Home desktop HP Vista keeps crashing

ok, thanks. I don't quite get what to do with Memtest86, my guess is "Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*"
- but what does that mean, "USB Key" ?

nothing new added to machine, but I did uninstall Norton that originally came with machine (3 years ago) and install Norton from Comcast.

How do I check the "all my drivers are completely up to date" ?

and are you saying it's a reasonable approach to just get new memory and install ?

thanks all for the comments, I hit the sack last night early, will work on this later today and let you know.

travismeyer, ok on USB Key drive and HP's website and testing memory.

willcomp, ok on UBCD / Memtest86 and uninstalling Norton if memory tests ok.

Nobus, ok also on memtest86 and making UBCD with ISO burning tool and how to make one.

Travismeyer, ok on Memtest first and troubleshooting tips.

just need to get something straight, for the memtest86 approach, it looks like I can download this file: "Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*" to my USB flash drive, then just pop that in before booting up, and then it will run the memory tests ?

Correct!  Make sure doing boot up you press whatever key your screen says to pick the to the boot menu and pick the boot drive.  This could be the Esc. Key or F12/F11...it depends on the computer.  It may boot directly to the drive with no boot menu needed so at least try that first.

travismeyer, ok, good, thanks.

I will leave this open for a day or two to run this test, hopefully tonight.

ONLY if the pc is set to boot from USB - that's why i still prefer the cd
also - some PC's do not boot from usb

nobus, ok, thanks for the tip.

Any luck on this?

travismeyer et al, I did not get to try this last night, got busy with some other things. If I don't get around to this tonight I will close it out as you answered my question.

I did the Memtest86 and sure enough, bad memory . . . it looks like I have one memory stick, see the screen shot, plus in my computer properties it says "RAM 3.0 GB", which matches the test.

So I guess I need to get a new memory stick and hopefully that will take care of the issues I'm having, which is frequent BSOD.

I found a good device ID tool at www.crucial.com/systemscanner, and found I had two memory modules, 1GB and 2GB.

So I took out the 1 GB to see if I could test the 2GB stick individually. But when I tried to boot for the memtest86, it didn't work, it just said "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk" . . .

so I tried to put the 1 GB memory stick back, but upon booting it just had a high pitch tone and nothing happened. I'm sure it was seated properly because there were two end holders that snapped into place.

When I took out the 1 GB memory stick, then I was able to boot to the 2 GB, which I'm operating on now. So I guess I could replace the 1 GB and then re-test the memtest86.

Thoughts ?

Replace both..better to have matching memory in type/brand and size.  That's what I would do. Better safe then doing the same thing a week/month later.

did you remove the 2 Gb and test with 1 GB stick?

nobus, I didn't try to replace the 2 GB stick,  as I was nervous about that, given the goofy thing that happened when I put the 1 GB back in (high pitch sound and then PC wouldn't boot at all).

But I did remove, inspect, and replace the 2 GB stick successfully, so I can try the 1 GB itself (tonight). Does it matter what slot it goes in ?

But looks like I'm on track to just replace both sticks, I'd bump up to 4GB RAM so get a little boost out of it.

run the test on the 2 Gb stick - and if you like, on the 1 GB also

when I ran the memtest on the 2GB stick individually, it didn't work, it just said "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk" . . . but I was able to boot normally with just the 2GB mem in . . . I tried this multiple times.

Also, I realized today that I have another HP machine that I bought at the same time (same model), and I will likely just scarf the 2GB from that and got this machine whole, then turn my attention to the other machine .

did you run the ram test from cd?  if not try it - it's the best method

I ran it from USB flash drive . . . haven't burned a disk in ages . .  .

Nobus: He already ran the test...from USB or CD it makes no difference.  The issue is he as in fact found a bad stick of ram.  Why run the tests again when he plans to replace both sticks of memory with new of from an identical system?  We're just running in circles at that point.  HP systems are very picky when you start messing with the RAM and changing the system configuration from more to less ram and back and forth.

William: If they are infact the same machine and that one works fine then swapping the memory should not be a problem.  Goodluck!

@Travis   because he still does not know the other stick is OK

allright, thanks to all. This has been a big help. I will try the 2GB RAM stick from the other machine and let you know tonight, and close this out as well.

If both are being replaced...it doesn't matter.  It's never good to mix brands/speeds if he was going to replace just one which is why I suggested to just outright replace both.

Since he will be swapping from another system again..it does not matter.  Just need to get him back up and running not keep testing.

and i'm not so sure it does not matter booting from usb or cd  - one can work, while the other is bad; but it's his decision  - i can only advise on what to try
anyway - post results with othe r sticks - but verify they are the same

any idea why the memtest86 didn't work with just the 2GB installed ? I'm using it now and it's fine but when I try the memtest86 (with just 2GB), it says "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk" . . . and then nothing happens . . . but I can boot up with just the 2GB . . .

ok, i got 2GB from my other machine loaded. it  booted up fine and shows 4 GB. right now I'm running "Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool", 1/2 way done. will run memtest86 when it re-boots, wiil let you know.

After re-booting I got a message from "Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool" that said I had a memory problem and need to contact manufacturer . . . now the USB drive won't boot for memtest86, I get ""Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk"

but I seem to be running ok with 4 GB RAM, so I will see how things settle down. I got good help here so I'll close it out.

Thanks for sticking with this.

HP Hardware Diagnostics Test looks really good :-), only one warning. This is a heck of a lot better than what I started with, see attached.

It may not be 100%, but it's a heck of a lot better.

HP-Test-Event-Logs---Monthly-Tes.pdf

>>  got a message from "Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool" that said I had a memory problem    <<  first indication
>>   now the USB drive won't boot    <<   second...
i still suggest to run memtest86+ on both sticks; it's the best around

was the replacement stick the SAME model as the original?

**note that memory problems can come from the ram controller also