My Desktop is Dead!

[Vejuz]

...Long live my desktop.

So, basically, last night I was doing my homework (luckily, I was on my laptop. No work lost) while casually looking at my desktop, and the screen flashed something like "Memory tried to write to unwritable memory" and some such, and nigh-instantly went into a BSoD, which in turn lasted for a second before the computer tried to reboot. Now, my computer gets a BSoD everytime after the "Starting window's" screen. I spent some time last night troubleshooting.

- The computer works fine for a time in safe mode. Eventually, I get a BSoD. Like before, it doesn't stay long enough for to me see what it says.
- I attempted to use the repair utility. I ran the utility from my install disc. This didn't help.
- Went into the BOIS to check to see if the motherboard was reporting the failure of any hardware. It said they were working (which means little, but if the motherboard said it wasn't working, then that would have been a redflag.)

I'm not sure what to do from here. I have some troubleshooting experience, but I'm by no means an expert. I need some advice on what I should be doing to troubleshoot and isloate the cause of this failure.

I also managed to get some of the BSoD text. It said "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA".

I need advice on more ideas to narrow down what the cause of this is. The page I read makes me thing it may be a RAM issue, but I'm not sure.

I'm using Windows 7.

Any advice you can give will be helpful.

[Ghlore "MacInnes"]

Sounds like Memory or your HDD, try to reseat ur RAM see if that helps. Head into your cmd prompt in safe mode and run chkdsk see if it errors.

Let me know.

[Vejuz]

I checked the seating on everything. Including the RAM. Everything is seated properly.

I'll get back to you on the rest after class today.

[Lanir]

If you can, remove as much memory as you can and leave a stick or two in. Test those for a bit, then remove and replace with the other stick(s). Rpeat as needed. This should help in identifying which stick is bad.

You can turn off the auto reboot after the BSoD. Right click on my computer. Select the Advanced System Settings option. Look for the Startup and Recovery section and click the settings button. Uncheck the box for Automatic Restart and click Ok. (I'm doing this from memory so I apologize if I am off on names or locations.)

As far as possible HD error, Ghlore's recommendation for CHDisk is about all you can do right now to see if it is the culprit. Unless you have another HD and can install Windows again. If you do that you put in the suspect drive as a slave and just migrate (copy/paste) your data from one to the other.

Bad drivers or video/sound cards can produce BSoD's quite often as well. If the memory or hard drive troubleshooting turns up nothing, try uninstalling any recent drivers you may have put on. You can also remove the sound and video cards and use the onboard mobo devices (if you have them), to determine if they are at fault.

Also, while you are in the case make sure it is clean. Dust is a huge cause of failed hardware. It prevents the components from cooling.

Good luck!!

[Vejuz]

Trouble shooting log:

- Removed both mouse and 5th slot RAM (doing both at once was a mistake on my part. I forgot my mouse was unplugged). Booted in just fine.

Got error "Can't open AsIO.sys !! (2)"
Got error: "Error: Unfortunately the Skype executable is corrupted. Please Re-install."

- Tried again with mouse plugged in. 5th RAM slot still removed. Booted in just fine. Got same errors as before.

- Ran HD Error find tool. No errors found.

- Looked at system profile. Both remaining RAM sticks are found without issue.

(Still no BSoD)

- Ran chkdsk. No issues.

- Played a few turns of Civ5. No issues.

- Turned off machine.

(Going to plug the RAM back in, and then start shuffling the cards around to isolate the issue either to a slot or a chip. Also, I forgot the change the BSoD restart setting.)

[Vejuz]

I'm now 99.99999% sure it's my 5th memory stick.

No matter where I put it in, when it's in, I have BSODs. No matter where the other's are, as long as 5 isn't in the machine everything works fine. I'm gonna use the machine for a while without the slot to make sure, but I think I've found the issue.

Luckily, the 5th memory SLOT seems fine, so no need to replace the motherboard.

[Lanir]

Good to hear! ;D

[Winin]

Nice! I'm glad it turned out to be easy.

[Vejuz]

I've used to machine for 2 hours without issue! ;D Now time to find out what the status of my warranty is...