blue screen, memory

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Guest

I ocassionally get a blue screen error. I don't remember exactly what it
says but basically it says something along the lines that windows is
beginning a physical dump of the memory. What exactly does this mean? And
why would I be getting this? My system has 1gb of DDR RAM and over 6gb of
virtual memory.

I remember something about "Write debugging information" (My Computer >
Properties > Advanced > Startup and Recovery | Settings) and memory dumping.
Does this have any relation to the problem that I'm having and are there any
adverse effects of disabling this feature?

Thanks,
LargeNostril
 
The blue screen has two pieces of information that you need to post:

1. The hexadecimal number after the word STOP.
2. The title of the error, which is typically in capitals and underscores,
so it LOOKS_LIKE_THIS.

You don't have 6 GB of virtual memory.

Ted Zieglar
 
The paging file is not virtual memory.

Nobody needs a paging file that big.

Ted Zieglar
 
Hi, Ted,

Under Virtual memory, a paging file is an area on the hard disk that Windows
uses as if it were Ram.
On a system with only 20 gb, it recommends a little over 1 gb of reserved
area.

This can be changed by the operator to a smaller size if so desired.

Jerry

Ted Zieglar said:
The paging file is not virtual memory.

Nobody needs a paging file that big.

Ted Zieglar
Click to expand...

<Snip>
 
I should have added, that the more partitions you have, the higher the
paging file size.

Jerry
 
Neither of your posts are correct, but no biggie. Virtual memory is about as
easy to understand as hieroglyphics.

The page file (pagefile.sys) is the area on the hard disk that is set aside
to hold virtual memory. You can set your page file to be any size you like;
virtual memory will only occupy the amount of space it needs. The goal is to
create a page file no larger than the amount of virtual memory you can
reasonably expect to use in your daily computing (with perhaps a bit of
padding for unanticipated situations.) Any excess is wasted disk space.

Virtual memory is an extension of the RAM installed in your computer. The
amount of virtual memory you can expect to use - and therefore the size of
your paging file - is tied to the amount of installed RAM, and not the size
of the hard disk or how many partitions it contains.

The hobbyists/aficionados among us like to use Task Manager to monitor their
use of virtual memory so as to set the optimum page file size. More power to
them. The rest of us rely on formulas or my personal favorite: the "system
managed size."
 
OK, I agree about wasted space.
I have 768 mb Ram on my machine, with a 20gb and a 6gb hard drive, with two
partitions on each.
The system recommends 1150mb but only using 779mb.
Anyhow, no biggy.
I was just guessing about it.

Jerry

Ted Zieglar said:
Neither of your posts are correct, but no biggie. Virtual memory is about
as
easy to understand as hieroglyphics.
Click to expand...
<Snip>
 
No problems.

--
Ted Zieglar


JerryM (ID) said:
OK, I agree about wasted space.
I have 768 mb Ram on my machine, with a 20gb and a 6gb hard drive, with two
partitions on each.
The system recommends 1150mb but only using 779mb.
Anyhow, no biggy.
I was just guessing about it.

Jerry


<Snip>
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the info; I turned my paging file down to 1.5gb.

Anyway, here's the info from the stop error:

==================================
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000008, 0x00000007, 0xF7779E33)

*** pnp680r.sys - Adress F7779E33 base at F7777000, Datestamp 3cf808a4

Beginning dump of phycisal memory
==================================

Upon first look at the error it looks like it has something to do with the
drivers on my Silicon Image 680 PCI RAID adapter. I have another system with
the exact same config as my current system except it doesn't have any Service
Packs installed since it never goes online. So I'm thinking this is
something with SP2. I've tried installing the latest drivers that I can find
at Silicon Image's website and I've also tried switching the cards between
the two systems but I still get this error.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
LargeNostril
 
Just your luck that I remember your earlier post. When you reply to a post
you should include all previous posts. Otherwise, nobody knows what you're
talking about.

Microsoft Knowledge Base articles on 0xD1 errors with Windows XP:
http://tinyurl.com/6s3y8

Ted Zieglar
 
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