Blue screen of death!

[Mr_Flibbles]

I am about to throw my computer out the window. About a month ago I downloaded and installed a Windows update, and the system became unstable soon after and gave me a blue screen of death on start up. I tried taking out EVERY SINGLE component in the system, and still the problem persisted. I wiped my C drive to no avail. I finally cleared the BIOS, and viola! the thing worked.

Until today, when I tried reinstalling Windows because a lot of features--like unzipping and unpacking files--had stopped working. The blue screen of death has returned. It flashes for a split second after the Windows XP splash screen, and all I've been able to see is "...memory dump...". Unfortunately, resetting the BIOS (by removing the battery) doesn't work this time.

I've posted this under the WinXP category because Windows seems to be the culprit, and because I've temporarily removed or replaced every component in the bloody machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated, because I'm about to gget rid of the whole thing because I can't seem to pinpoint the problem to any particular piece of hardware.

I built the system a little less than two years ago:

Asus A7V-266E mobo
Athlon Thunderbird 1ghz
3x256 PC-2100 DDR RAM
PNY GeForce3 (64MB)
Pine 5.1 Audio (PCI)
1 20GB 7200RPM HDD, 1 40GB 7200RPM HDD
8x4x32x Creative CDRW
16x DVD
Floppy
300w PS

I don't think the problem is lack of power because I tried taking all components out but 1 stick of RAM, the CPU, 1 HDD, and the GeForce3. The problem is also not overheating as the core stays at about 45c.

Thanks again for any assistance.

 

[Mortallus]

What error codes are you getting when it blue screens? That usually points you in the right direction. Is it the same error every time? Is it a different error every time?

 

[Mr_Flibbles]

The screen only flashes for about half a second and then reboots the system. The only words I've been able to see are something about a "memory dump".

 

[Mortallus]

Can you get into windows at all? Even in safe mode?

Are you reinstalling windows from scratch, or just installing over your old OS?

 

[Mr_Flibbles]

When I tried to fix the problems I was having in Windows (such as not being able to unpack files) I simply reinstalled Windows on top of my old installation. However, when this problem occurred previously (a few months ago), wiping the hard drive and starting over did NOT fix the problem.

 

[jiffy]

the error message on a blue screen may not be displayed long enough to record the error information. To gather important information about the STOP error message and to verify the cause:

1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
3. Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure, and then click OK. The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.

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When you feel that reality does not suit you, live a fantasy life.

 

[DaveP]

If a clean install of windows didn't fix the problem, I would have to say it's something else. Probably, hardware related. See if you can read the blue screen. Hit pause when it pops up.

My Daddy used to tell me:
<b>It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're stupid, then it is to open your mouth and prove it.</b>
I never was good at taking advice!

 

[Mr_Flibbles]

The problem is, I can't even get into Windows anymore.

 

[Mr_Flibbles]

The computer crashes immediately after displaying the error message, and pause doesn't stop it.

 

[jiffy]

You can try booting into save mode F8 while booting up, and try last known good configuration. If that doesn’t might try Enable VGA mode, if still doesn’t work you could try taking out all your PCI cards, if it still doesn’t boot you can do a repair. <A HREF="http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm" target="_new">How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install</A>

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When you feel that reality does not suit you, live a fantasy life.

 

[Mr_Flibbles]

I've tried booting in safe mode/last known good/etc... and nothing works. When this problem occurred a few months ago, I even wiped the hard drive and tried reinstalling Windows completely to no effect. As I said, I also tried removing every PCI card/RAM chip/IDE drive one by one to try and find the culprit, but was unable to pinpoint any piece of hardware.

 

[Mortallus]

Do you have another system you can test your parts in? I've had a faulty motherboard reproduce similar effects.

If you've got a blank HD already, I'd wipe it and give it a go on barebones. Vid card, 1 HD, 1 stick of memory, 1 CD drive and try a clean install.

 

[jiffy]

Don’t you have a cmos jumper on the mobo you can use, instead of taking out the battery, also is your mobo BIOS updated to the latest version? I read that mobo doesn’t allow you to disable the Raid in the BIOS, so you might want to update the Highpoint 370 RAID also. My SB sound card didn’t like the Raid controller to well and would cause conflicts, so when you do get your system back up you might want to pay attention to the IRQs.

Anyway I would start over by taking out the PCI cards, clearing the cmos. Then in the BIOS make sure ACPI is enable, APIC is disabled, and turn off all Cacheable and Shadow settings. And then use FDISK to partition and format your HDD. Then see if you have any trouble installing the OS. If you get that far, any updates you make should be critical ones, compatible ones, and pick and choice the rest, but don’t pick any drivers there, go to the maker of your devices for them.


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When you feel that reality does not suit you, live a fantasy life.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by jiffy on 05/19/03 06:50 AM.</EM></FONT></P>