Weird cascade of service failures in Windows 7 (new Core i7 setup)

Hardware and technical stuff
1

When using my system, occasionally I’ll see a screen flash followed by an error that “superfetch has stopped working”. Additionally, all networks are offline.

I looked through the event viewer and found a bunch of events that all happened in the same second:


The Windows Audio Endpoint Builder service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Offline Files service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Human Interface Device Access service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The HomeGroup Listener service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Network Connections service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 100 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Program Compatibility Assistant Service service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Superfetch service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 60000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Distributed Link Tracking Client service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Desktop Window Manager Session Manager service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Diagnostic System Host service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).

The WLAN AutoConfig service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Portable Device Enumerator Service service terminated unexpectedly.  It has done this 1 time(s).  The following corrective action will be taken in 120000 milliseconds: Restart the service.

The Service Control Manager tried to take a corrective action (Restart the service) after the unexpected termination of the Network Connections service, but this action failed with the following error: 
An instance of the service is already running.

(this is followed by most of the services restarting normally a minute later).

Core i7
Asus x58 motherboard
Microsoft S7 sidewinder keyboard
Logitech G9 Laser mouse
Logitech QuickCam Ultra Vision
ATI 4870 1GB

Everything is using the default drivers Windows 7 installed it with, unless updated versions came in an automatic (not optional) update. I just installed Windows 7 fresh last night from scratch (the upgrade-from-vista version was behaving a bit oddly a week or so after installation as well, so I wanted to give it a fresh start).

I’m suspicious of:

  • Adobe Air (using with Tweetdeck)
  • Skype 4 (I’m using the recommended-by-windows-7 beta)
  • Chrome (even though I’m running the --in-process-plugins switch)
2

What wireless hardware are you using?

3

Oh, sorry – it’s a PCI-based card from Linksys: WMP300N. I’m using Microsoft’s default generic “Broadcom” drivers because Logitech’s own version can’t connect to modern 802.11n routers.

4

Superfetch is a service that puts programs you use a lot, but that aren’t currently running, in memory. So when you do run them they start faster. The last event, where it says it’s trying to restart Network Connections but can’t because it’s already running, makes me suspicious that the wireless card could be the problem. Is there any way for you to use a wired connection for a while to see? Just make sure to disable the WMP300N.

5

Also, did you use ReadyBoost on a USB Stick recently?

6

I didn’t use ReadyBoost, but I did have a backup drive connected via USB (it’s a 300GB laptop drive in a Rosewill USB case). My speakers are also USB (Bose).

I’ll keep everything unessential unplugged and see if it recurs; if it does then I’ll drop down to wired network (I’ll have to connect a currently-inactive wall port).

7

I think my Core i7 might be dying. I can’t run Prime95 for more than a few minutes now. BIOS defaults, latest version… bummer.

8

Have you just run memtest from a boot CD? That’s where I’d look first, considering the complexity of triple-channel memory.

9

Yeah, it was the RAM; ran fine for 2 months, then one stick died. I’ll be “limping” along with 4GB in 2-channel/1600 mode while RMA’ing it :)

It was Patriot’s 3-channel 6GB DDR3/1600 kit.