[narlus]

last night the PC was running fine, then this morning i see a disk stack/memory dump blue screen. rebooting gave me more of that; i got to the username/password login screen the first time, but there were evil messages about winlogon.exe and kernel32.dll files...and the blue screen. subsequent reboot attempts didn't even get me to the login screen.

what are my options?

safe mode?

wipe/new OS install?

others?

 

[SkaredShtles]

I've had some marginal success with simply reinstalling Windows - if enough of the OS is still intact it'll do some sort of "repair" install....

 

[BadDNA]

Start with safe mode, if it comes up in SM try running a chkdsk and then reboot normally.

 

[SK6]

There is a boot utility I got from here when I kept getting the BSD. I booted to it and ran diagnostics. I'll look around for it and forward you the link.

 

[SK6]

here ya go:

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2757554&postcount=3

[edit: Positive reps welcomed! ]

Seriously, good luck. BSD's are frustrating as hell. Be carefull however using this method, as some of the utilities ARE destructive.

 

[BadDNA]

I use Winternals ERD Commander for serious recovery here at work, it's not free though.

 

[Toshi]

get a mac, ya hippie!

 

[narlus]

hippies aren't made of money, you know.

SK6, thanks for the link, i will check it out.

 

[SkaredShtles]

get a mac, ya hippie!

You mean so he'll get this instead of a BSOD?

It *is* more asthetic, I'll grant...

 

[Toshi]

dude. that error looks like it's from System 6. way to bring the late 80s into the discussion.



(the OS X rendition is much classier:

)

((i also haven't had a kernel panic in several years.))

 

[SkaredShtles]

dude. that error looks like it's from System 6. way to bring the late 80s into the discussion.

What a coincidence! That's the last time I used a Mac.

(the OS X rendition is much classier:

)

((i also haven't had a kernel panic in several years.))

That's because the BSD kernel is quite good.

 

[SK6]

hippies aren't made of money, you know.

SK6, thanks for the link, i will check it out.

Thats one of my MOST important CD's I keep. Best of luck.

 

[narlus]

well i burned an ISO image to a cdr, let's see how it works when i get home

 

[H8R]

hippies aren't made of money, you know.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

 

[SK6]

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Took you long enough.....

 

[Nobody]

dude. that error looks like it's from System 6. way to bring the late 80s into the discussion.



(the OS X rendition is much classier:

)

((i also haven't had a kernel panic in several years.))

One of my buddies gave me this:

"With Windoze you get the BSOD. With Mac, which happens infrequently, you go out and get a new one..."

I laughed.

 

[narlus]

i think i'm screwed...can't get anything going. seems like it's searching for a license key? safe mode doesn't go, booting from an XP disc in the cd tray doesn't go...any other ideas?

 

[Nobody]

I had that nearly same issue with a bad RAM simm. try pulling them out and using just one to see if the boot process makes it past the beginning....

 

[narlus]

seems like i am having a hard time even getting into safe mode...i get the boot menu, and load the XP disc into the cd drive, but i continue to get stopped...here are the various errors:

page_fault_in_nonpaged_area
says windows needs to be activated
userinit.exe - entry point not found procedure entry point GdtTempPath could not be located in Kernel32.dll
dmboot.sys Address F7417FE9
RpcError GetNextRecord could not be located RPCRT4.dll

any other ideas? it's not looking good

 

[BadDNA]

Sounds like it could be bad memory. Got enough in the system that you can remove some and still operate? Pull some, try and boot, pull the rest and put the first set back, try booting again.

 

[syadasti]

Yeah test the memory DIMM one at a time with this:

http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

 

[narlus]

well before you guys posted i did try the memory...pulled out my 2x1GB sticks, and got the machine up w/ a single 512MB stick. but, it tells me i need to activate windows.

so i try via the telephone option, the automaton tells me i've expired, and shunts me to a representative. i talk to some Tamil Tiger, and he tells me to call back in two hours, as there is some scheduled maintenance going on with the system right now.

thanks microsoft!

 

[BadDNA]

Sounds like the memory went bad and hosed some of your system along with it...bummer dude, good luck.

 

[syadasti]

Test the 1 GB sticks one at time in the same slot as the 512MB stick is in. You'll be able to figure out which one is bad and also see if you have a bad memory slot elsewhere.

Make sure you use the boot CD I linked to, not a windows utility.

 

[narlus]

Make sure you use the boot CD I linked to, not a windows utility.

assuming you mean this one:

Yeah test the memory DIMM one at a time with this:

http://www.memtest86.com/download.html

after decompressing it, i've got a memtest.img file....how do i make a bootable disc from that?

 

[syadasti]

assuming you mean this one:



after decompressing it, i've got a memtest.img file....how do i make a bootable disc from that?

Open it with a CD burning program like Nero and open the ISO file. What program do you have for that?

You downloaded this right:

http://www.memtest86.com/memtest86-3.4a.iso.zip

Here is a step by step tutorial with a free burning app:

http://dban.sourceforge.net/faq/CDBurnerXP.html

If you double click the iso file does your CD burning app open the iso file automatically for burning - burning apps like nero sets itself as default app for iso files.

 

[syadasti]

Oh and please don't use the boot and nuke program in the tutorial on your HDD if you like your data.

