@#$% Windows and @#$% computers
 

So, I'm having a bit of a problem.

Since January my computer has been freezing. Everything is going fine and dandy and then all of the sudden nothing moves, CTRL+ALT+DEL doesn't work, etc. Since then I've updated all of the hardware drivers in my computer, but it sitll does it.

Last Friday I repaired Windows to try to get it fixed, but that still didn't help it. Once it booted up I got the Blue Screen of Death, turned it off, and then turned it back on last night.

Now it's booting up alright and it runs for about 20-30 minutes and then all of the sudden it runs like glue. I've run MSConfig to try to solve the problem but that hasn't worked, and I've done everything I could think of to try to fix it, but everytime it just stops working.

Same thing with trying to update Windows. I download the updates, and then it tries to install it while it's shutting down and it says 1 of 32 for a loooonnngggg time before it just stops working.

What do you suggest I do to try to get my computer moving and shaking at a regular pace?

OS: Windows XP Pro
Processor: AMD 3500+
Motherboard: DFI NF4
RAM: 2 Gigs
HD: 3 - 2 are 250 gigs and one is 300 gigs
Media: 2 DVD drives and a floppy drive

did you make any changes back in january that you recall around the time when this started happening?

also it might be helpful to post the error message from the BSOD. Window's would have dumped it in a windows dump file. Although very cryptic it does usually contain information that is valuable.

Have you run antivirus & antispyware checks? Those would be the first two things I would do.

I installed hardware at Christmas. A TV Tuner and a Sound Card. Both work.

I've run AntiVirus and Anti-Spyware and have found nothing.

How can I find the Windows BSOD memory dump file that we need?

power supply!! everytime my computer went to the shit, it was the powersupply. 3 times now. like it was so fucked it gave me BlueScreenOfDeath. so upgrade it. 300 is not enough! i'm running a 450W now. seems to be all perfect now.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315263

Small memory dump files
A small memory dump file records the smallest set of useful information that may help identify why your computer has stopped unexpectedly. This option requires a paging file of at least 2 megabytes (MB) on the boot volume. On computers that are running Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, Windows create a new file every time your computer stops unexpectedly. A history of these files is stored in a folder.

This dump file type includes the following information:
• The Stop message and its parameters and other data
• A list of loaded drivers
• The processor context (PRCB) for the processor that stopped
• The process information and kernel context (EPROCESS) for the process that stopped
• The process information and kernel context (ETHREAD) for the thread that stopped
• The Kernel-mode call stack for the thread that stopped
The small memory dump file can be useful when hard disk space is limited. However, because of the limited information that is included, errors that were not directly caused by the thread that was running at the time of the problem may not be discovered by an analysis of this file.

If a second problem occurs and if Windows creates a second small memory dump file, Windows preserves the previous file. Windows gives each file a distinct, date-encoded file name. For example, Mini022900-01.dmp is the first memory dump file that was generated on February 29, 2000. Windows keeps a list of all the small memory dump files in the %SystemRoot%\Minidump folder.


Tools to read the small memory dump file
You can load small memory dump files by using the Dump Check Utility (Dumpchk.exe). You can also use Dumpchk.exe to verify that a memory dump file has been created correctly. The Dump Check Utility does not require access to debugging symbols. The Dump Check Utility is included with the Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools and the Microsoft Windows XP Support Tools.

For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows 2000 and in Windows NT, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
156280 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156280/) How to use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file
For additional information about how to use the Dump Check Utility in Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
315271 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315271/) How to use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file
Note The Dump Check Utility is not included in the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Support Tools. To obtain the Dump Check Utility if you are using Microsoft Windows Server 2003, download and install the Debugging Tools for Windows package from the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtoo...g/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtoo...g/default.mspx)
You can also read small memory dump files by using the WinDbg tool or the KD.exe tool. WinDbg and KD.exe are included with the latest version of the Debugging Tools for Windows package.
This Web page also provides access to the downloadable symbol packages for Windows. To use the resources, create a folder on the disk drive where the downloaded local symbols or the symbol cache for symbol server use will reside. For example, use C:\Symbols. You can use the following symbol path with all the commands that are described in this article:
SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
If you download the symbols to a local folder, use the path of that folder as your symbol path.

