Strange Pause on booting

[Scotsdude]

I've got a rather strange problem and, as ever, the MS site is slightly less helpful than a chocolate teapot.....

Some background first - my Windows XP finally threw a fit and crashed out, so I re-installed. Now getting a strange message in the Event Viewer, and getting a 2 minutes gap in the boot sequence. It finishes the old Windows XP boot screen, hangs for 2 minutes, then shows the logging in screen.

The message in the Event Viewer is:
Source: Application Popup
Type: Information
Event ID: 26
User: N/A

Description:
Application popup: : Machine Check: Regs

Data: (Bytes)
0000: 00 00 08 00 03 00 6c 00 ......l.
0008: 00 00 00 00 1a 00 00 40 .......@
0010: 00 00 00 00 1a 00 00 40 .......@
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0028: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

I also get a similar one, also an Event 26, which simply says
Application Popup: Machine Check

There's nothing special about the hardware or software currently installed:
Athlon XP 2200+
1Gb DDR266 Ram
40Gb Seagate Barracuda
Gigabyte GA-7VTXE
Hercules Muse DVD 5.1 soundcard
MSI GF5200 AGP card
BT 1040 Wireless Nic
4port USB2 PCI card

Windows XP PRo SP2 + updates
Office 2007 Beta
Paragon Drive Backup 8
Kaspersky Internet Security v6

Thats about it really. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've already tried rolling back using Sys Restore - didn't help. Have thought about restoring from teh backup I made after the build, but have this sneaky suspicion it'll happen again. Am I looking at a re-install? again?

Ta.



Scotsdude

 

[bcastner]

This only happens on cold boot, correct?

This is an error from your processor, not XP. XP only notes that the processor has thrown an exception during self tests. MCA (machine check architecture) is designed to detect and report machine (hardware) errors such as bus errors, ECC errors, parity errors, cache errors, and TLB errors. Machine check exception (also called fault) is being generated when such an error occurs and the CPU must be reset in order to continue. When this exception happens, OS suspends any software running and records exception information from CPU MSR registers and then it crashes/reboots/or does a soft reset (takes about one minute during boot).

A machine check exception occurs when Windows XP and your hardware platform cannot recover from a hardware error so that the system can continue to run successfully and reliably. More specific diagnosis of machine check exceptions is difficult, and there is no general solution. Contact your hardware manufacturer or a computer hardware technician for help with troubleshooting this issue.

Machine check exceptions are frequently caused by one of the following conditions:

• You are running the processor or mainboard beyond its specifications. For example, you are overclocking the processor or bus. We recommend that you run your hardware at the manufacturer-rated speeds.

• Noisy power, overstressed power strips, outmatched power supplies and failing power supplies can destabilize your computer. Make sure that you have a stable, reliable power supply to your computer.

• Extreme thermal conditions caused by the failure of cooling devices such as fans may damage your computer. Make sure that your cooling devices are all working.

• You have damaged memory or memory that is not the correct type for your computer. If you recently changed the memory configuration, revert to the previous configuration to determine what is wrong. Make sure that you are using the correct memory for your computer.

• You need a BIOS upgrade, if available;

• Leaking capacitors

See:

http://www.ntcompatible.com/thread22875-1.html

____________________________
Users Helping Users

 

[Scotsdude]

bcaster

everything appears to be ok. i may just try to rebuild, and see what happens. Nothing has changed on the system from the previous installation to this one, all hardware is the same and has been functional for quite some time.

Funny thing is, after it has this little pause, it finishes the boot, and runs unbelievably sweet. Nice, smooth and damn quick (it didn't before cos of all the crap I had on it - I tend to install all the gadgets, gizmos and utilities I can lay my hands on :-D )

Maybe in a 6 months or so I'll build a new PC - if I have the money

Thanks.



Scotsdude