Problems... and pictures!

Syribo

Syribo

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 9, 2008
Messages
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Okay, well.. I figured I should make a new post, since the other one is up to just about replies now :p Well, I was all happy when Vista started installing. Everything seemed to be going great, until the computer restarted itself to finish the installation.

Then as soon as the Vista screen came up, I get the BSOD! Blah blah, dumping your memory, blah blah, a problem occured, blah blah, restart your computer, etc. So I restarted it, and Vista told me there was an error during the installation and to restart and re-install. Everytime I turn it on now, it just goes straight to that screen again about the installation error.. Doesn't let me reinstall or anything. What could possibly be wrong??

I at least took some pictures, I'm going to reply to this in a second once I upload them. Help help help :(
 
what do you mean by it doens't let you install? Does it not load the CD?
 
MrHood22 said:
what do you mean by it doens't let you install? Does it not load the CD?
Click to expand...

No, it loads the CD. Then it goes through the whole process of 'Copying files' and other things, until it says that the computer will restart to complete the installation. Once it restarts, and the Vista background shows up, I get the BSOD.
 
You mentioned that you were going to tweak some of the BIOS settings... did you? If you, revert them back to their defaults.

Also, burn memtest86+ onto a CD and run the program to see whether or not one of the RAM sticks is bad. Run each stick separately for at least six hours (12-24 hours would be better). You may also want to use the HDD diagnostic software that came with your hard drive as well.

Chances are, based on what you may find, you'll have to perform an RMA.
 
tiraides said:
You mentioned that you were going to tweak some of the BIOS settings... did you? If you, revert them back to their defaults.

Also, burn memtest86+ onto a CD and run the program to see whether or not one of the RAM sticks is bad. Run each stick separately for at least six hours (12-24 hours would be better). You may also want to use the HDD diagnostic software that came with your hard drive as well.

Chances are, based on what you may find, you'll have to perform an RMA.
Click to expand...

I didn't do anything to the BIOS yet actually.

I actually don't have any blank CDs... I have a usb flash card thing though, would that work? How exactly do you run a program anyway when you don't have an OS installed?

Ugh.. If I have to RMA something ELSE aside from the one hard drive, I'll be so sad. I really kind of enjoyed building the thing... but all of this stress on trying to get it to work is so not worth it. :( I'm so close to just bringing it somewhere to have someone else look at it and get it to hopefully work, because I'm so not knowledgeable and have no clue what I am doing.

..I'm almost wishing I had just got with a Dell after all, especially if something else is not working. :p
 
Oh, yes.. to make it more clear.. I got the BSOD right after the screen that said "Vista is about to start for the first time".
 
There are programs out that don't require an installed OS to run. Memtest+ is one of them:

http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

Download the "Pre-Compiled EXE file for USB Key (Pure DOS)", unzip it, or setup the USB key in your case, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately. If you start seeing errors, than your RAM is bad.

Though if Memtest doesn't boot from your flash drive, try to find or buy some CDs. The download the ISO, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD.
 
Okay, I'll try all of that. Is it common to get bad RAM?

Also, dumb question probably, but you just let Memtest+ run on its own, you don't have to actually sit there for 3 hours, right ;) Just check up on it every once in a while to see if it shows any errors?
 
Syribo said:
Okay, I'll try all of that. Is it common to get bad RAM?

Also, dumb question probably, but you just let Memtest+ run on its own, you don't have to actually sit there for 3 hours, right ;) Just check up on it every once in a while to see if it shows any errors?
Click to expand...

No you don't have to sit there. :) Just check in every once in a while.

Usually where there's a PC problem, it's usually the RAM thats the cause.
 
Okay :) Going to get started on that in a bit.. And pray that the flash drive actually works properly with the program!

I just have REALLY bad luck with everything... My father has a Canon SD750 camera, pretty new.. it connects perfectly fine to his laptop.. However.. I installed the software using the CD it came with before, and of course when I connect it to the computer, my computer makes that chime noise obviously detecting the camera.. it even shows "SD750 is connected".. But when I turn on the camera and try to use the software to get the pictures off the camera, does it work? Of course not!

I want to post my computer pictures :( I took a lot of them... I really can't figure out why it says "Can not connect to camera" when I try.. This computer has no issues whatsoever with anything... The USB ports all work.. and the camera connects to my fathers computer. Ahhhh it's just one of those days/weeks/years ;P

Also trying to install my new printer I just got today... Hopefully at least THIS goes smoothly so I can print out the RMA shipping lable for my one hard drive, and make photo copies of all the invoices. I'm crossing my fingers.
 
Oh.. Does the USB key need to be cleared of everything else in order to run Memtest? Also, DO I have to unzip it on the card to get it to work properly? Just trying to avoid extra trips up and down the steps :p Foot hurts heh.

