive you can do some testing with, replace your main drive and install windows on it Step 2 A, if you still get BSODs -update the BIOS. since this is independent of the OS I consider this part of the hardware troubleshooting process -check the usual issues like reseating components, redoing thermal paste, removing non-critical components to narrow down what it causing the problem -if you are OCing anything go back to defaults. if BSODs go away try OCing again a little at a time Step 2 B, if you no longer get BSODs -consider starting from scratch. backup all of your data and reinstall your OS and take care to update all drivers using direct sources. I have had pretty good luck using snappy drivers as a shortcut -if you are not going to reinstall your OS make sure to update all of your drivers, uninstall all of the software you don't actually need. do an in place OS install to repair possible OS damage From my personal experience BSODs have gone away about 75% of the time if I update the BIOS, reinstall the OS from scratch and update all drivers. About 20% of the time the issue is clock speed, cooling issues, RAM seating/stability issues, a dying HDD/SSD or an extremely cheap PSU crapping out. The remaining 5% is the motherboard which is of course a real problem in a laptop since replacing it is almost never worth it. In a desktop this can actually be a reasonably cheap fix and since you get to rebuild everything, you are double checking things like component seating at the same time. On my personal systems my last BSOD issue was caused by a formerly stable OC needing to be dialed back 200mhz. On the last PCs (both laptops) belonging to someone else the BSOD issues were caused by RAM in one system and a failing HDD on the other.
BSODs can be both HW or software related in my experience when u get this crash frequently is due to a failing HD but u need to run a complete deep diagnostic of your system .