Error Caused By A Device Driver

Hello everyone, I am obviously new to the forums... I did a quick search on my problem first and could not find the answer that I am looking for, so I'm sorry if this has been asked before or if this is posted in the wrong forum.

Within the last couple of weeks, my computer will cut off in the middle of whatever I'm doing, and once it restarts I always send an error report - This is the response I keep getting, "Error Caused By A Device Driver"... http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=7435279f-6166-40ae-8839-36c364eb448b&SID=10 - There's another error message that I've received saying something about a "bad device driver", but I forgot to save the link for it.

I do not have the first clue as to how to fix this, even following Microsoft's Troubleshooting tips.

I had previously visited this forum through a google search and installed SpyBot Search and Destroy several months ago. Then about a month or two later, I installed Ad-Aware. About 2 weeks ago I installed Avast and Sygate Personal Firewall, but I kept having problems with Sygate, so I uninstalled it and am currently using the Firewall through Windows XP. (I keep my computer updated with "Windows XP Service Pack 2" updates as well.)

I suspect that my problem may be coming from the SpyBot Search and Destroy, but I am not really sure??? Sometimes my computer cuts off during the "check for problems" with it, or I get the following error message now when using it...

-"Error during check!
NuclearBot [Zugriffsverletzung bei Adresse 00529212 in Modul 'SpybotSD.exe'. Lesen von Adresse FFFFFFF8]
- Congratulations!
No immediate threats were found."

I sent an email for help with this at the SpyBot Search and Destroy website, but have not received a response yet.

I do know that my 15 year old daughter just recently installed a program named "Real Arcade", but I was having the error problems prior to her installing it. I did notice when I updated the SpyBot Search and Destroy that I had new SpyWare on my computer, but I don't know if it came from the "Real Arcade" program or what. - She also uses KaZaA frequently, which I fear of having problems occur from shared files.

Also, I just purchased an LCD monitor, because my CRT died last Fri. (I had only had it for about a year, and the one before it I'd only had just under a year.) I don't know why I keep going through monitors, but I guess that's another issue in itself?

I did not know the first thing about computers, until the summer of 2002. I didn't even know how to get on one, or how to send an email, etc... So everything that I do know now, I taught myself and I'm still learning more and more everyday. I have learned enough to be able to create 4 websites, but not enough to fix some of the problems that occur on my computer.

OH... Also, sometimes when turning my computer off, there is a message box that comes up just before it shuts down, but I can't remember what it says.... (something that has numbers and says something about memory and couldn't be written.)

If anyone can help (in plain English) I'd really appreciate it!

I am specifically looking for help on finding the "bad device driver" that is causing my problems, and how to fix it.

Thank you!

Karen


(By the way, sorry for the length of this post!)

 

Well, its tough to say what it could be without a hint from the error screen (usually near the bottom it will give a piece of the driver that failed--for example, an nvidia graphics card driver might say 'nv4disp.dll failed'..if it gives none, it will sometimes give a stop error code 'Stop 0x00000008B' or so)

if you can catch this, it would be useful.. if not, here are some things you can try.

first, go to Start>Run and type 'eventvwr' and press enter
Look under system for any errors, and if they give a device that might have caused it.

1) Power off your PC. if you feel comfortable, remove the side panel, and 'reseat' (take out and put back in) the RAM, and the Graphics card if there is one. something could be ajar and causing an error.

2)Locate your graphics card driver (preferably from Add/Remove programs) and uninstall it. Restart the computer and install the latest Grapihcs driver. If you need help, list your computer specs and we'll track them down.

it is VERY often the RAM or video card that cuase these kind of errors.

Also, some advice. ask your daughter to save all of her important files, and uninstall Kazaa. It's simply not worth the trouble anymore. perhaps try the free version of Bearshare. It has 'WhenU' and 'SaveNow' ad/spyware in it, but if you run ad-aware and spybot as soon as you install it (before allowing it to run), they will go away and not pester you again. I find it an excellent alternative to Kazaa.

Also, if you havent recently, schedule a boot-time scan with Avast. These are very helpful. (good choice with Avast ).

A recommendation for once you get this solved.... If you want to try another firewall, try Kerio Personal Firewall. There is a limited-free version that works great, and has a 'simple mode' or an 'advanced mode' which lets you have a lot more control. Advanced mode will teach you a lot about what kind of processes are running if you pay attention

if those first 2 recommendations don't work, we can tell you how to get that 'blue screen of death' to stay there so you can read the error message and further diagnose the problem.

hows a long post to answer a long post?

