Windows Protection Error

[saini]

Hey, hope theres someone that can help. Just a word of caution - i'm not too down with all of the computer jargon, but i know most of the basics. Anyway, heres the problem: When i boot my computer, the noise that it normally makes has changed...i think its the hardrive noise, and sometimes it completely stops while still in the black screen. When this happens a blue error screen comes up saying "Windows Protection error, problem with driver NTKERN, restart." its been doing this more and more frequently and to be honest i dont have a clue what the error message means and what i can do to correct - so i'm asking the experts! I'm on windows ME. Recently, i had to change the power supply cuz the original one died, but after changing it i didnt have these problems, its bin a few months before the problem started. Hope y'all can help!

Cheers
Saini.

[liam858]

Hey saini, Welcome to VDr,


Here is what Microsoft suggests:KB Article

Hope it helps.

Liam

[saini]

d'oh! so it means my RAM is defective! Well thanks for posting that article up. It recommends me limiting the computers memory usage to 16MB, which i dont think i'm going to do as i'm on 256MB at the moment.

I was just wondering; will it do the computer any serious harm if i just leave it like this, everytime i get the error, reboot? Whenever i reboot after the error message it mostly works the 2nd time.

In the long term its probably best for me to get new RAM. I think the reason why the RAM is defective, is because when i changed the main fan, where the power goes in, i had to take the RAM out to get to some of the wires, in doing so, i may have unknowingly damaged it.

Anyway, Thanks for your help!

[liam858]

No problem, just to sum up that article, i think the 16mb usage referred to Win 98, If you are looking for somewhere cheap online to find replacement RAM then you know where to ask.


Liam

[saini]

oh right yeh. I was trying to use that microsoft online help thing, i thought "hmm lets see if i'd be able to find the same article myself" but i couldnt! And i was trying to look for the same type of article but for my OS (Windows ME)...do you think it would be any different in the diagnosis it would give?

And about the RAM, is there a simple way to determine which stick of RAM is damaged? I have two 128MB sticks. I'v seen some online RAM checking things before but they all seem a bit too complicated for me. Oh, also, i take it from your reply that your selling RAM...how much would it cost me for a 128MB stick?

Also, the booting problem has changed! Well, this is the thing, i used to have AVG and Avasti installed, but i replaced them with Norton 2005, now the Windows Protection Error is due to device 'SymINI' and i think that has something to do with Norton and the whole Symantec thing. I wonder if the problem is occuring due to a problem in the software, because when i did the first ever liveupdate, there were 2 components that would consistently fail to load, and one was part of the Symantec bit. And also, now, when the black screen gets to the last bit, just before windows comes on, it jus reboots! and then the 2nd time it loads, its fine.

I know theres alot of stuff there, but i really hope you can help. I appreciate all the support you've given me so far. Without it i wouldnt have much of a clue!

[Train]

Take one stick out and see what happens. If all is OK, then then other when you try it by itself should give you errors.

Now I get my Ram from http://www.crucial.com/ which is the onlinestore for Micron.
Just use the "Crucial Memory Advisor™ Tool" and you will be given a list of ram for your computer. A lot of us get our ram from Crucial.

WinME is just a butchered version of 98. So yes, the 98 stuff applies.

[liam858]

I'm not actually selling RAM, i was just saying that this is the place(VDr) to ask if you want to find a cheap online store for some replacement sticks, i just worded it a little wrong , to add to Train's post, if you have a couple of sticks of RAM currently installed try taking one out and booting and then try the other and if either doesn't work then get a replacement, try the link Train posted and use the memory advisor which will give you specific RAM for your motherboard and should be pretty cheap for a 128mb stick, you could probably afford to get a little more if your board supports it, Then I would try uninstalling and re-installing Norton, and see if any problems are fixed, if not then check out Norton Support


Liam

[saini]

Hi again. The story to this problem has now entered a new chapter...I went onto Windows Crash Analysis website and had a look around and found a windows program that would test my RAM; you haave to make a disk first, and then let that load before anything else when you boot the computer. So, anyway, i did all of this and chose the most advanced settings eg. cache turned off and ran the extended test - naturally it took about 2 days to complete, but at the end of the very thourough testing it came up with 'No errors detected', ie there isnt a problem with my RAM. So now, that you've heard this...what else do you think the problem could be? My brother said it could be major software clashes...is this a possibility?

Thanx alot for your time guys, much appreciated!
Saini

[liam858]

Personally i would get a second opinion on the RAM issue, meaning try a different memory tester:Memtest86 This seems to be a better diagnostic than the Microsoft and may find errors.



Liam

[Train]

I use both programs, there have been to many times when one will not find a problem the other one will.

[saini]

ok, i'll give that a go. I was just reading the Memtest information on the site, and it got a bit too much for me at this hour, so i'll do it in a couple of days, and i'll be sure to let you know of the results.

Thanks for your time guys.

[saini]

Hi, i ended up doing the test on the same night as my previous post...couldnt help myself.

The same result though...no error identified.

I was wondering if maybe it was to do with the settings i used on the test, i stuck to the default settings...Cache was enabled, ECC was off, it was the 'standard' test.

I had a look around on the menu to see if i could disable the cache but i couldnt, and the 'adv. options' section in the menu i couldnt access. Also, i dont know what the ECC is, could this also affect the result?

Yeh, anyway, i dont know what else to do now, i guess i'll wait for your opinion on this. Afterwhich i think i might try removing RAM modules, to find out that way, but i'm not too keen on that just yet, i'll keep that as a last resort type option.

Erm, somewhere on microsoft knowledge database i was reading about the possible things that could cause a windows protection error...it listed hardware problems but also it was written that it could be a problem with the system registry. I had a look at the articles about that, but there was so much "if that doesnt work, consult this article, or if this works than do this" etc etc, it was really too much for me to take in.

So, my question regarding that, is that, is this a viable option? could it be my system registry that is the problem?

Once again guys, really appreciate your help and guidance.
Thanks,
Saini.

[Eeyore]

d'oh! so it means my RAM is defective! Well thanks for posting that article up. It recommends me limiting the computers memory usage to 16MB, which i dont think i'm going to do as i'm on 256MB at the moment.

This is not reducing your memory. It is limiting what Windows uses. Hopefully it will be using a good portion of the memory and the area with the defect will not be used. You could use more. But 16mb is the minimum recommended for Windows 98.

Since you have 2 128mb chips, you should be able to take one out and run a while to see if you get an error. If not, change chips. I had one that would crash with both chips in (2 512 DDR's). They both tested fine. Ordered 2 more and gave 1 old to my kid. Now with 1.5gb RAM, no problem. Kid has no problem. So something just didn't get along.

While there is an outide chance of a program or a registry entry causing errors, the error you got seems to point specifically to your RAM.

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[saini]

ok, i'll give that limiting my memory stuff a go. i think i'm going to try taking the modules out one at a time to see if that identifies which one is defective. Just a quick question about that. I have the original bag that contained the chip, is it ok to put it in there? its a bit dusty, giving it a wipe wont induce an electrostatic charge will it and thus harm the chip? I know that might sound like a stupid question but i just want to be sure. On the outside it says "electrostatic conductive bag". Also, i understand the grounding procedure, but i was wondering if it was worth wearing plastic gloves to be extra cautious?

[saini]

oh, also, the windows protection error now has changed to device "Configm" but also sometimes is "NTKERN", does this change the diagnosis of RAM failure?