Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Blue screen of death! Need help...

Blue screen of death! Need help...

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
helphtmlcomhardwarequestion
15 Posts 8 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • J Judah Gabriel Himango

    My brother called me over to see if I could fix his computer. It was BSOD + instant restart during boot, before Windows was even visible. I got it to boot up into safe mode, removed the video card driver, everything was fine. But as soon as I re-installed the latest driver from NVidia, it started blue-screening again, this time a minute or two after Windows booted. I tried installing an older version of the driver, but it still blue screened after Windows booted. I tried turning off hardware acceleration on the video card, and then I'd get BSOD'd about 10 minutes after booting into Windows. I couldn't keep the system running long enough to download & install antivirus software. What do you guys think -- video card gone bad? It's a older NVidia GeForce 440. Is it possible a virus is somehow corrupting the video driver? Any suggestions?

    Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

    M Offline
    M Offline
    Michael Dunn
    wrote on last edited by
    #3

    Heat perhaps? Open the case and blow out all the fans - dust buildup will make the fans less effective.

    --Mike-- Visual C++ MVP :cool: LINKS~! Ericahist | PimpFish | CP SearchBar v3.0 | C++ Forum FAQ

    J 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • N Nish Nishant

      My best guess - bad RAM.

      Regards, Nish


      Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
      Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog

      J Offline
      J Offline
      Judah Gabriel Himango
      wrote on last edited by
      #4

      Interesting. But does that explain the fact that when the video card driver is uninstalled, it works fine?

      Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

      S 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • M Michael Dunn

        Heat perhaps? Open the case and blow out all the fans - dust buildup will make the fans less effective.

        --Mike-- Visual C++ MVP :cool: LINKS~! Ericahist | PimpFish | CP SearchBar v3.0 | C++ Forum FAQ

        J Offline
        J Offline
        Judah Gabriel Himango
        wrote on last edited by
        #5

        I don't think so...if I remove the video card driver, it runs fine.

        Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

        M 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • J Judah Gabriel Himango

          My brother called me over to see if I could fix his computer. It was BSOD + instant restart during boot, before Windows was even visible. I got it to boot up into safe mode, removed the video card driver, everything was fine. But as soon as I re-installed the latest driver from NVidia, it started blue-screening again, this time a minute or two after Windows booted. I tried installing an older version of the driver, but it still blue screened after Windows booted. I tried turning off hardware acceleration on the video card, and then I'd get BSOD'd about 10 minutes after booting into Windows. I couldn't keep the system running long enough to download & install antivirus software. What do you guys think -- video card gone bad? It's a older NVidia GeForce 440. Is it possible a virus is somehow corrupting the video driver? Any suggestions?

          Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

          R Offline
          R Offline
          Rob Graham
          wrote on last edited by
          #6

          Could be flawed memory in the shared video ram area. Try swapping the memory chips (if you can...) and see if the problem changes.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • J Judah Gabriel Himango

            I don't think so...if I remove the video card driver, it runs fine.

            Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

            M Offline
            M Offline
            Michael Dunn
            wrote on last edited by
            #7

            Yeah, I was thinking that in VGA mode, the computer isn't sending nearly as much data, nor using the card's hardware, anywhere near as much as when you have the driver & video acceleration on. So in VGA mode, the card won't run as hot.

            --Mike-- Visual C++ MVP :cool: LINKS~! Ericahist | PimpFish | CP SearchBar v3.0 | C++ Forum FAQ

            J 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • M Michael Dunn

              Yeah, I was thinking that in VGA mode, the computer isn't sending nearly as much data, nor using the card's hardware, anywhere near as much as when you have the driver & video acceleration on. So in VGA mode, the card won't run as hot.

              --Mike-- Visual C++ MVP :cool: LINKS~! Ericahist | PimpFish | CP SearchBar v3.0 | C++ Forum FAQ

              J Offline
              J Offline
              Judah Gabriel Himango
              wrote on last edited by
              #8

              Interesting, thanks.

              Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

              N 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                Interesting. But does that explain the fact that when the video card driver is uninstalled, it works fine?

                Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                S Offline
                S Offline
                Stephen Hewitt
                wrote on last edited by
                #9

                It could. Perhaps with the driver installed the bad RAM was being used for a task critical to system stability.

