WTF is wrong with Win2k?

[cchen]

I always gets these random BSOD's
exception not handled, irql not equal, ntoskrnl.exe error (or something like that), and memory dumps

i just did a fresh install of win2k a month ago

i get these bsod's randomly, and i get them for sure when i play a game

wtf is wrong with my system? i've already upgraded to sp2..

 

[miguel]

Probably hardware. Change your memory and see if that makes a diff. Also, change your motherboard if the memory thing does not help.

 

[cchen]

Change my motherboard? Are you kidding me? Yea, I have another board right in my pocket

What hardware would be the problem? Before I formatted, I had no problems of this kind and had the same setup. the only thing that i changed was my memory (from 3 mushkin modules to 3 crucial modules). the three modules that i got were new though. do you think that would cause the problem?

see, i don't see how hardware would cause the problem. it happens right away when i load a game
it'll take a long time depending on what other applications i'm using

oh yea, another bsod i get relates to atapi.sys...

 

[miguel]

It sounds like memory. If it's not, then I would look at the motherboard.

Of course, this is assuming you are not doing any overclocking or anything like that. THe usual applies too: make sure you have latest drivers for all hardware, especially motherboard.

 

[Idontcare]

Yea, I get this crap all the time too. Right now if I hook up my atapi cd-rom and try to boot win2k it will crash (every time) when I boot the computer. The reason - beats me but if I uninstall ez-cd creator then it does not happen with the identical hardware configuration. If I install win2k (fresh install) with the cdrom in the system I can install ez-cd and then no BSOD so long as I never remove the cdrom and attempt to hook it back up later (why oh why does win2k give a crap?)

At any rate, I feel for you. No matter who you ask everyone has a different theory as to what in your computer is not quite right and in the end the best you feel like you can do is buy a whole damn new computer. I know there are days where I could care less how much it costs for a new computer so long as the damn thing works...

 

[miguel]

Just remember: there is always a reason why things happen. There is no such thing as "haunted" PCs or anything like that. If it's too much trouble to track it down, then, yes, buy a whole new PC.

BUt then, you wouldn't be here if you were that type of person, no would you?

 

[cchen]

Well, I downloaded docmem and ran it over and over again - my memory passed all of the tests
are there any other programs to try?
could it be a software error, like the os? i was thinking of trying a reinstall and see if it fixes anything...

 

[flippinfleck]

Well, cchen, according to your rigs page your Thunderbird is overclocked from 1.2 -> 1.4. That could be part of your problem right there. Drop it down to default (god forbid that you don't have that extra ) for a while and see if that helps.


>edit
How did you get that oc? Did you change the multiplier or the FSB?
edit<

 

[cchen]

hmmm.. why would overclocking cause these bsod's?

i used the multiplier... my fsb can't go that high...

 

[mjoeyoung]

I had this same problem, computer crashing all the time with the same errors. I fixed it and haven't had any of those errors since. This is what I did. In device manager under computer I changed the driver for ACPI to Standard PC, shut down, rebooted, then I reinstalled the correct driver for ACPI. This takes a little while because W2K needs to reinstall the drivers for you hardware and such. This worked for me.

 

[flippinfleck]

<< hmmm.. why would overclocking cause these bsod's? >>


Most likely because you are stressing your components beyond specification. That's one of the downsides of overclocking, especially with a high fsb.

 

[cchen]

i didn't overclock my fsb though....

 

[flippinfleck]

<< i didn't overclock my fsb though.... >>


But you are still stretching your cpu beyond spec. What temps are you getting? Have you tried running it at default to see if the bsod's go away?

 

[cchen]

<< I had this same problem, computer crashing all the time with the same errors. I fixed it and haven't had any of those errors since. This is what I did. In device manager under computer I changed the driver for ACPI to Standard PC, shut down, rebooted, then I reinstalled the correct driver for ACPI. This takes a little while because W2K needs to reinstall the drivers for you hardware and such. This worked for me. >>



where did you get the correct driver for acpi?

ok.. i'll try running at default speed and see if they go away...

 

[flippinfleck]

That would be gotten from either the cd, or windows driver database. It should find it or ask you for the cd.

 

[cchen]

hmm if it the correct driver comes off of the cd.... isn't the "wrong" driver off of the cd as well?

 

[flippinfleck]

<< I had this same problem, computer crashing all the time with the same errors. I fixed it and haven't had any of those errors since. This is what I did. In device manager under computer I changed the driver for ACPI to Standard PC, shut down, rebooted, then I reinstalled the correct driver for ACPI. This takes a little while because W2K needs to reinstall the drivers for you hardware and such. This worked for me. >>



I highlighted the part that is particular to his/her solution.

 

[yazz]

remember to turn off or disable ACPI in the BIOS as well. while you are in the BIOS enable RESET DATA CONFIGURATION as well. ACPI is probably the most common cause in why a WIN2K/XP system randomly reboots for athlon machines.

 

[cchen]

ok, i changed my pc to standard pc... but i still get soe bsod's...

there wasn't an option in my bios (msi k7t turbo) to disable acpi

i also ran my cpu at 1400 and still i got the bsod's...

any other suggestions?

 

[cchen]

anyone?

 

[smp]

When you installed win2k, did you install the 4 in 1's?

Try memtest.exe .... it's the best memory testing program afaik.

 

[cchen]

yea, i installed the 4 in 1's...

 

[flippinfleck]

Maybe a clean install is needed here... It's a drastic resort, but a surefire way to get rid of what ails ya.

 

[mjoeyoung]

Sorry about that, I just meant to reinstall the ACPI driver again. Go from ACPI to Standard PC and then Back to ACPI. There are lots of things to try though. You could pull all the memory sticks and try them installed one at a time, maybe one isn't up to spec. You could pull all of your PCI cards and try them installed one at a time. You could rearrange the order of the cards in the computer, you might have a PCI sharing problem. The best place for help though would probably be a message board for your particular motherboard. Here is a link to the MSI Forums.

 

[renorocks]

Hey dude, join the club. I had the same problem as you on my pilot build with an MSI K7T266 mobo. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but I finally figured it out. I found out from MSI that Micron & Seimens ram seems to work the best (translation: these are the only brands of ram they tested with). They did not know if they used Micron originals or third party pcb though. I also stayed away from shared irq pci slots (see your motherboard manual). For some reason the Win 2k shared irq's don't work to well with some pci cards. I also downloaded the latest 4in1 drivers. Please take special note of how many bios revisions MSI has generated for your mobo & update to the latest one. If there are a ton of updates you can bet they have had some *minor* glitches as was the case with the K7T266.

I'm sure you are in for lots of fun. Good luck.
JR