BSOD Help? =(

[kirbymixmasta]

I've done fresh windows installs 3 times so far. The first time, my computer would crash whenever I acessed my 2nd hdd. The 2nd time, it would just randomly BSOD. 3rd time(current one), the BSOD numbers have been reduced, but still BSOD's alot whenever I'm not looking. Even if I just install the essentials. Firefox, winamp, aim, cs, bittorrent. It seems to crash. But certain things crash it SOMETIMES. Sometimes, when I open an anime file, it will say it cannot read and it BSOD's. But this happens only some of the time. Some of the time I will open firefox, and I will be able to move my mouse for about 30 seconds. Music freezes, I can't click on any windows, and task manager won't come up. Then I get a BSOD. I find myself getting BSOD's when I leave aim on sometimes when I go out. But this never happened before I had to reformat(virus). So anyone have any idea what might be causing AIM(or something else) to BSOD me this much?

 

[mechBgon]

Hit Quote and replace the info in this sample with your own, including the stuff at the bottom relating to security.

• CORE HARDWARE
  • Power supply Antec TruePower 430
  • Motherboard Asus K8N-E Deluxe
    • Revision 1.03
    • BIOS 1005
  • CPU Athlon64 3000+
    • Core 130nm Clawhammer
  • Memory (2) 512MB Corsair XMS 3200C2 modules
    • Voltage Manually set to 2.7 volts
    • Timings AUTO, results in 2-3-2-6 @ 200MHz
• CARDS
  • Primary video card ATI Radeon 9800Pro AGP 8x
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 LeadTek Winfast TV/FM tuner card
  • PCI slot #4 Creative Audigy 2 ZS
  • PCI slot #5 LSI Logic Ultra160 SCSI
  • PCI slot #6 N/A (this board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 160GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Serial ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 SATA controller
    • Jumper setting not applicable (SATA)
  • Additional hard drive 40GB Seagate 7200.7
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, primary
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive 18GB Seagate Cheetah 15k.3
    • Interface SCSI
    • Controller hosting this drive LSI Logic U160 card
    • Jumper setting SCSI ID 01
  • Optical drive #1 NEC 3500A DVD burner
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2 Lite-On combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW
    • Interface Parallel ATA
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce3 standard ATA controller, secondary
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting Slave
• OS AND SECURITY
  • Operating System WindowsXP Professional
  • Service Pack SP2
  • Internet connection Cable
  • Hardware firewall Netgear RP614 router
  • Software firewall WindowsXP firewall
  • Antivirus Norton Antivirus 2004

 

[kirbymixmasta]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Hit Quote and replace the info in this sample with your own, including the stuff at the bottom relating to security.

• CORE HARDWARE
  • Power supply Fortron 400w
  • Motherboard ECS A939
    • Revision 1.0
    • BIOS 1.0e
  • CPU Athlon64 3200+
    • Core 90nm Venice
  • Memory (2) 512MB Corsair Value
    • Voltage Stock 1.4v
    • Timings Auto, will check timings in a bit, 250
• CARDS
  • Primary video card Gigabyte 6600gt PCI-E
  • PCI slot #1 (top) empty
  • PCI slot #2 empty
  • PCI slot #3 Empty
  • PCI slot #4 Empty
  • PCI slot #5 N/A
  • PCI slot #6 N/A (this board only has five PCI slots)
• DRIVES
  • Boot drive 120GB Maxtor 7200
    • Interface ATA133
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce4 IDE
    • Jumper setting Slave
  • Additional hard drive 120GB Maxtor 7200
    • Interface ATA133
    • Controller hosting this drive nForce4 IDE
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Additional hard drive
    • Interface
    • Controller hosting this drive
    • Jumper setting
  • Optical drive #1 HP DVD Burner
    • Interface ATA133
    • Controller hosting this drive How do i chcek?
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting Master
  • Optical drive #2
    • Interface
    • Controller hosting this drive
      
      channel
    • Jumper setting
• OS AND SECURITY
  • Operating System WindowsXP Home
  • Service Pack SP2
  • Internet connection Cable
  • Hardware firewall SMC 7004VWBR Router
  • Software firewall WindowsXP firewall
  • Antivirus Norton 2004

 

[mechBgon]

Could you re-check the RAM voltage? It can't be 1.4 volts For that combo, if you can set the RAM voltage specifically, try 2.7 volts. If problems persist, next do an overnight test using Memtest86 to see how the RAM fares in an isolated situation.

