Need help, getting blue screen...

[etecnifibre]

Hey guys, having some problems over here. I want to first thank anyone in advance who might help.

Here's the deal. My computer has been acting up lately. First, the vitals:

Antec Sonata case
WD Raptor 74G 10K RPM drive
2 sticks of 512MB Crucial
Gigabyte 8IK1100 MB (875P)
P4 3.0Ghz (socket 478)
ATI All In Wonder 9600XT

My ATI program stopped working, so I decided to reformat since I hadn't done so in quite some time, and I've never had any luck fixing ATI MMC.

So, I reformatted with my Windows XP Pro disk that I've had since about 2001. I have to install SP2 and a thousand updates after install. On my latest install, I was unable to install SP2. My system would get halfway through and just totally lock up. I broke down and bought a brand new Windows XP home disk with SP2 already included in the install.

In the meantime, I just installed XP Pro and decided not to try to update it, as I was only using IE and Outlook Express. I was getting the blue screen. I had XP on two hard drives, and was getting the same error on both.

Well, tonight, I am trying to install XP home on my system, and it stopped and I got the blue screen.

I don't recall the year I built this system, maybe someone with a lot of knowledge that keeps up with computer hardware can guess, but I want to say I've had the system for 5 years at least.

My CPU temp is fine. I was able to capture video with the XP Pro install without SP2.

Do I need new memory? These problems baffle me. Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot? I didn't catch the exact error messages, but you guys are familiar, I'm sure. I've been getting all kinds of blue screen, not the same one every time.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read and to help me out with my problem. I'd rather not take it somewhere. For the cost they'd charge to troubleshoot and for a simple memory upgrade, I could build a new system.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: etecnifibre
Hey guys, having some problems over here. I want to first thank anyone in advance who might help.

Here's the deal. My computer has been acting up lately. First, the vitals:

Antec Sonata case
WD Raptor 74G 10K RPM drive
2 sticks of 512MB Crucial
Gigabyte 8IK1100 MB (875P)
P4 3.0Ghz (socket 478)
ATI All In Wonder 9600XT

My ATI program stopped working, so I decided to reformat since I hadn't done so in quite some time, and I've never had any luck fixing ATI MMC.

So, I reformatted with my Windows XP Pro disk that I've had since about 2001. I have to install SP2 and a thousand updates after install. On my latest install, I was unable to install SP2. My system would get halfway through and just totally lock up. I broke down and bought a brand new Windows XP home disk with SP2 already included in the install.

In the meantime, I just installed XP Pro and decided not to try to update it, as I was only using IE and Outlook Express. I was getting the blue screen. I had XP on two hard drives, and was getting the same error on both.

Well, tonight, I am trying to install XP home on my system, and it stopped and I got the blue screen.

I don't recall the year I built this system, maybe someone with a lot of knowledge that keeps up with computer hardware can guess, but I want to say I've had the system for 5 years at least.

My CPU temp is fine. I was able to capture video with the XP Pro install without SP2.

Do I need new memory? These problems baffle me. Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot? I didn't catch the exact error messages, but you guys are familiar, I'm sure. I've been getting all kinds of blue screen, not the same one every time.

Once again, thanks for taking the time to read and to help me out with my problem. I'd rather not take it somewhere. For the cost they'd charge for a simple memory upgrade, I could build a new system.

To me it sounds like hardware.

That said, to t-shoot BSOD issues, debug the memory dump; see my website for exact directions. Look at all your minidumps, and if they're all different, you have a hardware issue; if they're the same, it's most likely that (what the debugger points at) is the problem.

If it's not the same (as you say) it's most likely a hardware issue. That it happens installing OS-level components further suggests that.

 

[etecnifibre]

"To me it sounds like hardware.

That said, to t-shoot BSOD issues, debug the memory dump; see my website for exact directions. Look at all your minidumps, and if they're all different, you have a hardware issue; if they're the same, it's most likely that (what the debugger points at) is the problem.

If it's not the same (as you say) it's most likely a hardware issue. That it happens installing OS-level components further suggests that.
"

Thanks, dclive. In your expert opinion, without knowing anything other than what I've given you, what hardware would you say is the culprit (please don't say motherboard, it's a pain in the ass, lol).

Your site instructions are very deep. Deeper than anything I've dealt with. I know my way around Windows and the hardware of my computer very well. I've just never dealt with the registry, etc.

When you say go to c:/windows/minidump, is that referring to my my local harddrive and the Windows folder, or are you talking about the C prompt? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

Also, would you say it's more than likely not my hard drive, since I've had the same issue on two seperate drives? I know that sounds like the logical answer, but I worked avation electronics in the Navy and using that logic found us chasing problems for days that turned out not to be the issue.

Thanks again for taking the time to help. Go Hoosiers.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: etecnifibre
Thanks, dclive. In your expert opinion, without knowing anything other than what I've given you, what hardware would you say is the culprit (please don't say motherboard, it's a pain in the ass, lol).

This is where I say "Please speak with your OEM vendor - Dell, Compaq, HP." This is why I suggest people buy HP, Dell, Compaq - because they won't get caught in the middle of these disaster scenarios. Sorry.

Your site instructions are very deep. Deeper than anything I've dealt with. I know my way around Windows and the hardware of my computer very well. I've just never dealt with the registry, etc.

When you say go to c:/windows/minidump, is that referring to my my local harddrive and the Windows folder, or are you talking about the C prompt? Sorry if that's a dumb question.

Just go in Windows Explorer to c:\windows\minidumps and check out the files there using the directions (Windows Debugger setup...).

Also, would you say it's more than likely not my hard drive, since I've had the same issue on two seperate drives? I know that sounds like the logical answer, but I worked avation electronics in the Navy and using that logic found us chasing problems for days that turned out not to be the issue. Thanks again for taking the time to help.

I doubt it's the hard drive. The classic thing to do is rip out everything not nailed down to the motherboard, put in the smallest amount of peripherals you can, and see if the issue repros.

 

[etecnifibre]

Thanks for the help.

The problem with buying a premade system is that I don't get what I WANT, and I get a bunch of shit that I don't NEED.

Anyway, she seems to be running fine now. I have your site available, so if it happens again, I'll go there and try to figure out why. I've got XP installed now, and Norton installed. I'm getting ready to install Windows updates, so hopefully, I'll be fine from here on out.

Thanks once again for the time you took helping me out.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: etecnifibre
Thanks for the help.

The problem with buying a premade system is that I don't get what I WANT, and I get a bunch of shit that I don't NEED.

Anyway, she seems to be running fine now. I have your site available, so if it happens again, I'll go there and try to figure out why. I've got XP installed now, and Norton installed. I'm getting ready to install Windows updates, so hopefully, I'll be fine from here on out.

Thanks once again for the time you took helping me out.

While it's running, get the debugger going and figure out why it crashed. MUCH easier now than later.