BSOD on WinXP every couple of hours caused by graphics

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Hi all!

This is my last resort of getting qualified help on the matter, so any help from members of this forum is appreciated!

My laptop crashes randomly, but every couple of hours. The machine freezes completely with cold reboot as the only option.
Sometimes, but rather seldom, it recovers in 8bit VGA mode reporting smth like:
"The igxprd32 display driver has stopped working normally"

The setup:
Lenovo ThinkPad X61s
Intel GM965 chipset with onboard graphics
2x2GB PC5300 DDR2 RAM
External 20" monitor @1600x1200
The external monitor, keyboard and mouse are all connected to a docking station.

WinXP SP3
Latest video drivers and M$ updates


Brief crash report:
Code:
THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER 0x000000ea
I'm aware of, that this is most probably a graphics driver issue. But I have already obtained the latest version, and I cannot replace the graphics card itself of obvious reasons. Lenovos support is more or less helpless. And this problem has been acknowledged by many other users with Lenovo machines from series R, T and X which all use Intel's GM965 chipset.
Downgrading to a much earlier version DOES seem to help, but I cannot use my external screen in that version :-(

Personal analysis:
I'm not sure when the this problem has appeared, but I don't think it's been there since the clean windows install, although I might have used the earlier driver version.
Perhaps some other Lenovo driver or software is conflicting with graphics, cause Lenovo's laptops have a huge pack of drivers and software. But, I'd rather get another laptop, than spend weeks and weeks of determining what exactly causes the issue....

I noticed, that problem especially occurs, when I open, maximize folders with many files and my many browser-fans. But it can also be just after the restart and when I'm opening the first folder....

Tried so far:

- Installed the latest graphics driver - no effect, BUT the minidump is being written in only 10% of the cases!
In other words, the event logger won't even report an error in most cases after a crash!

- Tested RAM with Memtest86+: passed all 7 tests!
(Though, when setting "memory sizing" to "probe", system stops right there. I've read, that this is normal.)

- Scanned for viruses from USB-stick and from online scanners - all clean.

- Tested without docking station or any other external hardware - no effect.


I sincerely hope, that my minidumps would cast some light on what could else cause the problem except for the graphics driver.
 

Attachments

  • minidumps.zip
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I read the five minidumps from 2010 and all five are 0x000000EA: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
A device driver problem has caused the system to pause indefinitely (hang). Typically, this is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video adapter, or a faulty video driver.


The all cite the Intel Graphics Accelarator driver igxpdv32.dll as the cause of your crashes. Question: Are you using a cooling pad to help disapate the heat?
 
The all cite the Intel Graphics Accelarator driver igxpdv32.dll as the cause of your crashes. Question: Are you using a cooling pad to help disapate the heat?

No, I'm not using any cooling pads. The problem is, that I have a docking station instead of a cooling pad, which actually gets the laptop warmer.
But if I'm not using the docking station, then it's back to the cable nightmare.

Do you think it is a cooling problem ?
I had never experienced lock-ups while watching movies fx. I could try to run some system-burn tests of course...
 
Heat will shut down a system fast and this being a laptop cooling is always an issue because of confined quarters.

This is, of course, offered only as a possibility. it would be interesting to see what happens if a cooling pad was used with the extended use that you cite.
 
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