Unknown hard error with Vista 64 bit

Hi all. I'm experiencing an "unknown hard error" with my machine running 64 bit Vista. I tried browsing the existing "unknown hard error" threads but could not find anything for my situation.

It seems that while using my machine, Vista will sometimes lock up. After a minute of being locked up, I get a BSOD indicating a "c000021a unknown hard error". Unlike other "unknown hard error" messages, this one does not specify any specific file.

The conditions in which I've been able to reproduce the error (with even remote consistency) is either sometimes while using FireFox or while attempting to install the Mythos beta.

Also, I was going to try and debug the Minidump, but for some reason that is not being written in the standard C:/Windows/Minidump directory.

The machine was built in late September 2007 and this BSOD has recently started showing in the last 1-2 weeks.

Any help that can be provided is greatly appreciated.

My machine's specs:
Windows Vista 64 bit Ultimate
EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Thermaltake W0131RU ATX12V / EPS12V 850W Power Supply
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with 12X DVD-RAM write and LightScribe Technology Beige ATAPI/E-IDE Model LH-20A1H-184
G.SKILL 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-4GBPQ
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 (not OC'd)
bluegears b-Enspirer 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card
Seagate SATA HD 750 GB

 

Also, Vista has stored some "problem details" for each of the mythos crashes. Perhaps it is related/helpful?

Here's the details:

Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Mythos.exe
Application Version: 2.0.17.4077
Application Timestamp: 4762dedf
Fault Module Name: ntdll.dll
Fault Module Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Fault Module Timestamp: 4549bdf8
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 000543f6
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 8d13
Additional Information 2: cdca9b1d21d12b77d84f02df48e34311
Additional Information 3: 8d13
Additional Information 4: cdca9b1d21d12b77d84f02df48e34311

 

Update: I ran the diagnostics for my HD (SeaTools from Seagate) and the windows diagnostics for my RAM. Neither diagnostics raised any concerns.

Is it possible that there are some bad drivers? Are there any good tools for cleaning up drivers (that works on 64 bit Vista) ?

 

Ok, so after further research it seems that there is a known issue between the nForce 680i SLI chipset and SATA hard drives. BIOS updates should fix the issue. I've done so as of yesterday evening and have not seen any issues yet.

From the sounds of it, this could be (and probably is) the fix.