HELP! Computer will not even boot into Safe Mode; STOP error when trying to repair with XP CD.

I have just downloaded the Western Digital diagnostic tool.  Will burn to CD and try that here in a minute.

May I mention:  I cannot get the onboard video card to work now ... although it did when I first set up the system.  BIOS are set to AGP/Int Vid, but it won't work.

THIS JUST IN:  I opened the computer and l looked at everything.  Reseeded the cables on the hard drive and took a good look at the motherboard.  No problems detected.  Hooked everything back up and LO, now it boots.  BUT I am certain that it will shut down again at some point, perhaps when accessing a program, etc.  

Any ideas with these additions?

Thanks!
ksuchy

Power supply is most likely culprit . . but wait and see how it runs for a while . . It may have just been a loose connection somewhere.

After booting successfully, I ran FixSasser.exe just in case.  No Sasser found.  Then I reset the swap file (took to "no page file" and then, upon reboot, set to let system create the file).  Ran FixSasser.exe again.

Went to reboot to run Western Digital hard drive diagnostic and ... here we go again; cannot boot. System DOES boot to Safe Mode, but unless this is a driver issue, that doesn't do me much good, does it?

If it is a power supply issue, I will need to wait until tomorrow to replace it.  Will keep you posted.  If you have other ideas, please advise.  You may be right about the power supply.

Thanks very much,
Ksuchy

loook what MS says about the stop error :

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330182

and here :   http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.php

I think there is a good chance this error could be due to faulty RAM.

The memory check when a PC boots does not fully test the RAM.

I would strongly suggest you download the MEMTest x86 boot disk from this web site:
http://www.memtest86.com/

Download the ISO and use a program like Nero to burn it to a CD. Put this CD in and boot from it. It will run numerous checks to test the RAM.

try this calculator to be sure you replace the psu with adequate power
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/

Ya know . . even if the memory passed the test, it could still be the problem . . have you tried starting with just one stick or with other "known good" memory?

this is a great library of diagnostics on a bootable cd (includes memtest)
Ultimate Boot CD:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

The latest version of MEMTest is available from this address

http://www.memtest.org/

i would start with the minimum devices connected, mobo, cpu + 1 ram stick, and video card - then add devices 1 by one

The RAM memory test that I ran earlier was from Microsoft Online Crash Analysis's website.  There I downloaded mtinst.exe and created a bootable CD.  Ran this test on the computer at bootup and it passed all tests. RAM passed all tests at MWAVE before they shipped, by the way. Will gladly try other tests suggested by jonponton and maramom, however.

I was booting up with minimum devices.  Could not get onboard video to work (chose it as the secondary video adapter in the BIOS, but for some reason I can't get it to work) and, as my only other BIOS choice (to test it) was to set the internal video adapter as the ONLY video choice, I didn't want to chance inability to SEE BIOS if it failed.  There is only one RAM chip (1gb) in the machine, so I can't change anything there. Have no other good RAM to test with, but if need be, I'll buy some.

NOBUS, I read the articles about the STOP error I received, and found nothing that applied, except the suggestion that this could be bad RAM (I have not used any third party drivers except for those that came with the ATI Radeon 9350 128mb DDR 8XAG graphics card).  Also, I did update the BIOS as soon as I could when I built the computer, so Microsoft's suggestion to update BIOS doesn't apply.  

Is it possible that I have something set improperly in the BIOS that could cause any of my problems?  

Relating the to BIOS, I have seen suggestions at Microsoft to disable BIOS caching and/or shadowing.  These options are greyed out in the BIOS, and there is no way to change them.  

FINALLY, the last time I opened the computer (see previous entry), I reseeded all cables.  I "believe" that the cable going from the power supply to the motherboard may not have been fully seeded (about 1/8" off).  After closing the computer up and rebooting, it did successfully reboot and seemed to work alright.  Tried a few things and did not experience an automatic shutdown.  Shut it down for the night.  The next day, I rebooted successfully, opened up several programs, and left it running on its own for 4 hours.  Came back to find it in fine shape; it had not rebooted.  Of course, during the time the computer was on, I was not working on it, so I wasn't really testing out potential problems with the RAM.

