Hello everyone! I have a problem with a recently purchased laptop. I am a bit between a rock and a hard place, because I will move abroad for studies at the end of the month, and I need a fully functional computer while overseas.
The laptop specs are:
Acer Aspire E5-572G-5577
Intel Core i5-4210M 2.6 GHz (up to 3.2 GHz with Turbo Boost)
NVIDIA GeForce 840M 2 GB VRAM
8 GB DDR3 memory
1 TB Western Digital HDD 5400 RPM ( I know..but I was on a tight budget)
I installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on it. When doing a routine scan of the event logs, I noticed the following error:
Log Name: System
Event ID: 18
Source: WHEA-Logger
User: LOCAL SERVICE
OpCode: Info
A fatal hardware error has occurred.
Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor ID: 0
I freaked out, seeing hardware errors in my new system. So I started reading up about this type of error, but I couldn't find a definite answer or fix. The people having this error experienced freezes and BSODs, while all I had was an event log. I started monitoring the event logs, and I noticed the error occurs only at startup, but not on every startup. Yesterday I had the first crash. The laptop froze at the Windows welcome screen. After I reset it, I had the dreadful message that the system recovered from a bugcheck. Of course, the damned error was also present in the logs.
Here is the bugcheck info from the logs:
And the output from Who Crashed analysis:
Perhaps more can be learned from using WinDbg on the dump file, but I am not knowledgeable enough about doing it at this time.
So, clearly it is a more serious problem than just a harmless event log event. For reference, I have a total of 20 errors of that type in the last 7 days. Even if it doesn't occur on every startup, it occurs frequently enough.
Here is what I've done to try and isolate the issue:
Regarding a potential heating issue, I monitor it with more than one program. I use Core Temp, HWMonitor, Speccy, and SpeedFan. The highest temperature I noticed in Windows was 60C, and in BIOS 67C, during the Memtest test (I read that it's normal for the temperature to be higher in BIOS, because the program is just infinite looping and utilizing 100% of the CPU). I'm not overclocking or anything (even disabled Turbo Boost to see if it helps with the error - it didn't). The laptop sits on the desk, I also tried propping it with books to elevate the fan areas, but it didn't seem to make a difference). During idle time, the temperature is under 50C. I will buy a cooling pad, because I also intend to play games on it, but I can't say there are any heating issues with the system at the moment. I also don't know what cooling pad would be best for a 30$ budget.
Some additional notes regarding the above. This is my first laptop. I am only used with desktops, and heat has never been an issue with my computers ( used custom fans in addition to the stock cooling). After using the laptop for the first time, I noticed the place where I keep my hands got warm, and I started to check the temperatures in real time. When I saw spikes to 50+, I was like "my laptop is overheating!!!!". I spoke with some friends, and they laughed at me for overreacting over normal temperatures for a laptop. On my gaming system, the highest temperature I ever noticed was 56C under intensive gaming sessions, so this was the temperature peak I was comparing the laptop with. I read some more about Intel CPUs afterwards, and found out they are running at higher temperatures than the AMD I am used to. And the max temperature for my particular CPU model is 100C, so I am well within limits.
As for drivers, I installed the latest applicable drivers from http
/www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/drivers They say they only support Windows 8, but the drivers work fine with Windows 7 too. Even after installing all drivers, in Device Manager, I am missing the USB controller driver. Windows was unable to install it, and I haven't found which driver it is yet. The only thing I can think of, on the Acer drivers page, there are 2 types of touchpad drivers, but none of them found a suitable device, so I couldn't install any of them. But I don't know if that's related. However, there is an issue with my USB devices, I don't have the Safely Remove Hardware icon. So I still have to fix this.
I am attacking output from Speccy for more detailed hardware information. I can also provide information from other similar programs, like CPU-Z, or any other that might be useful. Just didn't want to make this post even more gigantic with information that might not be necessary.
CPU
RAM
Motherboard
I have the latest BIOS, but I don't have access to BIOS readings, there is only some basic information, security and boot options. On my desktops, I have tons of options in the BIOS. I couldn't find a way to enter a more advanced version.
I can't easily RMA it without being sure that it is indeed a fault with the hardware. I bought it on a special deal, and this product is no longer available in the retailer's stock. I also thought about servicing it, but there is only one local service for Acer products available, and I heard some horror stories about it. Just online reading and my experience with computers weren't enough for me to solve this or understand it, so I thought I should ask for help here.
Thanks in advance and sorry if this post was too big, I wanted to include as much relevant information as possible.
EDIT: I replaced the ugly XML with normal text.
