Hardware Monitor found an error

[w_tom]

thanks so much for all this information.. Most of what you are suggesting
for me, is beyond me.. I am having difficulty doing some of the suggestions
as noted to Netpatsfan..

If not understood the first time, then it is probably best
information AND requires multiple readings. That, for example, is how
I learned to change auto oil. Why did I learn to change oil? So that
I could learn how to fix anything. One thing learned: useful
information is never understood in the first reading.

I am totally confused by what is not possible? For example, list of
what can cause freezing is one paragraph. That one paragraph is an
action item. Read it, then stop; act only on that paragraph. Then
move on:

Moving on, ... List includes video processor, sound card,
CPU, some motherboard functions, some memory, and
power supply 'system'.

Listed are what can cause a system freeze. If Chkdsk found a
failure on drive says nothing about what froze a system. That drive
may be a symptom of failure. Errors reported from the Chkdsk are
useful if those error messages were quoted. If error report is not
understood, then numbers are probably THE most important fact to
others who might provide assistance. But again, value of strange
facts is also learned from fixing things.

Reason why failure still exists? Things irrelevant to a computer
freeze were suspect. As long as you only expect to understand one
paragraph at a time, then the entire post is easy. Never expect to
understand an entire post until every paragraph has been 'acted upon';
one paragraph at a time.

Next paragraph defined one thing that can make everything (including
disk drive) appear defective. Then next paragraph said to access all
peripherals simultaneously. Go away and do that. Then come back and
read next paragraph. Next paragraph defined a 'less than two
minute' procedure that provides numbers and useful replies from this
author. You don't know why to do it and do not care. A computer
designer with generations of experience with your problem said to do
it. So act on each paragraph. Only understand 'why' long after
everything in that post is performed and reported here.

You cannot perform that paragraph? Then stop; post for assistance.
Don't spend all day struggling. Stop and ask for directions -
frequently. If not, then others are wasting our time because others
don't learn from your mistakes or confusion.

Don't plan on doing anything like replace a power supply - until the
failure is identified. Again, in that earlier paragraph. Power
supply is not the power supply 'system'. An important point. A
power supply 'system' defect may not be solved by a new power supply
(that also costs at least $60 retail if it contains required
functions).

 

[Nepatsfan]

I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper.

Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the diagnostics
on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look at
your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last few
days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday
morning was an isolated incident.

Nepatsfan

 

[Rainy]

thanks, I thought I had annoyed you by not being able to do as instructed.
and I'm sorry I couldn't do it.. Every single time I tried, it led me to
safe mode..

I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could
have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that
have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows
at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and
probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. ..

And you are right, since there is no immediate problem, my computer is
actually working pretty good.. I will wait to do this.. Thanks for
responding to my question about defragging.. I appreciate all of your
expertise and especially your patience.. hugs Rainy


I'm not familiar with PCPitstop. If it was me, I'd rely on Diskeeper.

Getting back to your original problem, if you're unable to run the
diagnostics
on the floppy drives, you might want to wait until your son can take a look
at
your computer. If you're computer has been running with no problems the last
few
days, there's always the possibility that the freeze that occurred Saturday
morning was an isolated incident.

Nepatsfan

 

[Nepatsfan]

Rainy,

You didn't annoy me in any way so you have nothing to be sorry for.

Nepatsfan

 

[Rainy]

thanks .
Rainy,

You didn't annoy me in any way so you have nothing to be sorry for.

Nepatsfan

 

[w_tom]

I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could
have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that
have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows
at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and
probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them.. ..

1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs
more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory.
If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem,
enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time
will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960
mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer
cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that
program - and keeps working.

Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether
insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective
memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient
resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But
insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive
multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes.

 

[Rainy]

Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my
intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. and if I have enough money
after the move, I can have a tech look at it and see where the problems
lie.., My son is pretty good with hard ware, but not with windows XP .. I
have fixed his computer before. thanks to this group..

I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power
supply "system".. so I will check into that.. thanks for the technical
input.. it's appreciated. thanks, Rainy

I'm thinking there is another reason why my computer was frozen. It could
have been an out of resources situation. or one of the other things that
have been listed in this thread.. I have tendency to open a lot of windows
at the same time.. I have a gig of ram, but I am a graphics hog.. and
probably need more ram, I also need a larger drive, a couple of them..
..