Wait, I just realized there is only one file in the zip file so.. Nevermind I guess heh. And what are the odds of me never getting this thing running :p Have you ever built a system that you just could never get to work? I don't care if it takes a week or two or even three (Although if I'm working on it for that long, my patience will be completely gone), as long as it works EVENTUALLY and I didn't spend $3000 on a pile of metal that won't work. Luckily I have this computer for now.
 
:(

I guess that the flash drive isn't going to let me run Memtest? I connected it to the USB port, turned on the computer (It actually sounded to me like it made an extra little beep or something), and it just goes straight to the Vista background with the text box that says "Vista wasn't installed properly, restart and reinstall". Was I supposed to press a key or anything?
 
Okay :) Going to buy some blank CDs tomorrow then.

I never set the voltage for the RAM.. that wouldn't be causing this problem, right?
 
Syribo said:
Okay :) Going to buy some blank CDs tomorrow then.

I never set the voltage for the RAM.. that wouldn't be causing this problem, right?
Click to expand...

Sometimes. See if you can set the voltage to whatever your RAM requires.
 
Okay, I'm going to try to change the voltage... Once I figure out how. The option for it is grayed out and I can't change it.

I tried changing the boot drive to the USB flash key, but that didn't work either.. It just said "Unable to find OS" or something along those lines.

But let's say that the voltage change fixes the problem... How do I get around the error message I get once Vista loads? No matter what I do, it always says "There was a problem with the Vista installation. Please restart your computer and re-install Vista". How do I get passed that?
 
If the voltage and timings change fixes it (go to 5-5-5-16 and 2.1vdimm to be safe -- /any/ RAM should run at that) you'll probably need to reinstall Vista. Choose "advanced options" and format the drive when you reinstall. Make sure the Vista disc is clean.

Since you have SLI-Ready memory you'll need to change the option to "Expert" (or "Disabled", varies by board) to be able to change timings, and possibly voltage as well.
 
Okay, I got the USB flash drive to boot Memtest on the new computer! (Thanks to silent-circuit for explaing to me how to do it :) ). So I'm running Memtest right now.. Hope to have some kind of update later tonight or tomorrow morning so I can know for sure if it's the RAM or not..

Then to move on to something else. Still trying to get these pictures on my computer... I can't figure out why it won't connect still! I even hooked the printer up to the SAME USB port, and it works fine. The camera and USB wire both work because I had them working on my fathers computer. My computer just will not connect no matter what I do! I even cleaned up the wires a bit to make it prettier :(
 
Memtest has now been running for 5+ hours... No errors. So it seems that the RAM is not the problem..

Checked all the wires, everything is in its correct spot and is pushed in enough. Perhaps both hard drives are bad after all. It didn't click until just now, but when I first took the hard drives out of the box they came in.. I noticed that one side of the anti-static bag around one of the drives had a big rip in it.. Maybe bad shipping? NewEgg told me that I could return both drives (Gave me a free shipping label and are waiving the restocking fee), and I instead asked to try the Seagate 7200.10s instead.. Right now I have the 7200.11s... Maybe I'll have better look with the other model.

What other tests or procedures shall I do to try and eliminate other problems, so I can figure out exactly what is causing the installation error and blue screen? It couldn't be something simple like drivers for any part (Motherboard, video cards, etc), or... Well.. I can't think of anything else on my own, because I don't know much about hardware to begin with ;)
 
It's not a driver issue because you're not getting far enough along to even install the drivers. You have no drivers yet to cause problems.

What I'd do is before shipping the drives to newegg try installing Vista (again, I know...) with only one stick of RAM in, then if it works patch it up through Windows Update and see if it works ok. If it does just send the one drive back and ask them to send you another 7200.11 instead of the 7200.10s, as the 7200.11s /are/ faster and you really shouldn't be having so much trouble with HDDs.
 
Well well well... I took out the one stick of RAM, just leaving the other in... And tried reinstalling Vista...

No BSOD... No errors... Vista loaded fine. I'm now getting my father to bring it up here to my room so I can hook it up to the router and start downloading the patch through Windows Update to hopefully allow me to use both sticks of RAM. Then I'll begin downloading and installing all the drivers that I need!

Cross your fingers for me! Here goes nothing ;)
 
If you're able to complete the updates without any further trouble, then you may need to RMA the RAM. Did you connect both hard drives to the computer, or just the OS drive that you were connecting Vista on?
 
Only connected the one hard drive, since the second one wouldn't be detected no matter what I did. So it seems the hard drive is good, this one at least.

Well I think maybe there is a problem with Vista detecting both sticks of RAM? Hopefully if I install the updates, it should hopefully detect it?

Oh, I'm actually writing this from the new computer! It detected the internet (Thank God) right away! I can't believe it's working right now.
 
