Windows Crashes and Leaves Error Dump

[dinkeye]

My computer seems to loose the image sporadically throughout the day. The computer seems to be on still, at least I can hear the fan and yet the screen is blank. The only thing I can do is unplug it and restart at which point it works fine until it happens again, usually does this oncce or twice a day. Once I'm up and running again I get a message saying "Windows has recovered from a serious error"
The log shows the below:

CCode : 1000008e BCP1 : C0000005 BCP2 : AD7B0CA1 BCP3 : AE5A85C4
BCP4 : 00000000 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0 Product : 768_1

D:\DOCUME~1\CHRISS~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf73b.dir00\Mini072107-02.dmp
D:\DOCUME~1\CHRISS~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\WERf73b.dir00\sysdata.xml

Does anyone know what this means???

CPU is P4 2.8G, 320G HD, 1.5G RAM.....

Thanks in advance!

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

Something is making the operating system crash. Mini072107-02.dmp is the kernel dump that is created by Windows. It can be analyzed but it won't mean much to mere mortals like us. Have you installed any new software or updated any hardware or hardware drivers lately? If so, that is a likely cause.

[dinkeye]

What about products such as Error Killer or Registry Smart?

[stanroper]

If it's happening sporadically it's difficult to diagnose on here. Could be anything from a fan failing and something overheating to a loose card that needs to be re-inserted. The video card could simply be dying even. Once things start to go wonky with a PC it can be difficult to figure out the exact problem.

It might be easier to take it to your local repair shop and ask them to check it out.

[dinkeye]

Anyone else have anything to offer on this???? Would be greatly appreciated....

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

It might be easier to take it to your local repair shop and ask them to check it out.

Easier maybe but won't be cheap and they might not find the problem either. Chances are, they will blow out the dust with compressed air, reseat the cards and connectors and check the power supply. A can of air is $10 and reseating the cards/connectors is free (unplug the PC first.) Utilities are available from motherboard makers and freeware sites to check the power supply. Just start the voltage logging feature in the monitoring software. Then start a couple of intensive tasks such as a disk scan and a full screen action game. If any of the voltages falls or starts to fluctuate, the power supply needs upgrading to a more powerful one.

It's also worth uninstalling and upgrading/reinstalling a few items like virus/spyware scanners and video/audio drivers. These work at an operating system level and can cause system lockups if they get corrupted. Backup everything first since this could also cause an unbootable system if they are corrupted.

Finally, it might be necessary to reinstall the O/S (Windows.) This is a PITA but sometimes necessary. It might also be worthwhile querying the MS knowledgebase first or searching with Google. Occasionally, MS will have a documented (or undocumented) patch for this type of issue.

[Danster]

Here's a trick way back when the 386 computers with 25 Mhz were the king of the computer world:

Wherever your computer is, can it suffer from drastic temperature fluctuations? I mean anything over let's say 15 degrees or something, if so, I'd push in all the chips and connectors (like someone else suggested minus the chips) inside your computer. Without going in the properties of what heat and cold can do to a computer, let's just say that chips will literally move out of their socket...okay maybe not that drastic but if they did and a bit of oxydation has occured, chances are there is a mis-connection somewhere which makes the computer have hiccups.

Any tips you get here, might save you $$$ somewhere along the line.

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

Another trick is to blow compressed air on parts to see if the problem goes away. This usually indicates a heat issue with the part. That might not work for this problem since it is unlikely the PC will recover after it has crashed. It might be worthwhile to run the PC with the case cover off. First, check to see if all fans are operational (including video card, power supply and CPU.) Also look for dust buildup on the CPU, power supply vents, video card and case vents. Get rid of any dust buildup with compressed air. Then run the PC with the cover off for awhile. If the problem goes away, it is probably a heat issue. Adding extra ventilation in the form of a fan or two might help. OTOH, it could also indicate a marginal component (like a power supply) that is being pushed over the edge by a little extra heat. In my experience, a lot of problems in older PCs are caused by marginal power supplies. Adding extras, like high powered video cards, is usually what overloads them and causes sporadic problems.

[dinkeye]

I have taken the unit power supply apart to investigate. There was some dust in there, I wouldn't say a ton, but enough. In doing this I noticed a white substance that seems to have "splashed" in the power supply. Not sure if this is normal and as such I snapped a few pics for you experts to look at. I am thinking I need a new power supply.
Could you guys have a look at these pics and tell me your thoughts.... again, very much appreciated.

I know the pics are blurry, but hey, I'm no photographer.....

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...t=IMG_0462.jpg

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...t=IMG_0460.jpg

http://s189.photobucket.com/albums/z...t=IMG_0459.jpg

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

That's just epoxy used to physically secure the components during manufacture. It's not an issue. Visible inspection of the power supply internals won't usually reveal much (unless something "blowed up" (sic) and there are "bits and pieces" or residue.) It's usually better just to monitor the voltages and replace the power supply if they are out of range.

[Danster]

If you have a spare power supply, you could try putting it in and see if it does anything for the best. That way, you will know if this is the source of your problems.

[dinkeye]

So after some more investigation, I seem to have isolated the issue. I recently purchased a Linksys Wireless N router and had the USB adapter on my desktop with the drivers installed. I uninstalled it and problem is gone.
What's up with this? The wireless N was awesome and also gave a very strong signal. What could have caused this??

[Danster]

Shady drivers maybe.

[I_Want_My_HDTV]

Bad drivers most likely. I've seen things like this with USB networking before. Using USB for networking is a bad idea. Stick to ethernet, which tends to be much more reliable. Gigabit networking cards are becoming standard so speed should not be an issue.

[Petee_C]

My desktop is also blue screening at least once a week.... sometime several times weekly. Curiously, when it blue screens more frequently, I notice I have utorrent client running......

Sometimes, the blue screen points to a file "NDIS.sys" which I believe is got my USB wifi NIC. The wifi adapter is a Dlink USB 802.11g dongle.

I've run some free diagnostics, and it's not anything hardware specific. I added a 2nd gig of RAM at around the time my troubles started. RAM tests show that it is fine.

I already have 3 things wired into my 4 port router - 360, slingbox, Primus VOIP. If I put the desktop on, it leaves me without any free ports. Does this mean I need to add a hub?

P