World of Warcraft giving my computer BSODs.

[Doublenature]

Hello! Im not sure if this is supposed to be in the hardware section or here. I apologize beforehand if this is the wrong section.

 

I started playing WoW again a couple of months back, everything worked fine until I bought Warlods of Draenor (patch 6.3).

Suddenly my computer started bluescreening and freezing up. As soon as I uninstalled WoW, it completely stopped.

I also tried playing on my laptop, same result.

 

Some people have said that I need the newest drivers, I have the newest drivers, it makes no difference.

I have an Intel Core i5-2500k and a gtx 970 (msi version, I think).

 

Anyone have any clue on how to fix this? Blizzard support are no help.

[Jeb_CC]

It might be a program that you are running alongside WoW that causes the freezing. Try shutting down some programs - your browser, Steam, Skype, anything at all. Have you also tried running it with different settings? Fullscreen? Windowed? Low graphics? High graphics?

[BTGBullseye]

Yeah, not enough details about the settings and running programs to give a good answer to why it's crashing. Also, is it crashing when you run the game, randomly at any time, when you're not running the game, when you're doing something else specifically?

[Doublenature]

It might be a program that you are running alongside WoW that causes the freezing. Try shutting down some programs - your browser, Steam, Skype, anything at all. Have you also tried running it with different settings? Fullscreen? Windowed? Low graphics? High graphics?

I will try this. (one might think that I should've tried it in the first place, although I am still worried since other programs were affected aswell)

Thank you!

 

BTGBullseye:

Yeah, not enough details about the settings and running programs to give a good answer to why it's crashing. Also, is it crashing when you run the game, randomly at any time, when you're not running the game, when you're doing something else specifically?

Sorry, should've been more specific.

It crashes (BSODs) when running wow (although, only in certain areas, instances and draenor) but it also crashed when I was playing War Thunder.

My internet started flipping out aswell. Youtube would 404 mid-video, browsers wouldnt start at first and steam really started messing up aswell.

I do not have any viruses, believe me I've checked.

[Blightmare]

Is it doing this even when the game isn't running, and if so, does it happen only after the game is launched once or will it happen any time after the computer is started. Trying to rule out if it's a software related issue or an ill-timed hardware issue.

 

Also if you want a really detailed report on what's causing it, you can follow this unfortunately lengthy process.

 

 

Assuming you decide to do this, the next time it crashes I want you to look into a few things next run. This is kinda lengthy but should get the most accurate cause of crash(helped me pinpoint my faulty GPU when nothing else could):

 

First things first, make sure your computer is set to create minidumps on crash: http://blog.nirsoft.net/2010/07/27/how-to-configure-windows-to-create-minidump-files-on-bsod/

 

Next, go into the event viewer (can be found with search) and check if the crash logged any critical errors. If you don't see anything beyond a kernal event 41(improper shutdown) then one other option may help but requires downloads. One would be windows debugging tools:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff551063(v=vs.85).aspx

(Put in code because it isn't linking properly. Also sorry for the generic link, it's been a while since I installed this and don't clearly remember the steps, i just know i started here) or for an easier

 

For a very slightly less accurate view, use Bluescreenview: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

 

The purpose of these is to find what triggered the bluescreen which helps in finding the source. I recommend the WinDbg because of it's slightly more detailed report but it's kind of a hassle to set up, which is why I recommend bluescreenview.

 

Now after that, there's 2 folders to look for, both under c:\Windows:

 

Check if there's a minidump folder and a LivekernelReports. Both of these will contain .dmp files which windows SHOULD create in the event of a bluescreen. You need the above programs to read them.

 

Like me, you're probably not gonna be able to understand most of it, for example(WinDbg, after !analyze -v command):

 

FAULTING_IP: 
atikmpag+b848
fffff880`04b71848 ??              ???