 

I would say with 90% certainty that at least one of your problem revolves around spyware ... even if you don't have any on your computer now, you did at one point and it damaged whatever driver is causing your problem

here is a good tut on how to remove the nasty pests:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407

(BTW bearshare has spyware too)

 

Thank you both so much for responding!

So far this is all that I have accomplished, I thought I'd post it real quick, before taking my daughter to school this morning......

I used "Run" and looked under system for errors, and found this file multiple times under Error...
faultrep.dll

I also found Warnings - "Source Tcpip" file name...
xpsp2res.dll

I went under Antivirus, during the "Run" and found the following Warning all down the page...

AAVM - scanning warnings: x_AavmCheckFileDirectEx:
http://majorgeeks.com/downloads7.html (C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\PxB5C.tmp) returning error, 0000A491.


...By the way, is this what computer specs are? lol (OK, don't laugh - I don't know much about anything)

eMachines T2085
AMD Athlon(tm)XP 2000+
1.66 GHz
224 MB of RAM
80GB
56k
256MB
Windows XP Home Edition


I'll have to re-read the rest of what all you two said, after a while...

Karen

("hows a long post to answer a long post?" -- GREAT! Thanks for the help!!!!)

 

HELP!!!!

My computer is shutting off over and over again and I am at a total loss! I've only been able to follow some of the steps that both of you had posted.

I used "Run" as noted above, and I followed these steps http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=31668 and these http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=37650

In tip #4 here http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407 I've been unable to download CCleaner for sure and possibly a few others?

I've received several "System has recovered from a serious error" notices...

Here are some of the errors/notices I'm getting:

1) Generic Host Process for Win32 Services has encountered a problem and needed to close.

szAppName: svchost.exe

The following files will be included in this error report:

C:\DOCUME~1\KAREN\LOCALS~\Temp\WERa5b1.dir00\svchost.exe.mdmp
C:\DOCUME~1\KAREN\LOCALS~\Temp\WERa5b1.dir00\appcompat.txt

---Separate report:

C:\DOCUME~1\KAREN\LOCALS~\Temp\WERa64a.dir00\Mini031205.01.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\KAREN\LOCALS~\Temp\WERa64a.dir00\sysdata.xml


2) The instructions at 0x7C91033.... (Couldn't write the rest down fast enough) -- It finished with something like Memory could not be written.


3) Error Caused By A Device Driver http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=33c0d345-f855-4d66-bf7e-76bac3804819&SID=10
This is the one noted in my first post... I keep getting this one all the time now.


4) Error Caused by Graphics Device Driver http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=ec4a2258-8c47-45b5-a082-1f527a76dc13&SID=11
Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078)

(This is the first time I've received this one - got 2 back to back!) Here is the rest of that one....

AppName: explorer.exe
ModName: ntdll.dll
C:\DOCUME~1\KAREN\LOCALS~\Temp\cca0_appcompat.txt


5) The ones above, in my last post too

*There may be more, but I believe they have the same file names, etc. as above...(?)


All my images/pictures saved in my documents now have the .gif or .jpg attatched at the end, where as before they did not. (Well they did not in the viewable part, only when I clicked on the image in the past... If I try to rename them, I have to add the .gif or .jpg in the renaming or I can't rename them; never had to do that before -- This just happened a few moments ago.)

Another problem that I've had in the last 24 hours is with Homestead - The company that I build my websites through. Everytime I'd launch the site builder, I'd get an error message that it needed to close. -- That RARELY happens, but today it happened over and over again as I was trying to work on my websites.)

I am so frustrated and do not know what to do. I never really had any problems with my computer other than getting rid of spyware (in the past few months), and for me to try troubleshooting these device driver problems is like learning a foreign language totally new to me! UGH!

I don't know how to do the following (and I'm a little scared to, but looks like I don't really have much of a choice):

How do I find the latest graphics driver, etc... I listed what I believe to be my computer specs in my last post; tell me if I'm wrong.

If anyone can help, I'd be ever so grateful!

Karen

Yet another lengthy post...

 

OK... Now my computer just completely froze up on me and I had to turn it off with the power surge strip's off switch. I unplugged it for a few minutes and just started it back up.

I am really getting worried about what is going on here.

 

Can you start in Safe Mode.


As you restart, press the F8 repeatedly and it should show you a screen with the option safe mode w/networking.

That's the first step. If we can get it started we have a fighting chance, don't despair

If you can get it started in safe mode post back please.

What is your graphics Card?

 

Hi g1lgam3sh, thank you so much for replying!

