BSODomatic - please help!

Dear Majorgeeks,

Just come into possession of a second hand computer. Problem is it BSODs regularly. Please help me find out why and make it stable!

XP Pro SP3 Media Center Edition 2005
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ : Venice (Overclock 0.75% ???)
1024 MBytes RAM (2x 512MBytes Corsair PC3200(200MHz) SDRAM DDR)
MOBO ASUS A8N-SLI
BIOS Version Nvidia - 42302e31 : ASUS A8N-SLI ACPI BIOS Revision 1014
GeForce 6800 GT : GV-NX68T256DH PCI-E 256MB (DriverVersion 6.14.10.7184) - 69ºC ( 156 ºF) - 3200RPM ( Noisy but not much less noisy at 2200RPM)
Disk C: 379 GB : NVIDIA STRIPE 379.84G 407 GBytes SCSI (2x 200GB Raid)
Disk D: 76 GB Total : Maxtor Maxtor 6Y080L0 81 GBytes IDE ATA 47 ºC (117 ºF)
SwapFile 2048 MB
PSU Tagan TG580-U15 580W
PCI VisionPlus Twinhan BDA card

The noise when I first turned it on was a bit alarming. I opened it up and found the CPU heatsink fan hanging off, main chassis fan at the back disconnected, and the whole thing generally clogged with dust; there must have been lousy airflow. I cleaned it up, reconnected the fans and rearranged a few things to improve airflow. Right now the case is open on my desk with a cool breeze from an open window blowing through it.

So, the first thing I did was update windows, check for malware and virus nasties, update and install protection and a firewall... all OK in that department, as far as I can tell.

But the BSODs - the screen hangs for a few seconds and the BSOD comes up for half a second, then the system restarts. I disabled "automatically restart" in Startup and Recovery but it always restarts anyway. Then it quite often it BSODs again halfway through loading Windows, although it always works the following time (so far).

I haven't as yet been systematic in my testing, though it has done this several times while installing programs, while changing monitor settings and while attempting to use Twinhan BDA card. Mind you, I had another BSOD just now while writing this post in Firefox with nothing else running (Take 2 being written in notepad and saved every 20 seconds). I also read one BSOD diagnostic suggestion to run Prime95 to test if it's the CPU and sure enough it BSODed within 4 seconds of running it. But I don't know what that means.

Help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Ijen

 

First thing to try is running the computer in safe mode and see if the blue screens continue. If not, then it's a driver or software issue. If yes, then it could be a hardware issue.

Next step would be to test the RAM for error using a tool such as Memtest86+.

 

Righto, safe mode for a while it is then. No doubt I'll be back

Ps. Current temps;
CPU 45 ºC
Mobo 36 ºC

 

With a history like you've described , you have to start by checking and testing the hardware before attempting to get Windows running. If it didn't come with the original CD (or better still, a slipsteamed SP3 copy of it), repairing broken system files caused by the frequent BSODs may be awkward.

I hope you used a quality thermal paste after cleaning off the old residue on the CPU/heatsink? Did you check visually for bad caps on the 'board?

I'd begin by turning off any overclocks and running MemTest86+ from a CD. If the test gives any fails, check that the BIOS settings correspond with the RAM settings from the makers.

Next, you should check that the hard drives are still good by using the bootable diagnostics from the makers - this might be difficult for the Raid drives.

You could check the hardware further by creating and booting from a Live CD - Ubuntu or Mint should be good. Test all you can as if you're running Windows: surf the 'net, load some movies, etc.

If all that checks out ok, time to try out Windows; set the drives to be checked for errors and bad blocks using chkdsk (or from Explorer by using the Tools tab on the drives properties sheets). After the required reboot, SFC /scannow to check for missing or broken Windows protected files.

If you're unsure of how to create a bootable CD for testing, checkout the guide here, the example shown is for the Windows XP Recovery Console ISO (you really ought to install this once XP is running) but applies to all ISO files.

 

Ooer - no, it certainly didn't come with any CDs. There is a sticker on the back with the relevant product key but nothing that's going to help me fix files :-o

To clarify, it was just the fan hanging off the heatsink, the heatsink itself appears to be in position and I haven't moved it at all. Asus Probe and the BIOS temperature monitor both say the CPU is around 45ºC. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

Great stuff, that's plenty to be getting on with for now. Thanks!

 

Well, I've had it in safe mode for over an hour now, running the Prime95 "torture test" while fiddling with firefox, Photoshop and various other bits and bobs, and no crashes. I'm pretty sure it would have crashed by now in normal mode! Will run memtest next.

(edit - my previous reply to Satrow hasn't appeared so...)

It didn't come with any CDs (there is a genuine product key sticker on the back). Is there a cheap and legal way to repair the necessaries (without re-purchasing existing software)?

I wasn't clear before - the heatsink itself was still mounted perfectly well, as far as I know, and I didn't touch it. It was just the fan which was hanging off the heatsink, now fixed. Haven't checked for bad caps - will take a closer look in a sec.

Plenty to be getting on with there, will report back once there's progress! Cheers very much for the detailed reply.

 

No need to run Memtest. The fact that it doesn't Blue Screen in safe mode points definitively to a driver or software issue.

The next step is to update all your LAN, Audio, and Video drivers to the latest versions.

If you still have blue screens after the driver update the next step is to eliminate possible software conflicts by using MSConfig.exe to disable all the startups, and re-enabling them one by one until the culprit piece of software is found.

 

I've actually already run Memtest and yeah, no errors. I couldn't see any visible sign of bad capacitors either.

Ok, driver updates as you say. Here goes...

 

Ugh. I am currently languishing in the no-man's-land of Unmountable_Boot_Volume BSODs. Given that there's no floppy drive and no XP install CD to hand... :cry

I am attempting to make a bootable USB XP Recovery Console disk.