Windows 7 BSOD when unplugging USB device

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Hi,

My first post. I apologize if this is not the right place.

I just discovered (by accident) that on one USB port when I unplug a device, the computer crashes to a BSOD.

Could it be a hardware problem? Driver problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I sort of resolved the problem by moving my mouse/keyboard receiver into that port since I never remove it. But it makes me nervous to have this problem.

Thanks very much.

Michael

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? says:

hi michael1950,

what usb device is causing the crash? just one, or any? guessing hardware either the device(s) or the port. you can reset your usb’s in device manager if it turn out to be a software problem…

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That is likely to be software IMO, probably the software for the device you unplugged.

cheers, Paul

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Michael, do you use the ‘Eject Hardware’ app which should be in your system tray / notification area?

If not, do—you may be removing the device before Windows has finished writing to it, or maybe communicating with it. Eject Hardware finishes such activity so you can do a safe clean removal.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

1 user thanked author for this post.

Zaphyrus

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I highly advice to use this method to see if this works, also have you tried other USBS?  Michael

Just someone who don't want Windows to mess with its computer.

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Hi Michael,

Is your computer a desktop or a laptop? Is the USB port which is causing issues a USB2 port or a USB3 port? USB3 ports have what looks like a rectangular blue piece of plastic inside the port, whereas USB2 ports have a similar looking white or black piece of plastic inside the ports.

You can also use Nirsoft’s Blue Screen View utility to help to determine what caused the BSOD. Here is the page for the utility:

https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

The download links for the utility are at the bottom of the page. There are two ZIP versions of Blue Screen View. One ZIP is for 32-bit Windows and the other ZIP is for 64-bit Windows. If you aren’t sure whether you are running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, download the version of Blue Screen View which has full install/uninstall support.

Blue Screen View examines the dump files which Windows creates whenever a BSOD occurs. The dump files usually point to the driver which caused the BSOD. Blue Screen View also allows you to save what it found, so that you can post the saved text file here. Then we can tell you what driver is causing the issue and what might be done to resolve this issue.

Best regards,

–GTP

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Michael1950 wrote:

Hi, My first post. I apologize if this is not the right place. I just discovered (by accident) that on one USB port when I unplug a device, the computer crashes to a BSOD. Could it be a hardware problem? Driver problem? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I sort of resolved the problem by moving my mouse/keyboard receiver into that port since I never remove it. But it makes me nervous to have this problem. Thanks very much. Michael

Any device or just one? I have had such from a static discharge (from myself :0 ) when removing a thumb drive. Try touching a ground point.

Just because you don't know where you are going doesn't mean any road will get you there.

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Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I thought I had checked email notify option but I had not.

I’ve been around computers since MS-DOS, so I know a little bit about computers. Probably enough to get me into trouble.

Any device will cause the crash. And only on that port on the laptop. It’s a Dell Inspiron N7010 15:.

I always use eject device. Even when I have not written to the device.

Laptop only has USB 2.0. I will try the Blue Screen View. I’m a little worried that repeated crashing will damage the OS and cause other problems.

Thanks again,

Michael

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Well. To further refine the “any device” … does this also happen with power-only USB devices? As in those that don’t transfer any data at all and don’t even register to the operating system? (USB-powered fans and the like, USB-charged flashlights, …)

If it does, it’s clearly the port that’s broken. If other ports on the same controller are fine, I’d expect to find physical damage somewhere in the electrical parts of that port.

Mind you, it’s possible to have such damage on the data lines too, but that’s not as easy to categorize.

This might well not be worth repairing with a new spare part if out of warranty (don’t know offhand how old a Dell N7010 is). Possibly with a second-hand part from a similar model, if it’s on a separate board.

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Hi,

I downloaded Blue Screen View. What a wealth of information. Too bad I don’t know what it means.

I have not yet figured out how to attach a file to a post.

If the bottom window of Blue Screen View is needed I can re-post the output.

Thanks for the great tip on the program Michael

Edit: HTML removal – Please use the ‘Text’ tab in the post entry box when you copy/paste

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? says:

this is a general guide to the usb problem which covers hardware\software angles:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/dead-usb-port-heres-how-to-diagnose-and-fix-it/

maybe it will help you determine the cause(s)…

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You can copy the text in BlueScreenView. Did it report Stop 0x0000000A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL?

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Hi,
The chart I sent in HTLML was rejected so here it is again in text. Not very readable.
Yes, it is a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error.
Michael

032119-35630-01.dmp 3/21/2019 6:03:14 PM IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL 0x0000000a 0000000000000000 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 fffff8000345fb63 ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 NT Kernel & System Microsoft® Windows® Operating System Microsoft Corporation 6.1.7601.24388 (win7sp1_ldr_escrow.190311-1905) x64 ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 C:\Windows\Minidump\032119-35630-01.dmp 4 15 7601 279,368 3/21/2019 6:04:36 PM
032119-34694-01.dmp 3/21/2019 6:00:44 PM IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL 0x0000000a 0000000000000000 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 fffff80003445b63 ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 NT Kernel & System Microsoft® Windows® Operating System Microsoft Corporation 6.1.7601.24388 (win7sp1_ldr_escrow.190311-1905) x64 ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 C:\Windows\Minidump\032119-34694-01.dmp 4 15 7601 279,312 3/21/2019 6:02:01 PM
032119-35739-01.dmp 3/21/2019 5:59:04 PM IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL 0x0000000a 0000000000000000 0000000000000002 0000000000000000 fffff80003492b63 ntoskrnl.exe ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 NT Kernel & System Microsoft® Windows® Operating System Microsoft Corporation 6.1.7601.24388 (win7sp1_ldr_escrow.190311-1905) x64 ntoskrnl.exe+93ba0 C:\Windows\Minidump\032119-35739-01.dmp 4 15 7601 279,424 3/21/2019 6:00:40 PM

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Hi Michael1950,

The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL thing is almost always related to a driver or possibly a hardware issue. The Blue Screen View output usually tells you the name of the driver which caused the blue screen. Here is an example output from Nirsoft’s web site:

Above, Nirsoft’s example shows that the offending driver is tcpip.sys and that the specific error is DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Similarly, Blue Screen View usually highlights the possible drivers which caused the blue screen. For example:

In the above example, Nirsoft is showing that either hal.dll or tcpip.sys caused the blue screen in ntoskrnl.exe. A list of the red highlighted file names would be helpful.

In your Blue Screen View outputs, what are you seeing highlighted in light red? Also, is the error reported as being which of the following?

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

or

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

As others have suggested, the issue may be that the particular USB port itself is either damaged or that its contacts are worn out.

EDIT: I am not sure if I found the correct laptop model on Dell’s web site, yet it appears that the N7010 series use the same USB drivers for all USB ports. If this is true, then this makes me even more strongly suspect that the particular USB2 port on your laptop has issues.

Best regards,

–GTP

 

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