[tenchi:105663] Re: (OT) Kenshin-dono needs your computer help


to tenchi@usagi.org
from Alan Zabaro <azabaro@ix.netcom.com>
subject [tenchi:105663] Re: (OT) Kenshin-dono needs your computer help
date Sat, 11 Dec 2004 15:06:39 -0800
Bear Powell wrote:
 > Kenshin (KD) asked me to post this for him so someone here might could
 > help him out.
 > It seems to me like a corrupt driver is creating mayhem. I remember
 > the Blaster and FLC virus causing errors like this and from a quick
 > google something to do with boot screens keeps popping up.
 >
 > ---------KD Quote----------
 > hey guys. my computer has been a nightmare for a while now. basically
 > on startup it would randomly reset or give me a bluescreen. then when
 > i finally got it going it would reset itself at some point as well.
 > even in safe  mode it reboots while starting up
 >
 > i thought maybe windows was just jacked (running 2kpro) so i
 > refomrated my partition and reinstalled it.. the process seemed to go
 > fine but when i took the cd out and let it reboot it gave me the
 > familiar bluescreen >_<x im really not sure what the problem is my
 > guess is memory or something because if it was windows the reinstall
 > should have fixed it right?

I think that Windows uses a set of built-in drivers that do almost 
nothing when running in safe mode (which is why video in that mode is 
something like 640 x 480 at 16 colors). If that's correct, and if KD's 
computer is still freaking out even in safe mode, I wouldn't expect it 
to be a driver. Could be something in the BIOS, could be a hardware issue.

Especially considering the windows reinstall...hey, how was that done, 
anyway? Did the problems crop up immediately after Win2k was 
reinstalled, or did they not show up until specialized drivers for the 
video card etc. were put on? If they continued immediately after the 
reinstall, I'm even more certain it's not driver-based (since 
reformatting the partition should definitely wipe out the old drivers).

Anyway, my key to testing for RAM problems is: change nothing in terms 
of software, but swap out your current RAM for old RAM that you know 
doesn't cause any problems. Try using the computer that way, and do 
everything you did that caused problems to occur before. If things run 
smoothly, it's probably a RAM problem. If problems continue with 
known-good memory, I'd look elsewhere for the problem.

Alan Zabaro

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