Win protection errors/random error msgs/bsod

[sydney^raver]

k. now heres how it is.
my computer.. reformatted twice and OS reloaded with drivers off cd's. keeps restarting itself for no reason, being a Network Eng. i know its nothing with software as everything is alright in that regard.
- It often crashes wit the bsod (blue screen of death)
- Error messages with program shutdowns appear before the bsod
- monitor appears to flicker before this occurs.
- computer restarts at random intervals
- windows protection errors after computer restarts
- at worst, the computer restarts itself whilst booting up.
- sometimes the computer is sweet for a few hours.

now is this a RAM problem, powersupply problem
or is win98se just crap.
Its only started doing it about 1 month ago... its has been stable since then.

Thanks guys.

 

[Mike C UK]

Hi and welcome to TSG.

Are you sure its not the software? Without note of the specific error messges you are getting this sounds like a gremlin in there to me.

If you can get it running sometimes try these steps:
Have you done a virus scan and checked whats kicking of at start-up?

If you have no ondisc anti virus program, go here:

www.housecall.antivitus.com/pc housecall/

and for spyware checking etc try here:

www.lavasoftusa.com

You could also try dumping all the rubbish in your system, like Temp files and TIF's. This link gives full instructions, if you need it that is:

http://www.piersontech.com/07-CleanHardDrive.htm


If all is okay in these departments you'll have to systematically check your PC components are correctly connected/seated, testing after each check until the problem reveals itself.

It could well be the memory, perhaps just one block, so try experimenting with memory setup on the board.

One final thought - if it started about a month ago, think back to thattime period and try to remember if you made any specific changes to your system or loaded any new programs (or indeed uninstalled anything). If something comes to mind, you may have found the cause of all your problems.

 

[Rollin' Rog]

If these problems continued immediately after a reformat, it's a good bet that it is a hardware problem of some kind. I would definitely test the ram, either by swapping out sticks or using known good ram if possible -- or at least using a software tester such as DocMemory:

http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp

Installed hardware such as network cards can also cause such problems and should be removed for testing.

Give this link a read for an overview of Windows Protection Errors:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q149/9/62.asp

I should also mention that weak or failing power supplies and overheating can both cause the symptoms you describe. AMD's are particularly susceptible to overheating problems and that should be one of the first things you rule out -- try keeping a table fan blowing on it and see if there is any change in behavior.

 

[sydney^raver]

thanks for your help fellas..
ive replaced my ram, still vxd errors occured so i removed my network card and am waiting for something to go wrong.

if the system still restarts and errors keep occuring im replacing the psu with a 300w one. considering that i have two hd's, dvd, cd/rw. i've also installed a dual extraction fan on the spare 5"25 bay to help cool the cd/rw and hd's.

but i highly doubt that anything at all is wrong wit the software, as sometimes it runs fine for a while.

thanks once again

 

[Rollin' Rog]

Sounds like you're covering all the bases.