[thakode]

Hello all here is a basic run down of my issue really hoping someone has an idea of what I can do next:

Biostar Tforce 550 ATX Motherboard (version 5)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor
Crucial 2GB DDR2 Memory
XFX GeForce 8600GT FATAL1TY 620MHZ 256MB 1.7GHZ DDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Passive Video Card
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 32BIT DVD OEM
Samsung SH-S203B Black SATA DVD+RW 20X8X16 DVD-RW 20X6X16 DL 18X/12X INT DVD Writer OEM W/ Vista SW
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB SATA2 3GB/S 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive
Fortron 500W PSU
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
2 other IDE drives running as primary and slave


I purchased all of the above yesterday got it all setup and installed Vista with no issues. I ran all the windows updates then install the latest Direct X version, latest Nvidia drivers, and Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS drivers. I then installed firefox and a couple add-ons (adblocker and download task bar. I was in the process of downloading .net framework in the background and moving files from one of my old IDE drivers to a USB drive for storage and deleting some files from another partition of the drive. All of a sudden the computer reboots and I get a blue screen with a stop error 0x000000c5 and sometimes I can see an error irq error of sorts (it goes by so fast its hard to read). Now i can't get into vista in safe mode or even from DVD I get the same error message.

So far I've tried.

1. Removing the Audigy 2 ZS
2. Trying only one ram stick (each once by it self)
3. Removing the video card and putting in an old ATI Rage PCI card
4. Disconnecting all hard drives

No change at all. I'm currently running memtest but I don't think thats the issue. Also I put in my windows 2000 cd and can boot from that no problem although I haven't actually done the install.

Any ideas? Tried google but that error message mostly tracks back to XP and the vista notes just say to run repair from the DVD which I can't do.

[Elvandil]

What happens when you try to run Startup Repair and how far do you get?

[thakode]

when I boot from the DVD i get the files loading screen then once that is done I get the same blue screen. I'm completely stuck, memtest is still going its on its 4th pass and no errors so RAM seems fine. Since it does the same error even when I only have the mobo and dvd drive connected I'm wondering if something is wrong with it. I might try to reset the cmos.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by thakode

when I boot from the DVD i get the files loading screen then once that is done I get the same blue screen. I'm completely stuck, memtest is still going its on its 4th pass and no errors so RAM seems fine. Since it does the same error even when I only have the mobo and dvd drive connected I'm wondering if something is wrong with it. I might try to reset the cmos.

Yes, if you get the error with no HD connected, that certainly narrows it down a bit. So the HD is not the problem, and that's progress.

[thakode]

It is some progress yet but still getting frustrated after working on this last night now most of today hehe. Ok mem test ran for 5 hours straight with no errors so I think I can safely elimate ram from the equation now as well. I have just finished resetting the bios from the jumper and again no change. I've also tried disconnecting the dvd drive as well. So I guess I'm down to the mobo my last thing to try is to reformat my sata drive using the windows 2000 cd and see if that helps but I'm obviously doubtful. No one has ever seen something like this before I guess?

[thakode]

ok I have an update. I just loaded windows 2000 setup and reformatted all my drives then installed 2000 on a smaller IDE drive I had it installed fine but then when it went to reboot afterwards and then load windows it reboots on the loading screen. So its seems to not be a vista issue but a general hardware issue. So I guess my only option is to return the motherboard and CPU for replacement I think. Any ideas or confirmation if I'm right?

[Elvandil]

Have you tried booting from the DVD with the hard drive disconnected? If you still get the error, then the HD will be eliminated as a possibility.

My gut tends toward the video card in a situation like this with NIC card as second. Anything else you can disconnect/disable?

I agrree with you about the memory---you've tested it for longer than it ever takes for the error to appear and have gone through all test types at least once.

One more thing to try--disconnect all drives except the boot drive, including the DVD.

[thakode]

I've tried booting with only the dvd drive from the vista dvd no luck, also tried it with only my boot drive and no dvd or ide drives. As for the nic card its built in to the motherboard and the video card is an 8600gt but I even replaced that with an old old old ati rage 3d pci card from 1996 and that didn't help either. The only thing I haven't been able to swap out is the mobo/cpu and the power supply. I highly doubt its the psu since i've been running it for a year now and its a good fortron 500w blue thunder. I've been through everything I possibly can I think.

[Aragrist]

I'm currently going through the same thing with my brand new vista computer. Last night after running it for only a week it suddenly rebooted itself and is now stuck in a loop. It asks to start the launch startup repair. when I do that it just reboots and asks me to run the startup repair again. I put in a full version of windows vista and it starts loading windows files and then reboots again. I don't know whats going on with it. It's only a week old.

[thakode]

Well I actually solved mine a few weeks ago. I took it back to the store and had them supply me with new parts and used there service area to replace them myself. first was the PSU no change, then the mobo no change, ram no change, hd no change, finally we replaced the CPU and bingo that was it. Both me and the tech were shocked as neither of us had seen a CPU go bad like that before (and he's been at the store for over 10 years and its a very very busy store). So I don't know if that helps or not but that was my problem. Been running fine since then *knock on wood*.

[Elvandil]

You can solve your own threads "solved" using the Thread Tools above.

Yes, it is unusual for a CPU to be bad. So rare that most people would never think of that as a possible problem. I have seen only one bad one (an AMD K6) after working on 100's of machines. It was very difficult to diagnose and finally boiled down to that after trying a new CPU. Tried the CPU in another machine to be sure, and still the same random and unrepeatable errors, just like you see with bad RAM.

[thakode]

Thank you for marking it as solved Elvandil I wasn't aware of that feature.

As for this issue if the other poster has the same issue and it is also a CPU issue I would wonder if maybe the way Vista is accessing the chip could be causing issues I wonder, or maybe just causing chips with small defects that ordinarilly wouldn't be an issue to cause a failure. Just a thought though and no actual evidence or anything to back that up of course.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by thakode

Thank you for marking it as solved Elvandil I wasn't aware of that feature.

As for this issue if the other poster has the same issue and it is also a CPU issue I would wonder if maybe the way Vista is accessing the chip could be causing issues I wonder, or maybe just causing chips with small defects that ordinarilly wouldn't be an issue to cause a failure. Just a thought though and no actual evidence or anything to back that up of course.

It's a thought, though 2 incidents does not a rule make. If you see an epidemic of this, let us know.

Good luck and thanks for following up.