Alright, well, my computer first started BSODing about a month ago. At first it only happened sporadically, probably once a week or so, mebbe twice if particularly unlucky. I was concerned at this point, but due to how infrequent the problem was I had no particular drive to fix it. Anyway, about 2 or so weeks after the initial crashing began, It started to happen about once every 2 days, sometimes once a day. At this point it's obviously a serious problem and had to be diagnosed, which i've attempted to do with very little luck so far.
First, a bit about the BSOD error messages. There is NO pattern as far as I can tell. They vary completely from the error name to what caused the error. I'd post some dump logs but i've done a reformat recently (more on that later) and therefore i've only got the crash logs since then.
Okay, so, since the BSOD errors were so completely random and had no discernable connection, I took that as a clue in itself, possibly meaning that either the PSU or memory were failing and therefore giving the illusion that other components/software were at fault (the dump reports had all sorts of reasons for what could have caused the error).
I then replaced my PSU without hestitation, mainly because I've had a few issues with it in the past (while gaming) and I've just been looking for an excuse to get a new one. So I ordered a nice Corsair 520w jobby and it's been sitting in my computer ever since. Unfortunately the BSOD problem remains...however my gaming power issues have dissapeared.
So yea, I moved onto the memory from here. I ran the latest version of Memtest for a good 10 hours with absolutely no faults at all, both sticks. I'm aware that memory can still be faulty even if it passes Memtest successfully, but I felt that with the frequency of the crashes by this point (sometimes up to 7 in a day), Memtest would damn well find something if memory was the culprit. So yea, clean memtest, still no luck, crashing remains :/
I'm generally outta ideas at this point, especially in concerns to hardware, so I thought about the software side of things. I've been running this computer for about 2+ years, possibly 3+, without reformatting once. So suffice to say my boot disk is pretty messy and i've done all sorts of various installations and uninstallations over the years. I figure a reformat can't hurt because even if the problem isn't solved, my computer still desperately needs one. Also, the BSOD dump reports did hint at driver faults fairly frequently, so i figured a clean Windows install with fresh drivers might do the trick.
Alas, no luck, which brings us to exactly where I am now. I've got a brand new shiny PSU, clean memory (according to Memtest anyway) and a fresh installation of Windows...but the problem remains.
Overall, I'm really all out of GOOD ideas. I do have a few ideas left like flashing the motherboard and removing/turning off any PCI devices one by one to see if the problem stops, but those are more wishful thinking solutions than anything else.
So yea, I'm hoping you guys will have some decent ideas/suggestions. If you need any more info from me, just ask.
PC Spec:
3.0 Ghz P4
Abit IC7-G Mobo (onboard sound turned off)
2x 512mb Corsair Twin sticks
Corsair 520w PSU
ATi x800 XT
3x Seagate HDDs (120, 120, 500)
Audigy 2 sound card
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 (all recent critical updates)
(all on default voltages, apart from memory which I needed to increase upon initial PC build due to memtest errors)
Minidump logs (since reformat):
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:06
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: msnmsgr.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:31
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50)
Process_name: msnmsgr.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:41
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: utorrent.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 12:43
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: Idle
The dump logs are pretty big, so I wasn't sure exactly what info you need from them, but just ask and I can post more info. Btw, i know 3 of those errors are the same type, and certain ones have definitely occured more than others, but as a whole they really are random. If i posted all the errors from before the reformat you wouldn't find any pattern.
Btw, i'm really sorry this post ended up so huge, but i wanted to describe my situation in full.
First, a bit about the BSOD error messages. There is NO pattern as far as I can tell. They vary completely from the error name to what caused the error. I'd post some dump logs but i've done a reformat recently (more on that later) and therefore i've only got the crash logs since then.
Okay, so, since the BSOD errors were so completely random and had no discernable connection, I took that as a clue in itself, possibly meaning that either the PSU or memory were failing and therefore giving the illusion that other components/software were at fault (the dump reports had all sorts of reasons for what could have caused the error).
I then replaced my PSU without hestitation, mainly because I've had a few issues with it in the past (while gaming) and I've just been looking for an excuse to get a new one. So I ordered a nice Corsair 520w jobby and it's been sitting in my computer ever since. Unfortunately the BSOD problem remains...however my gaming power issues have dissapeared.
So yea, I moved onto the memory from here. I ran the latest version of Memtest for a good 10 hours with absolutely no faults at all, both sticks. I'm aware that memory can still be faulty even if it passes Memtest successfully, but I felt that with the frequency of the crashes by this point (sometimes up to 7 in a day), Memtest would damn well find something if memory was the culprit. So yea, clean memtest, still no luck, crashing remains :/
I'm generally outta ideas at this point, especially in concerns to hardware, so I thought about the software side of things. I've been running this computer for about 2+ years, possibly 3+, without reformatting once. So suffice to say my boot disk is pretty messy and i've done all sorts of various installations and uninstallations over the years. I figure a reformat can't hurt because even if the problem isn't solved, my computer still desperately needs one. Also, the BSOD dump reports did hint at driver faults fairly frequently, so i figured a clean Windows install with fresh drivers might do the trick.
Alas, no luck, which brings us to exactly where I am now. I've got a brand new shiny PSU, clean memory (according to Memtest anyway) and a fresh installation of Windows...but the problem remains.
Overall, I'm really all out of GOOD ideas. I do have a few ideas left like flashing the motherboard and removing/turning off any PCI devices one by one to see if the problem stops, but those are more wishful thinking solutions than anything else.
So yea, I'm hoping you guys will have some decent ideas/suggestions. If you need any more info from me, just ask.
PC Spec:
3.0 Ghz P4
Abit IC7-G Mobo (onboard sound turned off)
2x 512mb Corsair Twin sticks
Corsair 520w PSU
ATi x800 XT
3x Seagate HDDs (120, 120, 500)
Audigy 2 sound card
OS: Windows XP Pro SP2 (all recent critical updates)
(all on default voltages, apart from memory which I needed to increase upon initial PC build due to memtest errors)
Minidump logs (since reformat):
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:06
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: msnmsgr.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:31
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (50)
Process_name: msnmsgr.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 11:41
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: utorrent.exe
Date: Wed Oct 24 12:43
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
Process_name: Idle
The dump logs are pretty big, so I wasn't sure exactly what info you need from them, but just ask and I can post more info. Btw, i know 3 of those errors are the same type, and certain ones have definitely occured more than others, but as a whole they really are random. If i posted all the errors from before the reformat you wouldn't find any pattern.
Btw, i'm really sorry this post ended up so huge, but i wanted to describe my situation in full.