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	[x] Attachment Details

Recurrent BSODs mainly 0xF4

Zone: System Diagnostic Software

Tags: 0xf4

Hi,

I have been having recurrent BSODs for the last several weeks and they are defying all my attempts to diagnose them.

System: Mainboard:             Gigabyte 8IPE1000P-G
            CPU:                   Intel Pentium 4 3.20GHz
            RAM:                   4 x DIMM 512MB/64 @ 400Mt/s SDRAM
            Video Card:            ATi Radeon 9800 Pro
            Hard Drives:      WDC WD1200JB            120GB
                                    WDC WD2000JD            200GB SATA
                                    SAMSUNG SP2004C            200GB SATA
                                    AcomData External      315GB
            OS:                   indows XP-SP2 Home

Most of the dumps have been of the 0xF4 variety but there have also been several 0x7A and some 0x8E. The BSODs occur daily or more often and appear to be random - they are certainly unpredictable. Here are some details:-

      1. STOP: 0x000000F4 (0x00000003, 0x88755400, etc.
      2. STOP: 0x0000007A (0xC038C364, 0xC000009A, etc.
      3. STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000006, 0xBF80C93B, etc.

I have searched the internet, including this site <G>, for answers with so far no success. I have eliminated as possible causes:-

      Rootkits;
      Haxdoor virus;
      Video driver (a rollback has not worked);
      Creative Audigy 2 driver (re-installed);
      Faulty HDD data cables (all substituted with new ones);
      Faulty RAM (tested for over 24 hours each with:-
            a) Windows Memory Diagnostic,
            b) MemTest86 and
            c) for 6 hours, MemTest 86+); failing HDDs (All checked with the Western Digital Diagnostics WinDlg.EXE.
            Note: on the first pass on the AcomData external drive, just before the test was completed the error message: "Too many bad sectors detected" appeared, almost immediately followed by a BSOD to 0xF4. A second pass showed the drive to be OK.)
            I have not tried substituting the RAM recently, although I tried this several weeks ago with no results.

Prior to the present series of BSODs, my system crashed and was unrecoverable due to damage to the boot sector of the primary HDD. I performed a format and re-install of Windows XP Home and my programs. For about a week after this, I had no problems and then the BSODs started.

I have tried several times to perform a debug on the Small Memory Dump files resulting from some of the dumps, following Microsoft Article 315263, revision 4.2.

This always shows an error - see below:-

_______________________________________________________________________________

Running WINDBG.EXE on MINI031007-01.DMP:-
---------------------------------------

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.6.0007.5
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Loading Dump File [c:\windows\minidump\mini031007-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: c:\symbols
Executable search path is: c:\windows\i386
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt
Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x805624a0
Debug session time: Sat Mar 10 01:10:25.484 2007 (GMT-8)
System Uptime: 0 days 9:58:05.182
Loading Kernel Symbols
......................................................................................................................................................
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.................
ERROR: FindPlugIns 8007007b
*******************************************************************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
*******************************************************************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck F4, {3, 888135b0, 88813724, 80604450}

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\System32\vsdatant.sys, Win32 error 2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for vsdatant.sys
*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for vsdatant.sys
Probably caused by : vsdatant.sys ( vsdatant+3947e )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------
_______________________________________________________________________________

VSDATANT.SYS is ZoneAlarm Pro's TrueVector Device Driver and I am at a loss how to prevent this error

I'd be much obliged for any help anyone can provide.

Regards,

Mark Nixon

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Question Stats

Zone: Software

Question Asked By: MarkNixon

Solution Provided By: Shplad

Participating Experts: 2

Solution Grade: A

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