Computer crashes randomly - help

str7der

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My homebuild system crashes randomly :( - sometimes just after booting and sometimes after 3 or 4 hours. At first I got BSoDs with the error messages "Memory_Management" or "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" but nowadays the machine just reboots... I tried shutting off automatoic reboot but then the screen just freezes....
I tested the memory with Memtest86 - passed
tested the HDD - no errors
Prime95 CPU stress test reports an error after a few minutes

my System:
Intel Pentium D 915 Dual 2,8GHz
1024 MB Aeneon DDR2 533Mhz
Asus P5RD2-VM Mainboard (ASUS Barebone V2-PH2)
ATI Radeon X200 onboard
Maxtor 160GB SATA HDD
Samsung DVD-RW
Samsung DVD
Wireless LAN Card
Windows XP Prof SP2

All Drivers and windows are up-to-date, anti-virus enabled

Does anyone know help? I suspect an hardware error - but which part could it be?

Thx!
 

plankmeister

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I suspect a faulty PSU. What PSU do you have, how long have you had it, and how long is your computer running for? 24/7? Is it possible for you to test with a different PSU? (a good one?)
 

str7der

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The PSU is the one that came with the Asus Barebone (300W). Unfortunately, I do not have another one at hand...
The omputer usually runs for minutes to hours - but never 24/7...

Is there any other way to test the PSU without replacing it?
 

plankmeister

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Yeah, get a multimeter and take measurements of the different voltages when the machine is running Prime95 or something... See if there are any +/- 10% fluctuations in voltage...

(But I think obtaining a different PSU would be easier)
 

str7der

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I just got a new Bluescreen :roll: : PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA which is either caused by afd.sys or win32k.sys

is there any other possible faulty hardware than the PSU? With google I found out that PAGE_FAULTs hint to defective memory or L2cache...

I just want to make sure the rest of my hardware is OK before I buy a new power supply...
 

Parge

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I had a very similar problem a few years ago, it disappeared one day and I never worked out what was wrong. I looked into all that RAM stuff as well. My advice would be to reinstall windows if you can, to check its not a driver issue, and if its not, then unplug some hard drives etc, to check your system isnt drawing too much power from your PSU at peak load.(actually, do the unplugging first)
 

plankmeister

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I think I've heard before that you can get page faults if it's paging virtual memory, i.e. the page file, i.e. on the hard disk. Perhaps a hard disk error? I'm guessing it must be if your Memtest86 test passed. Does the motherboard support the "SMART" feature? If so, make sure it's enabled and watch the POST screen like a hawk for any messages. I see you have a Maxtor HDD... there's usually some manufacturers tools available to test a hard drive. May be worth a try...
 

str7der

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well - I tested the HDD with the Maxtor tool - everything is fine. I then unplugged all devices and replugged them (HDD, DVDs, RAM, CPU Cooler,...). I can now run Prime95 without it reporting errors but I still get those damn Bluescreens with Page Faults... :x

The next step will be reinstalling Windows, won't it?
 

Parge

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It might be, I reinstalled windows several times because the constant hard reset I had to keep doing screwing up my hard drives, in the end I didnt reinstall any of my old peripherals that weren't VITAL for me to run the system (ie: bluetooth adaptor, webcam) and that seemed to do the trick. Im sorry I cant be more specific as I didnt want to risk installing them to find out what it was in case it caused the problem again. My motherboard is MSI Neo2 by the way, and I tried all that RAM testing stuff as well with no obvious errors.
 

mbmcavoy

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My fiancee is having similar issues with a Compaq laptop that is a few years old. BSoD, same types of messages. She's thinking of taking it to a diagnostic shop since I haven't been able to fix it with a couple of pokes. :oops:

Maybe 10 months ago, the computer was running like molasses (probably full of malware and other crap), so I wiped the HD and reinstalled. I also did a memory upgrade. The computer has been performing better, but then the BSoD started, and are getting progressively worse.

I'm sure it's not a PS or thermal issue - other than the RAM it's stock, and temperature/placement doesn't seem to have any effect. RAM passes POST every time, haven't run any other tests yet.

Drivers were downloaded from Compaq's website as specified for the model.

Antivirus - I was going to get Norton after the reinstall, but she beat me to it and put on "Panda" Antivirus. This was reccomended to her by her work IT guy, and seems to be legit. The install didn't go smoothly. I thought maybe this was causing the crashes. But since she paid for it, she doesn't want to dump it.

Hard drive problem?