Upgraded to XP, Many BSOD crashes

I'd like to pretend that I'm really happy about plugging $300 into my computer, including a clean install of XP Home, HD format, and more cooling hardware, but I am royally pissed off.

I get BSOD error messages quite often. Usually when playing games, but also running other applications, including IE, and when trying to install new drivers, and when I'm trying to find the problem! I jotted down a few of them, which I will included (yay) for reference. If I can't fix this problem myself, then I will be forced to take the blasted machine back to ASComputers and have them do it for free, or (I) go directly to jail, etc.

Some of the BSOD messages included caps text with underscores near the top (ie MEMORY_MANAGEMENT.) Some did not. Here we go with the insanity...

MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
***STOP: 0x0000001A (0x00041785,0xC0C00000,0x00007575,0x00000000)

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
***STOP: 0x00000050 (0xC711093D,0x00000000,0x805322E2,0x00000000)

No Caps text w/underscore(s)
***STOP: 0X0000008E (0xC0000005,0xBF8FB6F5,0xB6ABFC5C,0X00000000)
***win32k.sys - Address BF8FB6F5 base at BF800000, Datestamp 3db6d462

IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0X0000000A (0x00000054,0x00000002,0x00000001,0x804FB00C)

IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0X0000000A (0x011BD3B0,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x804F4CC2)

No Caps text w/underscore(s)
***STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC000001D,0x80513A81,0xB6436B1C,0x00000000

I've installed the latest drivers from the website for everything I could think of, video card, sound card, USB printer. No yellow (!) in Device Manager.

I started getting errors before I even installed the first program after bringing the computer home. The reason why I haven't taken it back yet is because I don't have a lot of free time, and I don't intend to pay their outrageous labor costs. So I'd rather try to fix it myself than cause a serious confrontation. If anyone can help, please, and thank you.

SPECS...

American Megatrends Inc. BIOS ID: 62-0827-001437-00101111-040201-SiS735-K7S5A
Elitegroup Computer Systmems Co. Mainboard K7S5A
1.2Ghz AMD Athlon Processor
1GB Micron DDR RAM
Windows XP Home (Full Retail Version, Clean install)
30GB Western Digital HD
Samsung CD-RW 48x16x48
Sound Blaster 512PCI
ATI Radeon 8500 128MB
Epson Stylus C60 printer (USB)
Intel(R) Pro/100+ PCI Ethernet Card
4 USB ports (from mobo)
Generic 3 1/2" Floppy

Post post, Post Mortem, etc...

More Messages to report:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0x0000000A (0x0000Eb23,0x00000002,0x00000001,0x804FAC1C)

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x00000007,0x00000002,0x00000000,0F6FA16FE)
*** portcls.sys - Address F6FA16FE base at F6Fa0000 DateStamp 3d6dc2ca

On Startup I recieved the following 1 message:

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0X000000D1 (0X905131B3,0X00000002,0X00000000,0X905131B3

Will update as errors arrive...

Update, Day 3 of The BSOD Saga , 5 new Occurances

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0X0000000A (0X0000EB23,0X00000002,0X00000001,0X804FAC1C)

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
***STOP: 0X000000D1 (0X00000007,0X00000002,0X00000000,0XF6FA16FE)
***PORTCLS.SYS - ADDRESS F6FA16FE base at F6FA0000, DateStamp 3d6dc2ca

No Caps text w/underscore(s)
***STOP: 0X0000008E (0xC0000005,0XBF8916F9,0XF78FEC30,0X00000000)
***win32k.sys - Address BF8196F9 base at BF800000, DateStamp 3db6d462

At this point, I removed 2 PCI cards, the ethernet and sound, and used the mainboard "onboard" equivalents...

DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (on startup)
***STOP: 0x000000D1 (0x0000DC40,0x00000016,0x00000000,0xF7B40B74)
***sisnic.sys - Address F7B40B74 base at ? (computer shut down, even though I had the option to restart after crash disabled...)

