Restart on start up problem (Vista)

Matallica · 28 Jan 2011 at 09:58

Everytime I start my computer up it appears to load fine, I see my desktop etc then all of a sudden it will go to a blue screen. I barely have anytime to read anything but I did notice "Physical Memory Dump" which loads to 100%. The computer will then restart and behave normal. After the restart I get the message "Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown"

Iam running Windows Vista, Home basic

Any help would be great,

Thanks

Pestilence · 28 Jan 2011 at 11:07

Start the machine up and tap F8 while it boots. From there, choose "Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure" (or something to that effect).

When the memory dump occurs, the error report will stay on the screen until you manually power off the machine. Take a note of what it says, most importantly the "STOP" error code, and any file names mentioned, such as something.sys, .dll etc. That's a starting point.

Matallica · 28 Jan 2011 at 11:37

Would you beleive it, I pressed F8 and selected the option you mentioned "Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure" the computer loads up fine with no blue screen to report! how weird

Matallica · 2 Feb 2011 at 20:08

Right its just happend again since I made this thread. Here is the message I get on the blue screen :

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps :

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Window updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode

Technical Information :
*** STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000004, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x8E00AEED)

*** pcam800.sys - Address 8E00AEED base at 8E0070000, DateStamp 3d41fc85

Collecting data for crash dump ...
Initializing disk for crash dump ...
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Dumping physical memory to disk: 100
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system admin or technical support group for futher assistance

Now the middle quote is probably the most relevent but I typed it all anyway!

and as far as Im aware all hardware and software is installed properly

Any ideas would be great

Thanks

Pestilence · 2 Feb 2011 at 20:19

pcam800.sys : There's your culprit.

That's a pretty generic webcam driver. Is this a laptop with a built-in webcam?

Matallica · 2 Feb 2011 at 20:46

Thanks for the quick reply

Right ok, I have a webcam plugged in via USB. It is rather an old one too dont have the CD or anything for it! I might just unplug the pest!