Isolating driver conflicts

[PayolaSD]

Hi,

I'm experiencing system instability and blue screen stop errors. The stop errors usually mention drivers as the source of the problem. It doesnt happen all the time but happens at random.

I did recently install a new sound card and anti-virus software but I have since removed them to see if they were the culprits. nope, system is still unstable.

My question is, is there any software tools out there that can help me pinpoint what exactly my problem is?

Thanks

 

[montag451]

The best way is to disable ALL non essential hardware.
See if the problem is still there.

If yes, then you have a more fundamental problem.

Alternatively, you could try a system restore back to before the problems started

 

[FlyingPenguin]

What specifically is the error you're getting. Almost ALL BSOD errors mention that drivers MAY be respondible, but that doesn't mean a drive is at fault.

Check your error log in Event Viewer. See if there's any error messages in there that may give a clue.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: PayolaSD
Hi,

I'm experiencing system instability and blue screen stop errors. The stop errors usually mention drivers as the source of the problem. It doesnt happen all the time but happens at random.

I did recently install a new sound card and anti-virus software but I have since removed them to see if they were the culprits. nope, system is still unstable.

My question is, is there any software tools out there that can help me pinpoint what exactly my problem is?

Thanks

You can send me the minidumps found in c:\windows\minidump and I'd be happy to look at them. Run MPS Reports (see my .sig) and send me the resulting .cab file, too. See my .sig for more info.

 

[PayolaSD]

Thanks for the replies. I think one of my sticks of RAM may be bad. I'm running on just one 512 stick now and havent gotten any errors since yesterday. The only other thing I tried was disabling one of my NICs (my mobo has 2 built into it).

 

[nweaver]

run memtest (on most Linux livecd's) overnight, see what it says.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Swap sticks to make sure it really IS one specific bad stick. Other possibilities is a bad socket, or instabilities in dual channel mode (most modern mobos run in dual channel mode with 2 sticks installed - faster performance but the timing is touchier).