BSOD's on installing Win 7 and Vista

[Hartigan]

I just got a new system and wanted to install win 7 on it. For a day or 2 it worked perfectly fine. Then I got a BSOD and was forced to reboot. After rebooting i was unable to regain access to win 7 because it kept giving several different BSOD's .

After a while of trying to repair and restore win 7 I decided to install win xp. This works perfectly fine. No BSOD high end games show no signs of any broken hardware.

So after formatting the disk I installed win 7 on I tried to install win 7 again. With the same result, the setup loads and the win logo appears for a while after that a BSOD.

So I tried the upgrade way. But when i tried to upgrade xp to Vista I got a BSOD after the frist reboot.

Can anybody help me based on this information? If more info is needed please let me know how to get it.

 

[Jonathan King]

It has to be hardware.

Our suspects: RAM, PSU, hard drive, CPU, and motherboard.

I recommend returning the machine to the place you got it. It is unacceptable for this to be happening, this is why the OEM provides a warranty.

If for whatever reason this is not an option, let us know, and I'll get you a RAM and hard drive test, so you can purchase a new part.

 

[Hartigan]

We'll i've put the system together myself. Is there a way to find out which part is at fault? After the working win 7 bsod's i did a memcheck from the repair list.

So it would help alot if i could identify the faulty part before going back to the store.

 

[Hartigan]

update: Was looking through the rest of the forum on how to identify the faulty part. And decided to take out 1 of my 2gb ddr strips of RAM. I was then able to install the 32 bit win 7 version without problems.

But now I'm wondering if its the Ram thats faulty or the motherboard is there any way to find this out?

 

[B00kWyrm]

Run memtest on each stick of ram.
If you get errors, then you need to look deeper.
1. Are your BIOS / CMOS Configurations set properly for your memory?
2. If DDR2/DDR3 - are the sticks matched?
3. Are you sure the contacts are clean?
4. Are you sure there are no bad capacitors on the MoBo?
5. Is your memory on the HCL for the MoBo (Some boards are very picky!)?

If all of the above check good, then it is time to change any memory stick that checks bad with memtest.

Note: re Memtest. We used to say to run Memtest a minimum of 7 full passes (8 tests per pass).
We are now recommended at least 10. Route44 and I have seen cases where errors did not show up until pass 11 or later.
So, the longer the better...

added after Jonathan King's note #6 in this thread.
BTW... I like Jonathan King's guide, which he references in his next note.

 

[Jonathan King]

Just to clarify Bookworm's intentions:

Use Memtest86, not the built-in Memory Diagnostic tool. Here's a guide: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

 

[Hartigan]

Gonna try that, thanks for the great help and fast replies.

 

[Hartigan]

Ok so didnt have much time today but i tried the memtest you described and this is what i found:

Test 1:
Dim 1 occupied with RAM 1 and Dim 2 occupied with Ram 2
Memtest gave errors from the start

Test 2:
Dim 1 occupied with Ram 1
No errors for 1 cycle.

Test 3:
Dim 1 occupied with Ram 2
Memtest gave errors from the start

Test 4:
Dim 2 occupied with ram 1
No errors for 1 cycle

I didnt have much time to run alot of cycles. I concluded from this that at least Ram 2 is broken. And since they came as a set i didnt have to fully test ram1 because if 1 has to be replaced i should just get a new set.

Am I right in concluding that Ram 2 is malfunctioning and that this is the ram and not the mobo?

 

[Jonathan King]

Just to clarify some terms here:

DIMM = Dual Inline Memory Module; the sticks of RAM used in modern machines.

Slot: the slot on the motherboard that holds the DIMMs.

Yes, it does sound as if stick 2 is bad. I suggest RMAing the whole kit for a replacement.

 

[Hartigan]

Thanks for the explaination. Went back and got a new set w/o problems. Thanks again for the help

 

[B00kWyrm]

The new memory resolved the issue? (I hope!)

 

[Hartigan]

Yep, this set doesnt give errors when running the memtest.

Havent tried installing the 64 win 7 bit yet. Is it really so much better than 32 bit that its worth having to reinstall all other programs?