For more information about the dump file options in Windows, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
254649 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/254649/) Overview of memory dump file options for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000
Install the debugging tools
To download and install the Windows debugging tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtoo...g/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtoo...g/default.mspx)
Select the Typical installation. By default, the installer installs the debugging tools in the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows

post the results of the dump file.

are you using sp2?

even easier

Whenever windows crash, it writes a system event 1001 and a minidump
Check system event log and look system event 1001.
Control Panel --> Adminstrative Tools -> Event Viewer --> System --> Event 1001
Copy the content of all the record 1001 and paste them back here
Tge bugcheck code is very useful to diagnstoci your problem

sorry, i hadn't been thinking about this.

D:\Program Files\Support Tools>dumpchk D:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
Loading dump file D:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP
----- 32 bit Kernel Full Dump Analysis

DUMP_HEADER32:
MajorVersion 0000000f
MinorVersion 00000a28
DirectoryTableBase 16248500
PfnDataBase 81800000
PsLoadedModuleList 805531a0
PsActiveProcessHead 80559258
MachineImageType 0000014c
NumberProcessors 00000001
BugCheckCode 0000008e
BugCheckParameter1 c0000005
BugCheckParameter2 ba5e276d
BugCheckParameter3 b4039970
BugCheckParameter4 00000000
PaeEnabled 00000001
KdDebuggerDataBlock 80544ce0

Physical Memory Description:
Number of runs: 3
FileOffset Start Address Length
00001000 00001000 0009e000
0009f000 00100000 00eff000
00f9e000 01000000 7eff0000
Last Page: 7ff8d000 7ffef000

KiProcessorBlock at 00000000
1 KiProcessorBlock entries:
00000000


Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 UP Free x86 compatible
Kernel base = 0x00000000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x805531a0
Debug session time: Sat Feb 25 08:50:18 2006
System Uptime: 0 days 0:02:42
***** NT module not found - module list may be corrupt
Finished dump check

D:\Program Files\Support Tools>

Edit - Here is what Event 1001 said: The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000008e (0xc0000005, 0xba5e276d, 0xb4039970, 0x00000000). A dump was saved in: D:\WINDOWS\MEMORY.DMP.

I think I may have found the general cause for why my computer was slowing down drastically. I was letting the Windows Search compile files while I was idling, but I don't think it figured out when I was idling and when I wasn't, so it just ran with it and that made my computer run incredibly slow. So I stopped that and I've been running for about two hours with a slow down-esque crash.

which service pack are you running?

alot of what I'm seeing either points to a hardware conflict or issue, or some sort of memory dump

I'm using SP2.

Is it possible to see where the conflict is coming from is it just an overall "Hardware" conflict?

I'll bet a quarter your ram is failing. Download Memtest86, a RAM checker. It comes as an ISO that you burn to a CD, and then boot from.

RAM failure can result in random crashes and hangs. As the stick fails more and more completely, you'll get shorter uptimes, until eventually the machine crashes during boot, or won't boot at all.

i'd say ram to, it's the easier to test

if the RAM passes, I'd start detaching hardware pieces one by one and test it's stability, the most obvious would be to start with the newest pieces installed.

when's the last bios upgrade you had as well. having an old bios and new hardware could cause conflicts

A lot of the results i am seeing seem to point to a 0x8e BSOD being the cause of a bad driver. So it could be caused by either new hardware or a recent update in any of the drivers that you are using on your system (video/sound/mobo).

The best thing to do is to go through all those BSOD stop codes (event 1001) and see if it points to the same file(s) if so, a search on the files causing the issue would point to the bad driver.

One alternate suggestion is to run a chkdsk /r to check if you have any bad sectors on your HD (you can do this through a cmd prompt OR inside windows by right clicking the drive(s) you want to check, go into properties - tools - check now - and checking both check boxes before starting).

I third the RAM check.. sounds quite likely.