2 Blue screens of death

[hudster]

Hi. I, too am new here. (But I have a feeling, due to the nature of my computer and computing habits, I'll probably be here quite a bit.) I have been having the exact same problems as everyone else seems to be suffering from; I just purchased a new machine, a Dell XPS 200. It seems to run smoothly and all is well until I put Maple on the machine. I love Maplestory, and have been playing it during spare time for almost two years now, so I really must ignore the obvious option of removing it from my system. GameGuard was not always such a hassle; in the Beta versions and (I believe, if my memory serves correct) the early Global versions, GameGuard did not exist.

I have Norton on my machine. It was one of two options for the default antivirus protection program that Dell offers (unfortunately). The two options were Mcaffee(sp?) and Norton. There was no third "No protection" option. Otherwise I would have simply put AV on; I had it on my old machine and it works just fine.

Anyway, today Maplestory released a patch (Global Version .25) and with it a GameGuard update. After the GameGuard initilizes, the patch window would come up and Norton would pop up saying "This program is trying to access the internet...etc" and then, about two seconds later, the BSOD would appear with the same driver error. Upon reboot it would inform me that my computer had recovered from a serious error. I tried two more times but the same thing happened again (so nope, not coincidence). I removed Maple from my computer and am reinstalling it as I am typing this.

It's a relief to know other people are having this error, and their system setup corresponds to mine, so I am not alone. I guess Norton and Maple/GameGuard just aren't good for each other, but my Norton subscription doesn't go away for a while. (I'm sure I can remove it sometime this fall, while I am at University, but for now I must use it.)

This is only the second time I have seen the BSOD; the other time was a couple days back, and I'm not sure what caused it. (It wasn't a patch this time.) I'd disable Norton while I played if Norton would let me access it and if GameGuard wasn't so suseptable to problems. It really, really lowers the PC's protection capabilities.

Anyway, I'll be keeping an eye on this site to see if there are any other solutions. So far I've seen one (the denying Norton access to the dump_wmimm) and LiveUpdate does this to me, I will certainly try that.

Thanks,
Anya

[Ultima FX]

Thank you so much for this. I've gotten like 10 BSODs over the last week. Finally, a solution. And first time I've come to this forum, too. Looks like a very friendly place. I think I may stick around here. =P

[LindaHewitt]

Good Morning Anya and Ultima FX,

I want to welcome both of you to Virtual DR aka VDR.

Right now you have two programs on your new computer, which are known for causing problems, Norton & Maple Story. Here is one way to eliminate one of your problem-causing programs.

Uninstall Norton.

Purchase Panda Platinum version 7 -- includes AV and firewall -- Cost $25.88

http://www.gizmos2go.com/xcart/produ...productid=2817

Version 7 does not include their spyware components but you are still getting the latest AV and firewall updates. There are a number of excellent freeware programs, which you can download to provide protection from spyware, and other forms of malware. Here is my list of recommendations:

Ad-Aware
SpyBot
SpywareBlaster
SpywareGuard
Defender

In 2002, when I bought a new computer from Dell, I also encountered a series of BSOD. One of my first decision was to get rid of Norton 2002 and I installed Panda Platinum. None of my computers have become infected with any form of malware. A couple of years ago, I installed SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard and this provides excellent protection against malware from being installed on my computer, while I am surfing the web. It goes without saying that I also practice safe computing.

I check for updates and run my anti-spyware detection programs once a month and nothing has been found on my computer, not even tracking cookies; which is exactly what I want.

Recently when Yahoo got infected with a worm, and I went to check my email, I got a warning dialog box indicating that Yahoo was trying to download something to my computer. I said No and waited a couple of days before I visited Yahoo again.

If you don't want to purchase Panda Platinum, version 7; then you could also download and install the freeware version of AVG and the Kerio firewall. Personally, I don't want to take any chances with AV, so I believe in purchasing retail products.

IMO, there are two anti-virus vendors to avoid at all costs and they are McAfee and Norton. It is no surprise that these are the only products that you can select with a new computer. I have read that this is how these two vendors are surviving in terms of AV software sales, then they advertise that they are the leader and many unsuspecting consumers think if they are the top seller, then they must be good. Somewhere I read that Norton pays Dell to install Norton.

