Vista Install BSOD nvstor.sys

In BIOS, take any overclock off you had before you reformatted and tried to reinstall the OS. Then, specifically, use one DIMM of RAM in slot one only to load the OS. An more importantly, In BIOS, set your RAM voltage to specifications, for PC6400 use 2.0-2.1v.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/137539

and I also noticed when I installed XP it only recognized the HDD has 130GB instead of 250GB. I thought that was odd but I continued any way. I just inserted the Vista CD to bring up the command prompt and I am formatting the C: drive, which reads 131,000 MB. There is only one partition on the disk, C:

Hi all,

I realise that this post is probably quite old by now, but I recently purchased components to built myself a new PC and started getting a BSOD, telling me that nvstor64.sys was the culprit. I spent days looking for a solution and never found one, so I wanted to share this with other people.

Components used:
Mobo: ASUS Striker Extreme
RAM: OCZ DDR2-PC6400 Reaper (800mhz, CAS4)
CPU: Intel Q6600
GFX: Gigabyte Nvidia 8800GT OC
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB SATAII
DVD: Lite-on DVD/RW
Case: Antec 900

When I came to building the machine, everything went according to plan, until I installed Vista Ultimate 64bit with SP1. At first all seemed to be ok, I installed the OS with no issues, installed my gfx card, then realised I'd not installed my mobo drivers. So, I went to the ASUS site and downloaded and installed all the latest nVidia 680i chipset drivers.

Then I went to install COD4 and I get a BSOD with nvstor.sys as the culprit. Given that I'd just installed the gfx card, I assumed that this was the fault, and did some googleing. After some time looking, it seemed people had had similar issues, but with no concrete solution.

To cut a long strory short, several days passed with much hair pulling and avid internet searching for an answer. I tried installing Vista 32bit and even reverted to Win XP in the event this might be an OS compatability issue.

Eventually, I realised that nvstor.sys (and nvstor64.sys on 64bit O/S) is the driver for the nVidia motherboard chipset, which supports the SATA controller. This is where the issue lay. Whenever I updated the chipset drivers (either manually, or via windows update) I'd end up with a BSOD and nvstor.sys at the culprit. I've now installed Vista 64bit and my machine is running flawlessly. All I have to do is make sure I never update my nVidia SATA drivers.

This experience has been a nightmare, and I'm furious with ASUS for releasing drivers which can cause BSODs as soon as the HDDs are in heavy use (whilst installing, removing drivers etc.). Apparently, this is a known issue that many people with the Striker Extreme/Striker II Extreme and Striker Formula motherboards have been having. I'm simply stunned by the lack of support from ASUS and that no one seems to have provided a solution.

The big issue I found was that if the chipset driver was updated, there seemed to be no way of uninstalling it, without a BSOD presenting itself.

I still don't know whether a driver exists which will allow me to update my motherboard chipset drivers without causing BSOD. If anyone knows otherwise, please let me know!

I hope that this helps anyone who is having the same problem!!

/chuck

I've installed the latest drivers for my 780i... but I didn't get them from E-VGA, I nabbed them from nVidia's site. Never had an issue... unless this is specific to the 680i chipset...

To be honest mate, it must be nvidia, I had the ASUS board with the 790i nvidia chipset and it kept radomly freezing, so the PC shop replaced the MOBO to an MSI P7N2 motherboard, 790i north bridge chip, 570i south bridge chip. It ran awesome for 2 weeks, then vista carried out an update, and tried to update the nvidia drivers. It showed in the log as failed, didnt think nothing of it, tried to start up this morning and got the BSOD stating nvstor.sys as the problem.

Cant boot from safe mode, last known successful boot mode or anything. Cant find any decent solution. Feel really angry and have heard vista and nvidia are both denying it is there fault. Well I am sitting here with a beautifully spec'd PC that doesnt work because of one of these two and am really angry.

I am not an expert and think the only solution I have is to re-format the hard drive, but how do you do that if nothing will boot? Very desperate and upset at the moment, hoping some tech guru is going to come along and save the day for me

But the next GPUs, MOBOs that I buy will not have one nvidia item on it that is for sure.

Hi,

you can always just use the DVD-ROM for windows and have it fdisk/reformat the drive, or go to www.bootdisk.com and download an old bootdisk (floppy) and fdisk it the old way. The PC is fine, it's just the OS thats hosed.

I've tried to reinstall countless times, but no go. Windows 7 Beta installs fine though <sighs>.

I'm going to try reinstalling vista again soon, with some drivers I found online. Sadly in my situation I have Vista Ultimate SP1 in-box, it won't install at ALL. I'm going to try what I picked up here. Check out the posts made by "Fernando 1", he made the driver packs I'm going to try and offers some interesting info on the problem in general.

http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/1- [...] c&&start=0

One thing, once you get it working, NEVER EVER EVER let windows update install new SATA drivers! Always do selective updates.

Hope that helps.

