Constant BSoD's under win2k

gs39t · 24-12-2003 4:22pm #1

Ever since i built this new PC 5 or 6 months ago im getting blue screens almost daily. Ive done at LEAST 10 fresh installs, and it still happens. It seems to be totally random, too - sometimes the blue screen has "ntfs.sys" or "ntoskrl".....im beginning to suspect it may be a hardware problem.

Ive looked at everything from IRQ conflicts to drivers, and done every possible different combination of things -nothing helps. Here's the hardware setup:

Asus A7V8X mobo
AMD XP1700+
512mb (256x2) unknown brand RAM
80GB Seagate barracuda
300w ATX PSU

I'm at my wits end with this, so would appreciate any help.

TIA

Mutant_Fruit · 24-12-2003 4:23pm

Start off with replacing the ram, then one by one replace each part with a different part you KNOW works, and wait til you find the problematic one.

Happy hunting.

gs39t · 24-12-2003 4:27pm

I had thought of just buying a new mobo, CPU & RAM to just solve the problem (drastic i know, but thats how frustrated i am) but it would be costly.

If i knew what part to blame it'd be in the bin so fast...:dunno:

Mutant_Fruit · 24-12-2003 4:30pm

i presume none of it is under warrenty? If so ship every part that is covered by warrenty back. That reduces the parts you have to test.

gs39t · 24-12-2003 4:45pm

I dont have a clue to be honest, i built it with parts bought in about four different places. IF someone could at least tell me that it wasnt the hard drive, i'd buy an upgrade kit - reasonably cheap, so as to start fresh with a new mobo, cpu & ram.

Like i say ive been troubleshooting for 4 months or so, and without replacing parts one by one i have no real way of telling which part is causing the issue

Capt'n Midnight · 24-12-2003 4:58pm

I take it you have ruled out viruses
You could try another OS on it Eg: Knoppix - boot CD
or run a diags program continuously over night or weekends.

If you live in the sticks you may need a UPS - spikes and brownouts - I'm not too well up on AMD processors but the PSU doesn't seem to be overloaded.

The hard drive doesn't make any noises ending in the letter K (chugg chugg is ok 'cos that's a G) does it ?

gs39t · 24-12-2003 5:03pm

Yeah im out in the sticks here in Dublin 14

I scan for viruses twice daily usually, and have a firewall and all that stuff so i know for sure i can rule out that. And as i said, ive done 10 or so fresh installs so that covers the possibility anyway.

The blue screens happen totally randomly - be it i move the cursor or what. Example, once it happened when i minimised a window, once when i clicked the start button, etc- so it doesnt blue screen under load (which is why i thought initially it might have been an underpowered PSU)

Mutant_Fruit · 24-12-2003 5:33pm

I'm nearly certain that its the ram. I'm just gonna go find my ram testing tool... gimme 5 mins

Try this bootable cd-rom image: here

unkel · 24-12-2003 5:57pm

Originally posted by Mutant_Fruit
I'm nearly certain that its the ram[/URL]

Well we don't know that yet, but it is likely. It is also the one thing you can check without having to change any hardware. It is the first thing I would try. Run memtest86 as Mutant_Fruit suggests and leave it running for several hours. If no errors show up, your ram is fine.

Next most likely sinner is the graphics card

Mutant_Fruit · 24-12-2003 6:37pm

yup, if he reported that the ram was good, i was gonna assume graphics card. but one step at a time

gs39t · 24-12-2003 6:51pm

Cant get that image to work - ive burned it to a CD but it isnt booting

Just brings up "boot disk 2.88mb _<flashing cursor> which doesnt respond to any key strokes

joePC · 24-12-2003 7:21pm

Could be something as simply as overheating Make sure your temps aren't too high ???

OfflerCrocGod · 24-12-2003 8:10pm

Exactly have you checked your tempatures?. Here is a little utility that could help checking your temps. Otherwise I suggest upgrading your BIOS to the latest......just read the instuctions on the MB makers website carefully.

Mutant_Fruit · 24-12-2003 9:38pm

try the older version, its not an image, so just dump it on a floppy or something. here

EDIT: I changed the link to the new version, but a non-bootdisk version of it.

BoB_BoT · 24-12-2003 9:45pm

you have to update your nforce drivers. go to nvidia.com -> download drivers -> (out of step one choose) "Platform/n force drivers" -> then in step 2 choose unified driver -> in step 3 choose os. I've encountered the problem before and that solved it.

Gl,
Rob

leeroybrown · 25-12-2003 1:21am

As suggested above, Memtest86 or Docmem can test your PC's memory. Quite often in these progrmas need to be run for a decent period of time to ensure that the memory is 100% OK. As a rule I'd run one of them for a few hours on any new memory I get.

The next area to check would be drivers. I previously had problems with win2kpro wher eit would crash regularly when gaming (very annoying in LAN competitions). I just got a few versions of both my sound and graphics drivers and made the PC very stable by picking a reliable version. As a rule, having the latest drivers will generally be a step forward if you have problems.

BoB_BoT · 25-12-2003 3:21am

blah, I may have misread your post, either way give all the updates a chance.

gs39t · 25-12-2003 10:12pm

I ran that memory test for about an hour and it yielded 11 errors.... im not sure if thats very bad or nothing to worry about

As regards the nvidia drivers.....i have an ATI Radeon 7000.....isnt nvidia a different thing altogether?

leeroybrown · 25-12-2003 11:21pm

Errors are very bad. Every error you experienced in that burn in test is an occasion when your PC could/would have crashed.

The next thing I'd do is remove one of the DIMMS and test the other 256Mb on it's own. Then repeat this for the other 256Mb.

When one of the RAM DIMM's shows up as faulty you'll be able to RMA it and get a replacement.

BTW, do you have these two 256Mb DIMMS running in a Dual DDR configuration? If you do, the problem could be that the 2 DIMM's don't match up correctly for this.

BoB_BoT · 26-12-2003 1:17am

Originally posted by gs39t
I ran that memory test for about an hour and it yielded 11 errors.... im not sure if thats very bad or nothing to worry about

As regards the nvidia drivers.....i have an ATI Radeon 7000.....isnt nvidia a different thing altogether?

Once again my bad, I didn't read your origional post correctly, you said you had an asus A7vx8, the A7nx8 model uses the nforce chipset and is produced by nvidia. So my "advice" is completely invalid in your case as you're running the a7vx8 model.

Soz,
Rob

Mutant_Fruit · 26-12-2003 3:43am

Start off with replacing the ram

Damn, i'm good. Basiaclly, remove all ram, then put in one stick at a time. If both sticks turn up errors, return em if they are in warrenty, otherwise throw em in the bin. If they aren';t in warrenty, try it anyway, saying you never realised it was the ram til now.

Constant BSoD's under win2k

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