Problem and a question

Okay, so here is the deal. About a year ago I started having a problem with my computer, but after like a week of this problem it suddenly stopped (hasn't happened to me since). Now the problem is occurring on my sister's computer, so I've got to know how does one fix this:

We turn the computer on and it gets to the that little windows load screen when all of the sudden it will flash to a blue screen that blips on and goes to black before I can do anything, the computer then shuts down and restarts. This becomes the cycle.

I'm a real novice with computers and everything I've learned about them has been from experience rather than technical learning. With my computer I had a lucky break and it would start normally without a problem once and a while until the problem stopped all together.

The computer that this is happening to is an Alienware with a dualcore processor, WindowsXP, and a bunch of specs I can't get to because of the nature of the problem.

So any suggestions on how to go about fixing this?

Also is there a way to edit what order stuff starts up on your computer upon turning it on?

 

Okay so I got into safe mode and the msconfig. I unchecked the box that said load startup items and restarted but the problem still occurred.

This is on a desktop. If it helps at all we recently installed BitDefender Internet security on all our computers but only one is having this problem, So I'm not sure if that could have anything to do with it. Just mentioning it because it the computer was working okay until after that one change.

 

Try right-clicking My Computer icon and selecting Properties. On the Advanced tab>under Startup and Recovery click the Settings button. Then uncheck the box for "Automatically restart on Error" (or similar wording).

Then reboot in normal mode and see if you can get the exact error message off the blue screen. Get the numbers and also look for any reference to a file name.

 

The Blue screen has referance to
Ver_IROL_Not_less_or_equal

then says that if the problem persists to stop any bios memory options and I may have to uninstall new hardware or software then towards the bottom it has some words off screen that I couldn't see but I can make out this much
Stop : 0x000000D1 (0x00000034, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xFZ3D0CDA)

nvraid.sys-adress FZ3d0CDA Base at F73CF000, Datestamp 43052637

 

It looks like it is a nvidia raid/SATA controller driver that is causing the problem. Unfortunately, me and RAID(s) don't mix well.

Let's see if someone who understands RAID(s) better than me comes along.

 

Well thank you Sach2 for your help. At least I'm closer to figuring this out than I was. Hopefully another such knowledgeable person will come along to help out.

Thanks again.

 

I'm still going to let someone better at drivers handle this thread but I thought I would add that since you can get into Safe Mode you might be able to do a System Restore to a few days back if you have any restore points available.

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You might also look in Device Manager for any yellow exclamation points that might point to a bad driver. Start>Run>type in devmgmt.msc hit OK.

 

If you can access Safe Mode with Networking, could you find the crash dump files C: > Windows > Minidumps, copy them to your Desktop, zip and upload them please.

 

Okay guys, here is the deal. I ran the device managment and found that a PCI controller was not there. SO I popped in the asus disk and got that taken care of. Unfortunately that was apparently not the problem cause it still wont go.

I got the latest driver for my video card an NVIDIA Gforce 7900GTX but when I tried to install it while in safe mode the install failed. Then I tried taking the advice of David and uninstall the Bitdefender. That failed because the uninstall feature cannot be accessed while in safe mode.

I just downloaded Everest and will try that method to possibly get you more info. I was not able to get the minidump files because the folder was completely empty, nothing in there not even hidden files or folders, so there apparently was no dump.

Lastly I cannot restore back a few days cause there is restore points, Us novices just didn't know enough to set one.

Thank you all for your continued help. I'll be back with the everest log. I hope.

 

How to set the PC to collect minidumps.

 

Well Here is the system summery from Everest.

 

Okay so I set up for the minidumps but the folder is still empty after trying to reboot and receiving the error message again. Here is the blue screen info in a more organized fashion

Symbolic error name= DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Stop error message= Stop: 0x000000D1 (0x00000034, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0xF73D0CDA)

File Error occurred in= nvraid.sys - Adress F730CDA base F73CF000, Datestamp 43052d37

 

Nothing definitive there that I can see.

Your Chipset drivers can be found by filling out the page here. Your motherboard is a P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe.

 

Hey there, I went to asus and got the chipset drivers but The problem persists.

No changes so far. I've been trying to avoid a full system restore back to factory settings, but I wonder if that is the only way to fix this?

 

Revisit the minidump setting instructions, please; if we can diagnose this, we'll have a much clearer view of what needs to be done.

 

I've followed the minidump instructions and when I reboot the system the problem occurs so I don't think the new settings ever take effect. So I followed the instructions again and when straight back to safe mode in hopes they would take effect then shut down the computer and turned it on so that the error could occur to cause the dump. The minidump file is still empty. Don't know what else to say.

 

Try resetting the minidump and shutdown, not reboot. That should make the settings stick.

 

nope minidump file still empty.

 

well I have some more info for ya. I noticed that before the windows boot page and before the problem occurs, I would see a black screen with this on it :

Detecting Array:
0 healthy Nvidia stripe 232.88g

I checked by hitting F10 to enter the raid set up and it lists
1 healthy Nvidia stripe 232.88g

So this one discrepancy is making me wonder if this has something to do with the problem.

any suggstions?

 

Hmm, I'm not sure that BIOS discrepancy is real or not.

You do have a swapfile on the boot (Raid) drive, yes?

 

You may be right about the BIOS thing. When I checked in the RAID setup, the channel for the drive is 0 so that may be what the 0 previously was.

Second, I have no idea what a swapfile is. So I don't know.

 

Swapfile = page/paging file = virtual memory.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254649

 

So a swapfile is what is supposed to be in the Minidump folder. But the folder is always empty. I've set it up so it is supposed to make one but still no file in the folder.

 

Again, I am bad at RAID. You only have one HD in that machine can he turn off RAID in BIOS and would that make a difference in whether Windows hangs on the driver?

It seems to me Windows doesn't even need that RAID driver with one HD installed.

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The other thing is in your Everest report you have a USB stick connected, remove that just to eliminate it from the equation.

 

How to create a pagefile.

 

Okay guys, I checked with an nvidia forum. They said that before I put Bitdefender on I should have updated the drivers for the Graphics card. Something about the old driver and Bitdefender caused the issue (or so they say). Unfortunately I couldn't install the update in safe mode, So I had to do a full system restore back to factory settings, then update everything, then reinstall bitdefender. A hassle but hopefully this is the end of it.

Thank you all for your help in getting this issue resolved. Many thanks.