                Steve

                J 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • S Stephen Hewitt

                  It could. Perhaps with the driver installed the bad RAM was being used for a task critical to system stability.

                  Steve

                  J Offline
                  J Offline
                  Judah Gabriel Himango
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #10

                  Interesting, I would've thought of that. I've given him some new RAM to install (had 1GB of old stuff sitting in a box), so maybe that will solve it. Hope so. :-p Thanks.

                  Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                  D 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                    My brother called me over to see if I could fix his computer. It was BSOD + instant restart during boot, before Windows was even visible. I got it to boot up into safe mode, removed the video card driver, everything was fine. But as soon as I re-installed the latest driver from NVidia, it started blue-screening again, this time a minute or two after Windows booted. I tried installing an older version of the driver, but it still blue screened after Windows booted. I tried turning off hardware acceleration on the video card, and then I'd get BSOD'd about 10 minutes after booting into Windows. I couldn't keep the system running long enough to download & install antivirus software. What do you guys think -- video card gone bad? It's a older NVidia GeForce 440. Is it possible a virus is somehow corrupting the video driver? Any suggestions?

                    Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #11

                    Some questions: 1) Has the PC ever run without BSODing? 2) If so, what has changed? 3) If you have changed nothing then something else has: i) Hardware failure. Can be anything. ii) Corrupted driver (sys file) In any case, set the PC to do a kernel memory dump. (it will be called memory.dmp in the windows dir). Get this file off the POC and onto another where you have windbg.exe installed. Open this dump file from windbg then look at what the crash was, what caused it, what was in the stack (!analyze -v) what was loaded (.lm kv), what the thread was (!thread). Look at the error code, google it and lok in the help file of windbg for info on it. Look for suspicious non microsoft sys files loaded, look at the active module in the current thread, look at what is in the stack, and what the analyser thinks caused the error.

                    Truth is the subjection of reality to an individuals perception

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                      Interesting, I would've thought of that. I've given him some new RAM to install (had 1GB of old stuff sitting in a box), so maybe that will solve it. Hope so. :-p Thanks.

                      Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                      D Offline
                      D Offline
                      Dan Neely
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #12

                      A Memtest86 bootable CD would've been a cheaper diagnostic.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                        Interesting, thanks.

                        Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                        N Offline
                        N Offline
                        Nish Nishant
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #13

                        Did you figure it out, Judah?

                        Regards, Nish


                        Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                        Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog

                        J 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • N Nish Nishant

                          Did you figure it out, Judah?

                          Regards, Nish


                          Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                          Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Judah Gabriel Himango
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #14

                          Not yet. He hasn't installed the RAM yet.

                          Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                            My brother called me over to see if I could fix his computer. It was BSOD + instant restart during boot, before Windows was even visible. I got it to boot up into safe mode, removed the video card driver, everything was fine. But as soon as I re-installed the latest driver from NVidia, it started blue-screening again, this time a minute or two after Windows booted. I tried installing an older version of the driver, but it still blue screened after Windows booted. I tried turning off hardware acceleration on the video card, and then I'd get BSOD'd about 10 minutes after booting into Windows. I couldn't keep the system running long enough to download & install antivirus software. What do you guys think -- video card gone bad? It's a older NVidia GeForce 440. Is it possible a virus is somehow corrupting the video driver? Any suggestions?

                            Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit. I'm currently blogging about: God-as-Judge, God-as-Forgiver The apostle Paul, modernly speaking: Epistles of Paul Judah Himango

                            D Offline
                            D Offline
                            DontSailBackwards
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #15

                            Sounds similar to an issue I had. It turned out to be the power supply - not enough juice, particularly when the video card etc. start working harder, as they would with the right drivers. In particular, have you added anything else recently ... a HDD perhaps. o it could just be old. My PC's power consumption went up by 75 watts when I replaced the PS with one that was more capable. Never had another BSOD since. It just wasn't up to the task.

                            It wasn't me, It was the Others. It was the Others, Not Me.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            Reply
                            • Reply as topic
                            Log in to reply
                            • Oldest to Newest
                            • Newest to Oldest
                            • Most Votes


                            • Login

                            • Don't have an account? Register

                            • Login or register to search.
                            • First post
                              Last post
                            0
                            • Categories
                            • Recent
                            • Tags
                            • Popular
                            • World
                            • Users
                            • Groups