Another guy with BSOD at random intervals.

[psyflash]

Since a few days I have been experiencing BSOD’s. Searching the web I learned that this is most often due to RAM failure. I noticed a lot of people on these boards were given some indication as were to look by providing minidumps. I was hoping to be granted the same privilege.

Of course I will be testing my RAM as well as exploring other possible causes.

Thanks, anyone willing to help, in advance.

details:

Event Type:	Error
Event Source:	System Error
Event Category:	(102)
Event ID:	1003
Date:		16-11-2005
Time:		15:25:45
User:		N/A
Computer:	CP140351-A
Description:
Error code 10000050, parameter1 ffffffdc, parameter2 00000001, parameter3 80535e23, parameter4 00000000.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 53 79 73 74 65 6d 20 45   System E
0008: 72 72 6f 72 20 20 45 72   rror  Er
0010: 72 6f 72 20 63 6f 64 65   ror code
0018: 20 31 30 30 30 30 30 35    1000005
0020: 30 20 20 50 61 72 61 6d   0  Param
0028: 65 74 65 72 73 20 66 66   eters ff
0030: 66 66 66 66 64 63 2c 20   ffffdc, 
0038: 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 31   00000001
0040: 2c 20 38 30 35 33 35 65   , 80535e
0048: 32 33 2c 20 30 30 30 30   23, 0000
0050: 30 30 30 30               0000

They all look similar but with slightly different error codes and parameters.

 

[cpc2004]

Hi,

I've studied your minidumps. The culprit is faulty memory. You can run memtest to stress the ram. If memtest reports the ram is faulty, ram is bad. However Memtest is not a perfect tool to test the memory as some faulty ram can pass memtest.

Debug report
Mini111605-06.dmp C2 (00000007, 00000cd4, 16c0bfb5, e228dbc0)
Probably caused by nt!ExFreePoolWithTag+2a0

Suggestion
1. Check the temperature of the CPU and make sure that it is not overheat (ie temperature < 60C)
Make sure that the CPU fan works properly
2. Reseat the memory stick to another memory slot. Reseat video card as well.
3. Downclock the ram. Check to default setting if you video card is overclocked.
4. Clean the dust inside the computer case
5. Make sure that the ram is compatible to the motherboard
6. Check the bios setting about memory timing and make sure that it is on
For example the DIMM1 and DIMM2 do not have the memory timing
DIMM1: Corsair CMX512-3200C2 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (2.5-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz) (2.0-3-3-7 @ 166 MHz)
DIMM2: Corsair CMX512-3200C2 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (3.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
DIMM3: Corsair CMX512-3200C2 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM (3.0-3-3-8 @ 200 MHz)
7. Make sure that your PSU have adequate power to drive all the hardware including USB devices

If it still crashes, diagnostic which memory stick is faulty
1. Take out one memory stick. If windows does not crash, the removed memory stick is faulty.
2. If you have only one memory stick, replace the ram

 

[psyflash]

Thank you very much for your assistance. I have run memTest all night and it didn’t encounter any errors. I will now start exploring all your suggestions.

 

[Vigilante]

You ran memtest86 right? Not memtest for Windows. Memtest86 is a bootable program that runs outside of Windows.

Assuming you did, you may actually want to run a Windows based memory check, as this can surface compatibility problems, versus physical problems with the RAM. There is actually another program called memtest that runs in Windows. Not to confuse your or anything

The memory corruption could also be drivers. You may want to scan for viruses and spyware, then go through and update all your drivers.

Good luck

 

[psyflash]

Vigilante:
Yes I ran memtest86. I will follow your advice and try a memtest for windows. (And any other alternative that might isolate the problem without removing hardware )

I also checked my cpu temp and it's is a nice cool 33° C.

The symptoms are getting worse. Programs start displaying tiny glitches. (I had to reinstall Firefox)

Another thing that might be interesting to mention is that I recently had to rebuild my boot.ini file. I vaguely recall it having a flag named /NOEXECUTE, but I don’t remember what option was specified. I have omitted that flag completely since then. I run a 32 bit version of WindowsXP on a 64bit (Intel)cpu. I don’t understand it’s implications well enough to know if this could be related. But that bootflag seems designed to handle this.

 

[Vigilante]

The /NOEXECUTE is a very common switch that most XP users have, it has to do with XPs Data Execution Prevention (DEP) protection. You can see DEP by right-clicking My Computer, choose Properties, Advanced Tab, the Performance Settings, it's the 3rd tab over.
This page shows the boot.ini switches, including this one, which is only half the switch. It is normally as "/NOEXECUTE=OPTIN".
http://www.sysinternals.com/Information/bootini.html

Anyway, hope that isn't info overload, but using DEP helps stop some types of software attacks.

If all else fails, a reload could be an option. Only because if you can rule out a hardware error, but Windows and programs are all acting strange, then you have to rule out software by reloading.
If reloading is not a viable option, we need to rule out malware (spyware, viruses, hijacks, BHOs, LSP, etc...). Rule out drivers. Rule out system file corruption, by running the system file checker. Do your windows updates and patches. And then if things are still funky, perhaps you have an issue with ActiveX or some type of scripting.

We'll see I guess.

 

[psyflash]

Thank you for the info. Browsing the internet I noticed that some people experienced BSOD because of this switch. Wishful thinking + the fact that I only recently removed it myself got me restoring it. I really thought the problem was gone. ( I Queued 3 hours of movie files and went away from the computer. No restarts)

Alas this wasn’t so.. Later that evening it still went *wam!* reboot..
It also seems to be happening when moving large files. But this could perhaps be pointing as much to RAM as it could be to the discs.

I still have to run that memtest under Windows. The fact that memtest86 ran for 8 hours without crashing does seem to rule the RAM out doesn’t it? Could reinstalling Windows solve the issue?

Finally, I know the problem isn’t caused by overheating. Also this night I will be excluding RAM further by removing and replacing parts.

The reloading you propose sounds like a plan. However even booting in safe mode causes the errors. Still try?

 

[psyflash]

ok, it's solved. Faulty ram indeed.
Tnx for all the help!

 

[Vigilante]

Might I inquire what you did to test? Or if you used a program, or if you just swapped RAM out?

Memtest86, IMHO, is about 95% accurate, it WILL find any conceivable data errors with a RAM stick, which is a physical, mechanical problem. BUT, if a RAM stick is simply incompatible with your hardware, or perhaps incompatible with another RAM stick installed, memtest86 will NOT fail this, as it only tests the RAM directly. But in Windows, all kinds of different errors can happen. So while all your RAM "may" be perfectly good sticks (as per m86), it is incompatible with something and thus not working perfect. And that is where a Windows-based test comes in handy, as it can surface these types of problems.

glad you found it though!

 

[psyflash]

Why, of course you may.
Yes it was simply so, that with the RAM stick removed the system worked flawlessly. I don't know about incompatible hardware, but before the symptoms surfaced, this configuration had worked perfectly for about 5 months.

As said, memtest86 didn’t find anything wrong with the things.

 

[Vigilante]

Jolly good ole fellow! Now drink a glass of port and relax. Splendid, jolly good chap.