BSOD from NVIDIA drivers?

[hiko13]

1. Overview of the problem
   After installing video card drivers, random lockups and BSOD. Windows cannot reboot.
   
   
2. Full description of the problem and symptoms
   I'm at work right now so I don't have all my specs in front of me, but I'll supply what I can. Tl;dr version follows the below paragraph.
   
   Ordered http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822136298 last week to replace an old 160 GB Western Digital HDD. Drive arrived, installed Windows (XP) with no issues. Installed my mobo drivers (EVGA 680i board bought back in '07) and then drivers for my Netgear WN311B adapter which got my internet up and running. Installed the latest NVIDIA drivers (dated 3/3/09) for my 8800GTS cards bought back in '07. After video driver installation the machine hung up once while just browsing and also crashed repeatedly while running World of Warcraft. Tried rolling back to the next-oldest drivers off the NVIDIA website and ran into the same problems with WoW and also hit the BSOD. Windows wouldn't boot up after that--tried last good configuration, also tried safe mode with no luck--so I reformatted the new HDD and did a reinstall of Windows. The reinstall took forever (approximately 24 hrs) but seemed to work ok. Did the mobo drivers again, then the drivers for the network adapter, and then (like a moron) the video card drivers again with the same result--BSOD, and once again I didn't write down the error message. So now I'm on my 3rd install of Windows in the last week trying to figure out 1) why my Windows installs are taking forever and 2) what's causing the crashes. Any help would be appreciated, let me know if more info is needed and I'll supply what I can.
   
   tl; dr version
   
   Installing Windows XP is taking forever and (I think) my video card drivers keep crashing my system. Any thoughts?
   
   
3. Did it work normally at one time, or has the problem always existed?
   Old HDD worked ok, was just very fragmented and almost full. New HDD seemed to work ok until the vid drivers were installed.
   
   
   
4. Is the problem consistent and repeatable, or entirely random, or semi-random?
   Seems repeatable--2x I've installed the video drivers and 2x it's BSOD'd on me.
   
   
   
5. I already tried these steps:
   Reinstalling XP (32 bit version). Rolling back the drivers to the next-newest version.
   
   
   
6. My software:
   • OS: Windows XP 32 bit SP2
   • Antivirus: Norton 360 on the first crash, none the second
   • Windows Firewall on
   
   
   
7. My hardware
   • Mobo: EVGA 680i
   • CPU model: Intel Q6600, not OC'd
   • Video card(s): (2x) BFG 8800GTS
   • RAM modules brand & model: Patriot DDR2 800mhz, 4 GB
   • Power supply brand & model: Can't remember brand, 750W supply
   
   
   

[/quote]

UPDATE: Got the BSOD during the Windows install now. Was at 65% when I left for work this morning, went home at lunch and had the following BSOD error message

framebuf
STOP: 0x000000EA (0x89c7f8d8, 0x89ce5470, 0xf78cecbc, 0x00000001)

So is this an indication that it's my vid card going bad or something else?

 

[Ausm]

My guess is you may not have something setup in the BIOS correctly especially when it took that long to reinstall windows. The first thing I would do is update your BIOS. Then I would make sure I had the new hard disk was on the correct SATA port. I would reboot the machine then go into the BIOS and make sure it reports the Hard disk correctly. I would then reinstall windows (hopefully it is much faster) After I installed Windows, I would load the latest Nforce drivers and Geforce video drivers from Nvidia's website.

 

[bruceb]

First thing in a case like this is to run Memtest .. flaky memory causes all sorts of issues. Also are you overclocked ? ? If so,reset to the defaults and see if the issues go away. Then if you want to overclock, do it in very small increments until you find where it becomes unstable. Then go back down 2 notches for safety and a stable system.

 

[hiko13]

No overclocking on my RAM, CPU or vid cards. I'll run memtest when I get home and see what that comes up with.

I'll reset the defaults on my BIOS and update them as well.

 

[hiko13]

I didn't have the CPU, RAM or vid cards overclocked or voltages tweaked or anything like that. However, I did go back and reset the BIOS to defaults and everything seemed to work last night. Installed network stuff and video drivers and everything ran fine all last night. Today I fired it up and within 5 minutes it locked on me, then BSOD'd and gave me the following:

MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION

STOP: 0X0000009C (can't remember what these were)

I've got memtest running now to see if there are any faults with my RAM (up to 65% and no errors). Here are my system specs:

mobo: EVGA 680i SLi (NF63)

processor: Intel Q6600 2.4GHz

RAM: 4 GB Patriot DDR2 800mhz

Vid cards: BFG 8800 GTS 640mb x2

PSU: 750W power supply (can't remember make)

Everything was working fine on the old HDD. Googled the MCE error and it didn't seem to narrow anything down. Would a new HDD cause that error?