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Nothing but problems...

Valefox

Valefox

n00b
Joined
Apr 8, 2007
Messages
30
I built a new PC this past June; please see my sig for the specs on that. Since then, I've had some good days and some bad days with this PC and I can't figure out the problem.

I simply don't know where to start. I started this PC out running Vista Ultimate 32-bit, and it was fine for a little while. Then I began getting random crashes and freezes in programs. It soon became so bad - I kept getting nvlddmkm crashes like crazy. I tried as many fixes as I could find online. None helped. I eventually got so fed up that I said "screw this" and went back to XP Professional.

After that, I got multiple BSODs having to do with nVidia chipset drivers. I uninstalled and reinstalled these drivers properly (using Driver Cleaner) multiple times, all to no avail; I continued to get the BSODs. So, once again, I said "screw this" and reformatted. I put XP Pro on my PC again.

Now I'm having more problems. Sometimes, everything will randomly stop responding: I can move the mouse, but I am unable to click anything. Pressing alt-tab, alt-escape, or alt-f4 does nothing. Thank God for my G15; I use it to end the "explorer.exe" process. Once I do, and explorer.exe restarts, I am able to use my mouse and keyboard normally. Weird, eh?

I'll also get completely random BSODs with varying error messages. A couple I can remember off the top of my head are 0x000000FE and 0x000000C5. Some of my games will not even run. I simply do not know what to do. I have not run Memtest, but I should probably do that.

I am beginning to expect a hardware problem, but I do not know which piece of hardware could be the culprit. I am hoping someone here at Hardforum can help me out. I'm getting desperate.

Thanks, everyone.
 
Please tell me you ran memtest86 and orthos/prime 95 to test you PC for stability when you first built it.
 
I had similar things happen when a power supply aged enough to no longer be able to supply enough current to run the system stable.
Changing the PSU fixed the problem.

Beg/borrow another PSU to try, make sure its not too old and can power your system adequately.
 
crashthenet44 said:
Please tell me you ran memtest86 and orthos/prime 95 to test you PC for stability when you first built it.
Click to expand...

I did run Orthos, but not memtest86. :rolleyes: It was probably a good idea to run memtest, huh? I'm regretting not doing that now.
 
Nenu said:
I had similar things happen when a power supply aged enough to no longer be able to supply enough current to run the system stable.
Changing the PSU fixed the problem.

Beg/borrow another PSU to try, make sure its not too old and can power your system adequately.
Click to expand...

I'm not ruling your suggestion out, but I don't have anyone else in my area to borrow a PSU from. My PSU is also a new Corsair HX620, so I don't think aging is a problem.
 
0x000000FE is USB related,0x000000C5 usually refers to a bad/corrupted driver.

What drivers are you using for your vid and mb?
 
tazzmissionx said:
0x000000FE is USB related,0x000000C5 usually refers to a bad/corrupted driver.

What drivers are you using for your vid and mb?
Click to expand...

I'm using the latest nVidia drivers for XP: 163.71 for video, and 9.53 for motherboard. I've tried reinstalling all of my drivers using Driver Cleaner a few times, and it hasn't helped.
 
Valefox said:
I'm using the latest nVidia drivers for XP: 163.71 for video, and 9.53 for motherboard. I've tried reinstalling all of my drivers using Driver Cleaner a few times, and it hasn't helped.
Click to expand...

Do you happen to use any type of a hard drive through USB?
 
tazzmissionx said:
Do you happen to use any type of a hard drive through USB?
Click to expand...

I do. However, I have turned it off and unplugged it after reading that the FE error may be caused by external hard drives. That was last week or so. Does this make a difference? Do I need to uninstall its drivers somehow?

Right before writing this post, I was watching a DivX video on stage6 and my PC froze. It required a hard reboot. :(

It's interesting. I've never run into any kind of problem like this, and I'm the "tech guy" around here.
 
This is just getting out of hand. The problem appears to be my video card. Any time I do anything that involves video hardware acceleration (any game, divx, etc), my PC crashes. Should I try to RMA the video card, or does anyone else have any suggestions?
 
Valefox said:
I do. However, I have turned it off and unplugged it after reading that the FE error may be caused by external hard drives. That was last week or so. Does this make a difference? Do I need to uninstall its drivers somehow?

Right before writing this post, I was watching a DivX video on stage6 and my PC froze. It required a hard reboot. :(

It's interesting. I've never run into any kind of problem like this, and I'm the "tech guy" around here.
Click to expand...

There is a hotfix from MS for the usb issue but you have to request it. And yes it is a good possibility that the other BSOD is related to this. Here is link for article on hotfix, request link is towards the bottom of the page.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331988
 
Valefox said:
This is just getting out of hand. The problem appears to be my video card. Any time I do anything that involves video hardware acceleration (any game, divx, etc), my PC crashes. Should I try to RMA the video card, or does anyone else have any suggestions?
Click to expand...


I would try installing the driver again using this method.

Reboot, go into Safe mode, uninstall driver in safe mode, restart, go into Safe mode again and install the driver then restart.

Do you have any heating issues? What do your temps run for your video card?
 
tazzmissionx said:
I would try installing the driver again using this method.

Reboot, go into Safe mode, uninstall driver in safe mode, restart, go into Safe mode again and install the driver then restart.

Do you have any heating issues? What do your temps run for your video card?
Click to expand...

I don't have any heating issues. My processor runs at 35c idle. My video card temperatures are around 58c idle, which I believe are fine for an 8800 GTX.

I'll try reinstalling the drivers again.
 
tazzmissionx said:
I would try installing the driver again using this method.

Reboot, go into Safe mode, uninstall driver in safe mode, restart, go into Safe mode again and install the driver then restart.

Do you have any heating issues? What do your temps run for your video card?
Click to expand...

I reinstalled the drivers using the method you specified, but the problem still occurs. My PC crashed after opening Armegatron Advanced, a very very low-spec game. This is terrible. I have no idea what to do.
 
Okay, I actually think I've found the problem. I don't know why I didn't think of this before.

I took out one of my RAM modules and the problem went away. I put in only the one I took out and the problem occured. Wow. How could I be so stupid? I guess it's my RAM, then.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. If the problem occurs again with this one RAM module in, I'll re-post.

/facepalm.jpg
 
Man, you didn't run Memtest+?

Just google, download, burn to a CD and run Memtest+ for at least 3 hours on each stick of RAM separately to determine which stick of RAM is the problem. Any errors show up and you have a RAM problem
 
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