BSOD, please help!

GSDog

GSDog

GSDog

Soldato
Joined
12 Jun 2004
Posts
5,475
Location
Exeter
Hi all.

I am trying to fix my dads computer as it keeps getting a BSOD. It's happened twice in the last 15 minutes since I got it.
The error is something like this;

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Stop: 0x0000000A (0X00004CE0, 0X00000002, 0X00000001, 0X80703A16)

How do I get more information about the crashes that I can paste here to help identify the problem?
Any ideas what could be causing it?
 
bad RAM is a likely culprit. Is it a new machine? Is it overclocked? Have you changed anything in the BIOS recently?
 
Curio said:
bad RAM is a likely culprit. Is it a new machine? Is it overclocked? Have you changed anything in the BIOS recently?
Click to expand...

I have to agree that it sound like a ram issue. If you loosen the timings and slightly boost the vdimm does it help?
 
swinnie said:
I found the driver issues are more common if someone has used Windows Update to update their drives, not the manufacturers website - just a pattern I've noticed.
Click to expand...

I wonder if that's because of Windows Update's habit of trying to force old drivers on you? It keeps trying to downgrade my NVIDA drivers.
 
Curio said:
bad RAM is a likely culprit. Is it a new machine? Is it overclocked? Have you changed anything in the BIOS recently?
Click to expand...

It's a 3-year-old machine, not overclocked and I haven't changed anything in the BIOS recently.
I think it's been doing it for quite a few months now.

It just got another BSOD with the error "BAD_POOL_HEADER".

Here is what it's got in the event viewer;
Error code 00000019, parameter1 00000020, parameter2 e32204a0, parameter3 e32204b8, parameter4 0c030801.
Click to expand...

I have updated the graphics driver and reinstalled the chipset drivers but it's still happening.
The PC doesn't have much on it at all as he only uses it for basic programs such as MS word, etc.

The RAM is 1GB (2X512MB) Corsair TwinX XMS3200 with 2-2-2-5 timings.
I will check BIOS in a minute to make sure it's right.

Any other ideas as to what could be causing it?
I might try to format and reinstall Windows to see if it helps tomorrow and if it doesn't I'll run memtest and try using 1 RAM stick, etc.
 
I just found the RAM receipt from OcUK. It was bought in May 2005 and it is Corsair 1GB DDR XMS3200XL Platinum TwinX (2X512MB).

Does anyone know what the warranty is on it?
 
Burnsy2023 said:
Have you done a memtest and definetly decided the RAM is the issue?
Click to expand...

Not yet, I'm going to do that tomorrow. I'm starting to think it could be a hardware issue since I remember it getting BSOD's about 6 months ago and I don't think it was fixed even after a format.

I'll format tomorrow and run memtest. How long should I run memtest for?
 
I just downloaded CPU-Z and found out the ram was running at 2.5-2-2-5 instead of 2-2-2-5. Not sure if that makes any difference but I changed the latency to the default 2 and it's now running at 2-2-2-5 as it should be.

I can't seem to find the vdimm anywhere in the bios, so I have no idea what it's running at... :confused:
The motherboard is an Asus P4P800SE.
 
Zildjian said:
I just downloaded CPU-Z and found out the ram was running at 2.5-2-2-5 instead of 2-2-2-5. Not sure if that makes any difference but I changed the latency to the default 2 and it's now running at 2-2-2-5 as it should be.

I can't seem to find the vdimm anywhere in the bios, so I have no idea what it's running at... :confused:
The motherboard is an Asus P4P800SE.
Click to expand...

2.5 means it was running a bit below spec - so if the RAM is bad it will probably cause even more BSOD now :)

Give Memtest a try. If it throws errors then you could try upping the RAM voltage a notch or two. Also try setting that CAS latency to 3. However, if it's crashing Windows that often I suspect you'll get thousands of errors in Memtest and it will be beyond tweaking.

EDIT: The vdimm is usually in the section with the CPU frequency and the like. It might be hidden tho. With some BIOS it's ctrl-F1 to show the hidden options.
 
Curio said:
2.5 means it was running a bit below spec - so if the RAM is bad it will probably cause even more BSOD now :)

Give Memtest a try. If it throws errors then you could try upping the RAM voltage a notch or two. Also try setting that CAS latency to 3. However, if it's crashing Windows that often I suspect you'll get thousands of errors in Memtest and it will be beyond tweaking.

EDIT: The vdimm is usually in the section with the CPU frequency and the like. It might be hidden tho. With some BIOS it's ctrl-F1 to show the hidden options.
Click to expand...

Thanks.
I'm having problems burning the memtest .iso onto a CD. I am using ImgBurn and I keep getting this error when I try to burn it;
http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=imgburnai4.jpg
my.php


I've tried a different CD and reinstalled ImgBurn with no luck... :(

Burnsy2023 said:
BTW, you realise you don't need to format before running memtest, just boot from the CD and go.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the reason I was going to format was to rule out a driver conflict or OS issue.
 
Last edited:
I updated the firmware on my optical drive and it managed to burn it this time.

Am I meant to run memtest on both sticks at the same time, one at a time, or both?
I'm going to run them together overnight and I'll let you know what happens in the morning. :)
 
Zildjian said:
I updated the firmware on my optical drive and it managed to burn it this time.

Am I meant to run memtest on both sticks at the same time, one at a time, or both?
I'm going to run them together overnight and I'll let you know what happens in the morning. :)
Click to expand...

I generally do it one stick at a time.

It doesn't take that long.
 
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