Blue Screen of Death

My computer would go to the BSOD once in a while.....but always came back up. Finally it started to get worse and worse and now it won't boot up. I think the harddrive is ok, because at times it will boot up a bit farther (sometimes getting to a windows login). Other times I do get windows to fire up but it then goes back to BSOD. The messages on here vary. Sometimes it's the: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR EQUAL.....other times it's BAD POOL HEADER.

I did some looking on microsoft site and it said it could be Drivers, RAM, or Motherboard. I have 2 sticks of RAM and I can swap them back and forth and it's no better. The error messages change a bit, but I still get BSOD. The STOP: message have rattled off a number of different 000000 codes, all seem to point back to Drivers, RAM and/or Motherboard. Before it got this bad, I was able to download the most current drivers for my video card and sound card but that didn't help any.

The computer is home-made, and has been running XP for a number of years without any real issues (MSI Motherboard). I have done no software or hardware changes in quite some time.

I really don't want to go out and buy new RAM if that is not the problem. I tried the windows CD with the "R" command, and that crashed too (error 4?).

Safe mode won't work....nor will going back to last known working config.....

Any suggestions (other then buy a new computer

thanks,
Jon

 

hello Jon, welcome to Major Geeks

You seem to have made a pretty good preliminary investigation and ruled out quite a lot.

In reality you are left with a reinstallation of Windows, but there are several considerations first.

Do you have any data on the hard drive you wish to recover?

Once you have reinstalled Windows it may not function well or for long if you also have a hardware fault, but at least you will be able to find this out.

Since it was self build (congratulations) you will also have the hardware drivers?

Before you try re- installation can you attach the hard drive to the pc you are using for internet as a slave and run Check Disk?

When you say you tried the R option do you mean a repair install (2nd R offered by windows setup) or do you mean the recover console (first R).

If you can get to the recovery console and run
chkdsk /r

This may let you restart windows, but I doubt it.

Either way a disk scan will assist the reinstallation.

For reinstallation you have two choices -just go for a clean install or install Windows to a new folder - say windows2, answering NO to format. This second copy can eventually become your main one.

look here for more details

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=134633

post again if you need more help.

let us know how you get on.

 

i have a second harddrive installed, and a 160Gig external that i use to keep everything backed up, but there are a few things i would like to grab off of it....

i do have the disks that came with the motherboard and the XP disk.

i did notice that it ran the check disk feature a few times on it's own during a reboot.

i put the XP disk in again and got it to finally run. i tried the first "R", but i never made a Recovery Disk (whoops)....so then i tried the second "R" and it brought me to a C:

I am running chkdsk/r now....it's been running for about 10 min and it's at 54%....i can't remember how big my harddrive is that has XP on it....but it's not that big (40Gig maybe)....and i have about 5Gig free.....

 

it got to 59% then it crashed again.....BSOD....

i guess i may pull the harddrive out and slap it in this computer to salvage what I can from it....and reinstall winders....

 

Before you reinstall windows, it might pay to look at your BIOS revision, because when M/Bs are first released, they may still have a few bugs with them. These are all eventually worked out after a few months, and as you said you've had the motherboard a while, but if it's never had an update then now might be an excellent time to try. I'd been having some problems with a device driver the other day, and I noticed that my installed BIOS was only revision 0507, and since I flashed version 0803 onto the chip, everything has been running smoothly with no BSOD's what so ever. My theory is that Microsoft released a reliability update or something that might have changed the way certain drivers behave, and it has caused all sorts of problems to appear out of nowhere, and this can seem all the more strange if you have updates set on automatic. Although the odds of that are very slim, it is still possible. But just to make sure you don't go to extremes by doing a complete rebuild from the ground up, just check the revision number. It will be at the top of the screen (if you use phoenix bios), and BIOS are generally very easy to update. Also, check the manufacturer's website to make sure you have an updated version. If that doesn't fix it, then I'd follow studiot's advice and try reinstalling windows. It's an operating system prone to grinding to a halt if not properly maintained

 

Run check disk again, even a few times. there is no point trying to install windows or even read a drive full of errors.

 

ok, i've got it to finally boot up in safe mode....and then again in reg. mode....and it seems OK....

i did check my BIOS and there is a more current version....so I was going to flash that....i have followed the instructions on how to flash the BIOS but I can't seem to get that to work now. I downloaded the flash, and copied it to C:\test. it tells me to boot the computer from a floppy and once at A: go to my C:\test directory and flash away - but, it won't let me change to the C: drive. if i boot up on the XP disk and then go to the recovery (R) mode, I also get a C: and it also won't allow me to change to that directory. The instructions from the BIOS site says NOT to flash it from a floppy....

