MSI laptop strange issue

[fallout2077]

Last night, following a restart of my MSI GT70 2PC Dominator, the laptop froze following the MSI loading screen (at the point when my Windows 10 Anniversary Update would load). I manually shut down via the power button and turned the laptop back on. At the same point that it was freezing, a blue error screen appeared. I restarted the laptop, and Windows Repair started. I tried the Startup Repair option, though to no avail. Eventually, I opened up the laptop, cleaned the dust and reapplied thermal paste and reseated the RAM. I reassembled the computer, turned it on, and the computer started up, albeit far more slowly than usual. I tried running some games, and they ran incredibly poorly.
I then reopened the case and made sure everything was seated correctly and checked the thermal paste... all okay. I turned the laptop on again, and the games ran even worse.
It should also be said that the fan runs at top speed within a couple minutes of signing in to Windows. Also, the thermal paste was a little dry (it was still gummy and it still spread out when the heatsink is pressed against the CPU or GPU). Also, before I opened the laptop up the first time, Windows still allowed me to boot into Safe Mode.
I am totally perplexed as to what the issue could be. I will reinstall Windows tonight and see if that helps. Any help would be appreciated, and thank you for your time!

EDIT: I have ran stress tests on the CPU and the GPU, and a health check of the hard drive, and results were good for all but the GPU; the GPU test would run a few frames and the computer locked up when running a 1920x1080 test using 4x MSAA at fullscreen (which are identical results that I see when running Fallout 4). So, unless somebody else can point me in a different direction, I am leaning toward a failing GPU.

 

[webworkings]

Have you checked the computer for any unwanted things? Malware, viruses, etc. I know it isn't the first thing most people think of, but if your computer is slowing down after no other changes, and if it isn't the hardware, that would be where I would start looking.

 

[fallout2077]

I took the laptop into the local computer shop for them to fix it. He reinstalled a fresh copy of Windows 8, and found (if I recall correctly) that Windows 10 was using Windows 8 display drivers, which is strange because I've been updating the Nvidia drivers with every new release. He theorized that perhaps the laptop wasn't optimized or such to use any drivers other than what is on MSI's website for the laptop. Anyway, it seemed to be working like new again for a couple hours, until the issue reared it's ugly head again, except now the issue arises rather unpredictably; sometimes it boots to a blank screen, other times it crashes with a blue screen when loading Windows (noting the file with a name like "nvlddkm"... I wasn't able to write down the exact name), or it will boot into Windows and be "fine" with the fan blowing constantly.

 

[webworkings]

Well if you just paid someone to fix it, and it isn't fixed. They need to resolve the problem as you paid them for, unless they didn't charge you.

That said, try this....

NOTE: None of the quotes shown here should be used when typing anything in to search, etc. Doing so will make things not work correctly.

1. Go into the NVIDIA folder (usually C:\NVIDIA) and look for the file named "nvlddmkm.sy_". You may also find doing a search for the file by name.

2. Copy over to the main C directory... making it "C:\nvlddmkm.sy_".

3. Next go to the system folder where the drivers should be (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\) and locate the "nvlddmkm.sys" file. Rename this file to "nvlddmkm.sys.old".
Go to the system folder where the drivers are stored :
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\
Once in this folder, locate the the and rename as it "nvlddmkm.sys.old"

4. Open Command Prompt (CMD). You can do this by pressing the Windows Key + the R key.

5. Type "cd" and hit "enter".

6. Next type "expand.exe nvlddmkm.sy_ nvlddmkm.sys" and hit "enter".

This should allow you to unzip the nvlddmkm.sys file - the one you copied to the C: main folder. This will now create a new version of the file.

7. Copy this file to C:\WindowsSystem\32drivers

8. Now restart the computer.


If this doesn't resolve the problem, then I would really do some system scanning for other issues.

 

[fallout2077]

Well if you just paid someone to fix it, and it isn't fixed. They need to resolve the problem as you paid them for, unless they didn't charge you.

That said, try this....

NOTE: None of the quotes shown here should be used when typing anything in to search, etc. Doing so will make things not work correctly.

1. Go into the NVIDIA folder (usually C:\NVIDIA) and look for the file named "nvlddmkm.sy_". You may also find doing a search for the file by name.

2. Copy over to the main C directory... making it "C:\nvlddmkm.sy_".

3. Next go to the system folder where the drivers should be (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\) and locate the "nvlddmkm.sys" file. Rename this file to "nvlddmkm.sys.old".
Go to the system folder where the drivers are stored :
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\
Once in this folder, locate the the and rename as it "nvlddmkm.sys.old"

4. Open Command Prompt (CMD). You can do this by pressing the Windows Key + the R key.

5. Type "cd" and hit "enter".

6. Next type "expand.exe nvlddmkm.sy_ nvlddmkm.sys" and hit "enter".

This should allow you to unzip the nvlddmkm.sys file - the one you copied to the C: main folder. This will now create a new version of the file.

7. Copy this file to C:\WindowsSystem\32drivers

8. Now restart the computer.


If this doesn't resolve the problem, then I would really do some system scanning for other issues.

Thanks for the advice... I'll give it a shot, granted that the laptop doesn't crash before I can complete it (I just got on it to transfer a file onto a thumb drive, and the darn thing crashed on me before I could grab it and copy it).

Just out of curiosity, will this possible fix work within safe mode?

 

[fallout2077]

Alright, I did what you said and restarted. Logged into Windows and the fan turned on within 30 seconds of signing in. I'll report back if (when) it crashes.

 

[fallout2077]

No crashes yet, but my Nvidia GPU has stopped working (Device Manager states that Windows has stopped it because it has reported problems).

 

[webworkings]

Perhaps the GPU is going. I was hoping that wasn't it.

 

[fallout2077]

Perhaps the GPU is going. I was hoping that wasn't it.

That was my top concern, as well... it's a huge pity, seeing as how a replacement GPU will set me back over 400 bucks.

 

[webworkings]

Ouch

 

[fallout2077]

I returned it to the computer shop today so they can look at it some more. I'm trying to be as optimistic as possible, but this is a pretty testing experience.

 

[fallout2077]

If I could add something that may be a contributing factor... for the past 6 to 8 months, by laptop wouldn't allow me to access my BIOS. Upon pressing Delete at the boot screen, a black screen would appear with a frozen white cursor (when I could still access my BIOS, this screen would appear for a couple seconds before finally loading up the BIOS screen). The tech at the local computer shop here suggested that this could be a possible reason for the problems that I'm seeing. What do you all think?

 

[webworkings]

Well, it could be a contributing factor, but so could a lot of things. There is the possibility that "Fast Startup" was enabled on the device, which would not allow access to the BIOS on startup.

 

[fallout2077]

Well, it could be a contributing factor, but so could a lot of things. There is the possibility that "Fast Startup" was enabled on the device, which would not allow access to the BIOS on startup.

Back when I had Linux as a dual boot option, I disabled fast startup, so unless an issue popped up between then and now, it should still be disabled.
The tech that I've been in contact said that removing the BIOS chip would require a special tool and some soldering, which makes me hope that this laptop possesses a CMOS battery that I could pop out and reinsert to simplify the process. Does anybody know if this particular model of laptop has a CMOS battery? Thank you all very much for the help thus far.

 

[1shado1]