Need to eliminate possible hardware issue

[Brett636]

Here is my rig:

Athlon 64 3200+
512 mb DDR PC3200
Geforce 3 Ti200
60 gig Maxtor Hard drive
300 watt antec power supply
Windows 2k pro

The issue:

I have been getting stop error 0x0000007f(0x0000000, 0x0000000, 0x0000000, 0x0000000) which leads me to believe I have either bad memory, or a bad power supply. If I had more $ I would just go about replaceing both, but I don't. I need a surefire way to eliminate one or the other as the issue. I have been running Prime95 and it hasn't come up with any memory issues, but I'm not sure how accurate that program is. The problem is after my comp runs for 30 min. to an hour if I open up anything related to IE my comp crashes and gives me the above error. It will then reboot exactly 3 times before it will stop giving me that error and starts the whole thing over again. Any good ways test one or the other or both? Thanks.


Brett

 

[Jeff7]

Try Memtest86+ for the RAM.

A search for 0x0000007f at Microsoft's site gave a lot of matches. I don't have enough information right now to narrow the search down. Maybe you'll have better luck.

 

[Brett636]

I just tried to run memtest86 and when I try to create a floppy it says program failure and quits.

 

[mechBgon]

What exact kind of PC3200 is it, and are you giving it enough voltage? AUTO isn't necessarily ok, make it 2.7 volts and see if it likes that any better.

Also, what's your security status (firewall, antivirus, antispyware, Windows patching, strong passwords on Admin-class accounts)?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Brett636
I just tried to run memtest86 and when I try to create a floppy it says program failure and quits.

Find another PC that does work, and then to download and run the file. You are using the "Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)" file, correct?

This will create a bootable floppy. Note though, Windows will report that the floppy disk is unformatted. This is normal. Just download the file to the hard drive, extract the files to a temporary folder, and run the install.bat file. Once the disk is created, simply reboot, and the program will start automatically.

Once in Memtest, there's some keys to press to get it to run all the tests. I don't remember the key combination, but here's what to look for in the first three menus:

Enable Test All Cache
Enable Test All Memory
Enable Run All Tests


The test names are something close to those; you should be able to find them in there.

 

[Brett636]

The memory is crucial BL1111V.K7. I still need to check on the voltage. Antivirus comes up ok, spyware/adware programs were ok a few days ago when I ran them. Just did a scandisk and fixed whatever problems the hard drive might have had. As far as memtest goes. I just tried two different floppies on a different computer, but when I run it on my comp it just gives me the floppy disk error from the bios.

I love how vague these error codes are "Could be hardware or software issues" Well no freaking duh.

Thanks for the help guys, keep your suggestions coming.

 

[Brett636]

Now my comp is randomly crashing instead of waiting for me to open up specific programs. I'm starting to lean towards power supply...

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Brett636
The memory is crucial BL1111V.K7. I still need to check on the voltage. Antivirus comes up ok, spyware/adware programs were ok a few days ago when I ran them. Just did a scandisk and fixed whatever problems the hard drive might have had. As far as memtest goes. I just tried two different floppies on a different computer, but when I run it on my comp it just gives me the floppy disk error from the bios.

I love how vague these error codes are "Could be hardware or software issues" Well no freaking duh.

Thanks for the help guys, keep your suggestions coming.

Floppy disk error in BIOS? Is the floppy drive light on all the time? If so, cable's in backwards.

If that's not it, try a different drive and/or floppy cable.

Or, if you've got access to a CD-RW drive, download the bootable ISO from memtest.org and make a bootable memtest CD.


What motherboard is this on?

 

[AluminumStudios]

I don't know if it's necessarily one of those two pieces of hardware. I've seen strange things cause bouts with blue screens. I was having issues with my machine blue screening and getting stop errors, while randomly troubleshooting I removed a floppy drive cable which was connected to the motherboard but not a floppy drive and the issue stopped after that!

I've also seen drivers cause it. If I was getting desperate, I'd probably do a clean re-install of my OS before spending any money after updating drivers, reseating the memory, CPU, PCI cards, HD cables and such.

You said your floppy drive was failing? Disconnect it for a while and see if anything changes.

Just some troubleshooting advice ...