Question about fixing BSODs

[aplefka]

Been getting the DRIVER IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL variety for a couple weeks now. Finally decided it pissed me off to come here to check it out.

I figured out how to debug and debugged a dump from 5 days ago (the most recent one was supposedly corrupted) and it says memory_corruption. This specific instance was probably running Madden 07 as it says mainapp.exe was the process name.

My question is how exactly do I go about fixing this issue? Does this mean my RAM is corrupt or what? I'm so far out of my element right now and I just want my new computer to work right.

Edit:
Specs:
Mobo: ASUS M2N-E SLI
CPU: Athlon X2 5600+ Windsor
RAM: G.Skill 2 GB (2x1GB)
Vid Card: MSI 8600 GTS
2 optical drives
3 hard drives (2 IDE, 1 SATA)
PCI wireless card
Thermaltake PSU

Will add links/model #s later

 

[oztrailrider]

If that is the case then I would suspect you have a bad stick of RAM in your system, try running memtest86. That will tell you for certain. If the result does come up bad and you have multiple sticks of RAM in your system then you will need to test each one individually to find out which one it is. Good luck.

 

[aplefka]

Edit: Never mind, I answer my own question by seeing you can make a bootable CD-ROM now instead of floppy disk.

Will test it out and see what's up.

 

[aplefka]

Okay so I just spent the past hour and a half running memtest and no errors were reported. I tried using each stick individually and when that turned up nothing I thought something would definitely show up when I put them both in together. No go. So now what's my next step?

 

[dclive]

Turn on driver verifier (start/run/verifier<enter>NEXT,NEXT,Finish) then reboot. That will enable enhanced checking for errors and issues with your drivers.

If you can't boot after that go into safe mode and re-run verifier and turn everything off.

 

[aplefka]

So will this allow enhanced checking for errors in memtest or do I need to use a different diagnostic tool to check my RAM?

 

[Pez D Spencer]

when you turn on the driver verifier and reboot, it'll check all the drivers that are loaded as windows boots. if one of them is corrupt/bad the PC will blue screen and it'll say "error in xxxx.sys" or something to that effect. I was getting the same error and found that sptd.sys was the problem by using the verifier. I looked on the net and found that sptd.sys is used by alcohol. I uninstalled alcohol and the error went away.

 

[seemingly random]

You're obviously not a person to shy away from difficult work. Looking at dumps can suck the life out of a person.

I can't believe that I've been using Windows for years and not been aware of verifier. Pretty slick. Don't need it now but will try to remember it for the future. It's in w2k also.

I had the same error on a PI 233mhz/nt 3.51. A new processor made the error go away. Hope that's not the case here. If the error is an accurate description of the problem, it could be that the interrupt vector table is being overwritten/corrupted. This could be caused by bad ram as well as errant s/w.

If verifier doesn't reveal the problem, maybe you could run a while with one stick of ram. Frequency of the error?

 

[aplefka]

Haha AT has taught me to come here when it comes to technical matters so going through the dumps wasn't a huge issue. It shouldn't be the CPU because this is a completely new system. I'll be pissed if it is though since I bought it OEM and I know it's been about a month now. I should've come here right away when the first BSOD showed up merely hours after I got the computer working. It's always during either Madden or NFSMW

I'll do the driver thing and hopefully it's a simple fix like Pez's was. Except I don't have alcohol installed, so that's weird.

Edit: Nothing happened when I did the driver verifier and rebooted. There were only two unsigned drivers but nothing showed up. I did however get an error report upon rebooting and when I looked at the details the two files involved were the latest dump file (Mini100907-01.dmp; which was corrupt when I tried to debug it) and sysdata.xml. Any thoughts?

Edit 2: Great, so the last edit was at 11:44 and at about 12:25 I just got another new BSOD randomly as I was browsing the internet and talking on AIM. I had Steam updating in the background but that was it. The error was MULTIPLE_IRP_COMPLETE_REQUESTS. I'll debug the minidump now and post back later.

