hard soft crash

[lancstech]

my dell 8400 started system crashing randomly but often (every few hours/15 mins up to 5 a day) with 8086 event error in logs.

tried checking hardware seating, disabling startup software etc. switched from main xp setup to backup xp partition/drive via multiboot. this has not yet crashed so hardware looks good at least(not so sure about main xp partition/drive).

advice please as to whether (1) to rebuild from scratch main xp drive, (2) use an image backup or (3) carry on investigating the fault (slow/requires multiple boots).

this is an old system, loaded with tons of software over a long period so am prepared to spend a bit of time trying to
fix it. it is along time since i had to problem solve like so xp/dell can't be all bad.

 

[linney]

I haven't read all this post but the first of several pages was talking about third party programs (in this case ZoneAlarm) causing problems.

Bugcheck Error (8086) ntoskrnl.exe ( nt!KeWaitForMultipleObjects+43 )

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic29051.html

310353 - How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310353&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

316434 - HOW TO: Perform Advanced Clean-Boot Troubleshooting in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;316434&FR=1&PA=1&SD=HSCH

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

http://www.google.com.au/search?q=8...ox&ie=&oe=&redir_esc=&ei=K8Y8TMjrEND0cKPQ6YED

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Explorer.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right-click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking. Try it first by not checking either box (this will run it in a Read-only mode) to see if it flags any hard drive or file problems. If it does, restart it by ticking both boxes, and rerun it to allow it to attempt to fix any found problems.

The hard drive manufacturer will have free diagnostic software that is bootable, or that may even run from within Windows, that will thoroughly check the condition of your hard drive.

Do you have the same experience if testing with another user?


Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

If they don't work you could try repairing windows by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341/en-us

 

[lancstech]

hi linney, thanks for links.
loaded an image of my c drive, seemed ok,
but upon first am boot crashed.

will run on backup xp for long enough to confirm integrity of "2nd disk/hardware/os" then ....

i had already run chkdsk on c which found errors .... crash or disk?. just remembered i use another partition for some apps,
so will try chkdsk again when i reboot to main os.

could try sfc approach
or i could put a disk 1 image on disk 2.

wondering if this is my first experience of the downside to multi partitions.

 

[kjv1611]

Very likely, it being an old system, that the hard drive is simply failing. It's a cheap investment, plus you could increase your performance as well, just by buying a new drive, and copying the old drive's data/partitions to the new drive, and then test to make sure you got it right.

If the system uses only IDE drives, you can get a WD Blue IDE drive. More than likely, this one should fit nicely. It's not the biggest, but it's probably bigger than what you've got in there:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6112&cm_re=wd_blue_ide-_-22-136-112-_-Product

 

[GrimR]

We only run Dell's.

So run your Dell diagnostics

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins700m/en/sm/diag.htm

http://support.dell.com/support/top...&s=dhs&docid=A9E3A15597A04AFBB02EE16785D39C5C

MCITP:EA/SA, MCSE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCTS, MCP+I, MCP

 

[lancstech]

thanks for links.

will try dell disk diagnostics, if only for old times sake.

main xp is on newer drive, but drive is looking likely to be culprit.

backup xp on original drive seems ok, so might build this xp into working system and then port to reformatted newer/new drive.

 

[lancstech]

tried dell diagnostics cd, good for system info/drivers for
a rebuild, as dell split os & drivers onto 2 cd.
drives passed all dell tests.
run sfc /scannow and so far so good .....

 

[lancstech]

oops crashed again, will try older image of main xp.
if that fails will reformat drive for data use.
lessons learned(re) - keep more backups
how much i tweaked xp over the years, not always for the better.

 

[kjv1611]

Oh yeah, didn't think about this, this being Windows XP, you could also take a look at RegScrubXP for general clean-up and tweaks. It's no longer supported, but still works wonders for many XP machines I've used it on.

http://majorgeeks.com/Lexun_RegScrubXP_d2048.html

 

[lancstech]

i try and keep my reg in order with revo uninstaller and ccleaner. will try an old image next.

 

[kjv1611]

Those 2 work good as well. I've just seen some huge improvements on several machines over the past oh 7 years at least with RegScrub XP.

 

[lancstech]

last image appears to be fine - so "hardware ok".
have no idea what was wrong. pc pretty locked down, and
i stay in shallow end of the pool/net.

i don't tend to keep restores but will do so for a bit,
if only to try as another option if problem returns.

since sfc failed apart from rebuild only other option would have been system repair.

hope my issue was of some benefit to others.

thanks for hints/links etc.