The laptop specs are:
Acer Aspire E5-572G-5577
Intel Core i5-4210M 2.6 GHz (up to 3.2 GHz with Turbo Boost)
NVIDIA GeForce 840M 2 GB VRAM
8 GB DDR3 memory
1 TB Western Digital HDD 5400 RPM ( I know..but I was on a tight budget)
I installed Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit on it. When doing a routine scan of the event logs, I noticed the following error:
Log Name: System
Event ID: 18
Source: WHEA-Logger
User: LOCAL SERVICE
OpCode: Info
A fatal hardware error has occurred.
Reported by component: Processor Core
Error Source: Machine Check Exception
Error Type: Cache Hierarchy Error
Processor ID: 0
I freaked out, seeing hardware errors in my new system. So I started reading up about this type of error, but I couldn't find a definite answer or fix. The people having this error experienced freezes and BSODs, while all I had was an event log. I started monitoring the event logs, and I noticed the error occurs only at startup, but not on every startup. Yesterday I had the first crash. The laptop froze at the Windows welcome screen. After I reset it, I had the dreadful message that the system recovered from a bugcheck. Of course, the damned error was also present in the logs.
Here is the bugcheck info from the logs:
And the output from Who Crashed analysis:
Perhaps more can be learned from using WinDbg on the dump file, but I am not knowledgeable enough about doing it at this time.
So, clearly it is a more serious problem than just a harmless event log event. For reference, I have a total of 20 errors of that type in the last 7 days. Even if it doesn't occur on every startup, it occurs frequently enough.
Here is what I've done to try and isolate the issue:
Memtest 86+, 8 passes, no errors
Windows Memory Diagnostics, no errors
HDD scan, no errors
Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool, all tests passed
sfc /scannow found nothing
Full system scan with Kaspersky Antivirus 2015 (maybe not relevant, but included it nonetheless)
Regarding a potential heating issue, I monitor it with more than one program. I use Core Temp, HWMonitor, Speccy, and SpeedFan. The highest temperature I noticed in Windows was 60C, and in BIOS 67C, during the Memtest test (I read that it's normal for the temperature to be higher in BIOS, because the program is just infinite looping and utilizing 100% of the CPU). I'm not overclocking or anything (even disabled Turbo Boost to see if it helps with the error - it didn't). The laptop sits on the desk, I also tried propping it with books to elevate the fan areas, but it didn't seem to make a difference). During idle time, the temperature is under 50C. I will buy a cooling pad, because I also intend to play games on it, but I can't say there are any heating issues with the system at the moment. I also don't know what cooling pad would be best for a 30$ budget.
Some additional notes regarding the above. This is my first laptop. I am only used with desktops, and heat has never been an issue with my computers ( used custom fans in addition to the stock cooling). After using the laptop for the first time, I noticed the place where I keep my hands got warm, and I started to check the temperatures in real time. When I saw spikes to 50+, I was like "my laptop is overheating!!!!". I spoke with some friends, and they laughed at me for overreacting over normal temperatures for a laptop. On my gaming system, the highest temperature I ever noticed was 56C under intensive gaming sessions, so this was the temperature peak I was comparing the laptop with. I read some more about Intel CPUs afterwards, and found out they are running at higher temperatures than the AMD I am used to. And the max temperature for my particular CPU model is 100C, so I am well within limits.
As for drivers, I installed the latest applicable drivers from http
/www.acer.co.uk/ac/en/GB/content/drivers They say they only support Windows 8, but the drivers work fine with Windows 7 too. Even after installing all drivers, in Device Manager, I am missing the USB controller driver. Windows was unable to install it, and I haven't found which driver it is yet. The only thing I can think of, on the Acer drivers page, there are 2 types of touchpad drivers, but none of them found a suitable device, so I couldn't install any of them. But I don't know if that's related. However, there is an issue with my USB devices, I don't have the Safely Remove Hardware icon. So I still have to fix this.I am attacking output from Speccy for more detailed hardware information. I can also provide information from other similar programs, like CPU-Z, or any other that might be useful. Just didn't want to make this post even more gigantic with information that might not be necessary.
CPU
RAM
Motherboard
I have the latest BIOS, but I don't have access to BIOS readings, there is only some basic information, security and boot options. On my desktops, I have tons of options in the BIOS. I couldn't find a way to enter a more advanced version.
I can't easily RMA it without being sure that it is indeed a fault with the hardware. I bought it on a special deal, and this product is no longer available in the retailer's stock. I also thought about servicing it, but there is only one local service for Acer products available, and I heard some horror stories about it. Just online reading and my experience with computers weren't enough for me to solve this or understand it, so I thought I should ask for help here.
Thanks in advance and sorry if this post was too big, I wanted to include as much relevant information as possible.
EDIT: I replaced the ugly XML with normal text.
/i.imgur.com/voPu4d4.png
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