Try running the computer with both sticks of RAM. (Mark the "bad" stick in some way to distinguish it from the "working" stick.) If the computer runs fine, then you'll only have to return the "bad" hard drive. Otherwise, since you bought the RAM as a kit, you'll have to return the HDD and both sticks of RAM.
 
tiraides said:
Try running the computer with both sticks of RAM. (Mark the "bad" stick in some way to distinguish it from the "working" stick.) If the computer runs fine, then you'll only have to return the "bad" hard drive. Otherwise, since you bought the RAM as a kit, you'll have to return the HDD and both sticks of RAM.
Click to expand...

I'm praying that both sticks will work. I ran Windows Update, but it didn't download the file that is supposed to fix the RAM problem.. Luckily I knew the name of it, so I checked the update log then downloaded the update separately

I just installed it, and now I'm about to shut down, put in the other stick of RAM... And pray!
 
Okay! I installed all of the updates, restarted.. then turned off the computer and put in the other stick of RAM.. AND YAY!

I think it's okay now! No BSOD, no errors.. and its reading all 4GBs of RAM!!! Everything seems to be working! When I go to Device Manager, one of my video cards isn't working, it seems.. but that might be because I didn't install anything from the CDs they came with, hopefully? I'm about to do all of that now that I am done with the Windows updates.

I hope all of this means that everything is working fine for now! I'm so happy.. Still a bit nervous in case something happens or dies.. But I think I'm okay now!
 
Update! Everything is updated and everything is still installing. Have not had even one problem! I'm so so so happy right now!

I installed SpeedFan, because I always like to know how my temperatures are.. But I don't know much about temperatures, and what they should be.. And there's SO many on this computer! So I will post the screen shot of SpeedFan, please tell me if this looks okay to you? I have no idea what all of the different temps even mean :p

speedfan.jpg
 
Syribo said:
Okay, well.. I figured I should make a new post, since the other one is up to just about replies now :p Well, I was all happy when Vista started installing. Everything seemed to be going great, until the computer restarted itself to finish the installation.

Then as soon as the Vista screen came up, I get the BSOD! Blah blah, dumping your memory, blah blah, a problem occured, blah blah, restart your computer, etc. So I restarted it, and Vista told me there was an error during the installation and to restart and re-install. Everytime I turn it on now, it just goes straight to that screen again about the installation error.. Doesn't let me reinstall or anything. What could possibly be wrong??

I at least took some pictures, I'm going to reply to this in a second once I upload them. Help help help :(
Click to expand...


Is this with a new build? Whats the config?
 
mokkapoop said:
Is this with a new build? Whats the config?
Click to expand...

Yes, that problem was with the new build. I found out though, eventually, that it was the result of a bad HDD that the system wouldn't recognize and also the problem with Vista 64bit not recognizing more than 3GBs of RAM.

Everything is working perfectly now.. Except for this weird Internet Explorer error I get when I try to use IE.. But I use FireFox anyway, so I don't really care TOO much.
 
I'm not sure how to tell that my cards are both working in SLI or not. I selected 'Enable SLI' in the Nvidia Control Panel, and I chose Show SLI Visulation under 3D Settings. Then I tried downloading the 3Dmark software to see what I got (Even though I know that 3Dmark isn't everyones favorite thing :p).. It started playing something (Wow the graphics looked nice) and I saw the SLI bar on the side, and it moved a lot.. Does that mean it's working? After about 45 seconds though, I got some kind of error and the test stopped.

I tried the test on that site http://service.futuremark.com, and I scored a 11780 which... kind of sounds like perhaps my cards AREN'T working? Or.. I don't know, what do you guys think? I went through the manual and it doesn't say anything about doing anything else except for enabling SLI in the Nvidia Control Panel..
 
I got the camera software to work on the new computer! Yay! So I have some pictures finally.

Bask in the glory of my ultra neat wires.
IMG_0067_800x600.jpg

..As you can see, I'm being very sarcastic ;) My wiring is just horrible right now.. No patience to work on it yet!

IMG_0077_800x600.jpg

I love this case so much.. It's so pretty :D I tried to reorganize the wires just a little bit before I put the side window on, so they're not as bad as they look in the first picture.

IMG_0078_800x600.jpg

Wish that that drive was silver though so it would match.. I hate that it doesn't match, heh.

IMG_0083_800x600.jpg

And this is my ghetto setup right now. I needed to get my monitor up higher, so as you can see I used an old Battleship board game.. and this little TV that doesn't work anymore. Extremely ghetto, but I need to lay down a certain way and have my foot elevated, so I need it on those things.

I need to get a nicer keyboard and mouse for my old computer.. The ones I'm using on it now are pretty horrible.

If you read this and look at these, make sure you look at my post right before this one too ;)
 
Ah great... Just finished installing WoW finally. Got in-game because I really wanted to see what my FPS would be like (I tried playing this morning in the new area with about 500 other people around, and I was getting 2FPS on my old computer). I was getting 20-30FPS on the new computer... That's pretty low... But there are so many people in the area that I logged in at, it's slow for everyone.

