7 Brand new computers all intermittently blue screening, I'm at a loss here.

This JUST IN!

After 8 days of no issues at all, the blue screens have returned.

I'm going to schedule a daily reboot of every workstation to see if that helps, if it doesn't then it looks like I'm reformatting all the systems and re-doing the job
 
If they all now have matched sets of memory, I hate to say it, but I suspect there is some other (probably motherboard) issue from a bad run.

I can't count the number of Windows 7/8.1 to 10 in-place upgrades I did without a hitch, and so far none of my in-place Win10 to 11 upgrades has given any issues, either.

This kind of misbehavior is rare, and uncharacteristic, period. And a grand PITA to even attempt to diagnose. You have my sincerest sympathy.
 
Yeah, might be time to call in the big dogs. Might see if you can lean on Dell and Microsoft to figure exactly what the BSODs mean. Could be one little driver or other software they're running that might be making them puke.
 
The only problem I have now is the client wanted me to have all of the computers on hand for install ... so I ordered them a long time ago with one year of Prosupport because usually you find out if there is going to be a hardware failure in the first year right? RIGHT?

The install kept getting delayed and delayed install for various reasons, some due to my availability, and some due to his availability with tax season, and he was going to have his office remodeled.

So 4 of the computer are already out of Warranty ... LOL

2 of them are still in warranty because they were ordered several months later...

So ... a bad batch of computers that were ordered MONTHS apart?

I'm going to pray that daily reboots doesn't necessarily "fix" the issue, but may cover it up well enough that it becomes irrelevant. If it doesn't cover it up well enough then I'll grab two of the most used systems and give them a fresh reload and re-do the install and go from there.

If they are still blue screening after that then I'm F'd.

$25k job, and I'll have to eat 6 computers and install new ones I guess.
 
thecomputerguy said:
The only problem I have now is the client wanted me to have all of the computers on hand for install ... so I ordered them a long time ago with one year of Prosupport because usually you find out if there is going to be a hardware failure in the first year right? RIGHT?

The install kept getting delayed and delayed install for various reasons, some due to my availability, and some due to his availability with tax season, and he was going to have his office remodeled.

So 4 of the computer are already out of Warranty ... LOL

2 of them are still in warranty because they were ordered several months later...

So ... a bad batch of computers that were ordered MONTHS apart?

I'm going to pray that daily reboots doesn't necessarily "fix" the issue, but may cover it up well enough that it becomes irrelevant. If it doesn't cover it up well enough then I'll grab two of the most used systems and give them a fresh reload and re-do the install and go from there.

If they are still blue screening after that then I'm F'd.

$25k job, and I'll have to eat 6 computers and install new ones I guess.
Click to expand...
Ok then you have to look at what is in common with the machines. Software, network, or power. A common program like the. AV might be the problem. You may have a grounding fault in the network or the power outlets. UPS units on everything with network filters.
 
Let me be the contrarian who no longer thinks it's a hardware problem.

I'm reluctant to mention this as you seem to be having such a lovely honeymoon with Syncro, but it does seem that (historically at least) the Syncro agent doesn't always play nicely with older device drivers. See, for example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/msp/comments/paoot9

It looks consistent with the reported faults, and it's easy to test.
 
Last edited:
thecomputerguy said:
I'm going to go ahead and try removing Dell support assist as well per:

www.dell.com

BSOD Reference_by_pointer since the beginning | DELL Technologies

Hello, I have a new Dell Inspiron P106F PC that I bought a few weeks ago. I switched it to Windows 11 (offered by Windows Update right away) immediately when I got it. I notice recurrent BSODs a...
www.dell.com www.dell.com
Click to expand...

Well ... I removed support assistant on one of the computers and it immediately went offline and didn't come back online. Maybe I'm on to something with this.
 
Computer Bloke said:
Let me be the contrarian who no longer thinks it's a hardware problem.

I'm reluctant to mention this as you seem to be having such a lovely honeymoon with Syncro, but it does seem that (historically at least) Syncro doesn't always play nicely with older device drivers. See, for example:

https://www.reddit.com/r/msp/comments/paoot9

It looks consistent with the reported faults, and it's easy to test.
Click to expand...
Makes sense as no RMM is going to have as much wide circulation as other software and they do have to get at the core of the system. This is crashing the kernel. That as ring 0 core as it gets.
 
Here's the update ... I attempted to uninstall Dell Support Assist and the workstation froze up. I asked the client to report back to me in the morning since I couldn't log back in and send me a picture of what was on his screen so I can see where it locked up ... sure enough ...

1675357146116.png



I had him reboot and he is back to working normally.

Then I logged into a different station and attempted the same uninstall of Dell Support Assist. Sure enough ... same thing, computer is now frozen.

Checked with the client and ... by gollee ... BLUE SCREEN.

Dell support assist is killing the computers!
 
thecomputerguy said:
Dell support assist is killing the computers!
Click to expand...

Let me preface what follows with I am not saying that this assertion is incorrect.

Presuming it's correct, you still need to figure out why (or, Dell does). Dell Support Assistant should run flawlessly on their hardware, and does run flawlessly on the vast majority of their hardware. The fact that you have 7 machines of the same configuration where it does not means that the problem, ultimately, lies with Dell.

Having a manufacturer's own "service station" software kill the computer is, to put it mildly, unacceptable. And it should be just as unacceptable to Dell, if this can be directly traced to Dell Support Assistant, as it is to you.

I hope they've been looped in. If not, I would.
 
thecomputerguy said:
Here's the update ... I attempted to uninstall Dell Support Assist and the workstation froze up. I asked the client to report back to me in the morning since I couldn't log back in and send me a picture of what was on his screen so I can see where it locked up ... sure enough ...

View attachment 14229



I had him reboot and he is back to working normally.

Then I logged into a different station and attempted the same uninstall of Dell Support Assist. Sure enough ... same thing, computer is now frozen.

Checked with the client and ... by gollee ... BLUE SCREEN.

Dell support assist is killing the computers!
Click to expand...
Have you been able to successfully uninstall this? Or did it BSOD before it completed?
 
nlinecomputers said:
Have you been able to successfully uninstall this? Or did it BSOD before it completed?
Click to expand...

Still haven't been able to successfully uninstall this piece of software. Haven't put a lot of time into it though. Hard to do when I need someone onsite for when it blue screens.
 
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