I will run these other RAM tests and repost.

Thank you all very much for your input.  Your collective expertise is very much appreciated.
--ksuchy

>>   the cable going from the power supply to the motherboard may not have been fully seeded (about 1/8" off).    << yes, that may have been the problem.
to be sure , run a scan disk for errors on the drive.

Nobus,

Thank you.  This is hopeful news.  I will run scan disk on the drive.  Am I doing this to assure that this was not a hard disk issue?

Not only that, but some file maybe damaged on the disk.

UPDATE:  This morning (Monday) the computer booted just fine.  Opened up Quickbooks Pro 2006 and worked on invoices, etc.  After a while,  printed a check and then left the check up on the screen and walked away for about 20 minutes.  Upon return, Microsoft error message was on screen:

“Generic Host Process for Win32 Services has encountered a problem and needs to close.  Please tell Microsoft about this problem.  We have created an error report to help us improve Generic Host Process for Win32 Services.

Error Signature:
szAppName: svchost.exe  szAppVer5.12660.2180
szModName: Unknown szModVer: 0.0.0.0 offset 0075f116

Reporting details:  This error report includes:  information regarding the condition of Generic Host Process for Win32 Services when the problem occurred, the operating system version and computer hardward in use, and the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer.

Error report contents:
C:\docume~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\WERfbfc.dir00\svchost.exe.mdmp
C:\docume~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\Werfbfc.chr00\appcompat.txt

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) terminated unexpectedly.”


Upon sending the message to Microsoft, the computer shut itself down.

Upon rebooting the computer, we ran Scan Disk to check out the hard drive.  All checks passed (although the last and final stage (checking free space) took about 40 minutes to complete).

I have not yet had the opportunity to run more RAM checks.  Shall I work in this direction, or does the above error give any more clues about what the problem might be?

Thanks so much,
ksuchy

More help requested:  trying to run memtest86.exe from a bootable CD.  I get a Caldera DR-DOS 7.03 page with the following information:

Using DPMS DOS Protected Mode Services

Cache Size:  7670 KB (XMS)
Minimum Cache Size:  1024 KB
Write-through drives:  A B

Current options:
/MLX  Program is loaded into conventional and XMS memory using DPMS
/BL=16  Lookahead buffer is in conventional memory, size is in KB
/Lend=On  Lend memory to other applications -- 6646 KB available
/Delay=Off  Write delay is disabled, caching is write-through.

Caldera DR-DOS 7.0.3

Then I am presented with a flashing DOS prompt.  I have no idea what to type here.  I've looked at "dir" and see several options, but when I tried an .exe in there, everything was in German.  Obviously, I'm quite confused.  I assumed that memtest86.exe would start on its own.

Help?

One more plea for help.  I was running a Norton Antivirus full system scan while researching this, and the computer rebooted again.  Upon reboot, received errors including:

"The following files will be included in this error report:
C\Documen~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\WER94d7.dir00\Mini022006-01.dmp
C\Documen~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\WER94d7.dir00\sysdata.xml"

I sent the error message to Microsoft, and received a message back saying the problem may be caused by a device driver.  

The only external device I have on this computer is an HP Laserjet 4mp.  I have tried 3 different Windows Drivers throughout the past week.

