Win2k and random lock-ups

Guest · Mar 19, 2002

Hi, I have this problem where Win2k will randomly lock-up on me. I'll be happily working and suddenly no applications will respond then the mouse gets stuck, then a single beep occurs and by this time the system has totally frozen. I have experienced the exact same problem with Win2k on another machine to such a bad extent that Win2k could no longer be installed on the machine, what ever happend to Win2k being stable, ;-). However the problem never occurs with Win98 so it must be a combination of incorrect BIOS settings and drivers with Win2K, or something. Anyway this problem is a real headache in my life and I would be really greatful to anyone who knows how to fix it as it seems it could be quite a common problem to Win2K. I'd like to add that when playing games I have never had a single crash or hickup, the problem only occurs in the windows environment. I've looked at the system event log and it seems to be the "Service Control Manager". A description of the log is as follows:

"The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
ppa"

Here are the main components of my system

CPU AMD Athlon XP 1900+
MOTHERBOARD Soltek, SL-75DRV4, VIA KT266A, ATX
MEMORY (Crucial 512MB DDR PC2100 CAS-2.5 ) x 1
GRAPHICS CARD Gainward GeForce 3 PowerPack !!! Ti/480 Golden Sample
HARD DRIVES (Maxtor DiamondMax 40GB (HD-001-MD) ) x 2
DVD/CD-ROM Pioneer DVD-106S Region Free! - OEM
SOUND CARD Sound Blaster Audigy Player

latest VIA 4 in 1 are installed 4.73a
latest official Detonator XP drivers
latest Audigy drivers
Win2k SERVICE PACK 2 INSTALLED

Thanks

Toejam31 · Mar 20, 2002

Ppa.sys is a parallel port driver.

Note: Entries in the Event Viewer Logs can be right-clicked, and under the properties for the entry, you can obtain additional information which can often be successfully searched, such as an Event ID number. Just FYI.

Have you looked in the Device Manager to see if any of your hardware is not loading, due to the missing driver?

Is the parallel port enabled in the BIOS?

Have you installed all the latest critical updates for Win2K from the Windows Update Site?

Would you happen to have an Iomega parallel port disk drive (Zip, Jazz, etc.) that is not mentioned in your system specifications? If so, this <A HREF="http://support-info.toshiba-tro.de/toshserv/HIS.nsf/ce9179e02f91af10c12568b700433be3/0cda1e3af4a6f4f9c12568ee002e52db?OpenDocument" target="_new">page</A> may be relevant.

Do you have a printer or some other device connected to the parallel port?

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Guest · Mar 20, 2002

Yes, funnily enough, I do happen to have an Iomega parallel port disk drive that is not mentioned in my system specifications. And yes again to the printer being connected to the parallel port. This could then be the cause of my problem. I'll try the recommended patch from microsoft, thanks for the advice.

Guest · Mar 20, 2002

Just one more thing, the event ID for the problem is always
7026, how then do I do a search on this.

Thanks

Toejam31 · Mar 20, 2002

My favorite way to search an Event ID or an error message is with <A HREF="http://www.google.com/advanced_search" target="_new">Google Advanced Search</A>, which tends to pull up more relevant information than anything else I've used.

In your case, I searched for ppa.sys errors, the error message, and Windows 2000. The tenth listing brought up this <A HREF="http://www.win2000mag.net/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8283" target="_new">page</A>, which had a reference to the Iomega Jaz drive issue and the MS bug fix.

This was actually a better search parameter than just searching the Event ID number, but that's not always the case with every problem.

This kind of situation shows how important it can be to list complete system specifications when looking for remote troubleshooting. This is one of the reasons that I have this kind of information as part of my forum signature, which is a nice, free feature over at <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/" target="_new">Anandtech</A>. The last thing anyone feels like doing when a system goes down is to start compiling all the little details ... what you want is a fix, not an additional headache!

We all can relate, believe me!

But ... having a list like this at your fingertips when something goes wrong can be a real time-saver. Which is why I highly suggest that everyone create a detailed list like this, and preferably with some kind of easy online access, just in case a computer is completely down, a hard drive is inaccessible, etc. And the best time to do it is when the computer is functioning, IMHO! LOL!

Mind you, this is not aimed at you directly, in fact, not at all ... because you did include your system specs in the post, and many people don't even bother, and hope for miracle ESP technical help. You just happened to "miss" a component. It happens. It's just my standard thoughts on the subject, and this thread seems like a good place to express them. So please forgive, if I happen to get a little off-topic!

I hope that bug fix takes care of the problem!

All the best ...

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Guest · Mar 21, 2002

Thanks a lot Toejam31, you've been a great help and I definitely agree with you about the system specs thing so I gonna go over to Anandtech now at get it done.

Thanks

Toejam31 · Mar 21, 2002

Anytime, dude.

Glad I could help!

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

lespaul · Mar 22, 2002

i tried to sign up at anandtech and when i complete the join form and submit it, i get this message:
"You have been forbidden to post/reply or edit a message in these forums."
I've never used those forums before so i couldn't have been banned from them, any ideas ToeJam?

Toejam31 · Mar 22, 2002

Did you get a password for use with your user name in an email from the website? Or did the form just not get submitted at all?

If nothing seems to work, contact the forum administrator at <A HREF="mailto:moderator@anandtech.com">moderator@anandtech.com</A> and see what he has to say on the subject. Perhaps it is just a temporary problem.

Toejam31

My Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=6847" target="_new">Toejam31's Tantalizing Tantric Toy</A>
Second Rig: <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new">Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</A>
____________________________________________________________

"Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

lespaul · Mar 22, 2002

yeah, i never got a password or anything, right after clicking the submit button i got that error..i'll wait a day or two and try again, then email the moderator like you said.
Thanks dude

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