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Community: Hang out with the Boleh family => General Discussion => Topic started by: ┼65□™ [579] on May 15, 2013, 06:52:24 PM
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Hi All,
I was hoping some of the gurus around here could point me in the right direction.
Problem: Frequent BSOD, particularly when stressing graphics usage.
Start Of Problem: Brownout / Improper Shutdown
Since Then,
1. Fresh Windows XP SP3 + Drivers installed, doesn't work, Reinstalled XP SP2 (same software setup as before problems)
2. Fresh Memory Installed and Tested with memTest86+ = ok
3. Graphic Card replaced on warranty
*System crashes when stressing graphics capabilities. (4-6 VLC video windows)
*System much more stable when using integrated graphics on mobo, but still crashes
I'm up against a wall because I have eliminated almost everything I can think of, except for maybe a faulty mobo or PCIe slot. Any ideas? Anyone hit something similar before?
Thanks for your comments.
:)
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Not sure about the specific problem but a general tip. It's a good idea to switch up to the latest version of Windows, atleast swap to Win 7 64bit if you don't want to mess with Win 8's quirks. You get a lot better security and so on.
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Thanks for help. But me happy with the old faithful setup.
BTW, I have been using a registry lock program that installs with Spybot for years and have no problems with security. No need AV and all that stuff, just the occasional scan with MBAM to get rid of browser hijacks (disable javascript in browser solves most of that).
I've got hijacks maybe 2-3 times in the last 15 years or so.
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Don't kid yourself into thinking you don't need AV, you run WIndows you need it! Unless your name is Gates with over 25 years of experience, install one! LOL... ;)
Run a stress test like with Prime95 for 24 hours;
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103 (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103)
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=205 (http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=205)
Sounds like you might still have bad hardware, also if all the hardware checks out and it passes Prime95, you might have a bad PSU...
Rule #1 never buy a cheap PSU, there are certainly a lot of good ones out there, but it's hard to go wrong with the Corsair ones...
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PC is till unstable. I'm starting to think it is the mobo. Any ideas?
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You have tools like memtest and prime95 to give u an indication what is wrong. Need to try those before anything else :D
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Hi, I used to have similar problems on my old PC. 4 possible areas to look at.
Whatever it might be hope youve first backed up all your data, emails etc. before attempting any of the following.
1. Check your bios setup in general to conform with your other cards, especially your graphics, setup conflict ?
2. Either a faulty power on switch or one or more of the motherboard mounting screws to the chassis is leaking ground intermittenly. (for me, this was my actual problem)
3. I had alot of gunk stuck in the cooling fans over the CPU, graphic card and all over my mother board, might have caused excessive heat build up. Theres free software available to see running temperature.
4. Bad sector/s. If you havent already checked, Run chkdsk /? at command for required switches. However Im uncertain if chkdsk looks at the (MBR) master boot record in the reserved hidden area of HD, which could also go bad though very rare. If you do find bad sectors, you'll need a low level format to write out these sectors and reinstall Windows.
chkdsk sample taken from MS site:
chkdsk (drive)<space> /p<space> /r
Where /p Does an exhaustive check of the drive and corrects any errors.
/r Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information.
Note If you specify the /r option, the /p option is implied. When you specify the chkdsk command without arguments, the command checks the current drive with no options in effect.
Do bear in mind, dealing with MBR is pretty advanced stuff and its a last option.
You got to determine if you do actually have a corrupted MBR, see google how :}
More reading on MBR, you might want to look here-
http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1147088 (http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1147088) OR
http://www.ntfs.com/mbr-damaged.htm (http://www.ntfs.com/mbr-damaged.htm) OR
http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/fix-mbr-xp-vista/ (http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/fix-mbr-xp-vista/) OR
http://www.ehow.com/how_5087860_fix-mbr-windows-xp.html (http://www.ehow.com/how_5087860_fix-mbr-windows-xp.html) OR
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058)
Its all I can think of for now. Good luck, mate.
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PC is till unstable. I'm starting to think it is the mobo. Any ideas?
It might be unstable but without running a stress test we can't determine if the instability is hardware related or not...
So did you run a stress test for 24 hours?
If not run a stress test for 24 hours, then come back and tell us if it paseed or failed then we can take it from there...
One thing at a time, this is the first step you need to take...
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Thanks for all the help guys. I know it has been a while...
Anyway, it was a dying mobo. had to pull it out to see the brownish 'burn' marks on the hidden side of the board. Put in a new mobo and things are working fine so far.
It was a hell of an elimination process though.
Cheers,
65