 

[seemingly random]

orthos (using the default test:blend) might reveal something. Drag the contents of the .cab to a new folder. It'll stress the cpu and ram. To eliminate ram suspicions, maybe try simply reversing slots. If this and orthos don't reveal anything, then you can focus elsewhere.

I try not to ask this too often, but have you done a virus/malware check?

Worst case: reformat and reload the os and install just the apps that seem to cause the problem.

 

[dclive]

Don't reformat and reinstall. Debug the dump first.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: seemingly random
orthos (using the default test:blend) might reveal something. Drag the contents of the .cab to a new folder. It'll stress the cpu and ram. To eliminate ram suspicions, maybe try simply reversing slots. If this and orthos don't reveal anything, then you can focus elsewhere.

I try not to ask this too often, but have you done a virus/malware check?

Worst case: reformat and reload the os and install just the apps that seem to cause the problem.

I've already tried switching slots. I did that after memtest found no errors. I guess you could say things worked out after that but now I got that new BSOD and who knows?

I'm gonna debug the dump right now. I only hope it's not corrupted like the last one was.

Edit: I really hate life right now. I can't debug it because it says it's corrupted. Then I noticed there's one dated the 9th and go to check that one out. it's corrupted too. Fvck Windows man. Why can't my computer just work how it's supposed to? :|

NFSMW barely runs now, it's so incredibly choppy. Not at all what it should be for running on an 8600 and a 2.8 X2 CPU.

 

[dclive]

Mail me the dumpfiles (all of them) found in c:\windows\minidumps. ZIp them and mail them.

 

[aplefka]

Sent.

 

[dclive]

Yep, they're corrupt...sorry.

verifier didn't show anything else after you enabled it with all default options and then rebooted?

Run MPSReports and send me the resulting computername.cab file.

 

[aplefka]

Sent.

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: aplefkaI've already tried switching slots.

Good. orthos? Trying to methodically eliminate h/w suspects.

ck Windows man.

Maybe appropriate but at this point we don't know if it's XP, h/w or 3rd party s/w. Embarrassingly, I've been known to pound on the kbd when a piece of code doesn't work. The pc is definitely sick but we don't know why. The corrupt files could be caused by h/w or s/w. Leaning towards s/w though since h/w problems would be more glaring.

Don't reformat and reinstall. Debug the dump first.

Of course. Note the 'worst case:' preamble. Even though it's so disruptive, it does seem to be getting close to this point - for sanity's sake.

 

[seemingly random]

Has the hd been scanned for errors?

 

[dclive]

You're getting all kinds of random errors.

 

[aplefka]

So I'm not sure what the deal is. I started that Orthos test and walked out of the room to check the SC score and I came back and my computer had restarted. Anywhere I can go that'll give me a report on the test?

And dlcive, define all kinds of random errors.

 

[dclive]

SW20 REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\sw20.exe
SW24 REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\sw24.exe
WinSys2 REG_SZ C:\WINDOWS\system32\winsys2.exe


Unless you can ID these files, you're probably infested with malware.

If that's correct, and you cannot ID those files, *then* I'd suggest talking about that reinstall.

 

[seemingly random]

Now we're getting somewhere. At this point, it's unclear if there is marginal h/w (ram, cpu or mb) since the integrity of the contents of the hd is questionable. Before you start replacing parts I would remove the mb from the case, reformat and reload the OS.

Random errors in itself is indicative of a problem - probably fruitless trying to dissect it.

And BTW, AMD replaced a 4200 939 for me that was almost a year old - replaced it with a 4400.

 

[seemingly random]

If you're going to reload, just to be sure, I'd wipe the disk first since some malware can infect the boot sector.

 

[aplefka]

I just reformatted less than a month ago though, so this makes no sense. And before that I never had any issues.

I don't understand how I'd get malware either since I JUST got wireless internet like a week ago. Man.

 

[seemingly random]

You can get malware five minutes after attaching to the Internet. If the OS is updated and not opening up unknown email attachments then it probably depends on the sites visited.

You can also re-get it if reinstalling a package that's infested.