Getting the Blue Screen of Death

[silverdj]

I just got the blue screen of death and I was just curious as to some of the reasons why this happens. I haven't really done anything to the computer besides put in an addition HDD. Could this cause the computer to overheat or work too hard for what I have. The HDD is just a 40 gig HD, didn't think it would do any damage. Thank you for any help that you guys can give me.

 

[Lemon law]

While this can be a overheating or overwork the power supply problem---chances are something is not configured right. Have you set one HDD as slave and the other as a master?
Step one for you may be to go to system information and see if there is some forced hardware--and device manager to see the same type things.--look at yellow or red flagged hardware. Check your bios also--something there may be nixing that second hard drive.--check also your motherboard web site.

But when windows gets confused in any one of a number of areas---it pops up that blue screen and shuts down. That your clue to see what is wrong---but microsoft is totally unreponsive in helping you find out what is wrong by in large.---as I found out when I bought a used system similar to yours at a bargain price. Until I got things set up right, I was getting those blue screens also.

But silverdj, unless you are a gamer---in which case nothing is ever fast enough---I doubt you need upgrade your system for mere XP.

 

[letdown427]

If confronted with a BSOD, my first thought would be, "aww crap, the RAM."

Just my .02

 

[Evander]

well first change the settings in windows so the system doesn't automatically reboot when you get a bsod (i think the setting is under admin tools). now you can write down the bsod message, and search the microsoft database to see if there's a solution (sometimes there are downloads that you have to call MS before they give you permission, b/c they are not for systems unaffected by a particular bsod).
This is the general advice i was given for tracking down the cause(s) of bsods. If you need more specific info (such as links) let me know. those links are on my laptop and im using my desktop right now.

 

[stupidkid]

God's punishment for not using Linux.

Ok seriously, on my laptop, whenever I try to run Age of Mythology, I get BSOD. Something about corrupt memory. O well, Windows has it's glitches.

 

[essasin]

The two common culprits are the psu and ram.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: stupidkid
God's punishment for not using Linux.

Ok seriously, on my laptop, whenever I try to run Age of Mythology, I get BSOD. Something about corrupt memory. O well, Windows has it's glitches.

:roll:

To the OP, BSODs are caused by failing hardware or by buggy device drivers.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: stupidkid
God's punishment for not using Linux.

Ok seriously, on my laptop, whenever I try to run Age of Mythology, I get BSOD. Something about corrupt memory. O well, Windows has it's glitches.

:roll:

To the OP, BSODs are caused by failing hardware or by buggy device drivers.

:roll' agreed. Appearantly stupidkid never heard the phrase 'kernel panic'

 

[tooltime]

most common is a software that was installed or uninstalled

 

[Lemon law]

Lets not talk general situations---the op stated this only started happening after he installed a second HDD. --so what in the HDD install could be causing this? Oe more specifically, how can he fiind the exact right tree to bark up---saying it could be memory--could be a program--could be anything is worthless.

 

[stupidkid]

Originally posted by: beer

Originally posted by: MrChad

Originally posted by: stupidkid
God's punishment for not using Linux.

Ok seriously, on my laptop, whenever I try to run Age of Mythology, I get BSOD. Something about corrupt memory. O well, Windows has it's glitches.

:roll:

To the OP, BSODs are caused by failing hardware or by buggy device drivers.

:roll' agreed. Appearantly stupidkid never heard the phrase 'kernel panic'

Well at least I've never gotten one, in Linux that is.

 

[beer]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
Lets not talk general situations---the op stated this only started happening after he installed a second HDD. --so what in the HDD install could be causing this? Oe more specifically, how can he fiind the exact right tree to bark up---saying it could be memory--could be a program--could be anything is worthless.

Can you boot into Windows?

If so:
Let us know and I will give you the procedure for analyzing the dump file
If not:
Do you have 1394 connection?
Do you have a serial connection?

Do you have a laptop or second machine with the same interface as the host machine?
You can attach a debugger that will grab the dump file in the event you can't boot Windows. I can walk you through the process.

please clarify if you can or cannot get into Windows. You're going about the same task either way, but with a different approach.

 

[pcgeek11]

What exactly did the BSOD say? This would go a long way in IDing the problem.

pcgeek11

 

[jl01]

blue screens are not the same! the contain at least an error or STOP message.

it could sound like: "irq not less or equal"

or at least: STOP: [some hex numers]...

Either google for the message you get or post your message here...

greetings...

 

[ktwebb]

There's been a few suggestions as to what the most common BSOD is. That would be their experience for the most part. There are hundreds of reasons you could get a BSOD. Literally. So the question is FAR too broad. Now if you said what is causing this BSOD? with the stop code xxxxxx and the error message yada yada yada, THEN you might get a response that can help you begin to troubleshoot your specific problem Also any event viewer entries and if there was a dump file created on your root partition, and so on and so forth. So provide some information and there should be plenty of people that can offer pertinent advice.

