Constant Blue Screening

Usually a machine_exception error means bad hardware, usually ram but it could something else also, try running memtest (www.memtest.org), let that run a few loops to test the ram.

Yes,

My co-worker said it sounded like a ram issue, yet, why the sudden errors? My computer still registers my ram fully and my games show it. The only time i can re-create the error is if i try to load a cd in my cd drive.

Once I get home from work, I will try to recreate the issue and write down the information if neccessary.

Thank you for the memtest site jamie, i'll take a look at that asap.

Its possible the cd-rom is going bad, especially if this issue only occurs when trying to access the optical drive. i have seen bad optical drives do wierd things when they go bad.

Try just disconencting the ide cable attached to the optical drive(s) and see if the issue still occurs.

This is a possibility, considering this only started when i put a cd in my drive, but since then, its been blue screening on my without even playing cd's. Sometimes during games, or just running any regular app. I'm still trying to figure out why my dvd rom runs cd's fine, yet when i use my regular drive, it triggers if this does have anything to do with my memory.

Your continued feedback and ideas are greatly welcome and appreciated.

Its possible we are looking at 2 or more problems causing the erros and restarts. If one optical drives works fine (the dvd drive) and the other causes the system to bsod and/or restart when its used that drive is most likely bad. There could be something else like a bad stick of ram causing it to do the bsod/restart happening when the optical drive is not in use.

maybe try using different cables (IDE/SATA/whatever) to connect the drives to the mainboard

but the computer from the xp cd and tell it to delete the partion and then reboot the computer then install xp but DONOT format the pation let xp do that its self!!

>>Its possible we are looking at 2 or more problems causing the erros and restarts. If one optical drives works fine (the dvd drive) and the other causes the system to bsod and/or restart when its used that drive is most likely bad. There could be something else like a bad stick of ram causing it to do the bsod/restart happening when the optical drive is not in use.

I will subscribe to that theory

-red

Look here for your error :
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?threadId=1042287&admit=-682735245+1155283895276+28353475

What i would do is this :
-check if all fans are running normally, clean the system from dust
-check the cpu temperature in the bios, or use speedfan :  www.almico.com/speedfan.php
-do some testing :
     www.memtest.org/                                    memtest86+
     http://www.disk-utility.com/hard-disk-low-level-format.html                  Disk tests
- check if your power supply can handle the load :  http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp            

...and you can test your cd drive(s) on another PC, to be sure about their status

Koshykoshy,

Thanks for trying to assist me, but that wouldn't solve anything.


jamie,

I downloaded that memtest yesturday. And I left it running all night. Woke up this morning to find its still running the program 0.o
In any case, it found 19 different errors so far, and i'm unsure what they mean. Does this mean a specific stick has gone bad, or all? I have  never had this happen before, i haven't touched them with static, any idea why a stick would just go corrupt?

I haven't tried the IDE cables yet, but I just remember that if I try to shutdown or restart my computer, my CD drive light sits busy for about 20-30 seconds then it blue screens again.. MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION.

nobus,

All my fans are running fine, i've got my mobo on alert if anything starts to overheat so i know its not that. My powersupply can handle my load fine by an extra 100 watts.

I'll keep you guys updated with the status, thanks for the feedback so far.

did you run the tests?

I'm at work and my computer is at home still running the memtest as i mentioned.

ok - i'll be watching you ....(-:

Ok, so, no one told me that memtest would never stop running lol.

I goit home today to find out its still running after 17 hours straight. It found about 32 bad sections from my memory. Yet after unplugging my IDE cable to the prime CD drive, so far, no blue screening.

Yet, i would like to keep this question open incase new problems arise.

If anyone knows, can someone explain to me how the ram would just corrupt itself like it has? Never have I experienced this before.

Thank you.

It didnt really corrupt itself it just went bad, there are many ways that could cause it and no way to tell what did. So it looks like you do have more than 1 issue, you have a bad optical drive and either bad stick of ram or an issue with the memory controller (most likely just a bad stick of ram), If you have more than 1 stick to determine which one is failing, is test them one at a time, remove 1 stick in dimm slot 1 and run memtest and see which one fails in memtest, if both fail then it would be the memory controller on the motherboard.

