Hey Malke, that was one lotta bit of info! Thanks. I started off with
Restore
Points, now it's the dreaded Blue Screens. I have done most of the
suggestions you offered, including the Mem test which another MVP
suggested.
I let it run all night with no errors detected.
Both hard drives were thoroughly tested with Western Digital's tools:
again
no mishaps. Apart from my System being clean from malicious residents, I
keep
my Hardware in a very good condition (I even clean the extractor fan on
the
PSU). But your remark on the Power Supply made me think. Pls can you have
a
look at my specs and offer some advice. I replaced the PSU a year ago for
a
250W unit.
The STOP ERRORS are intermittent: sometimes I get 3 in a day, then a
couple
of days with no problems. I send reports to MS, but the standard reply is
that " a device driver caused the error...".
This the most common Stop Error the system throws up:
*** STOP: 0x0000008E (0XC0000005, 0X80584DDA, 0XEE0F896C, 0X00000000)
I apologies at inundating you with details, but I am taking on your offer
of
help, and I am desperate and paranoid, saving Word and Excel files every 2
minutes in fear of a crash.
--------[ Summary - GENIUS-P3 ]-----------------------------
Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) PC
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 650 MHz (6.5 x 100)
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C693A Apollo Pro133
System Memory 448 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Modular (01/12/00)
Display:
Video Adapter RADEON 7000 SERIES (64 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI RV100 DDR
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (6121234)
Multimedia:
Audio Adapter Creative SB Live! Sound Card
Storage:
IDE Controller VIA Bus Master IDE Controller
Disk Drive WDC WD800BB-00JKA0 (74 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive SAMSUNG SV2044D (18 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/66)
Disk Drive OTi2168 Flash Disk USB Device (117 MB, USB)
Optical Drive PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D (DVD+RW:8x/4x,
DVD-RW:8x/4x, DVD-ROM:12x, CD:24x/24x/40x DVD+RW/DVD-RW)
Optical Drive SONY DVD-ROM DDU1621 (16x/40x DVD-ROM)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK
Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 10244 MB (5519 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 51207 MB (32125 MB free)
E: (NTFS) 14864 MB (11926 MB free)
F: (NTFS) 6149 MB (3359 MB free)
G: (NTFS) 6110 MB (5694 MB free)
Network:
Network Adapter CNet PRO200 PCI
Fast
Ethernet Adapter (213.217.229.197)
Modem Best Data Data Fax Modem
VIA VT83C572 PCI-USB Controller
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device
DMI BIOS Vendor Award Software
International, Inc.
DMI BIOS Version 4.51 PG
DMI Motherboard Product 693-596-W977TF
Motherboard 01/12/2000-693-596-W977T-2A6LGX4CC-00
Motherboard A-WIN P3VBX+ BIOS Revision 2.6 (2WL).ME
==========================================================================
Malke said:
Anthony wrote:
OK guys, I get the point - the thing is that I keep my System squeeky
"clean" and weekly NAV scans report no Adware, spyware or Viruses. I
do however have frequent System Crashes (Stop Errors), which might be
the suspected candidates.
Thanks again for your time and suggestions.
Without more information from you such as the text of the Stop Errors,
it's not possible to give you a specific diagnosis, but frequent system
crashes are not normal. You could have bad RAM, other failing hardware
components, overheating, bad drivers, etc. Since you know your system
is clean, I've got two suggestions:
1. Keep track of the Stop Errors to help narrow down the cause of the
crashes. Here's a link to where you can research your Stop Errors:
http://www.aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm
2. If that doesn't get you anywhere, do some clean-boot troubleshooting:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
3. And here are some general hardware troubleshooting steps:
1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.
2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from
www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an extended period of time - unless
errors are seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.
3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Usually
you will download the file and make a bootable floppy with it. Boot
with the media and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical
errors, replace it.
4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system - this isn't applicable to a laptop, of course.
5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.
Let us know if you need more help. Please make sure to include pertinent
details about the system, Stop Errors, and any t-shooting you've
already done.
Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
www.elephantboycomputers.com
In Memoriam - MVP Alex Nichol
The world is diminished without him.
