[LauraMJ]

Hey, everyone,

My sister's computer (Dell, less than a year old) has twice had a BSOD. Both times, so far as I know, the error was Bad_Pool_Caller. She does not remember the error number codes, though.

The first time this happened, I had her tap F8 upon startup and choose "last known good configuration." It booted up and everything seemed okay. About a week later (today) it did it again. This time I had her choose "start windows normally." Upon doing this, the computer voluntarily went straight to running a checkdisk (is this a Dell thing??). It said (this is all over the phone, mind you), that it was deleting a bunch of files (my sister's words), and replacing some files, etc. It worked for several minutes and then went on to the desktop. But, when she tried to open her QuickBooks program, there was a pop-up that said that "generic host process for Win32 services has encountered a problem and needs to close." Then QuickBooks would not start up, it froze. I had her reboot the computer, and after that it seemed that everything was working okay.

Now, a bit more info:

She has NOT installed any new hardware or software in months.

Easter weekend I was installing Avira on her computer (she had an older version of AVG and since I had to uninstall and reinstall something I thought I'd give Avira a try) and as a matter of course, I always check that she has all the latest MS updates, antimalware updates, etc. MS said that there was some critical updates that were not installed. There were two, Microsoft .net Framework 3.5 SP1 and Netframework3.5 Family Update as well as Microsoft SQL 2005 Express Edition SP3. I have NO idea why this one should be wanting to download to her computer in the first place....so far as I know, she does not have SQL 2005 Express Edition on her computer. She does have a home network with a laptop and some other portable devices. Now, her computer is set to download and install automatically, so these should have been installed. I checked the event viewer, and these have been trying,and failing to install, for many days. I tried to manually download them one at a time and install them, and though they would download, upon the installation process, it would fail. No explanation given.

So, I deleted a ton of temp files, emptied the recycle bin, ran the defrag, etc. The computer seemed to be running okay the entire time, and was fine when I left. I spent several hours on it and everything seemed to work well.

So, does anyone have any information on Bad_Pool_Caller that might help us figure out why this is doing this? I understand that this could be something like a bad memory stick, the hard drive going bad?

Any ideas on the failed downloads? She we even worry about the failed downloads?

[Frank4d]

Look in the C:\Windows\Minidump folder for minixxxxxx-xx.dmp (x = numbers) for the crash dump files. Zip a few (4-5) and post as a zip or rar attachment. We can run a debug utility that may point to the cause of the Bad_Pool_Caller errors. I don't have a clue if the failed downloads could be related, but possibly.

[LauraMJ]

She looked in C:\Windows but there there was no folder for Minidump.

[Phantom010]

This error message is often related to software incompatibility. Could Avira be related to the problem? What was her previous antivirus? What other anti-malware software is she using?

[Frank4d]

It seems her PC may not be configured to save crash dump logs. Setting up Startup and Recovery options as shown in the attachment should cause her PC to save a crash dump log the next time a BSOD occurs.

The settings are found by right clicking My Computer, then Properties, then the Advanced tab, then Startup and Recovery Settings button.

[LauraMJ]

Originally Posted by Phantom010

This error message is often related to software incompatibility. Could Avira be related to the problem? What was her previous antivirus? What other anti-malware software is she using?

I don't think Avira had anything to do with it since the first one occurred before Avira was even on it. The timeline, as I posted above, was --BSOD, then several days later I installed Avira-- then several days later, another BSOD.

The previous one was AVG, and she'd had that on it since she got the computer, probably 9-10 months ago.

She also has SuperAntiSpyware on her computer.

Originally Posted by Frank4d

It seems her PC may not be configured to save crash dump logs. Setting up Startup and Recovery options as shown in the attachment should cause her PC to save a crash dump log the next time a BSOD occurs.

The settings are found by right clicking My Computer, then Properties, then the Advanced tab, then Startup and Recovery Settings button.

Okay, we'll work on that and I'll post back when we get that set up, though that probably won't be till tomorrow sometime.

One thing though........do you want her to have a check mark in "automatically restart?" Won't that prevent her from seeing what the BSOD error message is?

[LauraMJ]

Just out of curiosity, I took a look at my system. I could not find a minidump folder on mine, either, so I looked at the Start Up and Recovery Settings and mine is exactly the same as yours except for not having a check mark in the "automatically restart" option. But other than that, it is filled in exactly as your screenshot is. Why don't I have a minidump, either? The debugging information and the small dump directory are both filled in.

[Frank4d]

Originally Posted by LauraMJ

One thing though........do you want her to have a check mark in "automatically restart?" Won't that prevent her from seeing what the BSOD error message is?

"Automatically restart" won't matter, except if not checked the error would show on the screen until rebooted. The log file will be saved either way.

[LauraMJ]

Originally Posted by Frank4d

"Automatically restart" won't matter, except if not checked the error would show on the screen until rebooted. The log file will be saved either way.

Why isn't mine saved, then? What if I need it??

[Phantom010]

Have you tried a chkdsk /r?

[LauraMJ]

Originally Posted by Phantom010

Have you tried a chkdsk /r?

Do you mean for my sister's computer? As I mentioned above, in the second BSOD, I had her choose "start windows normally," and as soon as she chose that, the computer voluntarily went straight to running a checkdisk (is this a Dell thing??). It said (this is all over the phone, mind you), that it was deleting a bunch of files (my sister's words), and replacing some files, etc. It worked for several minutes and then went on to the desktop.

If you are talking about me not having a minidump, either, then no, I have not run checkdisk for that.

[Phantom010]

Of course it might be hardware related. Like a RAM issue. Did you try a Memtest?

[LauraMJ]

No, we have not run MemTest. I am familiar with what that is, but I have never used it. My sister's computer does not have a floppy, so it would have to be run from a CD, I suppose.

If someone can give step by step instructions on how to download and run the MemTest, we will try to do that this weekend.

[Phantom010]

This page includes a free Memtest program and a manual.

[LauraMJ]

Thanks! I'll post back here as soon as possible and give more info when we get it.