I pressed the F8 key over and over again and could not get a screen with the safe mode option....

I have no idea? I don't know much about the computer itself... I'm on it often, but I'm a newbie to technical issues.

How do I find out what Graphics Card I have?

Thanks!!

By the way, I haven't had it freeze on me again (yet).

 

Is it in device manager, under "Display adapters"? -- S3 Graphics ProSavageDDR

OR is it under "Sound, video and game controllers"? -- Legacy Video Capture Devices

OR am I totally off here???????? I just don't know.

 

If you go to the Emachines website (www.emachines.com), you should be able to find drivers for that particular system by model number. It appears you have an onboard video chip, and the site will tell you which one and you can download drivers for it and reinstall them. A member on another board turned me on to a great little program called CCleaner (Crap Cleaner) that can help clean up you machine of all sorts of needless temp files and registry entries, and it is free. It is also available at this site under Hard drive cleaners. I removed 600 megs the first time I ran it on my system. hope this is of some help.

Display Adapters is what you are looking for (Savage)

 

OK, let's try this first. You have a driver issue and it looks as if if graphics may be the culprit.


In device manager select the S3 ProSavage, right click and uninstall. Then reboot. This should force Windows to redetect the card and reinstall the drivers. May not work but it's worth a try.

You seem to have other issues, but one step at a time.

Pressing the F8 key, when the computer starts and goes through it's POST routine, keep tapping the F* key, this will interrupt the normal boot and should give you that screen If you have a multimedia keyboard make sure the function keys are enabled. There's usually a button on top left for that. You can't always catch F8 right first time, try again. But first let's try removing and reinstalling the graphics card.


Edit. Good advice from BillD there, always best to have the latest drivers. Download them and have them handy. Agree about Crap Cleaner but we'll get to that a little further down the line.

 

OK... I still can't get safe mode to work!

I just uninstalled the S3 ProSavage and OMG everything looks huge!

Apparently this did not force Windows to redetect the card and reinstall the drivers... Now what should I do?

...I went to emachines and couldn't find a search link for drivers as of yet, will go back and recheck, but do I need to reinstall S3 ProSavage? OR?????


Thank you all so much again!

 

The reason you are seeing such a large screen is that you are running VGA at the lowest native resolution, not to worry


Here is a link for your new drivers, download and install them and then restart. That should hopefully solve that.

http://drivers.soft32.com/driver/download-S3_Graphics_ProSavage-24030.html




I'm just gonna cook my stirfry, back in 20.

 

OOPS.... I just found S3 ProSavage on emachines website and installed it. I then restarted my computer (trying the F8 too when starting up, which didn't work again).

My computer crashed again and I received the following error message:

Error Caused by Graphics Device Driver http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=45b2e05d-c6c1-47d2-a61f-72761c88e133&SID=11

Error Message: STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER (Q293078)

(This was after uninstalling the old one, and installing the new one.)

Also, now all of my text is EXTREMELY SMALL now, even after going to view, text size, largest.

Strange!

---

Should I uninstall it and do the one you've get there?


....stirfry....mmmmm

 

Yes, do a proper uninstall through Add/Remove if you can. Then go to Device Manager and ensure all traces are removed.*


Forget the F8 for now, let's try and get this graphic thing going first .

Also, let's double check, go to this link, download and run and post back what it says about your graphic card.

http://majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

We'll get there no worries

Yeah, King Prawns in a Thai yellow curry sauce, slurp.

* When you restart, actually turn the machine OFF, then restart.

 

Quick question... In add/remove it shows S3Display, S3Gamma2, S3Info2 and S3Overlay.

Do I just uninstall the s3Display?

 

Uninstall everything to do with S3, then shut down the machine, then restart.


Install your video drivers and let's see what we see.











Damn this stirfry is good

 

Oh... dumb question possibly, but when I download programs, should I select run or save? I usually select run, is this wrong?

 

The best way, (or at least my way).


Make a folder on your drive called downloads, (I keep mine on a separate partition but hey, whatever suits),and save to that folder, if you choose open you are starting a routine*. Save the file so it's standalone on your machine, navigate to your download folder and run from there.



*Think of it like opening and saving any file, first you save, then you open.

There are circumstances where this does not apply but by default you should save.

 

OK... Everything is HUGE again, but I went to Device Manager and it still says s3Graphics (Microsoft corp.). I then went to Add/Remove and found what I guess I overlooked - ProSavageDDR and Utilities. Is this part of all that S3 stuff?