Anyone know what I am doing wrong now?

i will run CHKDSK again and see what I get.....

 

so while i had it booted up....i decided to run REGCURE....

that was a mistake....it found about 2000 errors...and was just about finished scanning and ready to move on to Fix Mode....when.....BSOD hit....and now....i can't get it to boot up again....it gives me a "unbootable" error.....

i'm trying to run another Check Disk /R after booting off of the XP disk......

boooooooooooo big headed friend!

 

Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear and stronger language.

You were so near and then regcure!

It may be possible to replace the registry using the recovery console. Look here.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_sys32.htm

You have the reinstall stuff from previous posts.

With regard to the bios, state the maker / model of your MOTHERBOARD.
Which site told you not to flash from a floppy?

 

ok.....it's a new day....

perhaps that RegCure crash wasn't so bad after all.....after about 7 reboots this AM, with varies errors....i got it to boot back up in safe mode.....

as far as my BIOS is concerned....when i boot up I get

America Megatrends AMIBIOS A6380VMS V5.4 052402

when i go to their site (www.ami.com/supprot.bios.cfm), it says my board is not a TRUE AMI motherboard, but made by MSI (Printed on the motherboard is says KT3 Ultra - MS6380E)....so i go to www.msicomputer.com/support/BIOS_AMI.asp

there it gives me a Bios Flash procedure......and a link to the BIOS....their procedure states you flash FROM floppy, but when i download the updated BIOS, it has it's own instructions that says NOT to flash from floppy, but to run it from a C:

the download gave me a How to flash the BIOS.doc a .txt file and amifl827.EXE and a6380vms.570

so now i'm confused.....which one do i believe....the web site instructions, or the one that came with the download??

all that being said....what should i do next....it is up now...in safe mode...and it has been for 15 mins. or so....i only have 1 stick of RAM in it....

should i continue with getting my current BIOS up?

should i run RegCure again (OH NO!).....

 

What was included with the BIOS download? Was there a file that had the extension .bin? or possibly a file that was approx 512KB or higher but wasn't an exe? You might be able to update the BIOS directly from it's setup screen, rather than running an external program. If you are able to search for this option, please do so, there might be a reference in your motherboard manual.

 

the BIOS download contained the amifl827.exe file (529K) and the a6380vms.570 file (256K)....from the instructions, you run amifl827 a6380vms.570 to flash....

i did get in to the setup screen yesterday and i didn't see any area in there to do an upgrade.....

if i could get it connected to the internet, i could run MSI 3 and updated from there (i think)....

 

From what I can tell, it would be perfectly safe to flash from a floppy disk, but I would try from C: anyway. Just be sure that you have no disk errors first though

 

how do you recommend I get to a C: ? if i boot from a A: system disk, i can't change to the C: drive.....if i boot from XP cd and then go to restore and it brings me to a C: i still can't change dir. to where i have the flash files...??

 

I downloaded the bios and looked at the instructions.

It say several times make sure you have a correct match to your motherboard, don't just take the latest on offer. There are several MSI help sites to identify your specifics listed.

The latest bios upgrade listed is to correct a glitch with specific type of P4, unless you have this P4 you want a different one. Also this bios is incompatible with certain ATI graphics chips.

A boot from floppy proceedure is also described, as is recovery from bios upgrade failure.

I was looking at

http://global.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=proddesc&prod_no=273&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=

Your MSI link led me to the K7 motherboard section.

But why are you doing this? Your hard drive is suspect - get the manufacturers drive checker from major geeks or

http://www.asci-red.net/tools.htm#hmt

Your Windows installation is also corrupt if readable. Least effort option is certainly reinstallation.

finally the golden rule of computing.

One thing at a time.

I fell you are rushing to too many fixes before fully exploring/completing the previous. this usually leads to disaster.

I do not recommend regcure or reg anything else - they all eventually lead to disaster.

 

just one quick question, to make sure your hdd doesn't corrupt again (if that is the case), can you check to see if there are any components in your system that may be malfunctioning (eg, fans)? Things like that can cause hard disk failure, and in most cases, disk errors and corruption, as the drive may turn off unexpectedly during disk writing. Just a precaution.
You might also want to check and see if your PSU is problematic. Is it running too hot? Is it noisy? Is it an el' cheapo model, or a good one? If there is indeed a cause for your possible HDD problems, you will want to eliminate these before you proceed to reinstall windows. But please check if it is healthy first.

