John McGaw wrote:
On 9/4/2020 1:35 PM, Arlen Holder wrote:
What PC hardware diagnostic stress-testing freeware can you recommend?

o I have a random hardware related BSOD whose cause is unknown to me
https://i.postimg.cc/9Q4m7tfM/bsod01.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/DyNFnJcK/bsod02.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/XYnhMnR0/bsod10.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/T2mHpyG6/bsod13.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/5t6s1ypD/bsod15.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/T1X0r9GX/bsod16.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/8khtTqBk/bsod18.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/LsjxVzL2/bsod19.jpg

It could be the motherboard, a daughter card, the HDD mechanics, etc.

I first ran the Windows memory diagnostic freeware to no avail:
https://i.postimg.cc/d3xZzxrd/bsod24.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/VvmczfBP/bsod25.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/kMc0xdvD/bsod26.jpg

As per the kind suggestions of "n/a" and others, I ran memtest86 freeware
on that old BIOS desktop in an attempt to identify its hardware faults:
https://alt.comp.os.windows-10.narkive.com/oL7PTNKu/windows-10-bsod-indicates-a-hardware-problem-but-what-hardware-is-the-problem#post17


The old BIOS desktop booted a 32GB Memtest86 USB stick to ran overnight,
finding no errors on 16GB RAM (I stopped it after 5 hours & 6
iterations):
https://i.postimg.cc/KY1Yk4WP/memtest02.jpg

If it's not the RAM, it's something else hardware related (the HDD has
been
re-imaged multiple times in its entirety and all extraneous boards and
peripherals have been disconnected).

What other hardware diagnostic stress-testing freeware can you further
recommend?


Why settle on a hardware problem without proof? In my experience a bad
driver or glitched OS is equally likely if not more so. Try booting from
a Linux CD/DVD/STICK and run it for at least a few days and see what
happens.


You can run Prime95 from Linux. That's my favorite.

Normally you'd do that to avoid corrupting the
registry on an (unstable) Windows install. You should
not run Windows or do Windowsy things, until
"proving it's a computer" first.

The Linux ones are static. Which is what you want.
Nice and portable.

https://www.mersenne.org/download/

Make sure your CPU cooler works first, before
running that. Or, the power will go off on overheat
(THERMTRIP).

Paul