BSOD

Does anyone has a good method to troubleshoot windows blue screens?
The problem is that I can't reproduce them, sometimes they'll happen when I'm listening to music sometimes while transferring files, and the error codes are different each time.

I've downloaded a bunch of error codes but since the error codes are different each time that's not helping at all.

Thanks in advance!

My last one was apparently my HDD!

I got a new HDD (given to me) so I reloaded same OS I had, and they stopped...

Cable modem? 8O I had no idea they caused blue screens!

I'd test the PSU..... Antec makes a tester that's around $10 local here.... I always start at the PSU, if it holds load with the tester & probes within spec., after that is when I look else where...

God threw Lucifer out of heaven for creating BSOD's....

And he walks the earth today in bad suits & big glasses...Bill!!!!

CompUSA carries them.. $10.95 last time I saw one there.

Are the actual error codes different or just the memory location they occur? Is there any information to be found in the event viewer under system? Have you set the system to dump the ram to disk on an error? Who is that masked man? Why am I asking so many questions when Dumb Dave will be along soon to give us all a laug.........lesson in diagnostics.

The error codes are different.
Here's one that I wrote a few days ago:
0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0xBF806A93, 0xB1A8249C, 0x00000000)
KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION

Another time I got one complaining about the nVidia display drivers, I uninstalled the video drivers and then I got one complaining about the Realtek audio drivers.

There should be information but I don't know how to check it. I've seen in some of the errors that it gives a message about dumping the RAM.
I think that the masked man is Nacho Libre.
Who is Dumb Dave?
Where's Wingding? :?

Download Microsoft's NVidia HCL compatible driver.

It appears to be a Memory Access error you're receiving. At this point, Memory problem or a Driver problem is what I'd look to.

Sounds like Riser is on the ball with this one. He is probably correct. However there is a chance that it is a badly coded Root Kit that is causing the problems with the memory access. The best way to check for such is to disable any/all firewalls and other intrusion devices you may have then PM me your IP address. I'll fix it remotely for you.[/phishing]

HCL = Hardware Compatibilty List

The MS driver isn't bad at all.. it doesn't have all the other stuff the Nvidia one does but it does the job just as well. The Nvidia driver works and all but the MS one will rid all problems. I'd use it at least for troubleshooting. If the problem is resolved, stick with the driver. If it keeps up, Nvidia driver wasn't the issue.

On a side note, if you have anything overclocked, remove it. Not too much these days like OC'd stuff.

I just got 2 BSODs:

The first one complained about the nVidia drivers.
I didn't uninstall the nvidia drivers and I just rebooted.
The second BSOD complained about the USB port.

WTF?

I'm writing this in linux because a relationship with a ninfomaniac hooker is more stable than my windows installation.

Right now I only have 1 stick of RAM I set the speed to 800 MHz (I had slowed it down to 400 to see if it was more stable) and ran Memtest for a good deal of time. It completed 4 passes without any errors.

I thought that the cause of the BSODs was the memory but I didn't get any errors.

Yesterday I didn't see any BSODs but I was trying to play a game It's not a demanding one It's called Re Volt (RC cars racing) and after a little while playing (not even one lap). The game window just closed without any error messages or anything. I tried it again and it did the same thing.

If it doesn't give me any errors in memtest is it safe to say that the memory is fine?
And if the memory is fine then what could be the problem?

I was going to buy the more expensive Corsair RAM because I really thought that it was the memory since the BSODs were different every time.

Now I don't know what to do.

LIAN LI PC-V1000BPLUSII W
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
EPoX EP-MF570SLI Socket AM2 nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit
NEC DVD Burner Model ND-3550A
Geforce 6600 256MB DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card
BenQ Lightscribe DVD Burner
MITSUMI 1.44MB 3.5" Internal USB 2.0 digital card reader w/Floppy Drive
3 WD 320GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
1 250 GB Sata Hard Drive
Fortron Bluestorm 500W PSU

Turn computer off. Hold down "Insert" key, turn computer on. Wait until text comes up on screen and let go.

Test it out.

If that doesn't work, reset BIOS to default. Its looking like your having a problem with the SATA/IDE controllers transferring the data. Maybe try a different cable if possible. SATA, if crimped, can cause stange problems in my experience.

[quote="riser"]Turn computer off. Hold down "Insert" key, turn computer on. Wait until text comes up on screen and let go.quote]

Hmmm interesting procedure.

What's the purpose of it?

Did you see my other reply where I tell you how my HDs are configured.
Do you think that the problem could be the second IDE chipset or the ATA controller card?

I have the most updated drivers from the nVidia website.
Is this good?
I can do a fresh install of windows what's the best choice?
Should I try it with the generic windows drivers for a while?
Should I install the latest drivers from the Epox and eVGA websites?
Should I install the latest drivers from nVidia?

Also what procedure do you suggest to make the connections of all the devices.
-Remove everything and just try it with one stick of RAM, optical drive the booting SATA HD and the video card (if this is the best and it works what order should I install the remaining devices)
-Install everything at once.
-Other

BTW THANKS for your help riser!!

With everything you've reported happening and testing, I'd suspect you've got yourself a bad M/B, I had similar symptoms that turned out to be the M/B itself, because Thankfully, it finally died period.

But that was after weeks of instability, and OP/SYS reinstallations, that ghosted problems seeming to be memory, HDD, LAN, USB, P/S and CPU related, but in the end it was the M/B itself.

The intermittently failing M/B is one of the hardest problems to diagnose, it can mimick component hardware failures, when the suspected hardware has nothing wrong with it at all.

Heres a Tip: Always keep the packaging of anything you buy online some resellers will not honor an RMA if you don't have the original packaging, thats all the excuse some companies need not to honor a return.

Dude, ReVolt kicks ass... They need an updated version though... It was released in late 1999, so it was written for Win98. I have seen issues running it on Win2k, and more so on WinXP. There are a few patches / registry fixes and such, and it helps to run it in compatability mode, but it's just an old game...

So don't take that issue as a hardware issue...