aswrvrt.sys problem - essexboy to the rescue (please!)

[werdsmyth]

So...an update.

I tried a few restarts this morning and constantly came to the same issue. Windows would take an age to load but I did at least get to a desktop. Then within about 5 min the whole thing froze again and I had to do a hard restart.

During one of those restarts the system tried to do a chkdsk on my z: drive (a backup drive...nothing to do with the Windows system). The check failed. So I unplugged this drive. And now I'm typing this reply to you using the sick computer, which appears to be not (as) sick anymore.

Could it have been the z: drive causing the problems all along? The freezing after 30min in Windows beforehand and then getting stuck at aswrvrt.sys in Safe boot?

I'm the first to admit I don't have a detailed knowledge of computer systems...but I know enough to feel that this seems like too much of a coincidence for it to be the root of all the problems.

[essexboy]

Yes I have come across several where a second hard drive was messing with the entire boot sequence

I should have thought of that earlier

How is the main drive functioning ?

[werdsmyth]

Currently it's okay.

I've uninstalled Avast completely and also used Shellview to turn off anything that isn't a Microsoft program. Doing another Spyware scan, just in case. Any other suggestions??

[werdsmyth]

P.S. I can't get Windows Defender to work. Not sure if that's related.

When I run I get a message saying it's turned off. But when I click to turn it back on I just get the blue circle but nothing actually happens. Defender is still off.

[werdsmyth]

Might have found a potential reason for the problems. Not quite sure how I could test it but it makes sense in my head.

After saying my z: drive had no impact on the rest of the computer, I realised that Spybot does actually run from that drive. And I have Spybot running background checks all the time to prevent spy/malware.

So, if the drive is faulty then possibly when Spybot was running a system check in the background, using files/processes from the z: drive, these were failing and then bringing the whole system to a halt.

With that in mind, I'm going to plug the z: drive back in...completely uninstall Spybot...then reinstall it so it runs off the c: drive.

[essexboy]

Windows defender has been replaced by MSES and is only spyware and basic anti virus protection

It is always best to run any security programme from the main windows drive 

[werdsmyth]

So is there a way I can delete Windows Defender? It's not something in my uninstall list, so not a simply one-click way to do it.

As for the rest, today I've removed and re-installed Spybot (on the c: drive)...removed and re-installed Avast...and completely formatted my z: drive so it's now empty.

System ran for about 2hrs with no problems...until...another Windows freeze/spinning blue circle/no choice but to hard reset.

So quite literally back to square 1. I just bought a new backup drive, so for now I'll operate without a z: drive till the new one turns up...and hope the problem doesn't come back.

[essexboy]

Does sound like a problem with the other drive

Unfortunately there is no way to uninstall defender on windows 7, it just sits there

[werdsmyth]

So I've removed the z: drive and still Windows is freezing after about 30min.

It doesn't do it in safe mode, so I can only assume there's a software conflict somewhere. Done malware, spyware and virus scans...all come up negative.

So unless you have any other ideas I'm just going to cut my losses and do a format/reinstall and hope that fixes the problem.

[essexboy]

There is an option if you do not wish to reinstall and that would be  a clean boot

This will enable you to check for driver conflicts, however, as it is happening after a period it may be a heating problem

Download Speedfan and install it.  Once it's installed, run the program and post here the information it shows.  The information I want you to post is the stuff that is circled in the example picture I have attached.
If you are running on a vista machine, please go to where you installed the program and run the program as administrator.
 

(this is a screenshot from a vista machine)

[werdsmyth]

Ahhh...Speedfan...a good friend of mine. And his buddy CoreTemp.

I thought it could be a heating thing right at the beginning...so took the case off, cleaned all the dust inside and checked all the fans. Everything was running smoothly.

Have attached the screengrab anyway...I have 4 fans running smoothly and nothing seems to be getting too hot. Also, I've run the system now for at least 12hrs without a single problem in Safe mode, so I doubt it's hardware (with the z: drive removed just in case).

As for driver conflicts, Device Manager says there are no problems but I'm going to reinstall display drivers just in case (did get one alert come up that there was a missing file...could be a false positive but better to be on the safe side).

[essexboy]

Yep no problems there at all

As I say we can try to track it down but it may take a while to isolate the bad boy

[werdsmyth]

I've had a look through the processes and services and can't see anything obviously strange.

So yeah...could spend hours turning each one on and off to find the culprit. But I'm inclined to just do a format/reinstall...then spend the hours installing the programs again!

(P.S. just crashed again...so now I'm in Safe mode with networking).

[essexboy]

Funnily enough I had to do a re-image yesterday when testing a new tool, it crashed the system and wrecked the registry

Do you have a drive image you could use ?

[werdsmyth]

I can create a drive image whilst in Safe mode, right?

Then stick it on my other backup drive (the one that I didn't unplug) and image the c: drive from there...I think.