[Zithe24]

Let me start from the beginning. I am running Windows XP Media Center on my Dell XPS 600. It's a few years old now, and it has run very well up until now. When I bought this computer it came with two Nvidia Geforce 6800s running with SLI. About 2 years after this, one of the 6800s died while I was playing a game. Now, another year down the road my other 6800 has also died in the middle of a different game.

After this happened, I decided to upgrade to an 8500GT that I bought from Newegg.com. Soon after putting this card in and installing the new drivers, I began crashing whenever I played World of Warcraft. These were PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (0x8E) errors. Well, I didnt want to take any chances so I returned the card to Newegg within the first 30 days and bought the slightly different 8600GTS that I still have now. Unfortunately, this card did the exact same thing, so I assumed the problem was something other than just bad hardware. I kept this card, because my computer would still run perfectly fine as long as I never opened World of Warcraft. I thought that something my computer was doing while playing this game was causing the errors.

So I went on using my computer as usual for about a week until the dreaded blue screen returned. It began crashing even when my computer was just sitting idle. The errors included the same PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA from above and also IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Common error codes included 0x8E, 0x50, and 0xA.

Well now the problem has gotten even worse. I am only able to boot to any form of Windows for about 5 minutes, once every few hours. For some reason if I let my computer sit around with no power for a few hours, it will boot to Windows just fine until it crashes soon after that. But once it crashes that first time, I am unable to boot at all, even from my Windows CD. Safe Mode does not work either. All I get are blue screens like the ones above. Once I even got a screen that said OBJECT1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED (0x62 I think). If I try to boot it up about 3 or 4 times consecutively, it begins restarting itself before it even tries to load Windows.

Also, I have not been able to get into Windows most recently because it tries to run CHKDSK every time it boots up regularly. I tried to scan my hard drive for errors one time when it actually booted up, and it has been trying CHKDSK but not having time to finish it since then.

Do you have any idea what could be causing this problem?

[Zithe24]

Sorry to have to bump this, but my thread seems to have gotten lost overnight. Still waiting for a response.

[valis]

next time you get to windows, navigate to C:\WINDOWS\minidump, zip the latest date in there, and attach it. Either myself or another few here can analyze them.

Here's a list of stop code errors for your assistance, as well.

http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

thanks,

v

[dr20]

There is also this information from Microsoft regarding the "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" message:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/818501

[Zithe24]

I am having some trouble getting into Widows.

-Safe Mode of any kind gives me IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

-Booting normally runs CHKDSK where I get a blue screen during file checking (stage 4 of 5)

-Trying to boot from my install CD gives me PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA and mentions the driver aac.sys

Right now I am in the recovery console from my install CD. Would it be stupid to run fixboot or fixmbr? At this point I would not even mind completely reinstalling Windows if you guys think it would fix my problem. I don't want to do anything without asking you guys first, though.

[valis]

in recovery console, run chkdsk /r and then try booting into windows.

[Zithe24]

Sorry it's been a few days since I replied...I've been busy with finals.

I have good news and bad news. The CHKDSK in recovery console was able to complete in an hour or so, and I can now boot into Windows (feels great ). But I checked my C:/WINDOWS/minidump folder only to find that they are all dated from 2006? I will let you know how long my machine holds up during this boot.

[Zithe24]

Ahh! I got another PAGE_FAULT screen after only about 10 minutes. My problem still exists. Now that I can get into Windows in short bursts, is there anything else I can do aside from the minidump idea?

[valis]

is there a more recent minidump?

also, did that stop page link help at all?

[Zithe24]

*EDIT* One thing I forgot to mention is that anytime my computer restarts, I hear a wooshing sound that sounds just like a wave crashing on a beach or something. It does this whenever my computer auto-reboots, which is basically anytime I boot up without letting the computer sit for an hour first.

