asked on

Blue Screen: Page Fault in Nonpaged area

I have an employee with a Dell Precision M90 that has a blue screen error - Page Fault in NonPaged area. I am currently running chkdsk /r but thought I would get some added feedback.

Along with the blue screen, I have what I can only describe as lines that look something like barcodes in columns going down the screen (individual lines running horizontally) all the way down the screen... 3/4 " long or so.

I am guessing RAM could contribute to this - I am doubtful that I will have any HD issues show up.

Any other suggestions?

jkalnasy

Generally BSODs are either a ram issue or driver issue. Just run a ram check and if you find errors, bingo. If drivers, simply update you drivers or roll back to a stable driver version.

Memtest:
http://www.memtest.org/

torimar

Check out the c:\windows\minidumps folder. Are there any dumpfiles (*.dmp) in it?
Select the most recent 3-4 of them, and attach them here as a file attachment, please.

FunkyBrown

The lines make me think it could also be a heat issue - try taking a can of compressed air to the vents and fans, if this changes the symptoms at all I'd recommend dissembling and cleaning it out (or paying someone to do it for you). Memtest is good as well to check memory - one last suggestion for decoding the Bluescreen error messages is following the instructions here: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2005/041105-windows-crash.html -- This covers how to look inside the memory dump created during a bluescreen, and gives a few pointers for diagnosing from that.

Patmac951

I agree with the first post....this sounds like a RAM or driver issue. However if your RAM is good my suggestion would be to delete the existing Page File on the hard drive and create a new one. I seen a bad page file cause this type of error too.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

mr_E

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

SOLUTION

senad

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

BBolt73

ASKER

I think this is a two headed problem.

Interestingly, I don't get the blue screen anymore - I get a black screen - no text, nothing. I am becoming convinced the lines on the screen and now the black when I boot windows normally (I can boot safe mode - line are there, but I can function) are a problem with the video card.

I have attached the minidumps to see help diagnose the blue screen issue... maybe that is a result of video card error as well.

Mini010410-01.dmp
Mini122309-01.dmp

BBolt73

ASKER

RAM and HD came back fine. Dell diagnostics did give me a few errors 5300:031E / 041E /051E / 061F... all video card related. Would these cause a blue screen?

SOLUTION

torimar

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

BBolt73

ASKER

I am downloading an updated driver now. Would a bad video card cause the driver to cause the blue screen?

senad

Yes of course....

John Griffith

I don't believe the problem to be the video card itself as the bugcheck on the one dump was 0xea = the NVIDIA driver is caught in a loop. The other bugcheck = 0x50 = invalid memory referenced. An older driver like the 2006 NVIDIA is clashing with updated Windows drivers or other 3rd party drivers related to apps that utilize video in some manner.

BBolt73

ASKER

Ended up that the video card did fail causing the other failures... It was still under warranty and Dell has replaced... Drivers are now up to date!
Thanks everyone for your help. It was great being way ahead of the Dell guys... save lots of "on hold" time.