Driver or hardware fault causing BSODs

[TGaj]

For a couple of years I've been getting Blue Screens in my desktop, I've reset the computer many times thinking it was a driver fault, but the errors only stop for about a week before they start happening again. I'm not sure if a driver update or hardware is causing these errors. The early symptoms of this problem include constant freezes and when I check the event log it shows mostly the event id 129 iaStorA or event id 153 disk(which would spam the log). Sometimes the computer would restart when I get blue screens, but if it is really bad the computer would get stuck in a loop at the starting screen. Last time the computer got stuck in the starting screen I turned it off, removed the case and reseated the sata cables. When I turned the computer on after that there were no errors for about a month, this made me think that it was maybe a faulty sata cable, but I want to be sure if it is. I've replaced the hard drive and the ram before so I don't think that is the problem.

[idata]

Hello Thinu_

Thank you for joining the community. Could you provide us with the System Reports for Intel® Rapid Storage Technology?https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006351/technologies.html https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006351/technologies.htmlPlease attach report to the thread Regards, Leonardo C.

[TGaj]

I don't have Intel Rapid Storage Technology, I posted this in the general discussion thread so I don't know why it got moved here.

[AlHill]

Completely uninstall and remove your antivirus product and use a different one (as a test).

Doc

[TGaj]

I used to have anti virus but I uninstalled it a while ago

[n_scott_pearson]

Thinu,

iaStorA.sys is a part of the Intel Rapid Storage (RST) package, so you definitely *do* have it installed (either the full package or just the drivers). People sometimes install this driver thinking that it will provide better performance than the Microsoft SATA driver. Others install it blindly because it was in the list of drivers provided by their board/system manufacturer. Regardless, you can uninstall the package if it is appearing in the list of packages displayed by the Programs & Features applet. If it is not appearing in this list, however, you can attempt to rip out the driver manually (presuming you have the knowledge to do so), but you may end up having to reinstall Windows to be completely rid of it.

Now, whether the driver has been reporting real hardware issues or not is an unknown. The fact that you are seeing BSODs tells me that there is something wrong in the software. You will really only know once you have removed the Intel RST package (or reinstalled your OS) and run it for a while.

Hope this helps,

...S

[TGaj]

That makes a lot of sense, when I enabled driver verifier last week iaStorA.sys was in the list of drivers drivers. What confuses me is the fact that I've completely reinstalled windows before and the problem arises after a while. Is it possible for Windows to automatically install these drivers?

[n_scott_pearson]

Yes, this could occur if RAID is enabled in the BIOS.

...S

[TGaj]

I was able to remove the drivers, they are no longer showing up in the list of drivers. So far I haven't had any problems, but I'll keep the thread updated

[n_scott_pearson]

Let us know...

[TGaj]

Hey, sorry for the late reply. The computer worked perfectly since I removed the driver. But just yesterday the same symptoms started to arise. I'm not sure why because the iastora driver is not in the list of active drivers. I'm starting to get frequent hangs with the same errors in the event log.

[idata]

Hello Thinu_,

Thank you for your response,I understand that the unit is still giving you problems even after the solutions suggested previously. Up to this point what I could recommend you to do is to try (if possible) to do a re-installation of the operating system to completely eliminate any trace of the driver that was possibly giving you the problem. If the problem persists after the re-installation then it would be pointing more to a hardware problem which in this case it would be recommended to contact HP for diagnostics on the hardware as I can see the system is manufactured by HP.Regards,David V

[TGaj]

I reinstalled windows one last time, and the problems persist. It seems that it is most likely a hardware issue, so I will probably have to replace my computer.