Recurring Blue Screen of Death fault in Windows XP Pro SP3

[Enquiring Mind]

Hi,

My friend's laptop running Windows XP Pro SP3 has within the last week
developed a nasty fault. After 3 years of trouble-free performance under XP
Pro SP 2 the computer has now started to frequently crash, both during
start-up, and during normal operation. The blue error screen is frequently
thrown, particularly when the user is using Internet Explorer. The blue
screen appears during start-up, and will repeatedly reappear during start-up
unless the user starts in Safe Mode. I started in Safe Mode, ran a virus
scan (the scanner reported that some Windows files were locked, so couldn't
be scanned). I ran Chkdsk to check for disk faults, and none were reported.
I then checked the System Event Log, and found that several DCOM error
events had been recorded.

I then decided to restore the system to a previous 'satisfactory' state. I
discovered that the last few restore points included the label "Software
Distribution Service 3.0". Further investigation led me to suspect that the
faults may be connected with Windows and/or Office Genuine Advantage,
because on one recent occasion my friend was presented with a pop-up message
suggesting that the Office software was not genuine.

After starting the computer in Safe Mode I restored the computer to a
Restore Point which had been created before those containing the label
"Software Distribution Service 3.0", as I suspected that these may have had
something to do with the installation of Windows or Office Genuine Advantage
.. I was subsequently able to restart the computer in normal mode but blue
screens of death continue to be fired at seemingly random intervals.

Can anyone suggest what actions need to be taken next to locate and
eradicate the fault? Am I right in thinking that the start-up process
includes a memory check, implying that the problem cannot be caused by a
fault in the memory?

I have no reason to believe the hardware drivers have become corrupted,
because the appearance of the desktop is normal except when the blue screens
are thrown.

My friend was recently presented with a window inviting him to install a
Windows Update, which he imprudently did.

I read on the web that Windows/Office Genuine Advantage adds a plug-in to
Internet Explorer. What exactly does this plug-in do?

If Windows/Office Genuine Advantage rightly or wrongly presumes that there
is a non-genuine copy of a Windows/Office component on the computer, would
it generate the system failures, rather than just issue warning messages, or
simply prohibit the running of the applications presumed to be illegal?

Any help appreciated.

EM

 

[Gerry]

You need to post complete copies of the Stop Error Reports. One
occurring as part of the boot process is likely to be a different error
to that occurring later.

If you haven't done so already 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.


--


Hope this helps.

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

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi,

My friend's laptop running Windows XP Pro SP3 has within the last week
developed a nasty fault. After 3 years of trouble-free performance under XP
Pro SP 2 the computer has now started to frequently crash, both during
start-up, and during normal operation. The blue error screen is frequently
thrown, particularly when the user is using Internet Explorer.

The blue screen contains an error code. Please tell us what it is.
With that information it's very difficult to help you.

The blue
screen appears during start-up, and will repeatedly reappear during start-up
unless the user starts in Safe Mode. I started in Safe Mode, ran a virus
scan (the scanner reported that some Windows files were locked, so couldn't
be scanned).

*What* anti-virus program did you run? They are far from being equally
good, and the most popular ones are among the worst.

Did you also run anti-spyware programs? Spyware is a more and more
common and more and more serious problem these days.

I ran Chkdsk to check for disk faults, and none were reported.
I then checked the System Event Log, and found that several DCOM error
events had been recorded.

I then decided to restore the system to a previous 'satisfactory' state. I
discovered that the last few restore points included the label "Software
Distribution Service 3.0". Further investigation led me to suspect that the
faults may be connected with Windows and/or Office Genuine Advantage,
because on one recent occasion my friend was presented with a pop-up message
suggesting that the Office software was not genuine.

After starting the computer in Safe Mode I restored the computer to a
Restore Point which had been created before those containing the label
"Software Distribution Service 3.0", as I suspected that these may have had
something to do with the installation of Windows or Office Genuine Advantage
. I was subsequently able to restart the computer in normal mode but blue
screens of death continue to be fired at seemingly random intervals.

Can anyone suggest what actions need to be taken next to locate and
eradicate the fault? Am I right in thinking that the start-up process
includes a memory check, implying that the problem cannot be caused by a
fault in the memory?

No. Although the POST checks memory, it is far from a thorough check.
A memory problem, or another hardware problem, is certainly a
possibility. But without the error code, it's very hard to guess what
the problem might be.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The blue screen contains an error code. Please tell us what it is.
With that information it's very difficult to help you.

Sorry, the first word in my second sentence above should be "without,"
of course.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

Kn, Thanks for response! Sorry for delay in replying - I had to wait for
friend to send me the info that you asked for!

The blue screen contains an error code. Please tell us what it is.
With that information it's very difficult to help you.

Some info copied manually from the BSOD that appeared at strat-up:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

*** STOP 0x00000001 (0x06624692,0x00000002,0x00000001,0xF8620E9F)
*** NDIS.SYS - Address F8620E9F base at F8608000, Datestamp 48025d03

*What* anti-virus program did you run? They are far from being equally
good, and the most popular ones are among the worst.
AVG

Did you also run anti-spyware programs? Spyware is a more and more
common and more and more serious problem these days.
AVG includes spyware scanning

Regards,

EM

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Kn, Thanks for response! Sorry for delay in replying - I had to wait for
friend to send me the info that you asked for!

