Blue screen of death

nick wrote:

>I keep getting BSOD's. The message which shows up on them varies. There seems
>to be no discernible pattern in when it happens. Sometimes I get it and when
>rebooting it does it in the reboot process. Sometime I go days without one,
>and then I can get 5 in a day. Am completely stuck about how to deal with
>it. Would prefer not to have to do a fresh install of windows!
>
>Any help would be most appreciated - particularly useful first step
>diagnostics which would help identify the cause of the problem.
>
>Thanks

Random errors generally have a hardware related cause. Software
caused errors tend to be more consistent, although sometimes the
sequence of events that triggers them can be a bit obscure.

A weak or failing power supply or one that is overloaded can be the
cause of these types of errors. The best way to check for this is to
temporarily replace the power supply with a known good one that is of
a higher wattage rating than your present one and see if the problems
persist.

Defective RAM can also lead to a vairiety of different error messages.
Download one of the following free memory testers and run it for an
extended period (e.g. overnight) to see if RAM is your problem.
DocMemory http://www.simmtester.com
Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
Memtest86: http://www.memtest.org

A defective or failing hard drive can also sometimes produce a lot of
seemingly random errors. Go to the hard drive manufacturer's web
site, dowload their free diagnostic test utility, and run that to
check out the hard drive for possible problems.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 >> Stay informed about: Blue screen of death 

Nick

Undertaking a clean install of Windows could be a total waste of time
and effort as the problem is often nothing to do withe Windows
operating system.

Please post a complete copy of the Stop Error Report. I suspect you
may have omitted to post part of the message.

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click on the
My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties, Advanced,
Start-Up and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck box before
Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure until you have
resolved the problem. Check for variants of the Stop Error message.

There will also be Error Reports in Event Viewer. Please post copies.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event Viewer.
Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of the
message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from Event
Viewer.

What system disks do you have? If it is a Windows XP CD does it
incorporate the SP2 update or did you install SP2 after you purchased
your computer?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




nick wrote:
> I keep getting BSOD's. The message which shows up on them varies.
> There seems to be no discernible pattern in when it happens.
> Sometimes I get it and when rebooting it does it in the reboot
> process. Sometime I go days without one, and then I can get 5 in a
> day. Am completely stuck about how to deal with it. Would prefer
> not to have to do a fresh install of windows!
>
> Any help would be most appreciated - particularly useful first step
> diagnostics which would help identify the cause of the problem.
>
> Thanks
 >> Stay informed about: Blue screen of death 

Thanks guys for your help - I finally got some time to look at it, and it
turned out it was a problem with my RAM. When i cracked the box open there
was a bit wedge of dust lodged between the cpu fan and memory module. once i
blew that off and reseated the ram, all was ok. Thanks - you saved me from
going mad! Nick

"Ron Martell" wrote:

> nick wrote:
>
> >I keep getting BSOD's. The message which shows up on them varies. There seems
> >to be no discernible pattern in when it happens. Sometimes I get it and when
> >rebooting it does it in the reboot process. Sometime I go days without one,
> >and then I can get 5 in a day. Am completely stuck about how to deal with
> >it. Would prefer not to have to do a fresh install of windows!
> >
> >Any help would be most appreciated - particularly useful first step
> >diagnostics which would help identify the cause of the problem.
> >
> >Thanks
>
> Random errors generally have a hardware related cause. Software
> caused errors tend to be more consistent, although sometimes the
> sequence of events that triggers them can be a bit obscure.
>
> A weak or failing power supply or one that is overloaded can be the
> cause of these types of errors. The best way to check for this is to
> temporarily replace the power supply with a known good one that is of
> a higher wattage rating than your present one and see if the problems
> persist.
>
> Defective RAM can also lead to a vairiety of different error messages.
> Download one of the following free memory testers and run it for an
> extended period (e.g. overnight) to see if RAM is your problem.
> DocMemory http://www.simmtester.com
> Windows Memory Diagnostic http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
> Memtest86: http://www.memtest.org
>
> A defective or failing hard drive can also sometimes produce a lot of
> seemingly random errors. Go to the hard drive manufacturer's web
> site, dowload their free diagnostic test utility, and run that to
> check out the hard drive for possible problems.
>
> Good luck
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
> On-Line Help Computer Service
> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
> Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
>
> "Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
> has never been in bed with a mosquito."
>
 >> Stay informed about: Blue screen of death