Blue Screen

[jeppie]

Somebody Please help me!!

History in short: I had Windows 98 installed. Changed it to Windows XP Professional and since doing that the computer wouldn't shut down properly. Recently bought a brand new hard drive and installed XP on that. Now I keep getting the Blue Screen of Death! With various errors. I have installed debugger and done a registry fix, also reset my CMOS (changed the jumpers over). Last Friday atfer the RegFix it seemed to be working fine, nothing else was installed, just the OS, my floppy, DVD/RW and the hard drive. I activated windows and all was hunky-dory. Came to put all the drivers on on Sunday and guess what? - Yep, the BSoD. I think all i put on first were the motherboard drivers. I went into the device manager list and selected the items that had a '?' at the side of them. Then right clicked and 'updated driver' it automatically found the driver file from the disk and installed it. I did this on three items that had '?' at the side of them and on the third one (sorry, can't remember what it was - I will find out if need be) during install the BSoD appeared.

I rebooted the PC, and started it with 'Last known good configuration'. And tried again, this time it couldn't install the drivers as there was an error.

I tried all sorts of things, i even tried installing my modem so i could get on the internet but once installed i couldn't get on as it wouldn't recognise my username or password. By this time i was pulling my hair out, so i just turned it off!!

Please... can anyone help me?!

 

[max_ashish9181]

Dear
What u have mentioned in the message ; i got two basic issues
1. solution for blue death of screen problem?
2. Driver installation after the BDOS occurence?


regarding1 : Just check problem is coming due to which process. due to software installed, due to some hardware problem. This problem occures whenever kernel founds a memory mismatch. it halt all the services to avoid further any damage to the system. So just recognise it by using the message coming in the blue screen.

regarding2. that might be due to some malicious driver installation, check again the comaptibility of the driver sprecific to your hardware it suppoe to support. Also if u can post the message coming in driver installation. that might be due to wrong driver.


Regards
Ashish

 

[jeppie]

thanks, Ashish. Will get all the details needed for tomorrow.

My spec as i can remember off the top of my head is:

Windows XP Professional with SP2
Motherboard Asus A7N8X-VM/400
Processor - Not sure at the mo.
1 x Corsair Value Select 256 mb DDR333
1 x SEAGATE 40GB 7200RPM 2MB CACHE, ATA-100
1 x DVD/RW (Think it's Lite-on - Can't be sure)
1 x Floppy Drive
1 x Modem (Again not sure at the mo what make)

In the mean time i have been looking in more areas and most of the problems similar to mine seem to be memory. Is it worth trying the memory card in the other slot?

Thanks Again.

Jeppie

 

[jeppie]

Also, This is one of the many error messages that i've had

0x00000008E (0xC0000005, 0xBF814662, 0xFA07B5F8, 0x00000000)
win32k.sys – Address BF814662 base at BF800000, DateStamp 41107f7a

Jeppie

 

[muckshifter]

You definitely have a memory mismatch somewhere ... XP is very picky about memory timings. Whether it’s a bad stick or a BIOS mismatch I don't know.

You say you reset the BIOS ... Did you check it is set correctly for your system? especially on the memory side.

Your motherboard can use 2 sticks at the same time, it's called "Dual Channel" mode, although the wording is misleading but basically you need two matching sticks of ram to make use of it. 256 is rather stingy for XP.

Download http://www.snapfiles.com/get/everest.htmlhttp://www.snapfiles.com/get/everest.htmlEverest Home Edition and run it ... it will tell you all we need to know about your system ... it's free.

 

[jeppie]

May sound a silly question - but how do i check the memory is set correctly for the system? what do i look for?

I know it's a bit stingy and i'm going to get somemore either tonight or tomorrow when i've sorted what the problem is!!!

I have downloaded the everest home edition and i will try that when i get home.

Thanks Muckshifter - i was hoping you would help. (No disrespect to others)

 

[muckshifter]

Well that is very flattering of you, but I will never know it all. Ashish was on the right track.