"Damn this stirfry is good" -- I haven't eaten since breakfast at 9am and it's now 2:40pm here.

 

Yes anything mentioning S3 or Savage etc, let's get it all gone. When the machine restarts after we've cleaned all of this off it will probably say that it's detecting new hardware, stop that process as we want to install the drivers you have just downloaded and saved.


As to food, as you're becoming a geek surely you have something of no nutritional value and incredibly high sugar content lying around

 

I'm sure I do have something fattening around. Oh $*^% am I really becoming a geek, lol. My daughter already thinks my life revolves around the computer due to working on my beauty websites, message boards and my Dad's memorial site.

To be honest too, I haven't even slept since waking up yesterday morning. Well I did take a cat nap on accident while watching some Dr. Phil tape my mom wanted me to see on teenagers... But that only lasted about 20 minutes or so.

I'm in the south and my sister is here visiting from the mid-west too.

 

Now... After I uninstalled that, I shut down and restarted, and it shut down again on it's own... then I received this error message after it came back on: "Error Caused by Graphics Device Driver" - http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=a88fa13b-609a-4730-89d1-f913b5e5983d&SID=11



I received the "Found New Hardware Wizard" message, after it came back on just now, but I haven't downloading the drivers yet.

I just checked to see if the S3 and ProSavage stuff is gone and it appears to be, but I don't know why I got the error message above...



....AND I'm about to go insane with my next door neighbors loud music!!!

 

The drivers downloaded as a .zip (which I am not familiar with) and when I tried to open them to run them, it says that windows needs to know what program created it....................................



I am clueless!

 

Forget the error message for now, download and install the drivers, restart and post back, apologies for delay, was on phone.

 

No need to apologize, I'm just a stranger.... But a stranger that is VERY thankful for the help that you (and the others) have given me!!!

I'm just confused and don't know what to do. -- Did you catch my message posted seconds before your reply?

 

Ok, go here, download and install Winzip, and double click the driver file again


http://www.winzip.com/downwzeval.htm

Winzip will open the archive, (it's compression software). Double click setup.exe in the archive and the drivers should start installing.

 

Is this something that I need to buy? And if not, what happens after the 21 day trial.

 

No, just download the evaluation, it keeps working anyway. We'll get you up and running, then I'm going to send you to the spyware forum and once everything is running sweetly I'll pm you a list of sites which will give you a quick intro to various stuff it's useful for you to know, (like compression utilities etc), explained in plain language. You can then decide which particular flavour of a utility you prefer.

Winzip is great, I personally prefer WinRar, they both do the same job, see what I mean.

 

Downloaded it and did exactly what you said above for installing the drivers and it says:

Cannot Install: SETUP or INSTALL program filename contains folder information. Use Actions/CheckOut instead.

(WinZip downloaded fine)

??? (Sorry to be such a pain in the rear)

 

OK, Open winzip, under file menu, open archive, navigate to the driver file and click ok.


You should then see the contents, double click setup

Nonsense, this is what it's all about, and remember there are no dumb questions apart from the ones you don't ask

 

OK... It still says the same thing.

Thanks!!

 

You know what I love about computers? There's always at least 5 ways of doing the same thing, each one progressively more of a b**l ache than the previous one


1. Create a folder called Savage

2. Open Winzip

3. Open archive, thats the driver file, you should see a list of contents.

4. On the Menu line you will see extract, choose this, when it asks you where to extract it to, choose the folder called savage you have just created, let winzip do its thing.

5. Once extracted exit winzip, navigate to the savage folder and you should find setup. Double click and this time we should be good to go.

Just an after thought, you'll probably have to do a select all , (under Edit menu), before you extract, (sorry it's getting late over here).

 

Did that just fine, but when I double clicked on Setup.exe I get:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS_DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.


What to do... what to do?

 

Is there more than one file called setup? If so try another, there often are, one being an icon file. Are you viewing your files in detail view?

Could you also post me a list of contents in the savage folder. That is folders and files inc file extensions if poss, it's possible that the setup file is in one of those folders.

If not there's another way we can install the driver.

 

There's like 5 that say setup, but setup.exe has the computer icon with it.

 

What I mean is navigate to the savage folder and just list for me whats there, I notice InYears is in the house please feel free to step in

 

How do I post the list? It's a bunch.

 

I don't need the whole contents of each folder, for now just give me the names of the folders you see listed in the savage folder. It's just a thought I had.


If this doesn't pan out then we're going to try this.

