Bug Check 0x124: WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR – How to Troubleshoot

An article by Shyam Sasindran, MVP    2 Comments

Stop code 0x124 WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR  mostly refers to Hardware related failure very rarely we get false positives. But I would say around 90% of the time it’s Hardware. WHEA means Windows Hardware Error Architecture. Since it’s Hardware related it’s difficult to troubleshoot, to know which hardware is failing. There are number of ways we could find out but like I said it’s a little hard and it’s time consuming process. So in this article we’ll discuss how to approach Stop code 0x124

Even though the proper way to troubleshoot BSOD is to use the Windows Debugger. The debugger will give you a bug check parameters which will give you further information on the WHEA error record generated and with the help of the MCi_Status register contents and with the help of processor manuals from Intel & AMD which is way to complicated to interpret. Some of it might make sense but still very difficult and need a lot of experience with different scenarios to understand most of the terms.

Before we start a little background information there are two types of Hardware failures correctable & uncorrected. Correctable errors mean it can be corrected with proper firmware update or proper driver or even tweak the drivers to get it going. Then uncorrectable means fatal errors which mostly cannot be corrected by firmware or drivers, mostly it might be a Hardware failure , unknown error code or undetermined error code or even a bug in the hardware. There are non-fatal ones are when which operating system can be recovered by either working with other operating system components etc.

Examples for hardware error sources are:

• Processor machine check exception
• Chipset error message signals
• I/O bus error reporting
• I/O device errors

Here is an image of how Windows Hardware error handling works:

Well I’m not going into too technical aspect of this problem. There are lot of resources & books that talks about how to handle such errors like Microsoft or other device driver developers do. But as an average users we have to go through the traditional hit & miss approach which of course is time consuming. So lets get to it.

First off we have to rule out one of a major culprits of 0x124 – Overclocking. I have seen lot of cases where Overclocking processor, Optimizing the voltage of RAM in BIOS or using other third party utilities which makes the system unstable and ended up crashing sometime it’s a reboot sometime it’s a BSOD with 0x124. So if you are overclocking then revert to default settings. The best way to revert back to the normal setting is to simply reset the BIOS to factory defaults, then refer the RAM manual to know the voltage and timings and configure it accordingly. But be careful with those settings because incorrect values can even damage it. You can always seek help from forums.

Next thing in my list is to update all the Hardware drivers like Chipset, On-board graphics, External GPU cards, Network anything and everything including your BIOS. There are couple of things you need to remember when you update the driver. I have mentioned some in my article on How to Update drivers on Windows 7 you can use this guide as a reference. When updating BIOS you should be very careful, because if something goes wrong it can brick your motherboard. So make sure you download the correct firmware when to update the rest of the driver just refer to the guide I linked before.

Then next thing in my list is to check the temperature of your CPU’s or your Laptops. Computer hardware works on voltages so overheat lowers the electrical resistance of objects, therefore increasing the current which will ultimately damage your hardware. Computers will give you warning about overheat situations one of them is BSOD. The common reasons are inadequate ventilation or excessive dust particles covering the ventilation which will block the air supply and end up overheating the hardware components.

I would recommend to remove all components like RAM, Processor etc. clean the dust especially from DIMM slots and the fans then reconnect it. (If your system is under warranty please take it to them instead of doing it by yourself since it may void the warranty.) The other reason is improper function of fans like most computers have two fans, one fan that cools the power supply, and one that cools the processor. If a fan starts to make unusual whirring, clicking, clunking, or a musical sound or beep, the fan might be failing. If the fan is the problem, always replace, never repair. Under normal working conditions, if all fans are functioning and a CPU still overheats, replace the thermal interface material (TIM) between the heatsink and processor. The TIM eventually hardens on most systems. So get help from a IT technician if you know then purchase professional grade TIM and replace it yourself. Check this Intel’s guide for more information.

The next one is in my list is Hardware problems. There are things you can try is to narrow down which hardware component is causing the system to crashing. Mostly we have to do a complete Hardware diagnostic i.e we have to run a stress test on RAM, the best software to use is MemTest86+ bootable and make sure you run at least 7 to 8 passes. Then you need to stress the GPU, for that there are couple of software but I found FunMark more effective. Then you can run Prime95 test. Then run chkdsk for Hard drive and there are couple of other tool available from specific manufacture like Seagate, Maxtor etc. use those tool to check the integrity of the Hard drive. You can find some of these test information in my Hardware Diagnostic guide.

If nothing worked try to do a complete clean install for the operating system and download fresh drivers and install them. Make sure you then apply all the Windows critical updates. Try to avoid any driver updates from Windows update and then check the stability. When you are troubleshooting 0x124 make sure you disconnect all the external devices like gaming controller, USB device etc. and test it. I hope you find this information helpful. I would like to thank JCGriff, Usasma, Ken, H2SO4 and all the other BSOD analyst who helped me gather these information