1 gbyte memory is constantly too small. When the computer needs
more memory, it simply transfers code out to disk - virtual memory.
If virtual memory is too small, then an OS announces the problem,
enlarges virtual memory (on the disk) and keeps working. At no time
will insufficient resources crash an OS. Reliability even in 1960
mainframes demanded that an OS always keep working. If computer
cannot provide the resources, then the OS stops or removes that
program - and keeps working.

Hardware reasons for freezing were listed previously. Niether
insufficient memory nor a disk drive is on that list. Defective
memory (in limited locations) can crash a computer. Insufficient
resources could crash unreliable OSes such as Windows 9x/ME. But
insufficient resources must never crash a true pre-emptive
multitasking OS such as Windows NT based OSes.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my
intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this..

Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than
1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need.
Read the following:

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others
need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more
than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Rainy]

thank you Ken for jumping in here.. I use Paint Shop pro and use graphics
continually.. so I am pretty sure I can benefit from more ram.. The tech
that installed my 1 GB said "you will never use it".. I don't think he
realized just how many graphics I am dealting with all the time..

I will make every effort to follow the directions from the text file that
came with the vbs files that I just downloaded, but no promises..

thanks, Rainy

Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my
intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this..

Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than
1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need.
Read the following:

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others
need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more
than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Rainy]

I ran the winxp pagefile usage monitor and here are the results.

5/8/2008 5:11:44 PM

Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 91 MB
Session Peak Usage: 240 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

I finally was able to do something you experts have asked me to.
Whoopie!!!! lol

I hope this helps you to help me.,. thanks, hugs Rainy

Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my
intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this..

Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than
1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need.
Read the following:

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others
need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more
than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Rainy]

I also wanted you to know what was running at the time I ran those vbs
files..

Incredimail, Sygate, Gadwins Printscreen, Yahoo Messenger, Aim, AVG and
Unlocker..
Rainy

Thank you for responding.. you have given me a lot of information..
correcting my misinformation so I know how to proceed, it has been my
intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this..

Before you buy more RAM, realize that very few people need more than
1GB with Windows XP. Even that amount is more than most people need.
Read the following:

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works well, others
need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more
than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

thank you Ken for jumping in here..

You're welcome. Glad to help.

I use Paint Shop pro and use graphics
continually.. so I am pretty sure I can benefit from more ram..

If you do a lot of graphics work, yes, then more RAM may well benefit
you. Still, I wouldn't simply assume it. Run the pagefile monitor
program I mentioned below while you're doing your graphics work. Even
if it confirms that you need more RAM, it will be a help by telling
you how much you need.

The tech
that installed my 1 GB said "you will never use it".. I don't think he
realized just how many graphics I am dealting with all the time..

I don't know your tech, of course, but in my experience, most
so-called techs who work in large stores know next to nothing and are
useless or worse.

 

[w_tom]

... , it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. and
if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it
and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard
ware, but not with windows XP ...
I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power
supply "system".. so I will check into that.

You don't want to 'check into it' because there is nothing for you
to 'check into'. There is a power supply 'system'. Therefore go
back to that post, do each paragraph, one at a time. Then read the
next paragraph and do it. That power supply 'system'? You will
learn about it by doing what the paragraph says and then reporting
here what was learned - the numbers.

It is a two way street. You do those paragraphs and post results.
Only then do you learn what you did, why, and what the power supply
'system' is. If you don't perform each paragraph, then every reply
says nothing useful to you.

Knowing anything about Windows XP is completely irrelevant. That
will be obvious when you do what each paragraph says. But if each
paragraph is not executed, then you will never understand why Windows
XP is not significant.

Freezing of XP is limited to only some hardware. Disk drive is not
on that list. List includes video processor, sound card, CPU, some
motherboard functions, some memory, and power supply 'system'. That
procedure then starts the process of getting a solution - maybe in
less time than it took to post a single reply. But if each paragraph
is not executed, then you will never understand what hardware is
significant.

Again, buying memory or a new power supply is not a solution. Do
not replace anything until the problem is first identified. Either do
each paragraph posted previously - or take twice as long posting
replies here that don't elicit useful information. Your replies will
only be as useful as the information you post. Until you do those
paragraphs, then your post and its reply will be more like this one -
useless.

