Blue screen memory errors, troubleshooting

[interference]

Ok, this computer's a few years old, and last year I bought new ram for it, and it worked fine for the past year or so. Here's some info on the computer and the ram.

I'm new, so I can't post the actual link, but the web address is below. You'll have to copy and paste it.

h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&docname=c00256286&dlc=en&lc=en&jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN#N318

Crucial Ballistix PC3200 ddr 400 512MB x 4 (part is BL6464Z402 on the modules, but it doesn't appear on their website anymore.

Recently, I started getting automatic restarts when I might be playing games or such. I disabled those so I could see what the blue screens said, and I've seen 2 varieties, though past the error in general there wasn't anything to identify source of the error. The errors are:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

Troubleshooting:

I did some disk checks and scan disks from a recovery dos prompt, and scanning at bootup. I believe these did find and correct some errors, but that didn't alleviate the problem, so I thought maybe the ram was at fault.

I got a memtest86 boot CD made, and it was detecting some errors on each slot, but two seemed to have more than others, so I removed those two ram dimms and tested again. Errors still occurred but not in great frequency. I realized when I switched the chips with the other ones, I still got errors, but again not with great frequency. I began to wonder if I was doing things right, and so I got Windows Memory Diagnostic and made a boot cd with that, hoping it would be easier to interpret.

Windows Memory Diagnostic was simple enough, it picked up fewer numbers of errors, but I noticed that if I ran with all the chips in, I got about 30 errors/failed tests in the extended test mode over 24 hours - it keeps testing till you stop it. I took out one module from the last slot and ran the tests again and got nothing in the first 12 hours. I thought maybe I identified the bad module, so I stopped it and switched it with the memory module in its paired slot and ran it again. I'm getting no errors again... If that module I switched back in were bad, shouldn't it have created errors again? I'm beginning to wonder if the memory slot is dying.

Is it possible the the last memory slot is just dead/dying and that the memory is fine?

 

[Tmagic650]

What are your systems specs? Motherboard? OS?

 

[interference]

specs

Oops. Should have added that..

This information is what I can get from the manufacturer's website, as it was store-bought.

It's also on the website I copied into the original post.

Base processor
Pentium 4 515 2.93 GHz
* 533 MHz Front side bus
* Socket LGA775
Chipset
Intel 915G
Motherboard
* Manufacturer: Asus
* Motherboard Name: PTGD1-LA
* Compaq motherboard name: Grouper-GL8E

The computer was a Compaq Presario SR1222NX.

Changes, now it has a pci internal wireless card. I pulled the pci fax modem card, and the memory is all changed to the Crucial memory that I used when I upgraded last year.

OS: Windows XP SP3

Thanks for asking.

 

[Tmagic650]

So this is an HP/Compaq computer? The bios in "store bought' computers are sadly lacking in options, but because this system ran well after your initial memory changes, I think the power supply might be at fault, and not the motherboard. At least it is worth trying another power supply. They are cheaper than motherboards

 

[interference]

I'll give that a try, and post back. I hadn't given much thought to it being the power supply. If I can't find a spare, I can probably borrow one. So, it should definitely be cheaper.