Blue Screen of Death

[Hitchy]

Where to begin ...

Initially, it began when i bought some new hardware. 2x 256MB Geil RAM, Asus A-17 Motherboard, Intel Processor 3.0Ghz. This took a while to install and get going, due to problems with Hard drives etc.

Once i had XP pro installed along with the other programs, i.e photoshop, dreamweavr etc, all was going fine and dandy. However, one day the blue screen of death came up, with a message, being on of the 2 following: BAD_POOL_CALLER, or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL can't remember which with this being some time ago. So i rebooted and this seemed fine and i carried on working on the PC as normal thinking that the problem had (hopefully) gone away.

However, every so often (approx. once a week) for a month the same Blue Screen decided to appear again. Each time i rebooted and the problem seemed to reside back into the stupid metal body from whence it came. The message on the screen seemed to change from one to the other (above 2 error messages). Then, a couple of days ago the pc had been on all morning and i came back from a match i had just been at, clicked on something and the message came up again. 'ok' i thought just reboot again and should be fine. It was fine for about 3 minutes and then the blue screen came up again. And then again. So i shut the computer down and looked up the 2 error messages on the internet, and it was suggested that driver verifier (verifier.exe) was used, as this error message was linked to driver problems.

Soo ...i ran the verifier.exe and created a standard procedure check, rebooted as requested and waited for it to start up. The login screen came up and so i put in the password and waited for it to load up. However, it stayed at the 'applying your personal settings' screen, and then decided to reboot. As usual, thinking hopefullt that this was a one off, let it reboot and tried loggin in again. To my bitter frudtration, it continues to reboot and get no further. I am now stuck. I have lost the will to keep fighting unless somebody can give me a reason to carry on by providing some help, concerning either the Blue Screen error messages or the constant rebooting or both! Would be greatly sppreciated.

Thanks greatly, Hitchy

 

[jimp56]

the hijack log looks clean. the d374bus.sys is described as "PNP bios extension" - meaning perhaps a device isnt PNP'd properly, meaning resources arent allocating properly, meaning a device driver can go into the BSOD due to improper memory allocation, etc.

however, the other drivers are disk-related. youve said the first hard drive tanked, and you had other disk problems. I would suggest carefully verifying drive cable/jumper setup, as well as how the drive is setup within the BIOS. And, as said before, run the manufacturers diagnostic to certify the drive. also verify you are using the correct IDE cable for your drive type (they arent all the same).

Also, you can try fooling with some BIOS settings, such as setting the "PNP OS" setting to no, disabling any unused COM ports, etc. to free up resources. some MB's have the option in the BIOS to reset PNP config data, I would choose this as an option as well if it exists.

If no joy on any of the above, my gut tells me to look at the nvidia card more closely. perhaps try plugging it into another slot if possible, and/or verify whether the video init is set to PCI or AGP (whichever applies to the card). And, possibly also use another non-nvidia video card in the system for awhile for testing to see if it acts more stable or not.

And, did you ever run the memtest? I dont recall seeing feedback about that....

bottom line: you have a hardware problem of some sort, IMO.

 

[Hitchy]

Have just been doing the memtest (not memtest86) and i was intending to leave it going overnight so that i became more rigorous and stood a better chance of finding errors, but while i left it going i went out so my computer decided to reboot again when i wasn't looking! But i think the RAM is fine because the test had been going for about half an hour before i had left. Should i still try memtest86??

Will be trying the BIOS option asap.

Thanks for the help again ..keep it coming

Hitchy

 

[stduc]

Are you saying you were running memtest86 from a self booting floppy and you PC re-booted?

 

[Hitchy]

It says in brackets (not memtest86). This was a test that could be run while the computer was loaded normally.

Is that a suggestion to use memtest86?

 

[LloydSev]

yes use memtest86, as it completely bypasses everything windows.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[Hitchy]

Have just run Memtest86 for over 7 hours and it seems that the RAM is perfectly ok. I am thinking that the MB is at fault here, but have moved the sounds card to another slot to see if that helps in anyway (trying everythin here). Will keep you informed.

 

[stduc]

I reckon its time to eliminate bad sectors on your hard drive as a possibility as well.