That report on Pagefile.sys only confirms you have no resource
problem - which is why the OS does not announce that problem. But
again, you are looking for solution in XP. XP can provide useful
facts which is why the system (event) logs and Device Manager should
have been consulted and reported here. Then do things without Windows
(as posted previously) to actually find the problem.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I ran the winxp pagefile usage monitor and here are the results.

5/8/2008 5:11:44 PM

Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 91 MB
Session Peak Usage: 240 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

I finally was able to do something you experts have asked me to.
Whoopie!!!! lol

I hope this helps you to help me.,. thanks, hugs Rainy

Run it again, and while you are doing your heaviest graphics
processing. Run it for a while, not just a short time, and keep track
of current pagefile usage and session peak usage (don't worry about
the pagefile size). Write down the numbers you see every few minutes,
so you can see how they vary over the course of a day, or several
hours.

The more you use the page file, the more your performance will suffer.
More RAM will decrease your pagefile usage by an equivalent amount. So
if your peak usage doesn't exceed the 240MB reported above, 240MB more
RAM is all you would really need. And if you use that 240MB of
pagefile only seldom, that amount won't do a lot for you, and you
don't really need it.

In fact, assuming that you are more often near the 91MB than the 240,
those numbers show fairly light page file usage.

That's why it's important to monitor page file for a fairly long
period, and while you're doing your most memory-intensive work. You
don't want to fall into the trap of seeing a high peak usage (say 2GB)
and think that you therefore need another 2GB of RAM. If that 2GB of
page file use is only for a minute or two a day, and the rest of the
day it's only 10MB, you shouldn't waste money on any more RAM.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I also wanted you to know what was running at the time I ran those vbs
files..

Incredimail, Sygate, Gadwins Printscreen, Yahoo Messenger, Aim, AVG and
Unlocker..

See my previous message, Rainy. You need to run it while running your
Graphics software.

 

[Rainy]

Just wanted to clear up something.. My computer was built by this same
tech.. and he was pretty knowledgeable... Some are better than others
though. I have had techs come to the house.. putter around doing
nothing.. and after an hour or longer tell me it needed to be formatted.. I
could have saved myself the expense.. at that time I knew how to format. My
computer is about 8 years old.. I have swapped out hard drives and a sound
card, and my ethernet adaptor failed, and had to buy a new one.. although
now I am not sure it did fail.. Windows update seems to be able to detect it
and has offered the driver for it.. anyway that's another thread.. Rainy

thank you Ken for jumping in here..

You're welcome. Glad to help.

I use Paint Shop pro and use graphics
continually.. so I am pretty sure I can benefit from more ram..

If you do a lot of graphics work, yes, then more RAM may well benefit
you. Still, I wouldn't simply assume it. Run the pagefile monitor
program I mentioned below while you're doing your graphics work. Even
if it confirms that you need more RAM, it will be a help by telling
you how much you need.

The tech
that installed my 1 GB said "you will never use it".. I don't think he
realized just how many graphics I am dealting with all the time..

I don't know your tech, of course, but in my experience, most
so-called techs who work in large stores know next to nothing and are
useless or worse.

 

[Rainy]

Gee I actually understood what you were saying.. lol thanks I will do
that... and once I do get some high readings I will post back here.. thanks
so much for the information.. Rainy

I ran the winxp pagefile usage monitor and here are the results.

5/8/2008 5:11:44 PM

Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 91 MB
Session Peak Usage: 240 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

I finally was able to do something you experts have asked me to.
Whoopie!!!! lol

I hope this helps you to help me.,. thanks, hugs Rainy

Run it again, and while you are doing your heaviest graphics
processing. Run it for a while, not just a short time, and keep track
of current pagefile usage and session peak usage (don't worry about
the pagefile size). Write down the numbers you see every few minutes,
so you can see how they vary over the course of a day, or several
hours.

The more you use the page file, the more your performance will suffer.
More RAM will decrease your pagefile usage by an equivalent amount. So
if your peak usage doesn't exceed the 240MB reported above, 240MB more
RAM is all you would really need. And if you use that 240MB of
pagefile only seldom, that amount won't do a lot for you, and you
don't really need it.

In fact, assuming that you are more often near the 91MB than the 240,
those numbers show fairly light page file usage.

