Sorry, I'm new here. I think this is the right forum.

I recently brought a new PC (about a week ago). It ran happily for several days until I got a BSOD upon closing a game. Before the BSOD appears the screen breaks down breifly into blocks of colors (lasting less than a second).

I shrugged it off as a one off... restarted, then continued as normal. Since then it has happened frequently, sometimes up to 3 times a day. Just from closing a game or a graphicly intensive program.

Here is my PC's information:

OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 6.0 (Build 6001)
BIOS: BIOS Date: 6/23/09 15:42:20 Ver: 08.00.14
Processor: AMD Phenom 8600 Tripple-Core Processor (3 CPU's) ~2.3 GHZ Performance rated at 5.2Ghz
Memmory: 2046mb RAM
Page File: 1198mb used 3145 mb availible
DirectXVersion: DirectX10

Display Device:
Name: ATI Radeon HD 4350
Chip Type: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x954F)
DAC Type: Internal DAC (400mhz)
Aprox. Total Memory: 1275mb
Current Display Mode: 1024x768 (32 bit)

Display Drivers:
Main Driver: atidxx32.dll,atidxx64,atiumdag.dll,at
Version: 7.15.0010.0176 (English)
Date: 04/02/2009 12:49:22
WHQL Logo: yes
DDI Version: 10.1

Sound Device:
Name: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Defenition Audio)
Device ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC 01VEN 10ECDEV 0662SUBSYS

Sound Drivers:
Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Version: 6.00.0001.5680 (English)
Date: 06/08/2008 17:11:06

Here is the BSOD information:

Problem Signatue:

Problem Event Name: Bluescreen
OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3
Local ID: 2057

Additional Information About the problem:

BCCode: 1000008e
BCP1: C0000005
BCP2: A9CD9288
BCP3: 9A599AB4
BCP4: 00000000
OS Version: 6_0_6001
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 768_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini090309-01.dmp
C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-135346-0.sysdata.xml
C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Temp\WER4CC8.tmp.version.txt

(Would me uploading those files help?)

Thanks in advance, I hope you can help me,

John.

0x8E errors are almost always caused by hardware and is especially a strong indicator of corrupted memory. The first thing to do is run Memtest on your memory to see if it is bad. The good rthing about this test is that it is free, perfectly safe, and it engages as soon as your system boots up.

See this link and follow it step by step: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html

See reply #21 by kimsland for some visual instruction.

Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes; the more Passes after 7 so much the better. There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.

If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.

Also, with errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.

* Get back to us with the results.

* Also, the description of the blocking you describe sounds like artifacting and this can be a sign of either your fan is not keeping your video card cool enough or the fan is failing; or it can mean your video card is dying. Let's see what Memtest tells us first.

Im going to try that out after I have my work done... Don't want to mess it up.

I am a complete newcomer to this hardware thingy, and don't really want to be pulling RAM sticks out... hopefully it wont come to that.

Is it also worth noting that my computer occasionaly freezes, even when it isn't using much memory?

I am going to leave it on overnight, do you think it will be done by the morning?

Thanks for the response,

Yes, it should do at least 7 Passes by the morning. Removing memory sticks is not that difficult. There are tabs at each end. Press down on both (but don't force) and the stick should pop up.