I have 3 sticks, 1 512 and 2 256.

How long am i supposed to test for? Like i said before, the system was running 17 hours straight and i just gave up and turned it off.

I Hope that its something easily replacable and something i still have warrenty on.

usualy 30 mins is good, i usualy try to run 5-10 passes, the more ram you have the longer it takes so when you test 1 stick at a time it will go quicker.

while testing the ram, you can test your cd drives and cables on another PC.

i thought the cables cuold be a problem - that appears to be one problem solved.
as far as the ram goes (depending on your locale) you can easily buy more RAM from your local pc warehouse (never buy hardware retail - half of what you pay is profit for the store)! as i guide i recently paid $119 AUS for 1gb of DDR ram (yes also make sure you buy the right type of ram (SD/DDR/DDR2))
take your old ram to the store if your unsure and the shop guy should be able to fix you up with a replacement - you can get 512 for about $35-$50 AUS if your pocketbook ain't that big

Ryan R

After testing my RAM individually this Sunday, i left each running for about 20-30 mins each, it went through the testing process about 3-4 times each stick.... nothing....... Which doesn't explain to me how when i had them all in at the same time, i received 30+ errors after leaving it to run for 17 hours....

How do i test the mobo it its the motherboard with the issue?

Also, i have 1 stick of single channel, and 2 sticks running dual, yet they show up single in the test when they're by themselves. I understand if they were to run single with the single channel stick in place

Yet, explain to me, why after my second installation of windows, am i only now receiving such problems? I had the two different types in the comp for a good 7 months, not a single error.....

What if i end up buying a new stick and it doesn't help at all?

then you take the stick back...
you should get a 1 year warrantee with your purchase

You are right, i could possibly send it back. I'm just trying to figure out if i should close this question or not because the problem still remains. I would like to wait for jamies insight also on what my next step should be and why i received errors before but not now when i test the sticks individually.

You think its because they're different types? What do i do to test my mobo too, the memory controller thing?

Ok great, thats more like it.. So i have 3 slots, so it's possible when i was testing them all in the first slot, and they passed, its likely that simply a slot itself is having issues reading the memory. Hmm, that makes a lot of sense. I'll give it a shot. Thanks

i was thinking along similar lines - however i didn't pickup the fact that you had 3 slots in use... let us know the results of your test

and  i have had cases where each stick was fine in each slot, while 2 sticks produced errors

also the latency of your video card can have an efect on the computer.

test your video card also it could be going bad and will throw the same symptoms.

So, it's been 2 days now, not one blue screen so far. After testing all of the ram slots with each stick and to find no error is a start.

What i think it is, is i had 2 sticks that were the same type/brand/model etc running at a set speed, over 200mhz and my old stick was running at like 170mhz or something like that when i looked at the information in my memtest. Since i've taken that extra stick of 512 out, and ran the two sticks that were the same, i've had no issues thus far, which tells me that its got to be a compatability issue. Yet im still baffeled to say that for 7 months of using my computer setup, my ram all worked together fine until i resinstalled windows a second time.

For now all i can consider, is buying the same ram so that they're all running in conjunction with each other.

Also, can someone tell me why when i tested one of my working sticks, which is 256 dual channel, it shows up in memtest as being single channel?

Thanks for everyones help.

in my exp if the ram modules were incompatible the PC would beep at you repeatedly and do nothing until you turned it off and fixed the prob. I tested this on my bro's pc. Dell P4 desktop previously untouched, i added a 64 sd module to the mobo and as soon as i turned it on i got this low pitch beep and nothing appeared on screen - so i turned it off, removed it, and no probs again. can't stand Dell pcs, would go custom generic any day before a dell.
2 possible reasons for your memtest result - 1) there is a bug in memtest, 2) you DON'T have dual channel RAM.

did the cdrom and ide cable have nothing to do with this then?

Ryan,

The ram i got clearly states "Dual Channel" engraved on the design of the heat spreader, it must be an error in memtest.

And yes, Dell's are impossible to upgrade because everything is built to half the time only take dell parts, its a pain!

I built mine from scratch. I guess it's time to order more ram -.- More money to spend.......