Toshiba laptops - Update causes BSOD (KB920685,KB920872,KB890830..

I have had repeated trouble with updates causing BSOD's on different Toshiba
laptops. I had to System Restore in order to remove the updates, but I wasn't
able to narrow down which update was causing the problem (it would take too
long).

I normally keep all my machines well up to date, so it must be one of the
following updates causing the problem, and not just on one particular
machine.
So just in case someone else gets BSOD's or random crashes, I'll post the
possibly offending numbers here:

critical:

KB920685
KB920872
KB890830
KB922582
KB919007

non-critical:
KB894542
KB921580

My System is a Dell D800 WinXP-Pro (SP2) w/ZA, AntiVir, SpyBot1.4 Ad-Aware
and SpywareBlaster,
that had been operating fine with no problems.

10PM last night the 'shield' said it had UPDATES and after a while, asked
to reboot, clicked "Ok". Big Blue Screen Of Death, no load of Windows, file
missing. I am 'on the road' without an XP disc...

Used GoBack to recover and turned Auto Update off, Looked at a lot of NGB
Recovery files and it looked like this "Audio Update" KB920872.
Others were Malicious Software Removal Tool: KB890830,
Security Updates for Windows XP: KB920685, KB919007
and Update for Windows XP: KB922582.

Went to MS Update and ran the Manual Update and all five loaded and this one
kept showing up again and again (it was "installed successfully" four times).

I went through all the steps on the MS KB on the subject
but it was This solution posted on the MS Forum <a
href="http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?cat=en_US_2231886c-4c59-45b0-92e0-8881ddf5f40b&lang=en&cr=US&guid=&sloc=en-us&dg=microsoft.public.windowsupdate&tid=7408a77f-b348-4e21-a09f-b3e0cfbf48df&mid=3b9d5629-e5d5-4252-9b5f-444c0e0bf4e7&rmid=3b9d5629-e5d5-4252-9b5f-444c0e0bf4e7&helpful=1&p=1&stgxml=http%3a%2f%2fwww .microsoft.com%2fcommunities%2fnewsgroups%2fen-us%2fsettings.xml">{here}</a>
by Eric [MSFT] that finally solved that problem, turned Auto
Update back on now and everything seems fine now.

"Peter Marcotte" wrote:

> I have had repeated trouble with updates causing BSOD's on different Toshiba
> laptops. I had to System Restore in order to remove the updates, but I wasn't
> able to narrow down which update was causing the problem (it would take too
> long).
>
> I normally keep all my machines well up to date, so it must be one of the
> following updates causing the problem, and not just on one particular
> machine.
> So just in case someone else gets BSOD's or random crashes, I'll post the
> possibly offending numbers here:
>
> critical:
>
> KB920685
> KB920872
> KB890830
> KB922582
> KB919007
>
> non-critical:
> KB894542
> KB921580
>

I have a Dell Inspiron 9400, purchased in June 2006. I randomly get the BSOD
after installing KB920872 (the audio driver update). The only consistent
thing is that is always happens after I install KB920872, and goes away after
I rollback with system restore. The BSOD tells me I have an incompatible
driver and to go update my drivers, except it was Microsoft's update that
causes the problems.

Otherwise, I have no problems with audio, so I will just disable that update
permanently (and probably suffer after SP3).


"Peter Marcotte" wrote:

> I have had repeated trouble with updates causing BSOD's on different Toshiba
> laptops. I had to System Restore in order to remove the updates, but I wasn't
> able to narrow down which update was causing the problem (it would take too
> long).
>
> I normally keep all my machines well up to date, so it must be one of the
> following updates causing the problem, and not just on one particular
> machine.
> So just in case someone else gets BSOD's or random crashes, I'll post the
> possibly offending numbers here:
>
> critical:
>
> KB920685
> KB920872
> KB890830
> KB922582
> KB919007
>
> non-critical:
> KB894542
> KB921580
>

Ten days later it BSOD and failed to load windows again, Since I now had my
WinXP disc, I noted the message on failed boot: "missing or corrupt <windows
root> System32\hal.dll" but WinXP & SP2 discs were of no use (their 'hal's
were too old) and was forced to again GoBack to start Windows.

A look at this kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

Had the following at the bottom of the page:
The one existing in my System32 was a month older and 70% of the size of the
version in my C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386, copy/paste/reboot ended in a
reinstall of every single hardware driver.

System runs faster with less than half the average load on the CPU now and
time will tell if this had been the true cause of the crash.

It runs better because APM is gone now (no StandBy etc.) and I have this
TSBAMP.TXT in my C:\i386 Folder now:
"The software for the Toshiba Power Management System on this computer is
not compatible with this version of Microsoft Windows and will be disabled
during the upgrade. Most of these same power management features will be
provided directly by Windows XP. It is recommended that you uninstall this
software before continuing with the upgrade." (another text in the same i386)
APMERROR.TXT
"The currently installed driver for power management is not compatible with
this version of Microsoft Windows and must be uninstalled before Windows XP
Setup can continue. ..."

So that must be why my System32 did not have the latest HAL.DLL installed
and more searching found that a Recovery Repair of Boot.ini would have been
the better route.

But since my first "Phoenix Power Management" I have always thought that
"Power Management" was more troublesome than it was worth, Standby was never
used if I wanted best stability on next use anyway.

Search your Dell Inspiron 9400 for HAL and you may also see that the
hall.dll in System32 is older than the one in ServicePackFiles\i386, but if
you want your "Advanced Power Management", don't change it.

(Look at; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACPI to see that Toshiba is one of
the developers of APM)

Top of that same 'Kellys Corner' has the BOOT.INI fix advice:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

I'm not sure if this is relevant in my case. I've never had missing HAL,
corrupt windows or any other problems booting my laptop, even after the
BSOD's. Anyways, I always use 'hibernate' to shutdown my laptop, so I
wouldn't want to lose my APM features.

I've never had a problem since removing the KB920872 update.



"pilotart" wrote:

>
> Ten days later it BSOD and failed to load windows again, Since I now had my
> WinXP disc, I noted the message on failed boot: "missing or corrupt <windows
> root> System32\hal.dll" but WinXP & SP2 discs were of no use (their 'hal's
> were too old) and was forced to again GoBack to start Windows.
>
> A look at this kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_haldll_missing.htm

BSOD cause can be tricky to trace, first five months of this Dell D800 had a
random BSOD about every week for the first five months. MS Support usually
blamed unspecified "Driver" MS RAM check showed no problem.

Turned out that it was just one Crucial RAM Module and after replacing that
with one from Dell, had not seen a single BSOD for nineteen months until
these last two just happened.

BTW I do have all the latest Dell Utilities, Drivers and BIOS Upgrades
installed (think Power Management 'Driver' is in BIOS).

The fix found on the two page wide URL on my first post did get the KB920872
installed for me.

Hibernate (I never use it) is the One 'APM' that I still have, but if you DO
SEE a note on fail to load about HAL, try the BOOT.INI fix recommended by
KellysKorner.

My copy/paste 'fix' was pure luck for me, since I am likely one of the few
users who values Performance and Stability way above Battery life.

"Andrew Allen" wrote:

> I'm not sure if this is relevant in my case. I've never had missing HAL,
> corrupt windows or any other problems booting my laptop, even after the
> BSOD's. Anyways, I always use 'hibernate' to shutdown my laptop, so I
> wouldn't want to lose my APM features.
>
> I've never had a problem since removing the KB920872 update.
>