XP crashing at radom times.

[The Seabat]

Howdy: My neighbor has a problem with her computer. It seems to
randomly crash for no apparent reason. When it does it gives this
message on a blue screen that covers about 3/4 of the screen and the
other 1/4 is black (at the bottom):

<quote>
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly
installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or
software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need. If
problems continue, disable BIOS memory options such as caching or
shadowing. You need to use safe mode to remove or disable
components. Restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced
Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

(Stop: 0X000000D1 C0X00000000, 0X00000002, 0X00000000, oX00000000)
Beginning dump of physical memory
physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for
further assistance.
<\quote>

There has been no hardware added in the last 18 months or so and no
new software in the same time period. Device manager show nothing
out of the ordinary. What can I do to track down the cause of this
problem? She says it happens when she is surfing the web, or writing
in the word processor or even when using her email app.

 

[Rock]

Howdy: My neighbor has a problem with her computer. It seems to
randomly crash for no apparent reason. When it does it gives this
message on a blue screen that covers about 3/4 of the screen and the
other 1/4 is black (at the bottom):

<quote>
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly
installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or
software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need. If
problems continue, disable BIOS memory options such as caching or
shadowing. You need to use safe mode to remove or disable
components. Restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced
Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

(Stop: 0X000000D1 C0X00000000, 0X00000002, 0X00000000, oX00000000)
Beginning dump of physical memory
physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for
further assistance.
<\quote>

There has been no hardware added in the last 18 months or so and no
new software in the same time period. Device manager show nothing
out of the ordinary. What can I do to track down the cause of this
problem? She says it happens when she is surfing the web, or writing
in the word processor or even when using her email app.

0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

"The system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process IRQL
that was too high. The most typical cause is a bad device driver (one that
uses improper addresses). It can also be caused by caused by faulty or
mismatched RAM, or a damaged pagefile."

Also you can do Google web and group searches on that error for more info.

 

[Mistoffolees]

Howdy: My neighbor has a problem with her computer. It seems to
randomly crash for no apparent reason. When it does it gives this
message on a blue screen that covers about 3/4 of the screen and the
other 1/4 is black (at the bottom):

<quote>
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly
installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or
software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need. If
problems continue, disable BIOS memory options such as caching or
shadowing. You need to use safe mode to remove or disable
components. Restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced
Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

(Stop: 0X000000D1 C0X00000000, 0X00000002, 0X00000000, oX00000000)
Beginning dump of physical memory
physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for
further assistance.
<\quote>

There has been no hardware added in the last 18 months or so and no
new software in the same time period. Device manager show nothing
out of the ordinary. What can I do to track down the cause of this
problem? She says it happens when she is surfing the web, or writing
in the word processor or even when using her email app.

If no new hardware has been installed in the last 18 months, then how
about driver updates? The 0x000000D1 stop error can be associated with
defective and/or corrupt device drivers. From the description of the
way the monitor responds to the blue screen, it might, perhaps be good
to re-install the video drivers from their original cdrom or those that
are downloaded from the video card maker's website. If the computer is
set up for automatic updates, then one must be suspicious of flawed or
incorrect or even beta drivers being provided via this route.

 

[The Seabat]

Well, I installed a new INF file for the LCD monitor and the video
driver files, both of which I downloaded from Sony's web site. She
has been surfin' and messin' for the last 8 to 12 hours without nary
a problem, so it looks like that was it! (Fingers still crossed!)

Want to thank you both for the help and info. It was all
enlightening for me. Thank you.