Windows Media gives BSOD and instant reboot

i just re-installed Win XP Pro SP2. within one week, i'm already getting the BSOD! just now i discover that every time i load up Windows Media Player, BSOD and instant reboot.

minidumps attached, i have no idea why this is happening.

also, please see my other thread, i'm also getting occasional BSOD but not so obviously related to opening Windows Media!

http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic36923.html

This may pertain to both BSODs.

Right-click My Computer - Manage - Event viewer.
First go into Application, and list some of the latest (in date) errors. Never mind info and warnings.
Same with System logs. These are easier to research then minidumps.

Also, by what process did you use to install XP? Is it a restore disk? Just OS? Did you load all your own drivers? In what order?

A BSOD this quick after a fresh reload (done right), will usually still come down to hardware.

The other thing you want to do is turn off Auto-restart.
Right click My Computer - Properties - Advanced - Startup and Recovery settings - uncheck Automatic restart.
Then go in Media Player until it crashes. Now it should give the BSOD with a STOP error and perhaps a message at the top. Post this info.

cheers

All your minidumps are crashing at GearAspiWDM.SYS.

Look HERE (http://dvdxcopy.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/19128) for a possible solution.

Also look HERE (http://www.gearsoftware.com/support/index.cfm) for driver updates etc.

Regards Howard :)

thanks...
howard_hopkinso, when you say ALL my minidumps are you also referring to those on the other thread of mine?

(i would be very happy if that were true) :)

i don't know how this stupid GEAR driver got installed, i search many driver CD's to not find it.

what's odd is I uninstalled the DVD burning software that came w/ my Plextor DVD/RW and while it didn't remove this "GearAspiWDM.SYS" file, so far i can play a CD just fine again (??)

In your other post one of the minidumps does crash with the Gear driver.

The other two crash at a Windows system file, but the cause may be related to reader_sl.exe which is the Adobe reader speed launch, and CLI.exe which is related to your ATI drivers. Neither of these files are required to run, and can be disabled.

See HERE (http://www.hardavenue.com/startup/reader_sl.exe.php) for more info on reader_sl.exe

See HERE (http://www.liutilities.com/products/wintaskspro/processlibrary/cli/) for more info on CLI .exe.

Regards Howard :)

invaluable information! i thank you both!

can i ask how one can determine what Service to disable based on the .exe you can see in Task Manager that you want to stop permanently?

actually, on second look, there is no Service that starts CLI.exe or the adobe one either. what's the best way to prevent these programs to start automatically then?

Click start/run, and type msconfig into the run box, and hit the enter key.

When the msconfig window appears click on the startup tab. See if you can see either of the entries, and untick the check box next to them.

Click apply/ok and restart your computer. After your computer has restarted, you will see a window that says you have used msconfig to make changes etc.

Tick the box that says not to run msconfig the next time you start windows, and click ok.

Regards Howard :)

i can't thank you enough! it seems (for now :haha: ) that i have a solid system! i find it strange that so many little stupid programs (at least for me) can cause such serious errors.

anyway, tremendous thanks again! :angel:

Glad we could help (fingers crossed) lol.

Just keep your eye on things for a few days, and try not to install, or uninstall anything else untill you`re sure that your system is stable.

Regards Howard :) :)

well, i got a few more over the past few days :( :(

if anyone can check them out, i'd appreciate it.

One minidump crashes at ntkrnlpa.exe, and points to navicat.exe.

The other one crashes at ntkrnlpa.exe, and points to Cubasesx3.exe.

Both crash with a bugcheck of 8E.


0x0000008E: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
A kernel mode program generated an exception which the error handler didn’t catch. These are nearly always hardware compatibility issues (which sometimes means a driver issue or a need for a BIOS upgrade).

Try doing a bios upgrade.

Regards Howard :)

interesting...so it seems my Database interface app (Navicat), my music production software (Cubase SX), Internet Explorer, and now my Bulk Email program have all crashed me with the BSOD in just two days! (i checked the two minidumps that happened today myself and just saw where the .exe was in relation to the ones Howard checked) :approve:

i'm wondering how it could be hardware when these are all software that really don't have any hardware interactions. the music software is the only thing really that works in conjunction with hardware (an external firewire sound card)

i have the latest BIOS...i'm not sure what to do...there are no configurations within these programs i know of to somehow change... :giddy: (that's rolling on the ground in insanity) :grinthumb

UPDATE (10 min later): now it crashed apparently from my Avast antivirus program (ashServ.exe) too!!! :giddy: :giddy: :giddy:

UPDATE (10 min later): now it crashed apparently from my Avast antivirus program (ashServ.exe) too!!!