Also... reading between the lines a little, it looks like you still have some risk factors in the way of file sharing and ??? so here are some security-oriented questions:

1) in your Norton Antivirus 2004,

• are all the Expanded Threats categories enabled
• is Heuristics set to Maximum, for both the real-time protection and the manual scan settings
• is compressed-file scanning enabled for both real-time and manual scan

2) have you run a Live Update to update all components of NAV2004

3) have you run a virus scan today

4) have you tried a different brand of scanner such as an online scan at TrendMicro Housecall? If not, here's another super way to get a "second opinion"... right-click and save, follow directions precisely

In the last 24 hours, McAfee has added detection for 34 new pieces of malware and enhanced their detections for 92 more. What scans clean today may still have junk hiding inside that simply isn't recognized yet. Weigh this risk when playing with the P2P, because there's new malware coming out every hour of the day and some of it seeds itself on P2P networks as an easy way of spreading.

 

[kirbymixmasta]

Oh sorry, I thought that was cpu vcore. The vdimm is 2.6v.
I just did all of that for Norton, nothing shows up. I'll see if I get another BSOD after leaving my computer on overnight. I will try that Trendmicro Housecall right now.

 

[mechBgon]

The McAfee one I linked to is a free utility, try it overnight But first, can I suggest cranking up the RAM voltage a hair? 2.7 volts won't hurt it, and might stabilize it. If all they give you for RAM-voltage adjustments is Normal and High, try High.

1) raise RAM voltage

2) overnight McAfee scan utility in Safe Mode

3) if problems persist, let it run Memtest86 while you're at work/school to see how the RAM checks out in isolation

4) consider testing in actual usage with just one memory module too, consult the motherboard's owner manual for which slot to put a single into


Also, if you need a new antivirus program but can't afford to buy one, and your PC is not a business PC, then you can use AntiVir free antivirus software. You got to go through eleventy beelion panels to get all the capabilities turned on, it's not pretty... but it's free. Update it manually every morning, since getting it set up to auto-update involves animal sacrifice and special incantations

 

[kirbymixmasta]

Um i tried running the MfAfee scan in normal windows(since i was in the middle of typing up something for hw). But it found nothing. I'll try overnight in safe.. if it takes alot longer? If not I can just do it right now since this one took 10-15 mins. I will go raise the vdimm right now.

 

[kirbymixmasta]

Last night, before I slept, I upped the vdimm to 2.7v. And then I ran the scanner overnight in safe. Came in this morning was fine. But I forgot to run memtest, I came back and sure enough I had a BSOD. But I had left AIM on overschool, but not overnight. I'm really beginning to think leaving AIM on while I'm away is causing these BSOD's. I've never had this problem with any computer before. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: kirbymixmasta
Last night, before I slept, I upped the vdimm to 2.7v. And then I ran the scanner overnight in safe. Came in this morning was fine. But I forgot to run memtest, I came back and sure enough I had a BSOD. But I had left AIM on overschool, but not overnight. I'm really beginning to think leaving AIM on while I'm away is causing these BSOD's. I've never had this problem with any computer before. Does anyone have any idea why this is happening?

BSODs are typically caused by either bad hardware or bad drivers. What's the exact error message? Update all your drivers and do ALL Windows Updates (critical and non-critical) and then, if the problem persists, run MPSReports and send me the resulting .cab file, and give me any files found in c:\windows\minidump created AFTER you did all that driver updating.

Order is important. Do all updates before doing anything else.

 

[Blake]

You say you are using two 120GB Maxtor 7200 HDD's, but the operating system is on the boot drive which you have set to slave. The other HDD is master. This doesn't sound right.

Have you tried installing the operating system on the primary ide master? You can install the second drive later after you are up and running. Check for the correct jumper settings on the HDD too.

 

[kirbymixmasta]

I reinstalled, but when formatting before windows I chose the normal one, not QUICK. No problems so far.

 

[str88shooter]

I've been reading your post with some interest..I was just wondering how it all finished.
I seem to have similar issues, and it all seems to be going back to the 6600GT VC.
I have a 450 watt PSU and I am reading a quite a few posts that say my system is underpowered. At present I have pulled the card out and put my old one back in and havent had a crash since, where as, when I had the 6600gt in, my system would crash every 20 minutes or so. I am going to buy a 650watt PSU soon. Seems like an awful lot of cash just to play BF2 but I guess it will be worth it in the end.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: str88shooter
I've been reading your post with some interest..I was just wondering how it all finished.
I seem to have similar issues, and it all seems to be going back to the 6600GT VC.
I have a 450 watt PSU and I am reading a quite a few posts that say my system is underpowered. At present I have pulled the card out and put my old one back in and havent had a crash since, where as, when I had the 6600gt in, my system would crash every 20 minutes or so. I am going to buy a 650watt PSU soon. Seems like an awful lot of cash just to play BF2 but I guess it will be worth it in the end.

Before you spend any more $ I suggest you have someone look at the dumps that are generated (I can if you like) to determine the actual problem, as it's entirely possible it's simply a video driver that's killing your system rather than the power supply.