Tech Support Guy banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Solved: Windows XP SP1-Memory in-driver not working-freezing-black screen-Please help me?

3K views 66 replies 5 participants last post by  Rollin' Rog 
#1 ·
I put new memory into a friends computer. She has an HP Pavilion 511w. It came with 128 MB and can hold up to 512. I got the right memory because even the company I bought it from says it is right oemworld. I put in 2 sticks of 256. No problems putting it in and the computer recognizes it because it shows 512 now. Here is the problem.

When I started the computer back up everything was fine then an error message came up saying I needed to update the video driver I assumed because of more memory and as far as I no she had never updated it and it is at least 4 years old. I first went to the HP Site and looked under her computer the 511w and it had a driver update there for a Intel Extreme Graphics Driver update 02/2005 version 6.14.10.3943 6.36MB, the one in her computer matched that except for the extreme part so I downloaded it and thought that was it. It worked ok for a while then started freezing up and the monitor would go to a black screen. I got looking and hers was an 810E (I think I remember that?s what it was) anyway I went to the Intel site and found the driver that should have been put in it was for the 810E chip set. I have an extra computer here at home that is also the 511w so I downloaded that driver into mine and everything works fine. Anyway I went to her place and was going to roll back the extreme driver I had put in and then put the one in from Intel. I went into device driver and open the adapter and double clicked on it and went to the driver and clicked on roll back and it came up and said there was no backup. Why I don?t know. So I went ahead and downloaded the Intel driver into her computer and the little graphics icon appeared in her tray area just like on mine and I thought everything was solved. I played around on her computer, went into some games she plays on pogo and everything seemed to work fine so I thought I had it.

Then I was walking the dogs today and she hollered at me and said it froze again last night. The mouse pointer quits working and the screen freezes and the after a little while the screen would go black. She was into her e-mail when this happened. I think maybe the extreme driver I had put in first needs to be deleted out of there and maybe that would make it alright. I didn?t uninstall it the last time before I put the Intel driver in cause I didn?t no how I should go about it. If I uninstall it then the video card wouldn?t work so the monitor would nt work so I would I have put the Intel driver in them? Anyway I need some help here bad, she thought she was going to be so happy with the extra ram and should have been but not it?s a problem and she is getting upset . Can you Help me??Please
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I'm not sure about what to do if it's caused by another reason can't really offer any advice, but as far as I know uninstalling the graphics driver wouldnt kill it,

if you build a system from scratch and plug in a graphics card, then no drivers are installed but the monitor still works, I think the drivers are just for the graphics card's extra functions, the basic function of giving output to the monitor is something it doesnt need drivers for.

I've just had a quick look at simular problems on forum general advice seems to be try roll back, which you've done.

restore point?

uninstall drivers from both add/remove programs and device manager, then try a clean install.

If you are having problems removing from device manager reboot in Safe Mode once Windows is loaded go to device manager go to display adaptors & remove all entries
 
#3 ·
I've closed the other thread for this problem previously replied to.

First I don't know why a message about the video driver would come up after installing more ram. Was there a blue screen STOP message that referencing video driver issues?

Second, we can't assume that the freezing was due to any problems with the two video driver installs. If there were no errors during the installation -- and it worked without problems for a while -- I'm inclined to think the problem may not be there.

Freezing is also commonly caused by overheating.

When you installed the ram, was the inside of the case free of dust? Did you verify that the fan was working? Compressed air can be used blow out dust. And once that is done you should turn on the computer and check to see that the fan is working.

If the computer tends to freeze after being on for a while and during active use, then heat is suspect.

I would recommend installing Everest Home edition. Once installed, under the Computer > Sensor entry, you can find a heat monitor.

http://www.lavalys.com/products/download.php?pid=1&lang=en&pageid=3

You're going to have to tell the lady to have patience, these things can take several days to troubleshoot and work out.

If she gets any freezes, she should note the pattern associated with them -- such as if the system, has been on for an extended period, whether they occur online or off.

Try to get a temperature reading when the system has been on and used intensively.

If you want to try reinstalling the drivers, you can remove them through the Device Manager. Shutdown and reboot, pressing the f8 key promptly. Select "VGA" mode from the boot options and do not allow Windows to automatically install a driver on reboot. Instead, install the right ones you downloaded.

However, before removing or reinstalling the video drivers again, I would rcommend that you set a System Restore check point.

Start > Run msconfig > Launch System Restore > create check point.
 