"This problem probably caused by win32k.sys"
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
***STOP: 0x00000050 (0xD2644111,0x00000000,0xBF82345A,0x00000000)
***win32k.sys - Address BF82345A base at BF800000, DateStamp 3db6d462

That's all TODAY, but now I am going to school, so I'll be sure to update TOMORROW. (Scary Music)

Oops Matt91123,
Sorry your post slipped by. Have you made any progress with this?
I've little to offer, except to ask the obvious.... if you've tried switching out your Ram, Used a restore point to a time before this started happening, and lastly if the drivers you are downloading are explicitly for XP?

Daizy

The stop errors are related to memory.

The drivers I downloaded are all XP drivers. I doublechecked them all, too. As for restore, no help there. I have 2 DDR slots, with a stick in each. I switched them back and forth with no changes.

When you say memory, are you talking about the physical RAM? Because I just had the RAM shipped and I installed it myself (no problem) about 3 weeks ago, right before I upgraded the OS. I'm gonna be ticked off if the RAM is bad, because I paid to have it tested before it shipped. Is it possible the slots on the mobo are screwed up? How can I find this out, and where do I go from here?

Thanks for the replies. :-) Here are some more error messages to add to the list also. They are mostly similar, except a few places. Has to do with the display driver I assume:

***STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005,0xBFA63F83,0xB6A1F888,0x00000000)
*** ati3d2ag.dll - Address BFA63F83 base at BF9EC000, DateStamp 3edc0230

***STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005,0xBFA63F83,0xB67E0888,0x00000000)
***ati3d2ag.dll - Address BFA63F83 base at BF9EC000, DateStamp 3edc0230

Hi give this a try:-
http://www.simmtester.com/PAGE/products/doc/docinfo.asp

The errors you are getting are all relating to the RAM memory that is installed in your machine. I would suggest swapping it out to see if things get better for you. You could have some that is not correctly compatible with the system board, or it just may be bad RAM. Go with that first, and see if it helps your issues.
Please post back

Here's another memory testing utility:

Memtest86

Also try the RAM sticks individually - there's a good chance that only one of them will be faulty.

Now I was doing a dangerous thing an hour ago... Thinking. Assuming that there is a compatibility issue with the RAM, I wondered if possibly I should update my BIOS? I know there is an upgrade available, and probably I should do it anyways, but I'd like an opinion before I do it. If I do, I need to know how to go about it, because I'm not really familiar with BIOS and CMOS issues.

Side note, I updated my specs relating to the mobo. The motherboard is made by Elitegroup Computer Systems, model K7S5A and the BIOS is AMI ID:62-0827-001437-00101111-040201-SiS735-K7S5A date 8/27/01. Hope this helps.

Forgot to add that I pulled out the new memory, and I am trying the 256 MB Excel stick I used to have in there. Also, I looked over my mobo user guide, found that the manufacturer of the memory I have was tested and compatible, but was only tested up to 256MB, whereas I have 512MB/unit. That also led me to theorize about updating the BIOS. Cheers!

Here are the mobo specs:

http://www.ecsusa.com/products/k7s5a_v3.html

It supports up to 1 gig so you should be OK. You're not trying to mix & match SDRAM & DDR SDRAM are you? That's a no-no.

I consider BIOS flashing to be a matter of the last resort only and I doubt that the BIOS is the problem here. Here are some tutorials - you can make up your own mind:

http://www.pcmech.com/show/bios/81/

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...os-update.html

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mai...os-update.html

http://www.orphanlaptops.com/bios.htm

Both DDR slots were occupied by 512MB units from the same manufacturer. I haven't tested it thoroughly, but my old RAM (256MB DDR Excel) seems to be holding up. I plan to spend a few hours on here tonight, so I'll post back if anything happens (or doesn't.) Keep your hardware cool!

Well, it would seem that the error is in the RAM I bought being incompatible with my motherboard. I'm using my old 256MB stick and haven't had any problems, other than things running slower. :( Thanks all for your help in solving my issue. What should I do now, though? My invoice that came with my order is lost, and the E-mail I got with the invoice was erased with the upgrade. I can't get a refund. Hopefully, I can get a trade in at a local shop. Again, I'd like to thank the users and superb staff of Virtual Doctor for helping me settle my computer issues, and for all the knowledge I have gained here. You guys are the greatest!