Go to control panel, Add/Remove hardware, detect new hardware, it should pick up the Savage, what we want to do then is point it to where the new driver .inf file is in the savage folder it should then install the driver

 

Nice cat

 

I hope this worked -- screen shot!

 

Wooohooo it worked, does that help?

By the way, that's my little "kitty girl" -- she was yawning.

(She's tiny but vicious, lol)

 

OK, that's good.


In the meantime I fell across this. Once we've got a display I think we'll need to look into this.

Error message when you install or start an MS-DOS or 16-bit Windows-based program

Article ID:324767Last Review:March 3, 2005Revision:3.0
This article was previously published under Q324767


SYMPTOMS
If you try to start or install an MS-DOS-based or a 16-bit Windows-based program on your Windows XP-based computer, you may receive an error message that is similar to one of the following: 16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to start or install
C:\Winnt\System32\config.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to start or install
config.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
16-bit MS-DOS Subsystem
path to the program that you are trying to start or install
C:\Windows\System32\Autoexec.nt The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.
Although you may be prompted to quit the program or ignore the error message, either selection makes the program quit.
CAUSE

This issue may occur if one or more of the following files are missing or damaged: •Config.nt•Autoexec.nt•Command.com
RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue: 1.Insert the CD into the CD drive or DVD drive.2.Click Start, and then click Run.3.In the Open box, type cmd, and then click OK.4.At the command prompt, type the following commands, pressing ENTER after each command:

expand CD-ROM Drive Letter:\i386\config.nt_ c:\windows\system32\config.nt
expand CD-ROM Drive Letter:\i386\autoexec.nt_ c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt
expand CD-ROM Drive Letter:\i386\command.co_ c:\windows\system32\command.com
exit
5.Start or install the program. If the issue is resolved, do not complete the remaining steps. If the issue is not resolved, go to the next step.6.Note: The Command.com file is not edited or created in this in the following process. Because of this, you may have to expand it from your Windows XP CD-ROM.

Start Notepad.7.In Notepad, type the following entries: dos=high, umbdevice=%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\himem.sysfiles=408.On the File menu, click Save As.9.In the File Name box, type Config.nt, and then click Save. Close the Config.nt file.10.On the File menu, click New.11.In the new blank document, type the following entries: @echo off lh %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\mscdexnt.exe lh %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\redir lh %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\dosx SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 P330 T312.On the File menu, click Save As.13.In the File Name box, type Autoexec.nt, and then click Save. Close the Autoexec.nt file.14.Start Windows Explorer. Locate the Config.nt file, right-click the Config.nt file, and then click Copy.15.Right-click the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 folder, and then click Paste.16.Locate the Autoexec.nt file, right-click the Autoexec.nt file, and then click Copy.17.Right-click the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 folder, and then click Paste.18.Locate the Command.com file, right-click the expanded Command.com file, and then click Copy.19.Right-click the %SYSTEMROOT%\System32 folder, and then click Paste. Restart your computer.If the issue continues to occur, copy the Autoexec.nt and Config.nt files from the Repair folder in Windows to the System folder. To do so, follow these steps: 1.Click Start, click Run, type c:\windows\repair, and then click OK.2.Right-click autoexec.nt, and then click Copy. 3.Click Start, click Run, type c:\windows\system32, and then click OK.4.Right-click anywhere in that folder, and then click Paste.5.Right-click the Autoexect.nt file that you just copied, and then click Properties.6.Click to select Read-Only, and then click OK. 7.Repeat steps 1 through 6 to copy the Config.nt file.Note You must enable Read-Only permissions or the files will be removed after you restart Windows.

So, let's go back to the beginning. Restart the machine and let windows load the driver it was using previously, obviously you'll get the error message you had before, but at least you'll have the display you had before.

Follow the porocedure above exactly, when you've restarted we'll try and update your video drivers.

 

Yes, very readable and easy to follow, g1lgam3sh, you Nong!


Here's the link to the article

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;324767&Product=winxp#kb2

Have you restarted?

Great smiley btw

 

Another goofball question... It says can Windows connect to Windows Update.......

Do I click yes, this time only or yes, everytime I connect a device?

 

I don't mean to confuse things ... but you can find the executable of your drivers here:

http://www.s3graphics.com/drivers8d04.jsp

might make it easier to install

(I wouldn't install any driver from windows update as everytime I do it just creates more problems .. but maybe I just have bad luck or something)

 

Just click no, we want it to install the drivers in the savage folder if we can, if not then just the ones it was using.

 

What a great catch, thanks Pyrate, please always feel free to step in

Get those drivers Karen and we'll take it from there