This has been going on for months--but getting worse (more frequent)!

The BSOD (blue screen of death) occur randomly--sort of--they seem to be more likely when the system is using more resources--so if the system was doing an anti-virus scan in the background (this was the first problem that I noticed--tried various other AV programs--but they all BSOD during background scans!), or if I tried to watch a TV episode from one of the major network websites--(strangely I could watch PBS episodes without any problem--and U Tube video seemed okay too).

Until recently, I never had a crash using DOS only (for Ghosting), or if I was in *Safe Mode* for Windows--now it's happening there as well--but less frequently.

I had added a new graphics card in March, 2008, but it was fine until all this began in about July, 2008.  So, suspecting that, I put the old graphics card in--no change in behavior.

Ran MemTest86 in DOS--failed repeatedly during test #5 towards the end with *memory* errors.  Tried removing one of the two memory sticks--both with same failure.  Ordered new memory--same failure.

So, I don't think it's RAM, or the graphics card--but probably some *weak* circuit on the motherboard that sends out (or fails to send out) an occasional *wrong* signal that has the ability to crash the system.  (This system did have an unexplained power source failure May, 2008--but replacement of the power supply seemed to be successful--no BSOD until a couple months later--thought maybe a random power fluctuation--but the DOS MemTest86 is not random--it always fails the same test in the same spot!!!)

In DOS, it just freezes--no error codes--most commonly after Ghost had completed a backup and the pop up screen had indicated the successful completion and you needed to click the button to continue--but the system would be hung.  

In *Save Mode*, it just freezes.  In WinXP--I can't remember the system ever *freezing*--always the BSOD.  The *reason* given by the BSOD were various *Stop* codes--usually never the same.  Or it pointed at various program files:  *win32.sys* multiple times, *kmixer.sys*, *ntfs.sys*--

If anyone has any thoughts--I'm about ready to trash this motherboard---

"Tried removing one of the two memory sticks--both with same failure.  Ordered new memory--same failure."

Did you try a single stick in each slot 1 by 1? My Mom's puter started crashing and giving a certain error (don't recall what) but it turned out that the #1 slot went bad. A single stick in #2 works fine.

Check for leaking caps also. Does sound as if something on the mobo is failing as Nigel said.

Pleonasm wrote on Dec 7^th, 2008 at 9:00am:

I like the track Pleo is headed down - have you checked the power supply?  Since it happens when the computer is under more resources, it makes me suspect power.  Worth checking, I think.

NightOwl wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 8:52am:

I was talking about the power supply in the case, not the UPS.  Sounds like the power supply is still worth checking.

NightOwl wrote on Dec 8^th, 2008 at 8:52am:


If it's a motherboard issue, like heating up and warping when under load, there's one more thing you can try.  
Take the mobo. out of the case and lay it on the table or sit it on a board, laid across the case, so you can connect the power cables, etc.  Then try booting up and running your Memtest program again.
Just the very fact that Memtest crashes at the same test over and over indicates a problem with either the mobo itself or the RAM sockets.
In rare occasions, where the ram and their sockets have been blasted with dirt from the CPU fan, I've used Denatured Alcohol and an old tooth brush to wash out the ram sockets.  
I've written many times, that I also wash dirty ram to fix problems that would appear to be BAD RAM.
(it's been many years since I actually replaced a ram stick that was testing bad with Memtest.)

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture that tells the whole story:


Note the pattern of dirt, radiating out from the CPU fan and covering the near side of the ram stick.  The back side of the Video card seems to be getting its share of the dirt too.
The ram and many other circuits on a PC Motherboard, work at CMOS levels.  Just a little dirt of the right kind can be as detrimental as iron filings to those CMOS circuits.  
A layer of dirt, is like a thermal blanket, and can also cause parts to overheat.

Saying "Change the motherboard" is much easier to say than to actually do, especially on older computers.  Often the board you need is no longer made and you wind up changing the mobo, the CPU, the ram and maybe even the video card.  It can get very expensive.

So investigate ALL possibilities, to make the existing Mobo work as it should.  Ya think?

Happy Holidays!
Shadow  

 TheShadow

Quote:


If the problem was simply dirt in and around the RAM socket--I would have thought removing and replacing the RAM chips several times would have altered the behavior--which it hasn't.

Pulling the MB and testing it with it not being mounted in the box could be done when I finally get a substitute *power supply* to also test--but that will have to wait for when I have *spare* time to work on such matters.

Quote:


WRONG!
Dirt down between those tiny little legs on the ram chips can hardly be seen, let alone removed by reseating the chips.
Wash them!  Then and only then can you be sure that your problem isn't just plain old dirty ram.
I see it all the time, it's nothing new!!!

I wrote this tutorial on washing ram several years ago, and it's been posted on countless forums over the years.  It still works.

Quote:


Happy New Years Everyone!
The Shadow 

I remember reading someplace that there was a period of time when most board manufacturers were getting their capacitors from a bad company in China that no longer exists. When I was working for a retail computer repair facility, there was a period where it just seemed to be every third computer had a bad cap. Now it seems to be a problem reserved for older computers from that time period.

In my experience it is often just easier to replace the whole board than to search for bad caps and then replace them. Or worse yet, pay somebody else to do it for you.