Was that also with a bugcheck of 8E?

When your earlier minidumps were crashing at the Gear drivers. The bugcheck was 26.

One possible cause of this bug check is disk corruption. Corruption in the file system or bad blocks (sectors) on the disk can induce this error. Corrupted SCSI and IDE drivers can also adversely affect the system's ability to read and write to the disk, thus causing the error.

Another possible cause is depletion of nonpaged pool memory. If the nonpaged pool memory is completely depleted, this error can stop the system. However, during the indexing process, if the amount of available nonpaged pool memory is very low, another kernel-mode driver requiring nonpaged pool memory can also trigger this error

Have you run a disk check?

If that doesn`t help, then maybe you need to start uninstalling, and disconnecting you peripheral hadware, and then testing your system.

Regards Howard :)

thanks Howard...
i have no idea what the bugcheck is. i'd be happy to try to figure it out on my own if it's simple to explain. (which makes me wonder if a nice tutorial on reading minidumps exists out there somewhere?)

i attached the minidumps if you'd care to take a look. i just found the .exe by comparing to the minidumps you examined and told me the culprits on.

otherwise, i'll try a chkdsk but i have a feeling that won't do it...

i've never had such bad luck with a system! puke:

p.s. my network seems to be funny on a new wireless card. my database connection hangs, FTP is flaky, my download speed varies a lot. i will soon try going back to ethernet connection. any way this could very well be the problem?

All your latest minidumps crash with a bug check of 8E. They all reference the same driver ntkrnlpa.exe. This is the Windows NT kernel system. They point to various cuplprits including the two in my post above, and IEXPLORE.EXE.

Regards Howard :)

All your latest minidumps crash with a bug check of 8E. They all reference the same driver ntkrnlpa.exe.

does the above give any clues as to what is most likely the culprit? i'm going to try removing my wireless LAN card, then maybe try a new video card, at last resort, a new p/s.

The only clue is the bugcheck code of 8E.

As you already know this is often a hardware compatibility issue, and can be hard to diagnose.

Regards Howard :)

As you already know this is often a hardware compatibility issue, and can be hard to diagnose.

Regards Howard :)

indeed so...thanks for all your help :grinthumb

When you get to the bottom of your problem, as I`m sure you will.

Please will you let us know what it was?

Thanks, and good luck.

Regards Howard :)

i will thanks...
let me ask you this though, if i go into device manager and choose "disable" for a hardware driver, is that as good as physically removing the device so far as the OS is concerned? (meaning if i just disable my wireless LAN for starters or do i have to physically remove the PCI card to be sure)

I`d tend to recommend uninstalling the drivers, and removing the hardware.

I`d also recommend that you check your ram as well.

Look HERE (http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic35103.html) for instructions on testing your ram.

Regards Howard :)

well, my minidumps from a few months back (examined by cpc2004) seemed very indicative of faulty RAM. not long ago, i bought brand new Corsair XMS ram, fully compatible with my board. it seems highly unlikely that it would be two pairs of faulty ram...

i'm lost, but am trying to remove one thing at a time. :dead:

:)

well, i removed two PCI cards and went crash free for a long time. i put one in and all was well, gave it a day, put my Wireless LAN card in and finally got a BSOD. so i'm not entirely sure which is causing it yet, but i'm close!!! :giddy:

can someone please tell me if this new minidump also crashes with a bug check of 8E referencing the driver ntkrnlpa.exe? then i would know it's the same hardware causing it and not some new or different problem.

Your minidump crashes with a bugcheck of 50, and pool_ corruption.

0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card).

Regards Howard :)

Your minidump crashes with a bugcheck of 50, and pool_ corruption.

0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card).

Regards Howard :)

well, i was running a virus scan when it crashed...time will tell when and if i see it again.

at least i know it's not the same problem i had before! thanks!!! :wave: