[mommyoffive]

I think your post would have to be moved by an Administrator/Moderator of the board. I don't see a place where you can delete a post and start over. Good luck!

Originally Posted by gwsewell

Thanks for the reply....I'm new to this forum. Also I didn't quite understand what was said. Is there any way for me to get rid of this box?

[Rollin' Rog]

Cookiegal has asked me to have a look at this.

It appears you have tested the hard drive with a vendor's utility and it has passed, yes?

But ram has been mentioned several times and I see no indication that it has been tested, though perhaps I've missed it.

In the errors I see at least one blue screen. I'd like to take a closer look at that and any others you have been getting:

I can run a debugging utility on the dump files if you do this:

1 > create a new folder on the desktop and call it "dumpcheck" or whatever you like
2 > navigate to %systemroot%\minidump and copy the last few minidump files to that folder.%systemroot% is normally c:\windows. They are numbered by date. You can paste that address in address bar to get there.
3 > close the folder and right click on it and select Send to Compressed (zipped) Folder.
4 > use the "manage attachments" in the "advanced" reply window to upload that zip file here as an attachment.

This might point us to a 3rd party driver causing the error, if one exists for it.

Since almost all bugchecks can be caused by faulty ram, I would recommend you perform memory tests.

Beginners Guides: Diagnosing Bad Memory

Memtest86 - A Stand-alone Memory


>> if you have any questions about running memtest86 let me know and I will try to answer them. The pcstats article, if you read it, should answer most.

Also go to Start > run, and copy paste this and hit enter:

%windir%\setupapi.log

Save about the last 50 lines or so of that log to notepad and upload it here.

You can also run setuperr.log and if it exists it will open

[mommyoffive]

I'm sorry.....but, this time I don't think I'm going to be of any help! There is nothing in the MiniDump folder....it's empty! There are no files on my computer called setupapi.log or setuperr.log. I looked in windows folders, did a search on both, and tried to run them in Start. No luck. Also, I was referred to using two programs, which I thought were to diagnose the hard drive.....maybe not. One was Belarc and the other was Data Life Diagnostics that both said it was healthy and Passed. Unfortunately, the memtest86 program that you suggested looks like it needs a floppy disk or a cd to download to. I have neither! I may be able to get ahold of a floppy in the next couple days though. The program can't be downloaded to my computer and then the test run from there? Sorry if it's a dumb question. LOL I felt really smart about computers until the last few days!

By the way....to update the post. When I did the repair earlier this morning, I stopped getting those msn6.exe popups and was able to use MSN Explorer again. Now, just in the past 10 minutes or so, my MSN Explorer shut down all of the sudden, and when I tried logging back in it gave me a message that said I should reboot my computer and try to reinstall, because the previous install did not complete. And now, I tried it again just a minute ago, and was able to log right back into it!

[Rollin' Rog]

Yeah you need either a floppy or CD drive to run memtest86 -- it runs completely outside windows.

The datalife program tested the hard drive, so I think we can rule that out.

Generally when blue screens occur and leave no record in c:\windows\minidump -- it means they are occuring too early for windows to write to the drive.

Are you saying you don't have a floppy drive or just don't have a floppy disk?

And this PC has no writable CD- drive -- or you just don't have a writable disk?

The ram really should be upgraded in any case.

[mommyoffive]

No, I do have both a CD drive and a floppy drive, just don't have a cd or a floppy. LOL I already asked this once, but I'll ask again just to be sure! Would it do me any good to run a defrag? I know I haven't done one in a LONG time! Also, if my fan is really dirty, would that have anything to do with it? I keep my pc on all the time....only shut down if I have to for updates, etc......until recently of course.

And two more things I never heard back on........what can I do to find out why it won't let me install the SP2 for XP? And do I absolutely have to have it. I'm a little worried cause it seems that every time I shut down for updates or whatever lately, I can't get it booted back up and end up doing a repair or a complete clean install! I don't want to have to lose everything again!

And how do I know when I need to update my drivers and which ones need to be updated? I never updated any of them when I originally installed XP and never had a problem until recently. Thanks so much for your help!

[Rollin' Rog]

A defrag won't help with program errors -- and I can't say with absolute assurance that it won't hurt if you blue screen in the middle of one.

But if the fan is really dirty and not up to speed -- you bet -- many similar issues can be the result of overheating -- it is very hard to distinguish them from other causes except that they are more likely to occur under heavy processor usage or when the system has been on for a bit.

I wouln't worry about updating drivers unless we can trace errors to specific hardware such as the Display card. To update them one normally goes to the vendor's site for the specific hardware. Although in many cases the computer vendor will have drivers for the model -- these may not be the latest.

Driver updates will usually come with a "readme" text file giving instructions on the update process -- if you can find one of those -- just follow those instructions -- otherwise one normally just runs the setup file.

Display drivers can be a bit more tricky as one normally wants to remove the old drivers in Add/Remov programs -- reboot -- cancel Windows attempt to automatically install drivers and go to the setup file you downloaded and run that to do the update.

The problem with the installs is still an unknown -- that's what we are trying to sort out with the ram testing -- and overheating during the install could also be a cause.

[mommyoffive]

Okay, thanks! You've helped alot. I will give my fan a good cleaning tomorrow and see if that helps. I've never blue screened once I've gotten into windows....at least not that I remember. It's usually when I'm just starting to reboot that I get the blue screen. Should I not bother with the SP2 install then? Or keep trying. LOL

Edited to say: Never mind....I just saw that last entry you made regarding the installs. DUH!

[Blackmirror]

If you are unable to update with the sp2 download you can order a copy on cd from microsoft .. only pay the postage and packaging i believe

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx

Its free if you are in the USA

[Cookiegal]

Originally Posted by gwsewell

Thanks for the reply....I'm new to this forum. Also I didn't quite understand what was said. Is there any way for me to get rid of this box?

I moved your posts to your own thread which you've already replied to so please continue to reply there only. You will find it here:

http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt...lp-please.html

[Cookiegal]

Thanks Rog.

[mommyoffive]

Cool, thanks! I may try that if I continue to get the failed install!

Originally Posted by Blackmirror

If you are unable to update with the sp2 download you can order a copy on cd from microsoft .. only pay the postage and packaging i believe

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx

Its free if you are in the USA

[Rollin' Rog]

Originally Posted by Cookiegal

Thanks Rog.

No problem

[Blackmirror]

Have you tried to download using a different browser

[simpswr]

Originally Posted by Blackmirror

If you are unable to update with the sp2 download you can order a copy on cd from microsoft .. only pay the postage and packaging i believe

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...s/default.mspx

Its free if you are in the USA

Or download the full SP2 upgrade here: