Save my PC!

sherpa

A week or so ago I started hearing the error sound WinXP makes when a program fails. No windows popped up telling me though, so I ignored it.

2 days ago Explorer kept crashing. Annoying but not the worst thing that could happen.

Yesterday I got BSODs with the error "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NON_PAGED_AREA"

It seemed like a memory thing but I thought I'm due a format anyway so I reinstalled WinXP. I kept my main (E:) drive untouched (~200 of the 250GB hard-drive, has the games on) and reformatted my C: partition which has WinXP.

A couple of the same BSODs later and I finally got into the desktop. Things are still unstable (well- once I'm in and do something non-taxing like run IE it's ok) but I can guarantee the BSOD by running any of the games on my E:

I thought "definitely memory error" so I removed one of 2 1GB RAM sticks. Still the same problem. Switched them so I only used the other one and same problem. So I figure it's not RAM. I'm pretty sure it's not software on account of the fresh install, so of my hardware:

- Motherboard? I've not even thought about this, doesn't seem like a mobo thing.
- CPU? This doesn't seem like a CPU error, either.
- RAM. Well I've tried the 2 RAM modules seperately so ruling it out.
- Hard-drive. My newly formatted C: with WinXP is still unstable. Running any game off E: BSODs it, even in safe mode. Which makes me lean more towards:
- Video card. My 8800GT broke around Feb/March so this new 9900GT is only a couple months old. Has a super fan so doesn't go above 40 degrees and I've never overclocked it. But I have no replacement PCI-E card to test it
- PSU. My Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w blew spectacularly last year and it's replacement (same model) blew at the start of this year. I've since got a different Antec model (EarthWare 500w). I think I'd be pretty unlucky if both Antec models are dodgy! (The SmartPower model was recognised as being faulty by Antec).

I can try and convince myself it's a certain piece of hardware but I'm not too tech savvy. I mean, it would be easy to say "this hard-drive has lived through 2 PSU explosions so it wouldn't surprise me if it were faulty"- but that's a leap of faith. Also, my file structure seems intact. Doesn't seem to be any corruption problems. I haven't run Memtest to guarantee it's not the memory but I don't trust memtest to accurately say memory is ok.

As said above, when loading a game the computer thinks for a bit as normal, and at the point where you expect the resolution to change it BSODs with that error. That's why I'm leaning towards the vid card but given that this would make it the second vid card to die in the sapce of 3 months, I'd expect my retailer (EBuyer) to give me grief and ask a lot of questions before accepting a replacement this time around. So I need to be sure.

Anyone with any advice or info? Much appreciated!

[EDIT]

FWIW, I've just loaded up Steam and it works fine.

And CPU and GFX temps are fine.

Zaggy

Possible driver issue, check your bsod dumps at c:\windows\minidump with <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx" target="_blank">http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/deb...ng/default.mspx</a>

Have you tested both memory modules? Use memtest from a live cd <a href="http://www.memtest.org/download/2.11/memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip" target="_blank">http://www.memtest.org/download/2.11/memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip</a> (nothing wrong with memtest :/)

Your PSUs die rather quickly, is your PC grounded properly?

Thaldarin

Sounds like you need a better PSU if you've blown two in a year. For a 9900 I'd recommend atleast a good 600, I'd go with a corsair 650 just to be safe for your future systeming.

Secondly, it's a RAM error. Bad stick generally.

lolfighter

Since you've tried removing the sticks in turn, it's not a bad RAM stick unless both went bad. That doesn't mean the problem couldn't be with the memory controller though. It's not a foolproof method (I had a faulty north bridge and memory testing didn't show it - it's possible that this was due to a lot of dust causing random shorts, and that this simply didn't happen during testing), but I'd still suggest running Memtest86+: <a href="http://www.memtest.org/" target="_blank">http://www.memtest.org/</a>

sherpa

Thanks for the replies- I *think* (+ hope!) I've narrowed it down to the HDD.

For one of the games on my E: that BSODS me, I installed a new copy on my newly formatted C: and it works fine.

I tried the E: copy again just to make sure and that one still BSODs.

So- what's the best way to format a partition that doesn't have the O/S on? Is software the best bet or can I do it through Windows? Also, this BSOD seems pretty severe so does a format have a chance of fixing it or is the HDD physically mashed?

Thaldarin

I recently kept BSOD'ing on Ut3 and movies. That HDD is more or less dying now. So I installed windows on a new HDD and i'm using it for non-essential storage (until it dies) and obviously it's got all the files I need like games etc. so I don't have to re-download everything.

Sounds like your HDD will slowly go the way mine will too; it will die of HDD cancer slowly but surely.