More help needed.  Thanks in advance.
ksuchy

sorry, I'll try to read more later, don't have the time now, but
start with your ATI Radeon 9350 128mb DDR 8XAG graphics card...if you have sp2 and net framework installed
newest release driver 2/9/06
https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894
video drivers can be flaky and cause problems you wouldn't expect

At the ATI site, I see the following:

Knowledge Base  
ATI Customer Care > Drivers and Software > Windows XP > RADEON >

RADEON
Display Drivers and Software for RADEON Products

Catalyst 6.2 Windows XP - Driver Download
 
ATI Multimedia Center 9.13
 
HYDRAVISION - For RADEON and Mobile ATI Products
 
Catalyst Crew Feedback
 
 
None of these seem to be correct for my video card.  A search for Radeon 9350 came up empty.  Could you direct me to where you found the driver you refer to?  Thanks, maramom!

catalyst 6.2...it's for the 9xxx series (yours) and others, you can check the release notes, if you want to see
https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/Catalyst_62_release_notes.html
just make sure you have net framework installed first, there's a link under 'notes' on the download page. you may already have it installed, however. you can tell in control panel/add-remove programs if it appears there.

sorry, ati won't let you view the link i gave you without going through their site first...
you can see the release notes link on the same page as the downloads

More searching (it's a Radeon 9250, not 9350 ...my bad) ... found this:

Catalyst 6.2 Windows XP - Driver Download

High Speed
(Cable / DSL) Microsoft .NET Framework Download
1 of 2 23.1 03/30/04 This is a required download.
 
  Catalyst Control Center Package Download
2 of 2 34.7 02/09/06 Display and WDM Drivers included in this bundle
 
Maramom...is this what you are referring to?
Thanks,
ksuchy

yes, that's it!
go ahead and download it, but another thing to check on is your mainboard drivers
did you install the drivers that came with the cd for the motherboard?
if not, do that first, if so, proceed with the ati drivers.
if you don't have the cd you can get the drivers through ASUS

if you need your mainboard drivers:

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
on the left type in your model # P4P800-VM
click ‘search info’
choose p4p899-vm on right
click driver tab

download:
SoundMAX Audio Driver version 5.12.01.3538 WHQL-Complete audio driver package.
Intel(R) Network Adapter Software Version 8.0 for Win2k/WinXP
Intel(R) Extreme Graphics Driver for Windows 2000/XP Driver V6.13.01.3485 WHQL
(these are dated 2003, so if you are sure you've installed them, don't worry)

Now, I've read, and will reread this thread over

Unfortunately, it looks like you may be having a power issue as implied earlier
try the calculator: http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
what is your current psu wattage?

the ram could also be a problem, (although passed once)
and I'm not sure about the german with memtest.
the Ultimate Boot CD: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ has a basic menu where you can choose memtest (in english)

first, lets get the drivers going..and see what happens

are you using onboard video or agp or both?

typo above P4800-VM (not 899)

just to summarise : now it boots, which it did not before; at least some progress
your problem now seems a different one, and can point to ram. (if possible, let the test run for some hours to be sure)
to run the ram test, you can run it from the ultimate boot cd (suggested above)

However, it can be a heat problem too, so i suggest checking the cpu temp (in the bios) and checking if all fans are running normally, and if the Heatsink is fully seated on the cpu.

I am using AGP video, but have selected AGP/Int-Vid in BIOS, and onboard video doesn't seem to work when I switch to that.  Onboard video did, however, work at one time.  This is another source of confusion for me.

I checked http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ and determined that my power supply should be adequate (I have a 300W).

I will reinstall mainboard drivers, as well as the Catalyst 6.2 Windows XP Driver this evening.  I will also try the Ultimate Boot CD to test memory again.

I will report back on cpu temp (which I checked last week and which was running at around 101 degrees).

This just in.  User tried to run Norton Full System Scan two more times this morning.  Both times it stopped at about 3/4 done and gave the Microsoft error message before rebooting:

"The following files will be included in this error report:
C\Documen~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\WER94d7.dir00\Mini022106-01.dmp
C\Documen~1\Kathy\Locals~1\Temp\WER94d7.dir00\sysdata.xml"

System rebooted OK afterwards.

All of your suggestions (nobus, maramom, jonponton, simpswr) are still giving me hope.  Thank you all for your support.  I'll be back in touch!!
ksuchy

You did take the AGP card out when trying the onboard video?  

No I did not.  Previously, the onboard video had worked with the AGP card installed, however.  

