Blue screen of death

Mogwai

Have recently built a new pc it is awfully unstable, like unwrkable now....I have mem tested from dos with no probs so now I am figuring some hardware failure,its really driving me nuts...but looking at other posts I am now thinking perhaps it is psu related...any advice would be greatly appreciated.

system...
mobo............ Abit AN7 Guru nForce2 Ultra 400fsb 8xAGP DDR400
cpu................ AMD Athalon XP3000+ 400Mhz FSB 512 L2 Cache BArton
ram............... 2x Crucial CT6464z40b 512Mb DDR 400Mhz PC3200
hdd......... ......Seagate ST380013AS 80GB SATA Barracuda
gpu................PNY Verto GeForce 6 6600GT AGP8x 128MB GDDR3
cd/dvd-rw......Benq DW1620 16x Dvd R/RW Dual Layer Int IDE OEM
psu.................QTec 450 watt

profdlp

What's the message on the BSOD?

primesuspect

It's probably the PSU

leishi85

i thought prime was going to suggest memtest.

Mogwai

ok thanks for the replies...have run memtest from dos for a short run ie 1.5 hrs no problems there...... error codes read as follows from yesterdays crashs

error16.28hrsn11/3/05
BCCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : BF83BDCD BCP3 : EE7A3BBC
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 256_1


error1800hrs11/3/05
BCCode : 4e BCP1 : 0000008F BCP2 : 00011814 BCP3 : 00016D8C
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 256_1
following files included C:\DOCUME~1\TIMSTO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER55f5.dir00\Mini031105-05.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\TIMSTO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER55f5.dir00\sysdata.xml

same files includd in second crash report but they are mem dump files are they not?

hope it makes more sense to you than it does to me.....

gibbonsl

also make sure you are running the latest drivers for everything

what are you doing prior to the BSD's happing

Mogwai

gibbonsl wrote:

also make sure you are running the latest drivers for everything

yes have all the latest drivers installed..I am pretty sure

Shorty

Run Windows udpates and/or install service pack 2. I am assuming this is XP, if not and it's Windows 2000, install SP4 and rollup to the latest security patches.

Then reinstall Direct X9c and reinstall your video driver. A google search points to video driver with OS conflict

oh and while you are at it ... boot into safe mode and delete this folder:

C:\DOCUME~1\TIMSTO~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WER55f5.dir00

Mogwai

Thanks shorty.... I have installed directx 9.0c and then reinstalled the drivers for the pgu however the message given was that I have newer versions allready installed than available on the install disc provided with the gpu
Should I go ahead and reinstall the older versions.....
Oh yes I do run (lol) on XP pro sp2

Medlock

Mogwai wrote:

Thanks shorty.... I have installed directx 9.0c and then reinstalled the drivers for the pgu however the message given was that I have newer versions allready installed than available on the install disc provided with the gpu
Should I go ahead and reinstall the older versions.....
Oh yes I do run (lol) on XP pro sp2

Get the latest drivers here. The ones on the install disc are always outdated by the time the user gets it. Grabbing the latest drivers helps performance, compatibility, and the stability of your graphics card.

profdlp

Sorry I didn't get back here sooner. It looks like you've been getting some excellent advice. I found the same info that Shorty mentioned.

Do what the others suggested. The only thing I'd add is that if you still have the problem you might try a slightly older video driver than the latest release. Sometimes a particular version of a driver just plain doesn't get along with a specific system. Make sure you use the nVidia driver cleaner tool to wipe out all traces of the old driver before you install the new one.

If all that fails, try a different video card. Even if it's a crappy old card unsuitable for gaming, it will help you isolate the problem.

Good Luck!

Mogwai

well thanks for all the time folks.....
still falling over though and I ran a long memtest and got back error readings however it also had its troubling unexpected interupt message too so I dont know wether it fell over as a result of errors in ram or another issue.
I should mention that when I have run memtest previously in order to track down the issue it returned the same unexpected interupt which I am guessing is crash related not ram related and then ran fine for 2+ hrs with no error reports.
Also on a gpu note it has run 3d intensive games stably for hours, like10+ several times before so could it be caused in fact by voltage fluctuatons on the main rail?
I am in fact going to buy a new psu tomorrow that I know is stable having read nothing but crappy reviews about my current one
Its the seemingly random crashing that puzzles me....
Thanks again

Donut

Have you got another psu to try out?
Flaky rails make troubleshooting difficult.

Mogwai

trying a new psu today in fact...the search continues ever onwards....gah!

Mogwai

Ok so I replaced the psu with a TAGEN TG480-U01 yesterday morning and
Not a single crash..... have run games ,folding at home burnt dvd's everything I could think of all at once and not a single problem
Memtest86 ran for 9+ hrs overnight...no errors
So everyhting is ok..thanks for all the help

Moral..... NEVER EVER buy a cheap PSU esp from QTec... they truly suck

profdlp

It's nice to get a problem whipped, huh?

bigdave315

lately i've been getting a blue screen which says:

kernel_stage_inpage_error

then at the bottom says "beginning to dumb physical memory"

basically my pc run great no issues, but i noticed basically anytime I leave my PC idle for more than 20 minutes it crashes. Any ideas what it could be? I can't seem to find literature on that error message anywhere.

gibbonsl

power setting maybe

trying to go to standbuy but can't

bigdave315

i have stand by turned off, but it does seem to be a power saving issue.

primesuspect

primesuspect wrote:

It's probably the PSU

w00t!

bigdave315

bigdave315 wrote:

lately i've been getting a blue screen which says:

kernel_stage_inpage_error

then at the bottom says "beginning to dumb physical memory"

basically my pc run great no issues, but i noticed basically anytime I leave my PC idle for more than 20 minutes it crashes. Any ideas what it could be? I can't seem to find literature on that error message anywhere.

i'm continuing to have the issue, someone please help.

bigdave315

after 1 crash i tried to reboot. and the fans and leds cut on for like 1 second, then cut back off, almost as if it wasnt getting enough power. im gonna put in a 480 watt PS today. I currently have a 350, i run a ati 9800 pro,1 optic drive, 1 HD, but thier is a front fan on my case which runs off the mobo. thinking may not have enough power. hopefully that will solve my crashing problem as well.

also whenever i try to defrag i get a BSOD as well. Says a crucial system file was terminated or not found.