 

well, i had the computer up and somewhat stable, so i quickly took action. i had MSI3 (utility that came with motherboard).....so i ran that and it easily walked me thru a few updates and then re-flashed my bios (via floppy).....after that, i flew over to Western Digital and downloaded a HD checker. I ran that on my HD and it checked out OK, but it was a windows based checker. i may try and run the chkdsk/r command when i get home tonight.....

after all that....it ran ok for 1 day.....i left it up at night, and in the AM it was BSOD again (bad pool header)....since then i can boot up in safe mode....then reboot in normal mode and get a few minutes of operation before another BSOD shows up (sometimes bad pool header, other times IRQL_not_less_or_equal)....

also, i have a few "Service could not be loaded" errors that show up once windows fires up....i think 3 or 4.....(start-up reg may be beat-up a bit)

all fans and temps. are OK.....i have a program that runs at windows start that monitors all of those things.....plus i've had the cover off for a few days flip-floppin RAM and i've seen them all running......

speaking of RAM.....i have been doing all of this, with only 1 stick in.....at first i thought the 2nd stick may be the problem, but now i'm back to having no clue.....

 

If you want to check the RAM, and you can spare $10, grab memtest86 and run that at boot, or see if you can find a good memory test boot disk. Let it run overnight, and if it finds any errors with the ram, then you know what will be at fault. Although if your ram is the problem, you would have more than just BSODs to worry about, so lets rule out that possibility for the moment.

I suspect it is either a problem with Windows itself, or perhaps one device conflicting with another. To my knowledge, newer motherboards can share IRQs between certain devices, and this may be the case, but if you had a recent driver update, or a recent windows update, something may have changed in the driver, or in the way windows interacts with IRQ handling on your board. What other peripherals do you have installed? Have you tried removing one card at a time? It will be easier than trying to revert to previous versions of each driver to see what one is causing problems.

 

i have a Sound Blaster Audigy sound card....and a Nvidia GeForce MX400 video card.....when i run the MSI 3 update (from motherboard mfg.) it says it has a better driver for my video then i have......but i have the most current one from Nvidia site? I may download that one tonight and see if it calms things down a bit.....although, i did get a found new hardware box come up a few times at start up....and i believe it was dealing with my soundcard, so maybe that is the bad area.....i may rip that out tonight too and see what that does....

also, i do have a somewhat newer motherboard, because it does share IRQ's.....

 

Memtest86 is freeware at Major Geeks

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads26.html

Dust please refer to MG offerings when possible as it helps persuade the sponsors to pay for the site.

 

i know you said stay away from RegCure...but i don't like the fact that it found 2000 errors.....and never finished fixing them......

is there a better/safer one out there?

 

The general rule is if it is fitted to a board (chip or bios) get the driver from the board manufacturer, not the chip manufacturer.
Thus you get bios and onboard chip (including video if on mobo) drivers from MSI.
For a plug in card get them from Nvidia.

Many 'Reg tweaker' programs get artificially high error reports by including unused provision by Microsoft for popular hardware software you might add, but currently don't have.
E.G. unless you have Lotus you won't eve use .vrm files. Windows provides a category (key) for them.
I doubt that you have 2000 errors.

Try CCleaner from Major Geeks if you must tweak.

 

thanks for the heads up studiot, I wasn't aware

 

JJ I am with you on this one - I don't like that many errors remaining un-fixed. There may be a large amount of validity in some of the answers provided here, but we are working from too many different problems at the same time! I will sent a msg to Steve to review - perhaps we can provide more information to you that will be of help? Let me know if your home tonight! CMann

 

well here is where i am today.....after a few days of no headway, i am starting to get somewhere.

based on some reading....i found that if i was getting the BSOD in safe mode (which i did a few times), that it was more of a hardware problem, so i ran another RAM tester and on the first pass it found two bad areas....but after repeated tests, all showed good.

on my next reboot, it came up fine and has been up for two days without a BSOD.

what i have found is my sound card is not working....i tried to run the current driver again, but it failed...so then i tried to run the org. one from CD and it also failed....so my sound card is not working and the drivers won't install....i get an error that reads something to the effect "Unable to load installer for MEDIA".....

tonight i will rip the card out and boot it up.....then put it back in and...and boot it up again.....too see what happens....

 

Re: Blue Screen of Death & RegCure - Question

Hi,
I have a problem running RegCure to clean up my registry in my XP Windows run laptop. As I run RegCure and it finds problems, the Blue Screen of Death prevents RegCure from completing its analysis and do its job. What should I do to fix this?

 

Hello MG44,welcome to Major Geeks.

:major

You should start your own thread stating make and model of PC and operating system and describing exactly the symptoms and error messages you are experiencing.
Never tag on to an existing one, although you can always learn from reading them.

I also suggest the Software forum would be more appropriate

This thread is 6 months Old