I'm going to try going to a different place with less people. Also, after about 5 minutes the screen turned black real fast, then went back to WoW but was frozen for another second and then it got all messed up looking while I heard these strange noises from my speakers, I think it was the speakers. It just kept making the noise and I couldn't do anything, it locked up. Had to turn it off, and just got it back on. Going to try again..
 
Sounds like you need to update drivers. Also, both of your video cards aren't showing up in Device Manager still? Open the Nvidia Control Panel (right click on desktop and it should be an option) and see if SLI is enabled or not. If it is only one card will show up and that's ok. If it isn't and only one shows up there is a problem. Given you were only getting 20-30 FPS in WoW I'm (sadly) leaning toward "there's a problem". Also make sure you get Vista SP1 as it includes all the hotfixes Nvidia recommends for SLI on Vista.
 
silent-circuit said:
Sounds like you need to update drivers. Also, both of your video cards aren't showing up in Device Manager still? Open the Nvidia Control Panel (right click on desktop and it should be an option) and see if SLI is enabled or not. If it is only one card will show up and that's ok. If it isn't and only one shows up there is a problem. Given you were only getting 20-30 FPS in WoW I'm (sadly) leaning toward "there's a problem". Also make sure you get Vista SP1 as it includes all the hotfixes Nvidia recommends for SLI on Vista.
Click to expand...

No no, both of the video cards ARE showing up in Device Manager. And they don't have any little error icons on them. I chose 'Enable SLI' in the Nvidia Control Panel.

I'm going to log back into WoW in a moment to see if I still only get 20-30FPS in a non heavily populated area. Like I said.. the area I logged in at is the new zone that was just put in yesterday, and literally every person on the server is there. No one in my guild was getting over 32FPS in that area. Hopefully it will be better in a less populated area, then I'll know it was just lagging because of all the people.
 
.. So I was just going through the screen savers real fast, and when I previewed the Mystify one.. My screen got these boxes of multicolored pixels all across the screen, the screen saver froze, and then the computer locked up again. :(

And now when I turned it back on, after the "Windows did not shut down properly, Choose which mode you want to start in" screen, it stopped loading and just the black screen was there. The computer also got much more quiet after the screen went away.
 
Oh GOD! I tried to start it up again, and this time I got another BSOD! It disappeared before I could see what it said.. All I caught was:
SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION

Instead of choosing "Start Windows normally", this time I chose "Load from last good configuration" and it just turned on and loaded Vista fine.....
 
I'm thinking that drive may in fact be screwed up (corrupted install)... or you have a bad video driver. Let's test that first.

Go here: http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=17984
Right click and save the driver, and also right click and save the "modded inf"
Then right click on the driver EXE, extract it to its own folder, open it, and copy the 'nv_disp.inf' you downloaded over the original one, replacing it.

Go to control panel, uninstall the old Nvidia drivers, restart. Run setup for the new drivers. Click "install these drivers anyway" when the security warning message comes up. See if the screensaver and other things still cause problems for you, and if your FPS in WoW improves. Remember, you'll probably have to re-enable SLI after you install the new drivers. I've had good luck with the 174.70s -- the only bug I've noticed is screenshots don't seem to work right in SLI mode.
 
Okay, when you say to uninstall the old Nvidia drivers.. You mean by going to Device Manager, right? If so, what hardware am I uninstalling Nvidia drivers for? Just the video cards? Or all Nvidia hardware?

Also, I don't think I have SP1 installed... Is that a problem, perhaps? Should I do that first or wait until I do the Nvidia drivers thing?
 
Okay.. I think installing that driver may have worked! Right away I noticed that something was different. When I went to the Nvidia Control Panel, the little animation they have to show 3D effects loaded MUCH faster and was going much faster.

I'm in WoW now, and I'm getting 50-60FPS! Well it's moving around from 32-55FPS mostly.. WOW! Everything looks so beautiful and smooth! I'm going to play around with it, and the screensaver, to see if I get the BSOD again. I'll update in a few minutes :)

Err actually I'll update now.. All my WoW video settings reset back down to the minimum :p So I'm going to turn them up and see if the FPS changes.. It's going to go back down again, but I'll try to move out of this congested area.
 
Yup! The cards seem to be working fine now (I ran the 3Dmark06 test again just to see if it would have changed after just changing the drivers.. and it went up to 12,400). WoW looks so absolutely amazing. I have every setting up as high as it can go, and I'm getting 40-60FPS, mainly staying around 50-60FPS.

Someone told me that WoW doesn't make use of dual video cards, is that true? Next I'm going to try that screen saver again :p Then I'm going to open Crysis :) I installed it before.. Now to see how it looks!
 
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