That's why it's important to monitor page file for a fairly long
period, and while you're doing your most memory-intensive work. You
don't want to fall into the trap of seeing a high peak usage (say 2GB)
and think that you therefore need another 2GB of RAM. If that 2GB of
page file use is only for a minute or two a day, and the rest of the
day it's only 10MB, you shouldn't waste money on any more RAM.

 

[Rainy]

What I meant by check into it.. was to learn about it.. I don't thinnk you
can fault me there.. I have given up trying to run those floppies because
all it was doing was to stress me out.. and that I don't need.. I am willing
and able to follow most instructions.. but I get lost on some.. I am 69
years of age, and a female, no excuses, because I love to learn.. but I know
my limits.. thanks Rainy

... , it has been my intention to buy more ram.. so I will do this.. and
if I have enough money after the move, I can have a tech look at it
and see where the problems lie.., My son is pretty good with hard
ware, but not with windows XP ...
I know what a power supply is but up til now had never heard of a power
supply "system".. so I will check into that.

You don't want to 'check into it' because there is nothing for you
to 'check into'. There is a power supply 'system'. Therefore go
back to that post, do each paragraph, one at a time. Then read the
next paragraph and do it. That power supply 'system'? You will
learn about it by doing what the paragraph says and then reporting
here what was learned - the numbers.

It is a two way street. You do those paragraphs and post results.
Only then do you learn what you did, why, and what the power supply
'system' is. If you don't perform each paragraph, then every reply
says nothing useful to you.

Knowing anything about Windows XP is completely irrelevant. That
will be obvious when you do what each paragraph says. But if each
paragraph is not executed, then you will never understand why Windows
XP is not significant.

Freezing of XP is limited to only some hardware. Disk drive is not
on that list. List includes video processor, sound card, CPU, some
motherboard functions, some memory, and power supply 'system'. That
procedure then starts the process of getting a solution - maybe in
less time than it took to post a single reply. But if each paragraph
is not executed, then you will never understand what hardware is
significant.

Again, buying memory or a new power supply is not a solution. Do
not replace anything until the problem is first identified. Either do
each paragraph posted previously - or take twice as long posting
replies here that don't elicit useful information. Your replies will
only be as useful as the information you post. Until you do those
paragraphs, then your post and its reply will be more like this one -
useless.

That report on Pagefile.sys only confirms you have no resource
problem - which is why the OS does not announce that problem. But
again, you are looking for solution in XP. XP can provide useful
facts which is why the system (event) logs and Device Manager should
have been consulted and reported here. Then do things without Windows
(as posted previously) to actually find the problem.

 

[Rainy]

Let me say this back to you so you know I am understanding.. If the peak
usage is 50 mb then that is all I might need in additional ram? I will do
this.. and write again after I have gathered some more data.. thanks Ken,
Rainy

I ran the winxp pagefile usage monitor and here are the results.

5/8/2008 5:11:44 PM

Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 91 MB
Session Peak Usage: 240 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

I finally was able to do something you experts have asked me to.
Whoopie!!!! lol

I hope this helps you to help me.,. thanks, hugs Rainy

Run it again, and while you are doing your heaviest graphics
processing. Run it for a while, not just a short time, and keep track
of current pagefile usage and session peak usage (don't worry about
the pagefile size). Write down the numbers you see every few minutes,
so you can see how they vary over the course of a day, or several
hours.

The more you use the page file, the more your performance will suffer.
More RAM will decrease your pagefile usage by an equivalent amount. So
if your peak usage doesn't exceed the 240MB reported above, 240MB more
RAM is all you would really need. And if you use that 240MB of
pagefile only seldom, that amount won't do a lot for you, and you
don't really need it.

In fact, assuming that you are more often near the 91MB than the 240,
those numbers show fairly light page file usage.

That's why it's important to monitor page file for a fairly long
period, and while you're doing your most memory-intensive work. You
don't want to fall into the trap of seeing a high peak usage (say 2GB)
and think that you therefore need another 2GB of RAM. If that 2GB of
page file use is only for a minute or two a day, and the rest of the
day it's only 10MB, you shouldn't waste money on any more RAM.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Gee I actually understood what you were saying.. lol thanks I will do
that... and once I do get some high readings I will post back here.. thanks
so much for the information.. Rainy

You're welcome, and I'm glad to be understood. ;-)