Windows 7 64-bit Blue Screen

[goombawaho]

Got an emachines ET1831, Windows 7 64-bit, 4GB RAM. I'm getting blue screens that are all over the place - no consistent cause. See image of blue screen analyzer.

I did a short test of the hard drive and a brief (5 minute) test of the RAM with MemTest86+. No problems found.
Updated all the drivers that I could update. It still blue screened after my visit.

Not sure what else I can do other than run a longer memory test. Any thoughts. Making me look bad.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[goombawaho]

Ran LONGER memory test and got errors.
Pulled out one stick and tested each - couldn't get any errors.
Tested in different slots - no errors
Conclusion - DIRTY RAM contacts????

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Beilstwh]

or the chip wasn't fully seated in the slot.

Bill
Lead Application Developer
New York State, USA

 

[goombawaho]

This is enough to make me pull my hair out!!

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[rclarke250]

I have a pair of PNY memory that does the same thing. If I put them in together, they give errors, if I use either stick by itself then no errors for 24 hours running memtest 86+. Happened in 3 different motherboards, A Lenovo, MSI, Asus.

 

[ChrisHirst]

Pulled out one stick and tested each - couldn't get any errors.
Tested in different slots - no errors
Conclusion - DIRTY RAM contacts????

Alternative conclusion;

Mismatched DIMMs in 'paired' slots.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[technome]

With the price of ram, I would just get new ram. Your right, issues like this can drive you crazy.




........................................
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"Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons."
Popular Mechanics, 1949

 

[ChrisHirst]

Your right, ...

And the left can be just as bad.


Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[Beilstwh]

If you buy memory avoid PNY everyone I know who buys it has trouble. Pay a couple of dollars more and get a name brand. You will not be sorry.

Bill
Lead Application Developer
New York State, USA

 

[goombawaho]

The memory sticks are exactly the same and not PNY. That will be the next step - replace RAM. It's older DDR2-800 - not sure about price at this point.

Have NOT heard of any more blue screens at this point, so crossing fingers. Thanks to all for replying.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

The memory sticks are exactly the same

Unless they were sold as a 'matched pair' there could well be just enough 'differences' in the manufacturing and QC tolerances to cause problems when used in paired slots.

https://www.howtogeek.com/174482/what-does-the-ram-slot-color-coding-on-motherboards-mean/

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

Well, the sticks came with the computer and they are the exact same brand/model number. More than that - who knows with individual variation. Since I haven't heard of any more blue screens (YET!!!) I'm leaning toward just poor contact.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

POST errors or warnings would be more probable with a DIMM slot "poor contact" causation, "blue screen" failures are OS errors in 'talking' to hardware.

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

Did you look at my original post? The blue screens are all over the place in terms of cause. So, that does NOT sound like a particular driver causing the issue but rather a general RAM issue. I found an error when testing for a longer period of time and then it suddenly disappeared when testing individual sticks separately.

So, the only LOGICAL thing I can conclude (since it started working normally when the memory contacts were cleaned and then memory was re-seated) is that the RAM wasn't seated properly or dirty.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ChrisHirst]

My point is that a hardware error that is physical in it's nature is probably going to be picked up during POST long before the OS starts.

Also DIMM slot connectors have a sufficient 'spring' in them to rub away any slight deposits as the memory sticks are pushed into the slot, the exception here are SODIMMS of course.

I found an error when testing for a longer period of time and then it suddenly disappeared when testing individual sticks separately.

Which suggests not mechanical or physical, but an issue with 'pairing', physical would show up no matter what the combination of DIMMS/Slots happen to be

Electronic mismatch and/or timing errors would only show up with a particular combination of DIMMS/Slots

Chris.

Indifference will be the downfall of mankind, but who cares?
Time flies like an arrow, however, fruit flies like a banana.

Never mind this jesus character, stars had to die for me to live.

 

[goombawaho]

Well................ we wait for the return of Mr. Blue Screen then.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.