 

[Hitchy]

The same has happened on two different Hard drives both with completely different sotware on each. I am finding it hard to believe there is anything wrong with the hard drive ...but is there any way to make sure?

 

[LloydSev]

Go ahead. and In one post, say everything you have eliminated..

Hard Drive
Power Supply
RAM
Video Card..

list it all that you have eliminated.

Computer/Network Technician
CCNA

 

[Hitchy]

OK ...i have eliminated:

RAM
CPU
Both Hdds (which includes software)

Am not sure how i should be eliminating the Video card or Power supply. Any pointers with those??

 

[jimp56]

try borrowing or buying a lower-end graphics card (not nvidia) and run it for just awhile as a test to see if it runs any more stable, after you have removed the nvidia. it would be best to put the other card in a different slot than the nvidia currently is in.

 

[linney]

http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp

There are utilities to remove all traces of a Nvidia driver install; freeware:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3214.html

 

[Kaycek]

I would still Google to see about those errors, because something just doesn't sound right

Kaycek
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't give up and Don't give in

 

[Hitchy]

I'm not getting any BSOD messages anymore, my computer is now just rebooting itself occasionally. I only have one slot in which my graphics card can go in. Still try using a different card in the same slot??

 

[stduc]

Its hard to say, but worth a try. Why is the PC re-booting. Its kind of necessary to know.

In System Properties / Advanced Tab / Startup & Recovery Settings - Check that "automatic restart" is unticked and "write an event to the system log" is ticked. Someone else may care to advise on the other options.

After re-booting, is there any event in the system log at the time of the re-boot that indicates why? An error for instance. This may give a clue.

 

[Hitchy]

Ok yes these are both ticked. It doesn't seem as thought it is doing anything apart from rebooting.

Have an older Graphics card in my machine now and am waiting to see if anything new/old happens. Will keep everyone informed.

Hitchy

 

[Kutter]

Hi Hitchy,

I dont have time to read the entire thread but did read the firs few posts, but I had to reply when I saw the error messages you were getting, this drove me NUTS about 6 months ago. From what I have seen of the further posts you are going through exactly the same 'solutions' as I did, and all to no avail.

I caught that you had 'eliminated' RAM in one of your posts. What I would ask you is did you actually ELIMINATE it, or did you just check it in a different machine?

The reason I ask, is that I had this EXACT problem with 3 machines in a row that I built for a customer. When the first one did it i thought nothing of it, the second confused me some and when the third turned up with the same error message I was poleaxed as to how to proceed with her new machines. I like you tried EVERYTHING I could think of... Then I CHANGED the Ram. Ever since all 3 machines have run perfectly (well as perfectly as windows will let thep )

If you HAVE done this, then I urge you to try CHANGING everything in the machine 1 thing at a time, because I had to admit that it HAD to be something I'd already tried at one point.. I too had tested the RAM in another machine.. And the Graphics card, AND the Power supply, AND the MB etc etc etc..

The Net is no help whatsoever with this issue, believe me I searched high and low, and even this site failed to give me an answer. My problem was i HAD to find a solution, my customer had no network, no machines, and no way to do business...

I really hope this helps, Hitchy as I feel your pain. Just remember that SOMETHING hardware related is going on to cause theese errors, I know you may THINK you changed everything, but think again my friend and think as hard as you possibly can about what could be the common piece of hardware (even down to the case!) in EVERY instalation you have done...

Kutter.

 

[Hitchy]

Ok i have just eliminated the GRAPHICS CARD. I had just switched the card with an older one from my fathers machine and was trying different programs to see if the problem would occur again. Low and behold ...it happened again. So now i know that the GRAPHICS CARD is not at fault. What should i look at now. Heres a list of what has been eliminated:

1.Graphics card
2.RAM
3.CPU
4.Hdd (including software on both)

 

[Hitchy]

From the last random reboot i got, technical information from the error report reads:

C:\DOCUME~1\Hitchy\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERa80a.dir00\Mini050205-02.dmp
C:\DOCUME~1\Hitchy\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERa80a.dir00\sysdata.xml

 

[Hitchy]

Thanks for the Info Kutter, unfotunately there isn't any available RAM that is compatible with my mahcine around that i know of, and i dont particularly want to buy some more. However, i shall keep this in mind and have a look.

THanks,
Hitchy