 

[NogginBoink]

A BSOD is caused by an exception happening that the OS can't handle.

The cause could be hardware or software. The eight-digit hex code on the screen identifies the type of exception that happened. We need that to determine the cause of the problem.

Most BSOD's are software.

STOP 0x0000000A, 0x0000001E, 0x0000007F are software.

STOP 0x0000009C, 0x00000077 are usually hardware

Those are the most common STOP codes.

If you could get the STOP code we can tell you the likely cause.

 

[zer0tech]

hey, i'm also getting that BSOD, but i dont know what it's happening, i could not exactly read what it said, because it reboots after it appears, but i could notice two words: physical memory.

this new system i got has kept me in thin ice, because the nf4 chipset gets too hot, as much as 69°C,

i dont know whats happening :S

myy sistem specs (in case you have some similar devices and the same is happening)

DFI NF Infinity UltraII-M2
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 675
Seagate Barracuda ST3320620A 320GB
Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD

 

[pcgeek11]

Set your computer not to reboot on an error then you will be able to see what the exact error message and codes are. Right click My Computer, Advanced Tab, Startup and recovery Settings. At the bottom you will see a header System Failure uncheck the one that says " Automatically Restart ". Then when you get a stop error remain displayed until you reboot, Write down what it tells you.

pcgeek11

 

[Guy Incognito]

Hey guys! I've been gettin the Blue Screen of Death quite frequently and was wondering if anyone could help me locate the problem(s) causing them.

These are a few of the BSOD error/stop messages I encountered today, they looked something like this:


...
Driver IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
...
Technical information
***STOP:0x000000D1 (0x77D804EA, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x77D804EA)
Beginning dump of physical memory
Dumping physical memory to disk: ...


and


...
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
...
Technical information
***STOP:0x0000000A (0x83EEE258, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x806E2D61)
Beginning dump of physical memory
Dumping physical memory to disk: ...


I've seen various BSOD error messages, and not all of them have said "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL". Unfortunately, in the past I did not take the time to write them down. Hoping to somehow get by until next spring (buyin a Mac round then), the last few days have pushed me over the edge...

Essentially, I was feelin a little randy late last night and decided to play a Bishoujo Game. For some reason, and much to my dismay, everytime I'd open the particular program, within a few minutes of starting a new game it would BSOD. Completely frustrating, if you know what I mean... I also encounter the BSOD when I'm using iTunes (playing songs), RealPlayer (navigating albums in my Music Library), and depending on the media I open, in Windows Media Player too! Oddly enough, sometimes I can play CS:Source for hours without ever seeing the BSOD, and other times I won't be able to load the program without seeing it. It's almost as if my compy is being moody. I really don't know what to do! Back up all my stuff and reformat? Buy new ram? Could it be that my 380W Seasonic Power Supply can't handle my AMD Athlon XP 2400+ and ATI AIW Radeon 9800 Pro??? Or is it my two Seagate hardrives (200GB 7200.8 and 320GB 7200.10) that are causing these problems???? If you guys could help a brother out, I'd totally appreciate it!

 

[Guy Incognito]

Wow... OK... So I just had another BSOD while surfing the web. This time, Microsoft Error Reporting/Online Crash Analysis has directed me to a page I've never seen before. In fact, it's provided me with a 'solution' (after restarting my compy post BSOD, I usually get sent to a Microsoft page that tells me they don't know what's going on, or why, but that they're working on it). I took some screenshots of this newer page. If you guys think seein em would be beneficial, let me know.

I also managed to copy down most of the actual BSOD, before my computer kinda abrubtly turned itself off. Here is what I saw (this BSOD actually looked kind of familiar):


A problem has been detected and windows has shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart...
...
Technical information:
***STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0xBF01F4FB, 0xED0A9054, 0x00000000)
*** ati2dvag.dll Address BF01F4FB base at BF012000, DateStamp 4362e8b0
Beginning dump of physical memory
Dumping physical memory to disk: ...


I think I'll try installing some newer drivers for my video card and see what happens... Urgh... this is not a fun way to spend a Friday night...

 

[Guy Incognito]

Is there no one here who'll man up to the task? Sigh...

Here's what another BSOD I had last night kinda looked like:

***STOP: 0x000000D1 (0xE357D000, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0xBF810393)
***Win32k.sys - Address BF810393 base at BF8000000, DateStamp 43446a58

I followed the instructions that Microsoft game me last night and it did not solve my problem. I'm using newer ATI drivers and I still BSOD. Futher, Microsoft recommended me turn off Hardware Acceleration, which resulted in a BSOD everytime my computer loaded into Windows.

I'm installing a DVD burner later tonight or early tommorow and I'll check to see if I've messed up the Master/Slave cables on my Seagate hard drives.... ANY help would be appreciated, thanks folks.