First off, here are my computer specs:
Abit IC7-G Max II (mobo)
1024MB DDR PC3200 (qty. 2 x 512mb Corsair xms)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
Windows XP Professional
Hopefully these specs, which are not complete, will be helpful when trying to figure out my problem.
I custom built this computer, about 1 1/2 years ago, worked well up until late February. During this month, my 6 month-old internal TV tuner, the ATI TV Wonder Pro, started to crap out. I had downloaded the latest drivers and software from ATI, installed them, and re-installed them, and tried to make due with the older drivers of the manufacturer's CD that came on from the box.
Whenever I executed the program "TV" (how original), my computer would ubruptly restart (screen goes black, etc. - NO BLUE SCREEN). So, after numerous attempts to get the TV Tuner to work, I requested a RMA from ATI.
Anyways, that is the history. About a few weeks (w/o the blue screen of death or random restarts of windows) after I uninstalled and removed the TV tuner, my computer started to spontaneously error to a blue screen, which prompted that a software or hardware is not functioning properly (I'm paraphrasing) and that a driver wasn't working properly.
This error came up only after a few minutes of playing on a internet game server of counter-strike (the game was running), progressively occuring during normal operations of other programs as well.
My computer continued to restart randomly, so I decided to re-format the hard drives and reinstall Windows XP. I did such, re-formating both my C: and D: hard drives. Unfortunately, this was only a temporary solution, lasting only a few days.
A different "error" (sort-of-speak) happened. Not the blue screen or random restarts, but rather many of my programs (internet explorer, even mozilla after a while, windows media player, etc.). I had to CTRL-ALT-DELETE and End Task so many times I lost count.
Lucky me, I re-installed Windows XP Pro (the second time), reformatting the hard drives... blah blah. Now, Windows still comes back to haunt me.
Here is the (most recent) problem. This blue screen error comes up frequently:
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"PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA"
It does a memory dump... etc.
The error tells me: If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
The error recommends: Run a system diagnostic utility supplied by your hardware manufacturer. In particular, run a memory check, and check for faulty or mismatched memory. Try changing video adapters.
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So, I do such... I went into BIOS, under Advanced Chipset Features, I changed disabled both the "System BIOS Cacheable" and "Video BIOS Cacheable" options. The problem/error persisted.
After google'ing "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA", I read a few of the results and determined that is more often associated with RAM or Video Cards. So, knowing that my RAM has worked since the day I built this puppy, I just checked to make sure that the both RAM modules were snug and in.
Then, I made sure that my video adapter had the right driver. I went to ATI's website, downloaded and installed the latest catalyst, and the error came up and the computer would still restart (randomly like before). I rollbacked the video adapter's driver in Device Manager, and that fixed nothing.
The last and final thing that I did, like suggested, is changed the video adapter. Last night, I uinstalled the ATI Radeon 9800 pro, and swapped it with my other computer's nVidia 5700 ultra. So far, the error hasn't resurfaced, but I woke up to this error after leaving the computer on overnight:
"PFN_LIST_CORRUPT"
So far, the computer hasn't restarted, YET, but I don't know whether or not this continual problem is associated with Microsoft's Windows itself, or its uncooperation with my video card, or even another component (that I don't know of).... Please help me out. Thanks.