Help! New PC Just Crashed

My new PC has just crashed. I'm not very happy:mad

I bought it just over 3 weeks ago. Due to numerous problems it was exchanged just under a week ago. Now this one has crashed.

The machine is an HP 15 Notebook PC. My OS is Windows 8.1. How do I find out why it crashed?

 

If you can start the PC, download WhoCrashed Free Home Edition. Keep the program running and it will show what caused the PC to crash the next time it happens.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/whocrashed_free_home_edition.html

The obvious will be to return the PC. However, I understand the situation. Good luck.

 

If you got a BSoD then your system will have already recorded details of the crash in a minidump file. Install and run BlueScreenView and if you need help understanding the results then post them here. Someone should be able to help. If it wasn't a BSoD what actually has happened?

Or just take it back.

 

I don't know what information from BlueScreenView (BSV) is required so I provide the following. The time in the BSV report is consistent with the time it happened. I have located the minidump file but am unable to open it. I reproduce the BSV report details exactly:

Dump File: 042715-28625-01.dmp
Crash Time: 27/04/2015 20:38:37
Bug Check String: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Bug Check Code: 0x1000007e
Parameter 1: ffffffff`c0000005
Parameter 2: fffff800`1bd5c0ab
Parameter 3: ffffd001`68bd61b8
Parameter 4: ffffd001`68bd59c0
Caused By Driver: atikmdag.sys
Caused By Address: atikmdag.sys+1244cf
File Description:
Product Name:
Company:
File Version:
Processor: x64
Crash Address: atikmdag.sys+c50ab
Stack Address 1:
Stack Address 2:
Stack Address 3:
Computer Name:
Full Path: C:\Windows\Minidump\042715-28625-01.dmp
Processors Count: 4
Major Version: 15
Minor Version 9600
Dump File Size: 280,968
Dump File Time: 27/04/2015 20:39:34

 

It has flagged your ATI graphics driver as the cause. You aren't the first - this thread seems to have the answer in post #4.

"Caused By Driver: atikmdag.sys"

 

Thank you very much for (a) diagnosing the cause (b) and finding me a solution, which I intend to apply.

I don't know so I want to ask. Is this crash, as the result of a driver, just one of those things? If this solution works can I switch this new PC on with reasonable confidence in the future? Alternatively, should I be asking why a PC, new from the shop, less than a week ago, is actually crashing at all? (Obviously, I know what I intend to mean: if that's not clear I'll try to explain further.)

 

I ran the fix and afterwards received a warning message (please see attached image). Which option in the warning box would be the most appropriate to choose. Having selected one of the two options please advise how I carry it out.

This is what I did prior to receving the warning box. I applied the fix. I downloaded the new driver. Then I ran the installation process. When that was complete I restarted the PC. After the restart I installed the new driver. That's when I got the error message.

 

I cannot match your description of what you did to the instructions in the thread. You do not mention at all the second step of using the AMD Uninstall utility to remove your current driver. Instead you say the second step was to run the installation process.

If there is any doubt at all about whether you followed the instructions correctly then I suggest you run System Restore to get back to where you started and then take it back. I cannot give you detailed step by step as I do not have a similar system to test it on.

 

I won't write out my steps again. I may potentially introduce further confusion. In my previous post I was thinking from the point in which I installed the new driver.

I can assure you that I followed the instructions to the letter. My description of what I did clearly contains omissions. The steps I took contained no omissions.

 

The fix did not work so I can only recommend system restore and then returning it. To continue attempting to correct this problem could risk invalidating your warranty.

 

I am going to return it and get my money back. I don't want this model again.

 

May I recommend Asus, or Lenovo.

My biggest beef with HP is their "whitelist". Most HP laptops only have half a dozen "approved" WiFi cards. All others on the planet will halt the system, and your machine won't boot if you install an "unapproved" card.

It's either an approved card, or edit the hex in the Insyde BIOS.

:mad

:***:crap

 

That puts me in a bind. Another person on here told me HP PCs are good. I have an HP desktop which has never given me problems. HP have said they will sell me one direct (as opposed to through the orginal retailer) and give me a discount on a new one. I'm going to get my money back from the store today. So I'm not bound to get another HP one. It just took me ages to choose one and now I'm back to square one.

 

I have just thought some more about what you said.

It was my graphics card that caused the fault, not the WiFi card.

I haven't installed a new graphics card, it's the one the manufacturer put in the machine.

I didn't choose an alternative. The graphics card driver was updated. I did that through "HP Support Assistant". One presumes they'd have updated their own manufactured PCs with the correct driver.

I'm sure life was better before computers.

 

I have all brands: Dell, HP, Acer, eMachines, TigerDirect (Systemic which was their brand) and ASUS plus one unknown brand (it was free so I'm not complaining). I returned exactly one computer of the 14 I've owned. It would not keep time even after a new CMOS battery was installed by the support for that brand computer. I just felt there was a major hardware problem. I replaced it with a different model and had that replacement many years.

I turn off the manufacturer's update program.

I NEVER install another driver or update the BIOS unless there is a problem. Then before I do anything, I research to see what the newest BIOS or the latest driver fixes. Sometimes a newer driver is just to add support for things I don't have.

 

FYI it's been returned. Just saying.