MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION error

[bmd]

So. I posted about a week ago about having BSOD issues in windows XP where I'd randomly get BSODs while working, with various supposed causes. I thought the power supply was a likely culprit (the 3.3V rail was pretty low -- sometimes less than 3V), and someone here posted when they had such problems, it had always been the power supply. So, I went out and bought a nice shiny new Fortron Source 530W $76 power supply. Still got the BSODs. Talked to a friend of mine here at school who said he'd had similar problems with this brand of motherboard (ASUS), and so had his friend. So, I shelled out some cash for an Abit IS7 and 512MB of new Geil PC3200 DDR (current mobo was RDRAM =/).

I put the motherboard and RAM in today, and remembered I had to reinstall windows XP (home). I decided that while I was at it, I might as well upgrade to Pro, since I can get it for free through my school. Unfortunately, I'm now getting a new blue screen (while installing xp pro) -- MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION. I googled this and it said it occurs when the processor detects an uncorrectable hardware failure or something along those lines. So, I decided to go as barebones as possible. I plugged in my AGP video card (Ti 4400), left in the CPU, the RAM, one hard drive and my dvd drive. This combo gave me a machine_check_error before it could even get back into the XP pro setup. So, switched out the AGP video card for a PCI vid card, left the RAM, CPU and HD as before, and I'm still getting this error part way thru windows setup.

I've run memtest, and the memory checks out fine. I have a brand new PSU that outputs strong, steady voltages. For now I have the side of my case off and a fan blowing directly on the mobo to make sure there're no heat issues. I've tried two different video cards, and don't really have anything else critical plugged in except for the CPU. Is it possible the CPU is bad somehow? It's basically the one thing that I haven't replaced out of my entire computer. Any advice on how to proceed would be appreciated.

 

[montag451]

if everything else is ruled out, then what else could it be?

CPU or user error? ;-)

 

[meltdown75]

I've seen BSOD errors such as this pop up during bootup and install from a bad or failing HD. Could be that all you need to do is run chkdsk on the drive. If you don't have another system to hook the drive up to, see if you can boot into DOS and do it from there. This is assuming you can get to the prompt before you get the BSOD. Simply formatting the drive isn't enough - run chkdsk /f first and then give it a shot. Other than that, I would be stumped!

 

[bmd]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
I've seen BSOD errors such as this pop up during bootup and install from a bad or failing HD. Could be that all you need to do is run chkdsk on the drive. If you don't have another system to hook the drive up to, see if you can boot into DOS and do it from there. This is assuming you can get to the prompt before you get the BSOD. Simply formatting the drive isn't enough - run chkdsk /f first and then give it a shot. Other than that, I would be stumped!

This was something I had thought of, and I ran a full chkdsk /f on the drive and it came out fine. Even so, it's entirely possible this HD is failing -- I'm going to try and see if I can install windows on a new HD today. If I get the same error, I'll know it's not the HD.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: bmd

Originally posted by: meltdown75
I've seen BSOD errors such as this pop up during bootup and install from a bad or failing HD. Could be that all you need to do is run chkdsk on the drive. If you don't have another system to hook the drive up to, see if you can boot into DOS and do it from there. This is assuming you can get to the prompt before you get the BSOD. Simply formatting the drive isn't enough - run chkdsk /f first and then give it a shot. Other than that, I would be stumped!

This was something I had thought of, and I ran a full chkdsk /f on the drive and it came out fine. Even so, it's entirely possible this HD is failing -- I'm going to try and see if I can install windows on a new HD today. If I get the same error, I'll know it's not the HD.

well, how'd you make out?

 

[bmd]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: bmd

Originally posted by: meltdown75
I've seen BSOD errors such as this pop up during bootup and install from a bad or failing HD. Could be that all you need to do is run chkdsk on the drive. If you don't have another system to hook the drive up to, see if you can boot into DOS and do it from there. This is assuming you can get to the prompt before you get the BSOD. Simply formatting the drive isn't enough - run chkdsk /f first and then give it a shot. Other than that, I would be stumped!

This was something I had thought of, and I ran a full chkdsk /f on the drive and it came out fine. Even so, it's entirely possible this HD is failing -- I'm going to try and see if I can install windows on a new HD today. If I get the same error, I'll know it's not the HD.

well, how'd you make out?

Just tried installing on a hard drive I *know* is good, and I still get the MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION blue screen. That leaves the only part I haven't switched out to be the CPU, although I guess it's possible this is some sort of conflict between the motherboard and the memory or something... I'm pretty stumped/frustrated.