[Solved] The Dreaded Blue Screen & Freezes

Got an old Pentium 100 with 104 MB RAM on a Cable Network Connection. Works fine when it works.
About a week ago I started getting "Blue Screen" errors (most with VXD VMM(1)+ in them. They got more and more frequent.
I reloaded Win98 and then Win98SE. Did not touch IE 6. No luck, it just got worse alternating blue screens with freeze ups.
I reformatted the C: drive and loaded Win98 and IE 4.0. When I tried to upgrade it went blue screen during set-up. Tried to load Norton SystemWorks. Same thing, blue screens or freezes during set-up. Ran Norton WinDoctor from CD. Said all was honkey-dorey. Could not run antivirus from Norton CD. Tried antivirus from www.pcpitstop.com and it would freeze befor reporting results. After a week it ran and reported, no virus. I can not load Word97 but I did manage to load Family Tree Maker and I downloaded both zip and ftp machines and both loaded and work. Family Tree Maker v. 5.0 is there but will not accept new data. My start up file contains: ScanRegistry Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
TaskMonitor Registry (Machine Run) C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Run) Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
LoadPowerProfile Registry (Machine Service) Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
SchedulingAgent Registry (Machine Service) C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mstask.exe
I even reset my BIOS to defalt settings. I can browse the web and use web email with no problems. I just can't update anything or load new stuff. I know that I am doing something very stupid and probably simple. I am just too dumb to know what it is. HELP.

 

fiatspider79
Welcome to TSG!
This is just a stab in the dark but here is my guess. You may be dealing with a bad section of RAM. When you reformatted you removed any virus possiblilities and should of had a fresh OS.
You have Norton utilities on disk. Why not try and run its hardware test against the Ram using the memory test and see the outcome. You could also try using Simtester if your system will accept a download. Click Here for simtester it is still free.
That is all I can think of, maybe others will have ideas.
Dave

 

Hi fiatspider79,Well you know how us lower slower delawareans are!!!!!hahhaha.Welcome to TSG neighbor.I agree with Dave i think it might be a ram problem.

 

Ran the SimmChecker and it says the memory is OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK, OK. I guess you get the idea.
After checking I tried to load Norton again and got further than ever before the screen went black, it re-booted and then scolded me for not shutting down correctly.

 

Simmtester is helpful but I wouldn't rule out bad ram just because it passes the software test. You should also try swapping out a stick at a time as a more thorough test.

It certainly looks like you have a hardware problem some place. If not bad ram, overheating maybe?

And what are some of the exact error messages you are getting?

 

These two are typical of the error messages I am getting

Fatal Expection OE 0028:C0006E61 in VXD VMM(01) + 00005E61

Fatal Exception OE 0028:C0008264 in VXD VMM(01) + 00007264

I'll log some more.

Lately, however it just flashes blue and then goes black where it freezes. It only responds to a single finger salute to the on/off switch.

I did add new memory recently but the problems started before the new SIMMs went in (I thought more memory might help).

 

If the problems started before adding new memory, that does not rule out the old memory being bad if that stick is still in place. Try just one at a time. Make sure the contacts are clean and seated well.

 

As you had suggested from the beginning, it was a bad memory SIMM. I now have less memory but at least I have a reliable computer. Thanks for all your help.

 

It didn't dare be anything else, we were unanimous