SP2 BSOD Problems

[John Fenton]

E-Machines T1100

Every time I install XP SP2 on this machines I get blue screen of death
errors. The error code are not consistant. 8E and C2 being the last two to
come up.

Originally we installed it via a download and had to uninstall it, because
of random BSOD problems. Uninstalling cured the problem.

Now system has been restored to it's original configuration. XP-Pro was
installed which has SP2 included in it. The BSOD problem has returned.

I have removed all cards and thier drivers and I still get a BSOD errors.
(Cards were a Netgear NIC and a factory installed modem.)

Only the restored programs and XP-Pro have been installed no other software.

No BSOD problems without SP2 installed.

Any ideas?

 

[John Fenton]

Think I may have found the problem. Am getting some RAM errors when I run
the Windows Memory Diagnostic program. Looks like the system has a bad bank
of ram. Why it would work without SP2 and fail with SP2... not a clue.

John

 

[Rock]

E-Machines T1100

Every time I install XP SP2 on this machines I get blue screen of death
errors. The error code are not consistant. 8E and C2 being the last two to
come up.

Originally we installed it via a download and had to uninstall it, because
of random BSOD problems. Uninstalling cured the problem.

Now system has been restored to it's original configuration. XP-Pro was
installed which has SP2 included in it. The BSOD problem has returned.

I have removed all cards and thier drivers and I still get a BSOD errors.
(Cards were a Netgear NIC and a factory installed modem.)

Only the restored programs and XP-Pro have been installed no other software.

No BSOD problems without SP2 installed.

Any ideas?

Have you checked with Emachines for any updates they require prior to
installing SP2?

Check the hard drive with a drive diagnostic utility from the drive
manufacturer's web site and check the memory by running memtest86+.

 

[Rock]

Think I may have found the problem. Am getting some RAM errors when I run
the Windows Memory Diagnostic program. Looks like the system has a bad bank
of ram. Why it would work without SP2 and fail with SP2... not a clue.

<snip>

Thanks for posting back, John.

 

[Steve Winn]

Windows installation errors are usually caused by RAM problems in my
experience. Some versions of Windows are more picky about the quality of RAM
than others. I can install Windows 2000 Pro fine on some systems, but try
Windows 2000 Server and it will crash on installation or on boot after
installation. Or even RAM i used on Windows 98 would not work with Windows
2000 Pro. All you can really do is try different RAM. I used to buy the
cheapest memory I could find on Pricewatch, but now I will spend the extra
money to buy from Crucial because I know that it will be good quality.

Steve

 

[Bob Davis]

Think I may have found the problem. Am getting some RAM errors when I run
the Windows Memory Diagnostic program. Looks like the system has a bad
bank
of ram. Why it would work without SP2 and fail with SP2... not a clue.

To verify a RAM problem, run Memtest86 in repeat mode overnight:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

 

[Joshua Smith [MSFT]]

Hello,

If the memory testing doesn't come up with any bad memory it very well
could be a bad driver issue that was exposed by the update. To determine
if/what driver is causing the problem I need you to enable driver verifier.
Steps:
1) Windows Key + R
2) Type in ‘verifier’ and hit enter
3) Make sure ‘Create Standard Setting’ is selected and hit next
4) Click on ‘Select all drivers installed on this computer’ and hit Finish
5) Reboot

There is a possibility that your computer will crash on reboot. If this
occurs hit F8 when rebooting just before the windows logo screen and select
the safe mode boot option. Follow the same steps above but on step 4 choose
‘Select driver names from a list’; hit next; check the box next to any
driver where the provider is not Microsoft; hit Finish; reboot.

This will slow the performance of you computer a little while enabled but
will hopefully catch the driver causing corruption. Next time you crash
the blue screen will hopefully say something like
“DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION”. If this occurs please send the
corresponding minidump (by default it is at c:\windows\Minidump ) my way.
If you have any questions or I didn’t explain something well enough don’t
hesitate to e-mail me back. Good Luck,


Joshua Smith
OpenGL Test Lab
Microsoft