W2K blues

[azkiwi]

My install of at least a year has suddenly turned to junk. Lockups and blue screens are suddenly as common as wildflowers and I have no idea why. I have not added anything new hard or soft, I have updated windows and drivers and if anything its worse not better.

Just today I have had;

1. An attempt was made to write to read only memory .......ntoskrnl.exe

2. Stop 0000000000IE ..... atidvag.dll

3. Page Fault in non-page area

I am also getting frequent boot errors; "Access violation in spysweeper.exe"


The only errors showing in Application Events are ZoneAlarm TrueVector errors.

About all I have been able to tell is when it locks up CPU usage is very low.

Chkdsk reports no problems. I have checked for bugs spyware etc.

Where to start?

 

[n0cmonkey]

memtest

 

[NogginBoink]

Given the wide variety of symptoms, I'd bet on bad RAM.

 

[azkiwi]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
memtest

I have run memtest for 300+ cycles (700% coverage) with zero errors so far. How long does it need to run to be reasonably conclusive?

Thanks for your replies.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: azkiwi

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
memtest

I have run memtest for 300+ cycles (700% coverage) with zero errors so far. How long does it need to run to be reasonably conclusive?

Thanks for your replies.

A lot of people seem to let it run over night. Both using the typical settings and the advanced or whatever. I've never used it though.

 

[azkiwi]

went over 500 cycles with zero errors ........ then crashed in ntfs

all the fluff was turned off - no ZA, no Spysweeper, no spyblocker etc.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Originally posted by: azkiwi
went over 500 cycles with zero errors ........ then crashed in ntfs

all the fluff was turned off - no ZA, no Spysweeper, no spyblocker etc.

Install Motherboard Monitor, and then install Prime95, and start it running the "torture test". I suspect that you may have either RAM, power, or thermal issues. You might consider downloading and running the mfg test program for your HDs as well, as sometimes a flaky HD and/or IDE cable can cause the OS to BSOD, expecially if the HD "burps" while the OS is trying to access the pagefile or registry.

Is there any dust/hair/fur buildup in your fans? It's possible that due to increased temps due to the seasonal weather, your machine that was thermally marginal could have crossed the line into outright stability. Assuming MBM supports your motherboard's sensors, then you can use it to effectively check or reject if this is the problem.

Edit: I meant to say, "outright INstability". oops.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Did you DISABLE the TRUEVECTOR Service when you canceled ZA?

Are the Truevector ERROR(s) in regards to the DATABASE being corrupt?

 

[azkiwi]

Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
Did you DISABLE the TRUEVECTOR Service when you canceled ZA?

Hmm.. I didn't know they were separate. I just shut ZA down. I've seen references to this but don't know how to disable the TrueVector service. Is that a windows service?

Are the Truevector ERROR(s) in regards to the DATABASE being corrupt?

yes - every time.

 

[azkiwi]

Originally posted by: VirtualLarry

Is there any dust/hair/fur buildup in your fans? It's possible that due to increased temps due to the seasonal weather, your machine that was thermally marginal could have crossed the line into outright instability. Assuming MBM supports your motherboard's sensors, then you can use it to effectively check or reject if this is the problem.

I took to it with the central vacuum - it wasn't horrible but I sucked up a few dust bunnies. The CPU was running at 48ºC (Asus probe) yesterday - which doesn't seem unusually high - right now with the case open its at 43ºC - the mobo is at 32.

We'll see if that helps.

Thanks.