Re: Windows XP Bizarre crashing problem and solution.
- From: "Rubix" <chessmaster@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2005 23:30:16 +0100
I had a similar issue with my 3 Ghz Tiny PC bought last year. It came with
pornographic spyware pre-loaded and crashed every 30 mins.
I changed the motherboard and upgraded to windows XP pro . Its fine now. It
still crashes about twice a week but that is stable compared to its
previous state.
It seems a powerful 3.0 Ghz system can not be run on just any old
motherboard.
Rubix
"Ben Hogland" <benhogland@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eFx5ZjpqFHA.3216@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> Bizarre problem and solution.
>
> Well, normally this group has just the problem questions. I thought I'd
> post a problem and solution for someone that may be looking for answers
> by searching the newsgroups.
>
> I have P4 3Gig with 768 Meg of DDR 400 RAM using a ECS 661FX-M version
> 1 mother board, Maxtor Diamond series ATA/133 160 gig HD,Champion MX400
> AGP video card, and a BTC IDE1108 DVD/CD-RW. The system is a modified
> Fry's "Great Quality" (<---Brand name), model GQ 7000 (a computer brand
> and store I will never by a computer from again).
>
> I've had multiple problems with this system and after I had all my
> software loaded and the OS setup the way I wanted, there was no way I was
> going to bring it back to them for a month to repair. First problem was
> the 256Meg DDR 400 RAM was bad as proven by a ram test. It was
> intermittent and would fail about once every half hour at the same address
> location. I called and asked if I can bring in the memory stick alone and
> have them replace it. They agreed after arguing with them for a while.
> They had no ESD controls at all in the service department. They simply
> removed a stick from a stock computer and gave me it then stuck the RAM
> that I returned back into that stock system.. So anyway, Fry's computer is
> another issue and that's all I'll say about them.
>
> I was still having an occasional crash with this system even after
> replacing the RAM. I bought an additional 512Meg of RAM from Crucial.com
> and took out the existing RAM. Still crashes every now and then. I could
> not reliably back up my system using NERO since, inevitably, it would
> crash occasionally during the backup (normally during compressing of files
> (before writing to the DVD).. Because of this, I started thinking it was
> the DVD or NERO. But it crashed at other times too so that logic was
> wrong. Maybe it was the HD, after all? I had upgraded it myself (the drive
> included with the system was a POS). I, then, changed the IDE cables out
> and, for some reason, it didn't crash when using NERO backup afterwards.
> So I thought it was bad cables. Nope, started crashing again the next
> day.. It seems it would crash every 5 to 6 hours just doing minor stuff
> with the computer and seemed it was getting worse over time. After a few
> weeks of this, I couldn't back up my hard drive without it crashing
> everytime. I ran a check on my HD more than several times and there was
> never an error. Hmmm??? If it were the HD, I figured there would be an
> error when doing a scandisk but no (other than the error log files when I
> looked into the event viewer).
>
> At my wits end, I changed the IDE primary to the DVD and the secondary to
> the IDE HD. Still got crashes of the system the next day. I changed the
> power supply with another I had. Next day another crash so that wasn't
> it. I had ran the RAM check program for a solid 24 hours straight without
> a single error. At this point, I'm thinking it's an intermittent mother
> board. From my past experience at Fry's, it seemed to be the next logical
> conclusion.. I ordered a mother board from Newegg but an Asus. (that was a
> mistake since the Windows licensing issue with changing out a MB with a
> different type is considered a new computer thus need another license). I
> decided not to install the new ASUS MB yet. I read a lot online and found
> an interesting article that really had to do with changing out a mother
> board using the same HD without reloading. The article basically said to
> remove all previously installed drivers but the article went on to say
> that you normally can't do that if they were previously installed and that
> hardware was removed simply because they are *hidden* when looking at the
> standard "Device Manager" window. The author listed away to see the hidden
> drivers installed which then allowed the uninstall of those drivers that
> were hidden.. What the heck, I was going to have to change out my MB so
> did it.. I was surprised to find a ton of hardware that had previously
> been installed. Not hardware I installed but in the install by Fry's
> computer. Must have been on their ghost copy.. So I uninstalled
> everything that wasn't in the system.. All the hidden files related
> hardware that were currently not installed I uninstalled (about 20). I
> really didn't think this would help anything but I figured it wouldn't
> hurt.
>
> It didn't hurt at all. I rebooted and the next day the system didn't
> crash.. H'mm.. Figured it would crash anytime.. Left it on 24/7. No
> crashes. I ran system backup using NERO and it was as solid as a rock.
> There have been no crashes at all. Not even one error. So, a week later,
> I'm convinced it was removing the hidden installs that fixed it.. Anyone
> else have an idea?
>
> BTW, to remove hardware drivers that are no longer installed:
> Start/Run/cmd
>
> At the prompt type:
>
> SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
>
> START DEVMGMT.MSC
>
> When Device Manager loads - click View/Show hidden devices and the
> disconnected devices will be displayed but grayed out. They can all be
> un-installed.
>
> Hope this info helps someone else too.
>
> Ben
>
> --
> Home Page: www.rvlover.net
>
>
>
.
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