Further to recent, fantastic help with another problem i had, i was advised to start a new thread with my latest problem. (the joys of computing). Any way, to the point. My machine seems to have obtained a rather annoying habit of shutting down, when ever it fancies it. Originally it shut down and restarted by itself. Now ihave stopped this so i can read the blue screen, but the message is different nearly everytime. Its is a real bummer becuase i keep loosing downloads etc. I have run all the anti virus and scan ware i can, i have also re-intslled my sound and video cards. But nothimg seems to work. The people who sold it to me recomend i wipe it all and start agan. "Of course they would cause then anything goes wrong its my fault. Any ideas would be much appreciated. I run windows XP on an AMD 2000, with 512mb RAM. The video card is a NVIDIA GeForce MX 440 The sound card is a Creative SB Audigy. I am no computer wiz, so unfortuantely basic English would be much appreciated. Many thanks
do you have 1 stick or 2 stick of ram.if 2, take one out & see if problem still there & then switch with the other stick so that you are still running on one stick & see if problem is still there. check your cpu heatsink & fan is seated properly on cpu & that the fan is run properly. is there any groaning noises when the computer first starts up.
1. What motherboard do you have? (you can use cpuz, http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php#download ) to check. 2. As the others have suggested, temperature and memory are two common causes of this. Another thing you might consider is the power: inconsistent voltages can result in stuff like that happening
Many thanks for all your suggestions. I dont think it is over heating, becuase sometimes it happens when it is turned on after being off for a few days. I have noticeed that there seems to be a couple of message showing more than others:- "IRQL not less or equal" , "Driver IRQL not less or equal", and "Bad Pool Caller" In answer to the other questions:- 1.There is one strip of 512mb RAM. 2. The mother board is an ASUSTek Computec INC. Model A7A266-E. 3.Power supply is okay, as i tun a laptop for work from the same supply. Weird thing is the PC has been running all night and hasnt shut down yet. But who knows when it will happen again.
Well its happened again, and again, and again.What a surpise. I tried to uninstall and reinstall the video card and the sound card, but now it wont load the flippin sound card. i think the video is okay??. It says it can fid the sfman32.dll file. What the &@^% is that for? I didnt remoe it so how can it now be missing?
That's a SoundBlaster card is'nt it ? take the card out and see if you have the same symptoms -- then go look on the web for the proper driver for that card.
Okay, i took the sound card out and uninstalled everything relatingto it, i then re-installed it, getting the drivers from the site, not from the disc that it came with. The card is working again, but the flippin machine still shuts down and gose to blue screen, whenever it chooses. I dont even have to be touching the stupid thing. Please, more ideas would be much apprceiated. A miracle cure would be even better.
When you took the sound card out --- Did you try before re-installing ? What about the Nvidia drivers -- they known to cause the BOD -- checked those drivers at: - http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_56.72 _X_X_X_X_X_[small]Do It Right , and you will be a Happy Camper ![/small]
Try changing out the memory. Blue Screen STOP errors are usually caused by faulty memory. IRQL Not Less Than or Equal or Bad Pooler Call are all classic examples of this. Not trying to be critical here but your machine is the fourth example of an AMD based machine running an NVidia card that has this problem. From my experience this combination of parts has been a recipe for disaster.
We had a similar problem with a cheap shitty system my old man put together once. Tried upgrading ram, nothing. Tried a new PSU, nothing. Video onboard, so nothing can really try there. Our only conclusion is that it is the cheap shitty motherboard or something to do with it. I might be biased, but I've never had an AMD system where the CPU itself was to blame directly, it is more often the fact that when people want an AMD system they try to cut too many corners. I think that is more the reason that some people distrust the AMD name, because there is a reputation for the other parts to be poor quality, and it is a shame people bag out the CPU rather than look for a deeper explanation.
Got to concur with Icemonkey -- my friend ! Nvidia are to say it bluntly prone to give you the symptoms you are having ! Just for fun -- try a google search " Nvidia +blue screen " -- you will get hundreds of people with a similar problem. That said , it could also be many other things -- What you are getting is called the Loop Error -- The loop error is a critical halt error that prevents you from using your mouse, keyboard or anything else on your PC apart from the reset button -- that is built-in the Windows XP O/S to prevent further damages. There is a slight chance that you may be able to look at those errors you had -- Go to start --> control panel --> administrative tools --> event viewer; on left, click system then look on right side . There should be a list of errors that came on your computer. Find the one that corresponds to the time that this happened. Right click on it and choose properties. It should have a link to Microsoft on there, click it,will ask to send the details to Microsoft say yes and it will tell you if there is any info on this problem,and ways to fix it. The probabilities as to what is causing this are numerous and not necessarily in this order: 1)An overloaded Power supply (check voltages in your Bios and compare with the specs for your processor-- low voltages result from drawing excessively from the PSU -- new GeForce 4 cards are hard on a PSU) 2)A Faulty Ram (Do a Memtest or swap for a known good one) 3)A Bad board ( Sound or Graphics) 4)An improperly seated CPU (overheating) 5)An improperly seated AGP card 6)A damaged motherboard General Trouble shooting: would be to eliminate as many of those items then look for software problems. Drivers Clashing ~~~~ Always make sure that you completely uninstall all drivers for any device which you remove. Make sure you research how to do this thoroughly. Some drivers cannot be completely uninstalled without a format. Others require an uninstall utility and some are removed by simply re-running the setup program and clicking uninstall. -- Nvidia Cards are very temperamental as to the drivers they are fed with. Via4in1 drivers are also to be checked.VIA is working very closely with all motherboard manufactirers to ensure that all motherboards using VIA chipsets have the correct voltage settings for the latest video cards. Did your system passes the compatability tests which is available on the WinXP CD -- this test checks what you have and detects any clashing drivers. It's also available at the Microsoft Website. In some cases, when you do an upgrade or install new software, older drivers which may be designed for WinME/98/2K are continued to be used in WinXP, even when they are not designed for that OS.Doing a fresh clean install should take care of this possibility as suggested by your PC Shop. Finally, This troubleshooting involves a fair amount of knowledge and can if not done properly ,generate more problems --A Word of caution , My Friend, if you the least bit not quite up to chase this problem ; you may be better off paying a Shop Tech to clear that up. Regards !
A lot to work on. Thanks all. In reply to OzMick. The company i purchased the machine from is an award winner, and i have bought several computers from them for company use and never had any hardware problems before. To be honest this is the first hardware problem i have had that wasnt easily resolved. I have an engineer coming to look at the machine next week and i will let him have all of the suggestions you have kindly given. Will let you all know how it goes.
Please dont conclude from what I posted that this is an hardware problem -- It could be-- but there is also a good chance it's software related. ! A thorough check of your Pc "de visu" would be needed to confirm either is the culprit ! and unfortunately this Forum does not permit that. As you say you bought from a reputable source, and they will look after the problem; let us know what they find ! Regards !
~~Smiles! -- "De visu" is latin for ""with your own eyes"" -- meaning if we could only see what's in your PC from this Forum -- we could sort it out of course ! Have a great day !