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_TIMEOUT

TAG_NOT_DEFINED_202b:  *** Unknown TAG in analysis list 202b


BUGCHECK_STR:  0x117

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`05beb350 fffff880`04a875f7 : fffffa80`18afb010 fffff8a0`1d40599c fffff8a0`1d4e6191 fffff880`04a8733c : watchdog!WdDbgReportRecreate+0xa3
fffff880`05beb870 fffff880`04a88075 : fffff8a0`1d55cffc fffff8a0`14556390 fffff8a0`1d40599c 00000000`00157660 : dxgkrnl!TdrUpdateDbgReport+0xcb
fffff880`05beb8c0 fffff880`04a88ce2 : fffffa80`18afb010 fffffa80`18afb010 fffffa80`17b9c010 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgkrnl!TdrCollectDbgInfoStage1+0x92d
fffff880`05beb960 fffff880`04b2ff07 : fffffa80`18afb010 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`17b9c010 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgkrnl!TdrIsRecoveryRequired+0x17a
fffff880`05beb990 fffff880`04b5dd5a : fffffa80`ffffffff 00000000`004632ee fffff880`05bebaf0 00000000`00000002 : dxgmms1!VidSchiReportHwHang+0x40b
fffff880`05beba70 fffff880`04b2b29e : fffffa80`173e5010 ffffffff`feced300 fffffa80`1310d010 00000000`00000000 : dxgmms1!VidSchWaitForCompletionEvent+0x196
fffff880`05bebab0 fffff880`04b57e7a : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`1310d010 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgmms1!VidSchiScheduleCommandToRun+0x1b2
fffff880`05bebbc0 fffff800`0312d32e : 00000000`064dec4d fffffa80`173ea210 fffffa80`12d5d9e0 fffffa80`173ea210 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0xba
fffff880`05bebc00 fffff800`02e82666 : fffff800`03003e80 fffffa80`173ea210 fffff800`03011cc0 fffff880`01231384 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`05bebc40 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`05bec000 fffff880`05be6000 fffff880`06ce6a30 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND:  .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
atikmpag+b848
fffff880`04b71848 ??              ???

SYMBOL_NAME:  atikmpag+b848

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: atikmpag

IMAGE_NAME:  atikmpag.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  546e9eb6

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

Followup: MachineOwner

 

Mostly you just want to look for BUGCHECK_STR and DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID

 

 

This will tell you as close to what's causing it as possible from the user end but it won't lead to a fix on it's own, so it's up to you. If you really don't want to go through all that, at least follow the steps up to getting the .dmp file and upload it so I can take a look at it. I can't guarantee a fix but I can hopefully find what's causing the problem.

[Doublenature]

Is it doing this even when the game isn't running, and if so, does it happen only after the game is launched once or will it happen any time after the computer is started. Trying to rule out if it's a software related issue or an ill-timed hardware issue.

 

Also if you want a really detailed report on what's causing it, you can follow this unfortunately lengthy process.

 

 

Assuming you decide to do this, the next time it crashes I want you to look into a few things next run. This is kinda lengthy but should get the most accurate cause of crash(helped me pinpoint my faulty GPU when nothing else could):

 

First things first, make sure your computer is set to create minidumps on crash: http://blog.nirsoft.net/2010/07/27/how-to-configure-windows-to-create-minidump-files-on-bsod/

 

Next, go into the event viewer (can be found with search) and check if the crash logged any critical errors. If you don't see anything beyond a kernal event 41(improper shutdown) then one other option may help but requires downloads. One would be windows debugging tools:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff551063(v=vs.85).aspx

(Put in code because it isn't linking properly. Also sorry for the generic link, it's been a while since I installed this and don't clearly remember the steps, i just know i started here) or for an easier

 

For a very slightly less accurate view, use Bluescreenview: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

 

The purpose of these is to find what triggered the bluescreen which helps in finding the source. I recommend the WinDbg because of it's slightly more detailed report but it's kind of a hassle to set up, which is why I recommend bluescreenview.

 

Now after that, there's 2 folders to look for, both under c:\Windows:

 

Check if there's a minidump folder and a LivekernelReports. Both of these will contain .dmp files which windows SHOULD create in the event of a bluescreen. You need the above programs to read them.