That's not the norm . . usually one or the other will work, but not both . . might be worth loiking in BIOS to see if both are enabled . .

Interesting.  I looked again last night and BIOS is set to "AGP/INT-VID".  Tonight I will remove the AGP to see if internal video will work.  

ksuchy, consider running an av software other than Norton, at least until you get everything resolved.  Some people never have a problem with Norton, and others have lock-ups and numerous problems that relate to that software.  I've never heard of it causing a reboot, but just to keep your system clean and "unclogged" ( Norton can clog resources) until things run smoothly,

some FREE choices:

FIREWALL: Zone Alarm: http://www.zonelabs.com/?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=dbtopnav_zaav&AID=9754927&PID=1320436

Anti-Virus:
AVG: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1
Avest: http://www.avast.com/eng/free_virus_protectio.html

this is really optional, (I don't think it's the root of your problems) and if you don't feel comfortable with it, don't do it.

No, actually, maramom, I have been wondering if there is a connection between Norton and what is happening here.  I ran FixSasser.Exe and FixBlaster.exe just in case I had an issue there, and am still wondering if there could be either a virus I don't know about that is causing these problems (Norton not successfully finishing a scan makes me suspicious), and/or if I need to try a different Anti-Virus software to (at least) scan the system.

Do you know of a good, free, online virus scanner I might also try?

three links below for online scans:

http://www.pandasoftware.com/products/activescan.htm (look to right for free scan)
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

disable Norton, by the way, before scanning
There are more, you can google "FREE online Virus Scan",
these three are familiar names, (refered by other experts at EE) although I haven't used them myself.

Well tonight has been discouraging.  First I ran an online virus scan.  While it found 13 spyware cookies (none were worrisome) it didn't find any viruses.  

I then installed the ASUS drivers that came on the CD with my motherboard.  I must say that I don't believe I installed these when I built the computer.

Then I tried to install the RADEON drivers, but first needed to install Microsoft .NET Framework.  This install errored out (Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 Setup:  Internal Error 2711.S867460).  I looked in Add/Remove Programs and found .NET there; tried to uninstall it and received the same system error.  Researched how to troubleshoot this error

http://www.devnewsgroups.net/link.aspx?url=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824643

and received yet the SAME internal error when I tried to manually uninstall it from the registry.  I am stuck, now, because I cannot install the graphics driver until the .NET problem resolves.

I remember running Microsoft updates about 2 days ago, and there was an update for .NET that did not install properly.  I don't know if that was the beginning of my problem, or just a symptom of it.

Am posting this, and will begin running memory tests again.

Thanks for all your consideration,
ksuchy

RAM is MWAVE 1GB DDR400 (also listed as PC3200 DIMM memory).  I can probably get more information off the stick if you need it.  This was RAM I chose when I configured the barebone system on MWAVE.  Since it was one of my choices in the dropdown menu, I assumed it was appropriate for the system.  

Last night I ran the memory test on the Ultimate Boot CD (memtest86) and stopped it this morning after running it for more than 13 hours.  Results are as follows:

Wall Time:  13:34
Cached:  1021M
Reserved Mem:  2308K
Mem Mapped:  3820-Std.
Cache:  One
ECC:  Off
Test: Std
Pass: 29
Errors: 0
ECC Errors: (blank)

User is going to work on the computer today (this is a business computer; so my only access to it is in the evenings).  I've asked them to run everything they can on it to see how it behaves today.  It is presently running on the AGP video card.  If the computer reboots during the day (or errors out in any way), I will definitely remove the RADEON video card tonight and see if I can get the onboard video running.  If the computer works fine today, do you still think it would be necessary for me to switch to the onboard video?

Thanks!
ksuchy

No, Ksuchy, the reason I suggested the onboard video is to keep the system as simple as possible..get it working well, then adding it back on.
I'm suspecting an issue of drivers as I stated before, and the radeon drivers are fussier.  I'll post back a bit later about your net framework issue to get that resolved.