 

[syadasti]

My guess is either you have bad DIMM module, bad slot and/or motherboard, or maybe your PSU is going.

PITA...

Just in case:

New barebones for $450
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=0GTCH2HR&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfb&cs=28

Decent bargain refurb systems for under 700 (they have full warranty)
Quad core systems:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=EPAXEE13&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=Z2THRA63&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfb&cs=28

All around decent dual core systems:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=FX87JWV3&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfb&cs=28
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/topics/global.aspx/arb/online/en/InventoryDetails?systemId=ZRCWFKDY&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfb&cs=28

Keep in mind the systems with Vista Business are better since you can legal downgrade to XP Pro with any spare XP CD you have access to.

 

[narlus]

Oh and please don't use the boot and nuke program in the tutorial on your HDD if you like your data.

ok, i've got the memtest ISO burned onto a disc (i feel like Ted Stryker in _Airplane!_).

right now, i'm formatting my newest external HD, and when that's done i'm planning on moving data from my internal drives, in case this PC is on real shaky grounds.

so when i'm confident that my data is accessible via external USB drives and my laptop, what should my next moves be?

make an image of my machine? i'd hate to have to reload all my apps, and configure all my other stuff (ie, port settings on router, torrent stuff, photoshop config, etc). what's the best way of doing that?

and when that is done, should i start troubleshooting my RAM issues? should i reboot w/ the memtest ISO disc in the drive tray? if my machine can only run on a single 512MB stick of RAM, that's no way to go through life.

sorry for all the queries, and thanks for the help.

 

[syadasti]

You can run the memtest any time you like since it just boots from the optical drive and does not use your HDDs but if you want your data backed up ASAP that is fine.

Your motherboard has what, 3 or 4 slots? If one is bad that means you can still do 2GB without buying anything.

Since stuff is pretty cheap if its anything other than a bad memory stick you probably value your data a lot and it would probably be worthwhile to buy a new machine versus repair unless you can do it all yourself.

Really we don't what it is without you running some tests.

 

[syadasti]

Oh yeah - system imaging. Symantec Ghost has fallen behind these days. You want true image:

http://www.acronis.com/

 

[narlus]

looks like that is just for servers and business aps? any decent freeware aps kicking around?

 

[syadasti]

looks like that is just for servers and business aps? any decent freeware aps kicking around?

Sorry I only have experience with corporate products as far as imaging. They do make a home edition now but I have no experience with it:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Most end-users don't even know what system imaging/ghost is.

Imaging is a complex process with a lot of variables. I don't think there is a well proven freeware equal, if any program at all yet.

I found this thread that mentions an old commercial program that is still available but it a lot more limited than TI:

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=14436

 

[narlus]

oh, memtest doesn't seem to work from the cd drive. i click on the lettered drive and it says windows doesn't recognize the file

 

[Dartman]

Sorry I only have experience with corporate products as far as imaging. They do make a home edition now but I have no experience with it:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/

Most end-users don't even know what system imaging/ghost is.

Imaging is a complex process with a lot of variables. I don't think there is a well proven freeware equal, if any program at all yet.

I found this thread that mentions an old commercial program that is still available but it a lot more limited than TI:

http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=14436

I highly recommend Acronis for imaging. It's saved my fat more than once. Trueimage takes a lot of the "complex process" out of it and really makes it a no brainer. Prolly why I like it.

 

[Dartman]

oh, memtest doesn't seem to work from the cd drive. i click on the lettered drive and it says windows doesn't recognize the file

You have to boot the computer from the cd drive using the disk made from memtest iso image and it runs automatically. You may have to fiddle with the boot order in the bios settings to set boot from cd first.

Mike

 

[syadasti]

Yeah sorry I wasn't more clear about usage - that website sucks too. Forgot there were two versions as I haven't downloaded it a while:

http://www.memtest.org/

I actually have the + version. I see they just released v2.

Forum:

http://forum.x86-secret.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

I think memtest comes with the default install of Ubuntu - I think its the third boot option on my machine (never paying much attention unless I have to modify boot configuration)...

 

[syadasti]

As far as one or the other you can use both and failure in either will indicate an issue. The regular version is the original and the + version is updated more often (Dec 07 vs Feb 08) and has broader hardware support. Since your hardware is not that new you can probably use either.

 

[syadasti]

You have to boot the computer from the cd drive using the disk made from memtest iso image and it runs automatically. You may have to fiddle with the boot order in the bios settings to set boot from cd first.

Mike

Yeah you can check the boot order in the BIOS. Also some BIOS also have boot menu and it tells you when it first boots up what key to press. On Dells its usually F12. You have to press the button before it starts loading the OS to choose.

I haven't used memtest in a while as all our machines at work are Dell and Dell has their free Dell only test suite "Dell Diagnostics" and my home built machines haven't had bad memory in a long time. Dells come with a bootable partition with their diagnostic OS much like Ubuntu comes with memtest+ on default installs.

 

[SK6]

I highly recommend Acronis for imaging. It's saved my fat more than once. Trueimage takes a lot of the "complex process" out of it and really makes it a no brainer. Prolly why I like it.

Ditto...If ya need it, shoot me a PM....