Some info copied manually from the BSOD that appeared at strat-up:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

*** STOP 0x00000001 (0x06624692,0x00000002,0x00000001,0xF8620E9F)
*** NDIS.SYS - Address F8620E9F base at F8608000, Datestamp 48025d03

There are a number of possible causes for that error message. I
suggest doing a Google search on DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and
looking what's suggested in the hits you get to see what matches your
situation.

AVG includes spyware scanning

AVG is not one of the better anti-virus programs (better free
anti-virus programs are Avast and Avira), and although it has *some*
anti-spyware capability, it is *not* really an anti-spyware program.

The two best anti-spyware programs these days are MalwareBytes
AntiMalware and Super AntiSpyware.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Blake, MVP" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: Recurring Blue Screen of Death fault in Windows XP Pro SP3

Correction: the stop code was 0x000000D1, *not* 0x00000001.

My friend adds that for a while before the BSOD's started appearing, he
would sometimes get a gray screen suggesting that there had been an improper
shutdown, even though the computer had been shut down normally as far he was
concerned.

There are a number of possible causes for that error message. I
suggest doing a Google search on DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and
looking what's suggested in the hits you get to see what matches your
situation.

I have looked at a number of websites flagged up by Google searches on
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ", "STOP 0x000000D1",and "NDIS.SYS " and it
appears that the error codes could signal any one of several possible causes
including:

1) Fault in interface cards
2) Fault in memory hardware
3) Fault in otherboard
4) Unsatisfactory modem configuration
5) Mouse driver
6) Fault in paging

My friend has installed no new interface cards or other hardware as far as I
know in the period leading up to the onset of the problem. He accesses the
internet through his built in wireless NIC card and a wireless router.
..
Since he can operate the computer alright for significant periods of time
between system crashes it seems to be unlikely to be a RAM problem. However
it occurred to me that a possible cause could be a recent Windows Update
(based on Windows Vista code) that assumes that the computer has more RAM
than the 512 MB it actually has.

Have you any suggestion as to which might be the most likely cause?

AVG is not one of the better anti-virus programs (better free
anti-virus programs are Avast and Avira), and although it has *some*
anti-spyware capability, it is *not* really an anti-spyware program.

The two best anti-spyware programs these days are MalwareBytes
AntiMalware and Super AntiSpyware.

Thanks for these tips. But do you think that it's likely that the problem
could be caused by malware rather than one of the causes listed above? Is
there any point in reinstalling/repairing Windows XP Pro from the original
CDs, considering that they are some 5 years old?

TIA,

EM

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Blake, MVP" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support
Sent: Sunday, September 20, 2009 3:50 PM
Subject: Re: Recurring Blue Screen of Death fault in Windows XP Pro SP3


Correction: the stop code was 0x000000D1, *not* 0x00000001.

My friend adds that for a while before the BSOD's started appearing, he
would sometimes get a gray screen suggesting that there had been an improper
shutdown, even though the computer had been shut down normally as far he was
concerned.
I have looked at a number of websites flagged up by Google searches on
"DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ", "STOP 0x000000D1",and "NDIS.SYS " and it
appears that the error codes could signal any one of several possible causes
including:

1) Fault in interface cards
2) Fault in memory hardware
3) Fault in otherboard
4) Unsatisfactory modem configuration
5) Mouse driver
6) Fault in paging

My friend has installed no new interface cards or other hardware as far as I
know in the period leading up to the onset of the problem. He accesses the
internet through his built in wireless NIC card and a wireless router.
.
Since he can operate the computer alright for significant periods of time
between system crashes it seems to be unlikely to be a RAM problem. However
it occurred to me that a possible cause could be a recent Windows Update
(based on Windows Vista code) that assumes that the computer has more RAM
than the 512 MB it actually has.

Have you any suggestion as to which might be the most likely cause?

Sorry, no I don't, but perhaps someone else here does.

Thanks for these tips.

You're welcome.

But do you think that it's likely that the problem
could be caused by malware rather than one of the causes listed above?

No, I don't. My comments about anti-virus and anti-spyware were really
meant as an aside.

Is
there any point in reinstalling/repairing Windows XP Pro from the original
CDs, considering that they are some 5 years old?

Since it's very likely that there's a hardware problem, no.
Reinstallation won't fix it.

 

[Enquiring Mind]

Thanks for you continuing help!

Sorry, no I don't, but perhaps someone else here does.





Since it's very likely that there's a hardware problem, no.
Reinstallation won't fix it.

So you seem to be suggesting that the most likely cause is a hardware rather
than a software problem. Do you know of any software that will perform tests
to identify which hardware devices are faulty? I have read of software to
test RAM, but I am thinking also of software to test interface cards, etc.
Or is it possible to glean this information from the four parameters that
follow the Stop code?

Regards,

EM

 

[Paul T]

I have the same problem, very frustrating.
Paul

 

[Leonard Grey]

No one can help you with a blue screen error if you won't tell us what
the error is.

To find the number and title of the error, look toward the bottom of the
screen. The number starts with 0x000... and the name of the error
LOOKS_LIKE_THIS.

Is your friend certain that the "window inviting him to install a
Windows Update" was legitimate? Microsoft does not open windows on a
user's desktop inviting them to install updates.