Hi Richard,

Thank you for your interest and for your reply.

I created a Data Collector Set as suggested. In addition to information on this from Microsoft, information can also be found at:
_

http://sourcedaddy.com/windows-7/creating-data-collector-set.html
http://sourcedaddy.com/windows-7/configuring-data-collector-set.html and elsewhere.

This does give interesting and useful information, but the output is in the form of logs, textual reports, and and complicated graphs.
It appears to be more of a Performance Monitoring Tool than a Reliability Monitor. For instance, there is no reliability index calculated, which is the focus of Reliability Monitor.

If YOUR RACTask is functioning, and you would be so generous, I wonder if you would click on the Actions tab in the center pane for RACTask and tell me what it says there ?

For example, under Bluetooth, the Action tab says:

Action Details
—————————————————–
Start a Program BthUdTask.exe $(Arg0

Other Tasks just say “Custom Handler” which is not very useful.

I suspect this will be the information given for RACTask, but it might be worth a look.

I am grateful for you interest and help. Thanks again.

Hi Bob,

This looks like a scheduling method from within the Reliability Monitor itself. If this doesn’t help. let me know and I’ll dig further,

Direct from Microsoft:
—
To schedule the Start condition for a Data Collector Set

In Windows Reliability and Performance Monitor, expand Data Collector Sets and click User Defined.

In the console pane, right-click the name of the Data Collector Set that you want to schedule and click Properties.

Click the Schedule tab.

Click Add to create a start date, time, or day for data collection. When configuring a new data collector set, ensure that this date is after the current date and time.

If you do not want to collect new data after a certain date, select Expiration date and choose a date from the calendar.
noteNote
Selecting an expiration date will not stop data collection in progress on that date. It will prevent new instances of data collection from starting after the expiration date. You must use the Stop Condition tab to configure how data collection is stopped.

When finished, click OK.
—
Here’s the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc722312%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

Hope this helps,
Richard

Hi Bob,

I am currently swamped with requests but I will not forget your question. I hope to have an answer for you within the next day or two.

Thanks for your patience,
Richard

For me, the problem is Task Scheduler.
My TaskScheduler only works for 3 or 4 weeks after I do a Reinstall , then the Windows Default Tasks start breaking (giving only the cryptic error message: “The selected task {0} no longer exists. Reading Data Failed.”

One of the tasks that always stops working is RacTask; and when RacTask stops working the Reliability Monitor stops working.

I’ve been trying for more than a year, unsuccessfully, to solve the problem with Windows Default Tasks breaking. Hours and hours …

I found a way around this problem for the Defrag and System Restore Tasks (i.e. to perform these actions on a schedule), by installing a third party Defrag program and a third party VBScript-to-create-a-system-restore-point and then using these to create my own tasks — which have never broken — and run these 2 tasks on a schedule.

1. Do you know how I can start (and run on a schedule) Reliability Monitor without having to use Task Scheduler ?

or, alternatively,

2. Do you know what windows executable(s), commands, …, or whatever I can use in the Action Pane of Task Scheduler so that I can create my own task to run Reliability Monitor ? (i.e. So I won’t have to rely on RacTask)

Thank you for any suggestions you might have on this.

Hello Bob C!

“0x0000009f (0×0000000000000003, 0xfffffa8004251440, 0xfffff80004441518, 0xfffffa800672e010)”

In Windows parlance these are called Stop Codes. Everything in the parentheses are addresses in hexadecimal format. The first part, in your case it’s “0x0000009f”, is the actual Stop Code. All you really need to remember is the “9f” part.

This link will take you to a pretty good list of Windows 7 Stop Codes: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/tp/stop_error_list.htm

The descriptions can be a little cryptic but with some perseverance I’m sure you’ll find your answers.

Incidentally, here’s what is listed for your BSOD error:

STOP Error 0x0000009F: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
STOP error 0x9F means that the driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state. STOP code 0x0000009F may also display “DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE” on the same STOP message.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Jason!
You’re right- it can all get a little bit geeky sometimes.

Hello Annette!

This goes out to Bob C as well.

I must agree with you that the solutions provided are usually not too helpful. Many times there is no good solution available at all!
I usually have much better luck with a good search engine when trying to find the solutions to specific problems.

Where this utility shines, however, is that it will give you a heads-up on where some problems may exist. You might not even be aware of them before running the Reliability Monitor.

And thanks to Jim for the helpful tips, too.

I hope this helps.

Hey Bob – Hope Richard (or your good self) don’t mind me jumping in here.

There are a couple of very good freeware tools available which help with analyzing minidump files after a crash – we published an advisory relating to this very topic back in November last year: http://www.davescomputertips.com/2011/11/troubleshoot-the-dreaded-bsod/

Perhaps that may be of some assistance.

Cheers mate… Jim

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000009f (0x0000000000000003, 0xfffffa8004251440, 0xfffff80004441518, 0xfffffa800672e010). A dump was saved in: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP. Report Id: 080712-18002-01

All well and good, but HUH????? First, I could not find the MEMORY.DMP (nor .dmp) and the search of “C:” came up empty. I assume (maybe wrongly) that Windows sent this file back to MS and then erased it. Another possibility is CCLEAN may have erased it. Regardless, if it was just a HEX dump without any meaningful comments, it would not be useful to the average person – maybe a google search might pop up some useful information. Also found some applications failed and the message was “Check for a solution” – upon checking, received messages that when a solution is found, check the action center (or just check the action center (solution found???). BTW, a check of the Action Center had the message “No issues have been detected by the Action Center”. So I experienced the same problems you encountered.

I could see where this tool could really be useful if the information didn’t disappear or was supplemented with explanations (or a pointer to a web site that could explain). Otherwise, it generally would only be useful to a Microsoft developer (works at Microsoft and knows the internals of the code – or has access to those who do).

Maybe you could do a follow-up on this as for some of us, this could help explain the BSOD on Windows 7 (both “black” and “blue” – I’ve had both).
Thanks for your efforts.