 

Like me, you're probably not gonna be able to understand most of it, for example(WinDbg, after !analyze -v command):

 

FAULTING_IP: 
atikmpag+b848
fffff880`04b71848 ??              ???

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  GRAPHICS_DRIVER_TDR_TIMEOUT

TAG_NOT_DEFINED_202b:  *** Unknown TAG in analysis list 202b


BUGCHECK_STR:  0x117

PROCESS_NAME:  System

CURRENT_IRQL:  0

STACK_TEXT:  
fffff880`05beb350 fffff880`04a875f7 : fffffa80`18afb010 fffff8a0`1d40599c fffff8a0`1d4e6191 fffff880`04a8733c : watchdog!WdDbgReportRecreate+0xa3
fffff880`05beb870 fffff880`04a88075 : fffff8a0`1d55cffc fffff8a0`14556390 fffff8a0`1d40599c 00000000`00157660 : dxgkrnl!TdrUpdateDbgReport+0xcb
fffff880`05beb8c0 fffff880`04a88ce2 : fffffa80`18afb010 fffffa80`18afb010 fffffa80`17b9c010 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgkrnl!TdrCollectDbgInfoStage1+0x92d
fffff880`05beb960 fffff880`04b2ff07 : fffffa80`18afb010 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`17b9c010 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgkrnl!TdrIsRecoveryRequired+0x17a
fffff880`05beb990 fffff880`04b5dd5a : fffffa80`ffffffff 00000000`004632ee fffff880`05bebaf0 00000000`00000002 : dxgmms1!VidSchiReportHwHang+0x40b
fffff880`05beba70 fffff880`04b2b29e : fffffa80`173e5010 ffffffff`feced300 fffffa80`1310d010 00000000`00000000 : dxgmms1!VidSchWaitForCompletionEvent+0x196
fffff880`05bebab0 fffff880`04b57e7a : 00000000`00000000 fffffa80`1310d010 00000000`00000080 fffffa80`173e5010 : dxgmms1!VidSchiScheduleCommandToRun+0x1b2
fffff880`05bebbc0 fffff800`0312d32e : 00000000`064dec4d fffffa80`173ea210 fffffa80`12d5d9e0 fffffa80`173ea210 : dxgmms1!VidSchiWorkerThread+0xba
fffff880`05bebc00 fffff800`02e82666 : fffff800`03003e80 fffffa80`173ea210 fffff800`03011cc0 fffff880`01231384 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x5a
fffff880`05bebc40 00000000`00000000 : fffff880`05bec000 fffff880`05be6000 fffff880`06ce6a30 00000000`00000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x16


STACK_COMMAND:  .bugcheck ; kb

FOLLOWUP_IP: 
atikmpag+b848
fffff880`04b71848 ??              ???

SYMBOL_NAME:  atikmpag+b848

FOLLOWUP_NAME:  MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: atikmpag

IMAGE_NAME:  atikmpag.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP:  546e9eb6

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

BUCKET_ID:  X64_0x117_IMAGE_atikmpag.sys

Followup: MachineOwner

 

Mostly you just want to look for BUGCHECK_STR and DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID

 

 

This will tell you as close to what's causing it as possible from the user end but it won't lead to a fix on it's own, so it's up to you. If you really don't want to go through all that, at least follow the steps up to getting the .dmp file and upload it so I can take a look at it. I can't guarantee a fix but I can hopefully find what's causing the problem.

 

Thank you! I will actually try this later today (I just gotta reinstall WoW first).

And the computer crashed once when playing war thunder AFTER I played wow.

I will return with results either later today or tomorrow

 

Edit:

Well, by some computer magic, the game now runs without any problems.

Thanks anyway for the help

[Blightmare]

Glad to hear it!

 

But you should still at least set up for minidumps in case it happens in the future.

[BTGBullseye]

Sounds like you may have had a corrupted file, and when it loaded into memory it caused a leak... It's been known to happen. Glad to hear it's fixed with a reinstall.