No, there is no recent minidump. There are 19 total in there, 18 of which are from 2006 and 1 from 2007. And as far as the link goes, this is basically what it tells me to do:

1. Examine the “System” and “Application” logs in Event Viewer for other recent errors that might give further clues. To do this, launch EventVwr.msc from a Run box; or open “Administrative Tools” in the Control Panel then launch Event Viewer.
Only errors I saw here involved nvidia drivers and printer sharing, both of which I have uninstalled or deactivated and still get the crashes.
2. If you’ve recently added new hardware, remove it and retest.
I kinda have to have a video card, as I have no on board video. Like I told you in my original post though, a totally different card from a different manufacturer gave me the same problems.
3. Run hardware diagnostics supplied by the manufacturer.
Done everything I could here.
4. Make sure device drivers and system BIOS are up-to-date.
Done. Problem occurs with no drivers for video card as well.
5. However, if you’ve installed new drivers just before the problem appeared, try rolling them back to the older ones.
This is one thing I haven't done. I do not think this is the problem though, and I also do not know where to get outdated drivers.
6. Open the box and make sure all hardware is correctly installed, well seated, and solidly connected.
Done.
7. Confirm that all of your hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List. If some of it isn’t, then pay particular attention to the non-HCL hardware in your troubleshooting.
I can't imagine having a problem here, but who knows. Video card is only thing that's changed.
8. Check for viruses.
What would you recommend me scan with? Right now I have the free version of AVG but I doubt I could get a full scan done.
9. Investigate recently added software.
I have downloaded one new game since putting in my new card, but the problem was still existent before I got it.
10. Examine (and try disabling) BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
I have been into my BIOS settings by pressing F2 during bootup, but I could not find any mention of these at all.

[valis]

it's very, very odd that there is no current minidumps being written. If you could, start > run > sysdm.cpl > advanced tab > startup and recovery box > settings > make sure that under the 'write debugging information' it is set to small memory dump.

Also, go to start > run > eventvwr.msc. That will open an explorer like window with applications, security, and system in the left pane. Click on system and see if there are any exclamation points near to when it last froze; if so, double click on the item in the right pane, click on the two pieces of paper to copy it to your clipboard, and then come back here and paste the results. Then do the same for the applications folder; look for any exclamation marks that are near in time to when your pc is freezing.

[Zithe24]

It is set to small memory dump. Gotta be quick about this post. There are 30 total items in the system menu of my event viewer per boot. The three I posted here were the actual errors, while the other 27 are all "Information". The source of almost all of them is "Service Control Manager", one "Tcpip", one "nvatabus", and a few "eventlog". If you want me to copy and paste any of these let me know.

Application
-------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Information
Event Source: Avg7UpdSvc
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:52:34 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
Service started

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Microsoft Fax
Event Category: Initialization/Termination
Event ID: 32026
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:52:58 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
Fax Service failed to initialize any assigned fax devices (virtual or TAPI). No faxes can be sent or received until a fax device is installed.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Warning
Event Source: Microsoft Fax
Event Category: Initialization/Termination
Event ID: 32068
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:52:58 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
The outgoing routing rule is not valid because it cannot find a valid device. The outgoing faxes that use this rule will not be routed. Verify that the targeted device or devices (if routed to a group of devices) is connected and installed correctly, and turned on. If routed to a group, verify that the group is configured correctly. Country/region code: '*' Area code: '*'

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

System
-------------------------------------------------------------
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7000
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:53:54 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
The npkcrypt service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the path specified.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Service Control Manager
Event Category: None
Event ID: 7026
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:53:54 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:
nvraid

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MRxSmb
Event Category: None
Event ID: 8003
Date: 5/7/2008
Time: 7:54:00 AM
User: N/A
Computer: JUSTIN
Description:
The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer WILLIS that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{863B4587-0430-434D-A7. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 03 00 4e 00 ......N.
0008: 00 00 00 00 43 1f 00 c0 ....C..À
0010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

[valis]

is this on a network?

[Zithe24]

Umm...maybe. I have one computer downstairs plugged directly into my router (the one we are discussing) and another one upstairs that I do a lot of these posts from. This upstairs computer has a wireless linksys card to connect to the same router that is downstairs. So I guess this is sort of a small home network. But other than that, no.

[valis]

get it to be stand alone, not plugged into the the internet at all, no network connectivity, and see if it blue screens out.