My troubleshooting led to discovering a Windows 8.1 bug!

Upon analyzing a crash as usual, I came upon an 8.1 case in which the user was experiencing USBXHCI.SYS crashes. I took a quick look at the modules list and determined that the driver emusba10.sys (E-MU USB-Audio 1.0 driver) was the probable cause as it was dated from 2010 and was all I had to go on in terms of USB related devices and or software on this system.

Sure enough, a Microsoft engineer posted and eventually investigated the issue and determined:

Based on my investigation, this appears to be a bug in emusba10.sys driver from Creative Labs . This driver is sending a malformed URB. Windows 8 validated the URB before processing. This validation was removed in Windows 8.1 as part of some optimization. Until we come up with resolution for this, please don't plug this device to USB 3.0 port / blue port. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

With this said, if any BSOD analysts come across an 8.1 (or 8) based system with USBXHCI.SYS crashes, check the modules list for emusba10.sys and let them know it's a known bug.

Thread itself - BSOD with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in USBXHCI.SYS when watching - Microsoft Community

I am not sure if I am being overzealous, but it feels pretty cool being part of the reason a bug was discovered!

[SOLVED] KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED / SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION / MEMORY_MANAGEMENT / DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL / SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M

Link to solved thread -  BSOD On My New Desktop Pc

What the issue was - GPU and RAM needed to be replaced.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL / DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE / DRIVER_PAGE_FAULT_IN_FREED_SPECIAL_POOL /

Link to solved thread - BSOD ntoskrnl |Device Manager doesn't respond

What the issue was - Corruption to due constant video driver uninstalls and reinstalls.

[SOLVED] KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR

Link to solved thread - Blue Screen Error KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR Windows 7

What the issue was - Hard drive needed to be replaced. OP wasn't experienced enough so took it to a shop.

[SOLVED] SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M

Link to solved thread - Windows 7 BSOD SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

What the issue was - avast! and Daemon Tools needed to be removed.

[SOLVED] VIDEO_TDR_ERROR

Link to solved thread - BSOD BugCheckCode 278 - on third video card

What the issue was - Video driver issue, drivers needed to be downgraded.

[SOLVED] KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED / DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION

Link to solved thread - Windows 7 BSOD Errors

What the issue was - kdcom.dll was corrupt and needed to be repaired with SFC.

[SOLVED] CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION

Link to solved thread - Critical Structure Corruption BSOD when installing Linux VM

What the issue was - BitLocker's full-drive encryption was causing issues + false positives with SFC. Drive needed to be decyrpted entirely.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - Driver Power State Failure - Windows 8.1

What the issue was - MotionJoy needed to be removed.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL / DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - Windows 7: Bluescreen upon wakeup

What the issue was - Wireless drivers needed to be updated.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Link to solved thread - Getting multiple BSoD since upgrading to Win 8.1

What the issue was - FortiClient needed to be removed.

200 answers on MS Answers

I hit 200 answers on MS Answers yesterday! Glad I have provided answers to so many people. It feels wonderful to be part of a great community. I hit 100 on August 26th.

[SOLVED] SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M

Link to solved thread - Win7 blue screen error 0x0000007e (c0000005 .... )

What the issue was - Hotspot Shield needed to be removed.

[SOLVED] MULTIPLE_IRP_COMPLETE_REQUESTS / CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION / KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

Link to solved thread - ntoskrnl.exe BSOD Windows 7

What the issue was - SSD firmware needed to be updated.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - Windows 8 Blue Screen - DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE caused by ntoskrnl.exe

What the issue was - Bluetooth drivers needed to be updated.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - BSOD - ntkrpamp.exe DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

What the issue was - Wireless drivers needed to be reinstalled.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Link to solved thread - Bsod problem

What the issue was - Daemon Tools needed to be removed.

[SOLVED] VIDEO_TDR_ERROR

Link to solved thread - [BSOD] Another victim...

What the issue was - GPU fan failed, so it was replaced.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - Bsod every shutdows / sleep / hibernate

What the issue was - Realtek PCI/PCIe Adapter(s) disabled via Device Manager until 8.1 driver is  developed.

[SOLVED] VIDEO_TDR_TIMEOUT_DETECTED / SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M / DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread -  BSOD - DRIVER POWER STATE FAILURE (ACPI.sys)

What the issue was - nVidia drivers updated to version 314.07, and Intel Graphics drivers updated to latest.

[SOLVED] POOL_CORRUPTION_IN_FILE_AREA / IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Link to solved thread - Windows 7 repeated BSOD's

What the issue was - New RAM needed to be run on the D.O.C.P profile supported by the board at the rated timings and speed.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Link to solved thread - BSOD while gaming

What the issue was - Latest Realtek network drivers needed to be installed.

[SOLVED] IRQL_GT_ZERO_AT_SYSTEM_SERVICE

Link to solved thread - Acer Aspire 5750 - problem event name: BlueScreen

What the issue was - Unknown, but user reported solved.

[SOLVED] IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL / KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED / DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Link to solved thread - BSOD Help

What the issue was - Hard Drive died, needed to be replaced.

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - driver power state failure Blue screen

What the issue was -

Atheros drivers needed to be updated

avast! needed to be removed

[SOLVED] DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - BSOD and error message after shut-on.

What the issue was - USB drivers needed to be updated and AVG needed to be removed.

[SOLVED] WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR

Link to solved thread - Win7x64 HP Pavilion dv6 Blue Screen

What the issue was - Unknown, but marked solved.

[SOLVED] DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION / DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Link to solved thread - DPC Watchdog Violation

What the issue was - nVidia drivers needed to be updated.