Maramom, you get a gold star in my book.  As they say in the new century: you rock.  

I have been researching the .NET system error issue (and inability to uninstall, reinstall, etc.) and it appears as though this is a nasty problem for a lot of users, some of whom never could resolve it.  I don't even know if .NET is necessary for this computer (that is, if I scrap the RADEON card that requires the driver that requires .NET).  I was discouraged when the manual uninstall (from the registry) didn't even work after unregistering and reregistering MS Installer (msiexec). FYI, it may have been the .NET update that I ran on 2/19/06 that caused the .NET problems.  It is possible that I had good, albeit fuzzy, drivers installed for the RADEON before the .NET update problem.  I say this because as soon as I got the RADEON up and running, (when I built the computer on 2/3/06), I installed drivers from the RADEON CD.  

Like you said, first things first.  Want the system up and running well, and then we can attack this other (.NET) issue.  

When all is said and done, perhaps these posts will prove helpful to others as well.  Thank you so very much for your persistence, maramom.

Gratefully,
ksuchy

The system worked beautifully today with no errors or reboots.  User did a number of intensive activities with no problems.  I am currently having them run a full Norton system scan to see if this shuts down the system (last time we did a full scan, the computer rebooted after around 45,000 files, during a scan of the Windows folder).  

Would like to continue running system under current conditions to see if the problem has been solved without having to remove the AGP card.  Would you agree?

Once again, I'm holding out hope.  
ksuchy

Absolutely!  

I couldn't find anything in the manual about the agp being overclocked, but I know that some boards automatically overclock them as a default, which sometimes leads to problems

Right now it looks like the problem may have been related to the mainboard drivers (you did install them?)
We'll see if Norton throws a monkey wrench into this.

Lets keep our fingers crossed that the problem has been solved!

Thank you for keeping us posted

Best of luck

Yes, I installed the mainboard drivers off the CD last night.  I also installed the ASUS utilities that came on the CD (which help monitor the CPU temp, FAN function, etc.).  I'm really beginning to think this might be the fix.

Norton just now finished its full system scan ... successfully!!  It found no viruses and did not cause any instability in the system.  

We will run another day, and then I'll post results tomorrow about this time.

Thanks so much!!
ksuchy

Glad to help...
I love to hear about successes, and hopefully this is the fix.
The .net framework issue should be resolved eventually, however, because all of ATI's driver installs depend on it.

Hi ksuchy,
Just checking in to see how things went.
Also, thank you for the compliments you posted earlier,
It's always nice to feel appreciated.

Hi maramom,

You deserve the compliments -- more than you know!  Experts Exchange is a marvelous forum -- made that way because of experts like YOU who are willing to devote the time and energy to helping people like me solve difficult problems. It is important to me that you know how much I appreciate all your efforts.

As stated earlier, the computer behaved beautifully all day yesterday (even ran a full Norton system scan without a hitch), and the user would like to continue monitoring it for the rest of the week (all day today and tomorrow).  We think that the motherboard drivers solved the reboot problem.  I would like to keep this posting open as we monitor the computer through tomorrow ... that way, if there is another hiccup, we can pick up where we left off (e.g. at that time, I would remove the RADEON video card and work with the onboard video card).  If the system continues to behave well, then I would like to work on the .NET issue mentioned earlier.  At that time, it might be wise for me to post a new and separate entry for the .NET problem, so that others can find it and benefit as well.

I will keep you updated --

Thanks again,
ksuchy

ONCE AGAIN, the computer functioned beautifully all day today (two days in a row, now) ... no hiccups, errors or reboots.  Tomorrow, Friday, will be our last full days testing, and then perhaps we can call this a FIX!!

Thanks for the update, things are looking GOOD!

ksuchy, how did things run on Friday?

Everything ran GREAT on Friday and over the weekend.  I am certain that the reboot issue is solved!  Thank you so much, maramom, for SO MUCH.  I am closing this call, and I am going to post a new request for help regarding the .NET issue.