win xp 64 bit started crashing suddendly

[fxman777]

hi everyone ...i have a problem that i'm not sure how to fix.

my win xp pro 64 bit system started crashing suddenly. i see a fleeting blue screen and then it reboots. seems like if i don't do anything with the computer it won't crash as fast BUT it will crash no matter what in 10 minutes. the rate of crashes has increased today.
i have a dual processor opteron 275 system, 4 g ram and several hard drives attached.
i'm wondering if this might be a ram thing ?

i managed to do two system restores to dates when everything was definately fine. but the crashing still goes on. i'm at loss ... any leads ...

thx a million

 

[IllogicallyLogical]

Try this. Go to Control Panel> System> click the Advanced Tab> click the 'Settings' button under 'Startup and Recovery'> under 'System failure' uncheck 'Automatically restart'. Now when the computer crashes you should be able to read the BSOD. Post back the exact error on the blue screen. Did anything prompt this? Any new driver or software installations? Check the Event Viewer for errors. It could very well be a problem with the RAM. If you want to test the RAM try out Windows Memory Diagnostic.

- Windows Memory Diagnostic

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

Joey
A+, Network+, MCP

 

[fxman777]

excellent advice

in the meanwhile i found a program called
memtest-86 and i'm in the process of running that.
as soon as it completes i'll turn the auto-reboot
off and log the errors ...

thx for all the help so far joey ... i'll log more
info soon harry

 

[IllogicallyLogical]

Memtest86 is an excellent tool for checking RAM errors as well.

Joey
A+, Network+, MCP

 

[fxman777]

1. ok ...i ran memtest86 all night as it were,
and i the "errors" field has 6685772 in it.
sounds like bad ram. i'm not sure how to read
the memtest results and/or if it outputs a log.
i read through their website but that part is
unclear there ...

2. this is what i got from unchecking autoreboot.
the blue screen:
MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION

Technical information:
*** STOP: 0x0000009c (0x000etc, 0xFFetc, 0x00etc,0x00etc)


also ..i haven't installed any new hardware and no new software recently ( definately not since the roll back
date to which i did a system restore )

recommendations ... ?

thx harry

 

[IllogicallyLogical]

This STOP message is representative of what could be a number of hardware problems. Since the Memtest86 results are showing errors this is indicative that it is the RAM. Try taking out all of the RAM modules and try running them one at a time to see if one particular module is causing the problem or try running the Memtest86 test on a single module or a selective number of modules at a time to narrow the errors down.

- STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xb2000000, 0x00020151) ...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/329284

Joey
A+, Network+, MCP

 

[fxman777]

OK problem solved ...i figured i'd post
it here in cases someone else runs into
similiar problems.

my first instinct that it was a ram problem
was correct. i thought it might be since the
crashes occured randomly but they seemed to
happen sooner if i used more ram ...

i have four one gig simms. i started removing
them out one at a time and defying murphys law,
the 3rd was the faulty one.

thx to everyone on this board and joey in particular

harry