As with so many I see here at PCR, I know I can 'fix' 'em, if I had the dam thing in front of me ...

In my recent move to Southport I took the opportunity to "get rid of the junk" and that consisted of motherboard manuals along with a lot of other 'non essential items' that I wish now had kept.

Resting the BIOS should never be done unless you have a record of it ... and pen & paper is the best recorder. I have yet to see a 'program' that will do the same.

The BIOS retains certain setting appertaining to your specific hardware ... once 'reset' it does not revert to a "factory default" but instead to a motherboard default ... and that needs to be checked to make sure we re-set back for your hardware, especially the memory & CPU. Fortunately it should not be far off what we need. Especially as BIOS manufactures love to use the minimum settings needed so as not to cause any damage.

This 30second 'job' could take us a couple of days via the forum.

I won't be around much tomorrow, have 3 to sort out but I'm willing to give it a shot.

If you get some more memory, buy 2 stick from the same batch, no need to go overboard, 2x256 will be more than enough for your system ... but make sure it is compatible with your motherboard ... Crucial's web site will help there if you are unsure.

 

[jeppie]

Hi, I'm back.

What i did last night was 'borrowed' two sticks of DDR400 512mb PC3200 memory from the computer at work. Took it home and installed both of them in the two slots on me MB. Windows XP worked fantanstic.

Now.. the question is was it the fact that i put more memory in or, was it that i put a different 'type' of memory in (ie. the PC3200 as opposed to PC2700 that i originally had in)???

Also, i had problems installing the driver of the Audio Codec Interface from the supplied disk.

Can anyone help???

Jeppie

 

[muckshifter]

... the main thing is, it works.

Offer to buy the memory from work, see what they say.

Also, i had problems installing the driver of the Audio Codec Interface from the supplied disk.

Use Everest ... it should link you to the drivers ... your MB is an "all-in-one" (all onboard), the main CD should have all the drivers needed. But you need to start with the 'chipset' drivers first. Again, Everest will/should link you to a source.

Here you go Asus VM400 IGNORE the first page and go to drivers ... they do look old though.

 

[jeppie]

Thanks Muckshifter,

I have already downloaded the Realtek stuff but, i will use everest and try again.

I wish I could offer to buy it from work, but it's from a working computer, plus they wont accept a price the same or lower than what i can buy it for in my local computer shop. I'm thinking of getting Kingston 512mb (just one for the mo). Last night i did a little test to sort of prove that is was the memory - I put my old stick back in, run it up and guess what... yep, the BSoD appeared, it didn't even run windows. I turned it off and just put one stick of memory in from work and it run up fine.

Will keep you informed about how i get on with the audio.

Thanks again

Jeppie

 

[jeppie]

It's Working!!!

Halleujah!!!!

I have got it working!!

I went back to the shop where i got the memory from and they did a straight like-for-like swap for me (Corsair 256mb DDR333) (Wanted bigger memory but couldn't grumble - seen as though i didn't have a receipt). They told me that it could just be that Corsair is not compatible with what i'm running on XP, or that the memory is duff. I had to go and try the new one and see. Because I wanted bigger memory, i said that if the corsair worked i'd bring the 256 back and buy a 512. They couldn't understand why i'd want to bring the 256 back when i'd paid for it! I explained that i needed bigger memory for what i was doing on the computer and that i would be buying a 512, therefore wouldn't need the 256 anymore. After much debating and confusion, I was told that I could have the 256 AND the 512 in together!!

So, I got home and put it in the computer and it worked, so I went out and bought a 512 memory stick, put that in alongside the 256 and... it worked!

I also downloaded the audio driver from nVidia and it installed.

So with help from Muckshifter and Ashish, and reading other peoples similar problems I've sorted mine.

I hope others will think the same if they read this!

Thanks Everyone for your help

Cheers

Jeppie.

 

[muckshifter]

Well done ...