#4 ·
OK, I will set a system restore point. Her computer was working fine before putting in the ram. The problem start immeadiately after putting the ram in. When I had the computer open to put the ram in I had compressed are and cleaned the inside and everythiig was working. I already have everest home edition on her computer. The reason I think it has something to do with the driver is (and I have worked on computers before although I am far from knowing alot) I should have written it down but the message that popped up as soon as I started the computer after putting the ram in had something to do with the driver for the video card, can't remember exactly what it said, but it pointed me in the driver direction which is why I looked for a driver. Like I said, this problem started immeadiately after I put the ram in and then started the computer, the error said sometning about the video driver making the system unstable and the mouse froze on me and the screen went black and this was after first starting it up after the ram was in so it could have had time to get hot.I will try what ever you think I should do. So after telling you this what do I do first? Would it help to do a system restore back to whatever the day would be right before I put in the ram? Would that put the original driver back into place? and why when I tried to roll back the driver did it say there was no back up? should'nt the original driver been there to roll back to??
 
#5 ·
You could do a system restore to that point. Two problems: one is that if it is a "hardware" issue this will not correct it. The second is whether these changes are the only ones since the restore point. If malware was cleaned, then that would be restored as well.

BUT, System Restores can be "undone" if not helpful.

Make sure you saved the setup file for the new drivers in a My Documents folder to protect them from the restore -- you could still reinstall them then without another download.

You might want to try a software tester on the ram. Compatibility isn't the only issue -- new ram can be bad.

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
 
#7 ·
OK, This kind of makes me mad cause it sounds like the Intel corp knows there is a problem with their driver. I got an error message from microsoft.(this is after I restored to a day before I put the ram in and then reloaded the Intel driver update) the message said

The driver for display device was unable to complete a drawing operation. Please check with device manufacture for a driver update. Please tll microsoft about this problem the display driver for Intel (R) 82810E Graphics Controller seems to be responsible for the system instability. It gave me a site to go to http://support.intel.com/support/go/81xoca

Microsoft sent a message back telling me to go to that site to find help.

The site had 5 different errors that show up and one was the error about the drawing operation.

it says the ettot indicate that the operationg system has determined that the graphics driver was taking to long for an opeation to complete and that the driver appears to have stopped responding to the opeation system. It appears as though the graphics driver may be stuck in an infinite loop. This sort of error only occurs in Microsoft windows.
it says step one is to get the final graphics driver for you chipset which I am downloading now I hope it is not the same one as the one I got from there site. If it is it gives a couple of other things to try like checking with gaming manufacturer for a patch or a fix if it happens in games. but hers was happening in games, e-mail what ever she was doing.

It says or uninstall any hardware that was installed if that is the problem well that would be the ram, she already paid 100 bucks for it they are not going to take it back, so that sucks. or try the original driver, well thats the reason I updated the driver in the first place is because it said it needed it.

Or do you have the latest BIOS for your system? Might check with the motherboard manufacturer or system vbendor to see if there is a BIOS update available.

I guess I will go over and try the download and if that doesn't work Iwill get back to you
 
#8 ·
I went back over and it was the same driver as the update I put on already. Any suggestions? Would a differnt video card do the trick?? If so I have an old windows 98 computer here that has an S3 video card in it would that work?? It is an S3 Virge PCI 325
are you still working with me? I know your busy, I was just wondering, I didn't say anything to make yoiu mad I hope?
 
#9 ·
Something unusual has to be causing the error -- those drivers are very well tested and should not be a problem unless there is some underlying hardware cause.

After all you have the same system and drivers on your computer, right?

Just when are the errors occuring? And can you post a HijackThis log for the computer here, so I can see what else is running?

Also, if you installed two 256 mb sticks of ram, try removing one at a time to see if the problem still exists, swap modules out -- always leaving one in the slot closest to the cpu. I really think the most logical source of the problem is the memory, not the graphics driver.

And I can't understand the "they are not going to take it back". Any reputuable company will replace a faulty product -- and should really do it no questions asked if returned promptly.
 
#10 ·
OK, Just have a couple of questions, I have an extra computer and it is the same as hers, however, The way I understood the message I got back from Mircosoft saying it was Intels problem was that the driver was not fast enough or something to that effect. The computer I have, what I did was when I took the 128 ram out of hers and then put in the two sticks of 256 I brought the 128 home and added it to my 511w hp computer that had only the original one stick of 128 that came with it just like hers started out. That gives my computer 2 sticks of 128 and I think that is why my is running alright because I only have 1/2 as much ram as she does. Microsoft said this is an on going problem with Intel. Would you do me a favor and go to that site that Intel sent me to and read it ?? It is just one page. I am probably way off on what I am thinking but I would like you to see what they said on that site it was
http://support.intel.com/support/go/81xoca
I will do what ever you say, I thought that if that was the case then maybe a different video card with better drivers would be the difference. Would you read that to see if I am understanding it right or not?
 
