Countless BSOD's on Windows XP

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Frosty21

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Ok it's my first post here and i hope to contribute to as many posts as i can now that i've joined.

I Just recently built a new PC. Here are the Specs:
- ASUS M4A79XTD-Evo Motherboard
- AMD Phenom II 550 Black Edition
- Geil 2 GB RAM 1333Mhz Model #: GV32GB1333C9SC
- 500 gb Hard Drive
- ATI XFX 4850 GPU 1gb
- 460 W PSU

Now I buit this computer a month ago and initially i installed windows 7. Then i got rid of it because of countless blue screens and installed windows XP. Same result, same blue screens appearing. At times the PC runs well, but most often than not it just gives blue screens 5 minutes into logging into windows.

Here are the BSOD's that i get:
- Page Fault in non Paged area
- PFN_LIST Corrupt
- Some error messages which mention win32k.sys
- Some error messages which mention ntfs.sys

Do these messages have anything in commum?

I've also ran chkdsk at startup and it did all 5 stages, and i believe it deleted a ew corrupted files. But still the BSOD still persists.
I set RAM timings in BIOS to it's usual settings, still no success. Interestingly sometimes when i reduce RAM from 1333mhz to 1066mhz it starts up fine...
My system is not using cool and quite configuration and NOTHING is overclocked.

I've heard of memory leaking, though i don't know what it implies and i've also had some runtime errors.

Finally I suspect it either to be the RAM or the HARD DRIVE to be at fault, but i'm no expert and that's why i need your help!
So is it hard ware problem or software problem?
 
1. Make sure your RAM is on the Asus vendor recommended list for your motherboard. Asus is notorious about what RAM is compatible for each and every motherboard model they make.

2. Page Fault in non Paged area can be due to faulty RAM. PFN_LIST_ Corrupt is especially a strong indication of corrupted memory. You need to run Memtest on your memory after you do step 1 above. As for running memtest...

See the link below and follow the instructions. There is a newer version than what is listed but either one should work. If you need to see what the Memtest screen looks like go to reply #21. The third screen is the Memtest screen.

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.


Link: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524.html


* Get back to us with the results.
 
First, thanks for quick reply.
OK i will the run the test tonight and post results here as soon as possible.
I've heard about Memtest, but i have read that it can be an unreliable source to see if RAM is not functionning as it should. Nevertheless i will will give it a shot.

Don't BSOD's of NTFS.sys and win32k.sys mean anything else apart from bad RAM?

And my ram is on the Qualifying Vendors list. So i assume it's ok to use this RAM.
 
Memtest is very good but you are right in the fact that there are times when bad RAM has been known to pass. However, this is an uncommon occurance.

Yes, your RAM is fine since it is on the vendor list.

Here is the thing about Windows OS drivers being listed: In most cases they are too general to be of much help.

By the way nice motherboard and great CPU.
 
Thank you sir, a few days ago happened to unlock 4 cores by mistake, each running @ ~3.1ghz. Then reverted back to 2 cores having found out what i had done.

Ok back to my problem, I used Memtest-86 v3.5 and this is the image:
img21.imageshack.us/img21/6638/dsc00071sd.jpg

Cant post image here because i need to have a post count >5.

I did the test with RAM settings at set to AUTO by motherboard.

It did it 8 times i believe with no errors? Why does it say CAS: 2.5 - 1 - 0 -1 instead of CAS: 9-9-9-24? It also says DDR1 instead of DDR3...
 
You appear to have tech knowledge. Consider making sure the RAM timings and voltage are set at manufacture's specs in the BIOS and if not manually set them.
 
I've set RAM voltage to 1.5 and CAS to 9-9-9-24 according to manufacturer specs.
It's been one of those days where the PC seems to be running fine.
I'll get back to you tomorrow if the problem arises again.
Don't know if this is relevant to the problem but when i try installing a game called Warrock it installs fine, and when i try to launch it it gives c++ runtime error message.
Must i also say that games like GRID and DIRT 2 run fine with no blue screens what so ever. So i guess that rules out the GPU being faulty.

Mind you i do remember running Memtest a while back and i did get over 2000 error messages in test #5. So i'll run another Memtest as soon as a BSOD appears to see if any errors are picked up.
 
If you have any errors with Memtest you have corrupted memory that needs to be replaced but corrupted memory reads can also be due to wrong voltage or timings so may have already corrected your issue.
 
OK The computer ran perfectly that day, problem seems to arise every other day straight after switching on the computer.
 
dsc00076pp.jpg
 
I also Just Did a TEST of my HD using DATA lifeguard tool for windows and it reported back to me with the following message:
TOO MANY BAD SECTORS DETECTED.

SMART STATUS: PASS
TEST RESULT: FAIL

Does this mean my HD is slowly dying away?
 
Test #5 with 565 Errors = need a new stick of RAM

A.S.A.P. back up all your date that is important to you. Your harddrive could crash at any time and to recover data from a crashed drive costs serious $.
 
Well Just RMA'd the Motherboard, CPU and RAM because it came as a bundle.
I even resorted to reinstalling windows XP again and got a BLUE SCREEN During installation!
So i guess it must be the RAM.
 
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