-TJC

Hey, maybe it is an MS issue, but it doesnt conflict with other manufacturers? So who bows to who, in my view nvidia should change to conform with the norm. i.e. MS. Instead all nvidias customers suffer.

Anyway getting back to the issue. I can boot from the vista install CD but it only ends in a BSOD and nvstor.sys issue. It does not ever give me an option to fdisk/re-format the drive.

So how do I achieve this?

I am thinking I might just buy a new HD, is that teh quickest/easiest option?

Similar problem here with the Asus P5N32-E SLI Plus another lower specced relation to the Striker.

Thought it was something to do with SATA but have also found that I have to disconnect my SATA Blu Ray drive before re-installing Vista Home Premium x64. I guess that means the drivers shipped with Vista are also jaffered or is it the mobo/Asus?

Once the latest Nvidia Nforce drivers are installed no problem can just connect up until today when I flashed my Bios to 1201. Back to 1104 and ok again.

Hmm tempted to upgrade anyway but looking like a move away from Asus again. Had many issues with the old A7A266!

The answer isn't boycotting Nvidia stuff either. So there is an issue with the sata driver from MS...simply don't download that from Windows update. Simple solution to this problem. Ever since I started ignoring that particular update, I haven't had the issue come back.

Please don't jump on the "don't buy this, don't buy that" bandwagon for something as simple to fix as this. Discover or listen to alternate solutions and run with them.

Sure it was a simple fix. Like you, I had my system down, though apparently not as long as you. As soon as I saw the error, I knew what it had to do with, but with a little research, I discovered what was the likely cause...the update from MS. From that point on I ignored that update after I rebuilt my PC. It has been running great ever since. That has been approx 3 weeks now. Rebuilding them sucks after awhile...I typically rebuild mine quarterly.

OK, lets throw another wrench in the works. You say your motherboard has the nvidia chipset...guess what? Nvidia sold the use of that chip to your motherboard manufacturer. Why not blame the MB manufacturer? Maybe they have something on their board that conflicts with the nvidia chipset. Tell you what, lets blame the other chip manufacturers or perhaps even those that make the transisters or capacitors. How about the BIOS manufacturer? How many hands do you think is in the pot for just your motherboard? Think about that. Conflicts happen. Look for a resolution and go with it if it works for you. Again, blaming one manufacturer isn't the solution.

Just because you didn't get a quick fix right then and there doesn't mean one isn't being worked on. Whoever you spoke to may not know what the geeks in the back room are working on. Give them a break. It isn't like Nvidia, ATI, MSI, ASUS, etc can have one of every possible piece of hardware to test their individual component with. They have to make their piece of the puzzle and hope it fits properly with everyone else's. If it doesn't, then they have to work on that piece to determine the cause.

When dealing with components ON the motherboard, go to the MB site for drivers. If you have an individual component, get drivers from that components website. Everything else can be handled by MS unless issues come up. Check for updated drivers quarterly and update them on occasion. Sometimes updated drivers can help you avoid some problems in the future.....and they could, on rare occasions, cause problems. Kinda have to play it by ear.

Never had a problem with Automatic updates and my 780i motherboard. Of course, I only use nVidia's drivers and never the ones from MS Update. Driver updates are almost always considered non-critical and don't usually download through Windows Update unless you tell them to...

Is this the problem if it occurs intermittantly? I have had the blue screen with the NVstor.sys as the problem. However, my computer will sometimes boot fine and after a while get this screen. Sometimes it will just turn black and nothing wakes the system up so I can see a screen (after several hours). SOmetimes my computer will not even boot, nothing. SOmetimes it will load to the MSI screen and not go any further.

My screen where it shows my drives and gives me a chance to enter setup, will usually say, "Warning, system overclocked failed, system default reset", when it does boot this far. Though I have never overclocked the board.

Sometiems after a good load up, right when I hit windows and start moving the mouse around my screen will go black. Sounds like everything is working.

If the unit is not booting at all and nothing is heard, if I,turn off power, remove the graphics card and try to boot, I will hear the system give me a series of beeps, indicating its getting power and knows the card is missing. Yet, with the video card in, it wont do anything, no beeps, nothing. This is where my computer is stuck now. The system has worked fine for a couple of years and has been doing this for the last 2 weeks, sometimes working, sometimes leading to above.

So, any ideas, if it is the drivers as talked about here, a bad motherboard or a bad graphics card.

MSI K8n motherboard
AMD dual core processor
8800 gts video card.
vista 32 bit loaded
4gb ram, 2 2gb chips
power supply was adequate (made sure when I built the rig), forgot wattage (650w?) forgot brand
3 harddrives or different sizes hooked up to SATA

Thanks,
Stevil

xxnideoo...The original post is from June 2008, more than a year ago. OP is no longer active on this Forum. You posted directly to OP. See the date next to your name. See the date next to the thread starters name? Read the date on the thread before posting direcly to someone who posted a year and a half ago.