Help! Random but frequent BSOD...

twistedheat · 21 Apr 2008 at 17:53

For the last week or so I've been BSOD'ing, for no apparant reason and under different circumstances. A couple of times when I've been youtubing, a couple whilst just on msn. I haven't used my computer under any stress in quite a while, since I stopped gaming (Quadcore, 4gb ram, Vista 32bit).

The BSOD goes quite quickly so I don't have time to read it, and I keep getting "access denied" to my Minidump files (not that I would know what to do with any information in the minidump anyway). Any help guys?

P.S Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

davethe11 · 21 Apr 2008 at 18:02

you can prevent windows from rebooting on a bsod so you can see the message:

System Properties (right click my computer, select properties)
Advanced
Startup and Recovery "settings" button
Remove the tick next to "Automatically restart"

bsod is usually a memory problem or driver issue in my experience

twistedheat · 21 Apr 2008 at 18:10

davethe11 said:
you can prevent windows from rebooting on a bsod so you can see the message:

System Properties (right click my computer, select properties)
Advanced
Startup and Recovery "settings" button
Remove the tick next to "Automatically restart"

bsod is usually a memory problem or driver issue in my experience

Ahh cool. Yeah I think I saw something along the lines of 'Pagefile' somewhere in the BSOD but that could just be my eyes. Next time it BSOD's I will paste the message in here, hopefully someone can decipher the issue.

Thanks for the tip.

twistedheat · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:14

Hey guys,

I left my PC on overnight, and it BSOD'd sometime during the night.

The technical information of the BSOD is:

*** STOP: 0x0000008E (0x81ACBA00, 0xB5B4AA60, 0x00000000)

Anyone have any clues?

Devil_Spawn · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:17

http://kadaitcha.cx/xp/stop_error.html#0x0000008E

twistedheat · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:29

Devil_Spawn said:
http://kadaitcha.cx/xp/stop_error.html#0x0000008E

Thanks, I don't know if it makes any difference but I'm on Vista. Also, the information on that page is not useful to me as I am computer illiterate. I need practical solutions please.

EDIT: Just checked, and my first Minidump file is on the 14th April, and having checked 'System Restore' I installed ZoneAlarm firewall on 13th April. Coincedence?

Devil_Spawn · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:35

i would have done, but there are a lot of possible reasons for the BSOD. need more information, preferrably a common cause or something like that a certain open application...... any new hardware/software?

make sure you have all the latest windows updates

Rigsta · 22 Apr 2008 at 19:48

These steps should identify the culprit:

Uninstall Zone Alarm, then run the manufacturer's diagnostic utility for your HDD. CHKDSK /R will do if you can't find it.