#11 ·
Since this started when you installed new ram, have you done a memory test? The memory tester will run from bootable media; no need for an os to even be installed. Go to memtest86 and download the app. Run the app and do a complete test of the memory. If it shows even one error, test each chip individually and find the bad one.
 
#12 ·
Rollin' Rog said:
Also, if you installed two 256 mb sticks of ram, try removing one at a time to see if the problem still exists, swap modules out -- always leaving one in the slot closest to the cpu. I really think the most logical source of the problem is the memory, not the graphics driver.
Ding ding ding!

If the computer was working correctly before you installed new RAM, doesn't it stand to reason that at least one of the new memory modules is defective?
 
#14 ·
I am not arguing with youm I am just wondering why then would an error come up saying it was the driver? and when I sent the error to microsoft, they sent a message saying it was a driver error with Intel, and when I went to Intel they admit it is a driver problem, thats why I wanted you to go to that site because it has the same error message there (exactly) as the error message that came up on the computer and Intel says it is the driver.

I will do anything you say to get this fixed but would you go to that site and just see the error and what Intel says about it
right on there page it says ERROR- your system has recovered from a serious error. Display DRIVER for the devices was unable to complete a drawing operation. Display DRIVER for the graphics device seems to be responsible for the instability Check the manufacturer fro a device driver update, Then Intel goes on to say they no longer make updates for that driver etc, If you read that and then tell me I am crazy I will except that. If you won't read it I will do what ever you want anyway cause I need to get it fixed, Let me know if you want a HJT Log or what ever you want
 
#15 ·
I did read the article, you can be sure.

I'm just not convinced this isn't a false lead, even if the video driver itself is the victim of the fault.

Are you getting STOP messages?

Have a look in the c:\windows\minidump folder for minidump errors. Zip the most recent of these up and upload them here as an attachment. I'd like to see some of them.

By the way, just what is the color depth and screen resolution set to?

Try 16 bit true color and 1024x768 or 800x600 if set higher than that. Color depth is particularly suspect if set too high.
 
#16 ·
I am going to try to upload the paper I got from microsoft and Intel so you can see them. I could only get the one from Intel uploaded the one from microsoft was to big but the first error message it shows on the Intel page is the exact message I got on the computer and sent ot microsoft
 
#17 ·
I'm sorry I am not trying to be rude or anything I will start from here doing what you think is right. I need the help.

No I am getting no stop messages. I will print those things off and go over there and check them and bring the info back to you,. Thanks
 
#18 ·
The reason it is not the driver [or the driver is not causing your problem] is that when your system starts, it loads all of its drivers. If you have a memory chip with some bad addresses, the driver will become corrupt giving the error msg.

Trust me. It worked ok before you installed the ram and does not work ok now. It is the ram OR you loosened something inside the case when you were installing the chips.
 
#19 ·
ok, I am going over to her house in about 1/2 an hour and going to bring that computer back with me so I can work on it here, then I don't have to run back and forth. I hope nobody took me wrong about the driver, I am trying to learn as I go and asking questions is the way I learn the best. I want to fix it but I like to no why I am doing what I am doing. I will get it set up here in just a bit and then get the info you wanted,
 
#20 ·
I just looked on my computer, (as I said, I downloaded the same driver and have the same computer) and since the new driver download it puts a little intel graphics icon in the tray. I clicked on it to get the color depth and screen resolution and it is 800x600 but the color was set at high color instead of true color. Should I set hers to true color? is that what you meant by the color depth? I am going to go there so I will look at the minidumps and if you think the color depth will make a difference if I change it I will do it quick before I bring her computer to my place, if it makes a difference theres no sense in bringing it here. What do you think??
 
#21 ·
I have her computer here now. I changed her computer to true color from high color I will surf around while I wait for your answer to this to see if it freezws up or not. here are the 3 dump files you wanted I don't know how to open them but I put them on a floppy and I will upload them to you. Please let me know what you find.Please let me know if the attachments got on, I think I did it right but I am not sure,
 
#22 ·
Under "color depth" what are the selections there?

I may have mislead you using "Win9x" setting -- there "true color" is 16 bit.

The settings in XP may be just 32 bit and 16 bit (considered "medium); to reduce the possiblity of resource issues, choose the 16 bit option.

Are you testing the ram? That should be your number 1 priority.

As for the attachments, none are uploaded. All you have to do is put them in a zip file and select the "manage attachments" option here. Then browse to where you have them, select the file, and then select "upload". They may take a while.
 
#23 ·
I am not sure where to look for what you want. Display properties under settings tab says color quality -high 24 bit and 800x600 screen resolution. Is that ok? I am opening the case to make sure nothing got loose or unhooked. What did you want me to do with the ram?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top