<Offtopic> There is a big campaign going on against all of the crippled or junkware software, which is installed on a new computer. This campaign is being waged against all of the hardware vendors including Dell, HP and others. To find out more about this, then you will want to read Dwight Silverman's blog at http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/. Once you are there, then do a search on junkware.
</Offtopic>

Obviously, these are just suggestions but if you decide to go this route, then if you get any future BSODs, you will know that the source is MS and not some interaction between Norton and MS or other software applications on your computer.

Keep us posted as to what you decide to do.

Cheers,

Linda

[Ultima FX]

Good morning, thanks for the warm welcome. Indeed, it looks like Norton is more trouble than it's worth. I think I will uninstall norton and get that Panda Platinum version 7 you're talking about. But I'm wandering what would be better, ZoneAlarm or Panda Platinum V7? I've heard a lot about ZoneAlarm and this is my first time hearing about Panda. Then again, I don't pretend to be up to date with these things. I just saw Norton on the shelves a few years back and got it because I heard a lot about it. <_<;;

[LindaHewitt]

Panda Platinum includes a firewall, which is what ZoneAlarm is. IMO, there is a great deal of benefit in getting your anti-virus and firewall from the same vendor. However, I do not think that security suites are the way to go. One of the biggest problems with security suites, Norton and McAfee products is that they are resource hogs, so that when the online update process is taking place, all other work on your computer comes to a screeching halt.

Unlike most vendors, Norton is not even capable of writing a clean uninstall program and all elements of Norton have to be removed before you install another AV program. I don't know if Norton has improved their uninstall utility or not but there are VDR posters here, which can walk you through the process for removing all traces of Norton. So just post back here if you have any problems.

Cheers,

Linda

[Grey]

Wow, I did a Google search on "dump_wmimmc.sys" and this was the first link that came up. So far it's been very helpful, as my situation is also being caused by MapleStory.

Just for the record, I do NOT use Norton. My antivirus is BitDefender 9 Standard. This is a Compaq laptop, but I doubt that's relevant in this situation.

The installation of the new patch (this morning) went through smoothly, and I spent the next few hours playing MapleStory. As soon as I closed the game, I received the BSOD. I've booted the game up 3 times, closing it immediately upon reaching the log-in screen. Each time, the BSOD shows up immediately after I hit the "quit" button. My computer was restarting automatically, so I had to disable that before I could get any information from it.

"Stop: 0x000000CE" "dump_wmimmc.sys", just like everyone else is getting. I plan on updating my video card first, and reinstalling the game if that doesn't work.

[Grey]

My video card is an "ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M". Device Manager couldn't find any updates for it, so would I need to manually update it?

[liam858]

Hi Grey, and Welcome to VDr.

The drivers are not on the ATI site, so if you post back your Toshiba model number we may be able to track some down, although they may be on a CD you received with the laptop??


Liam

[Grey]

Hehe, it's not a Toshiba (wish I could afford one of those). Here's the model: Presario M2000. And thanks for the welcome, this seems like a really nice forum.

EDIT: I'll check the CD, but it seems strange that there would be updates on it. (Why would they include a CD when they could just install the 'updates' beforehand?)

[LindaHewitt]

You might also do a Google search on "ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M driver update" or you could do a search on "ATI Radeon XPress driver update"; without the quote marks, of course.

Cheers,

Linda

[liam858]

Oops, i found a Toshiba link before i posted, the Compaq drivers have been posted here: http://www.planetamd64.com/index.php?showtopic=23712


Liam

[Grey]

You might also do a Google search on "ATI RADEON XPRESS 200M driver update" or you could do a search on "ATI Radeon XPress driver update"; without the quote marks, of course.

Cheers,

Linda

lol, I actully did that before I tried to automatically update using the Device Manager. Thanks though!

[Grey]

Wow the driver is 37 MB. It looks like it's just the default driver, but I'll see if it works. Thanks for the link! <3

[kwongnewman]

i am getting the exact same error, and when i googled dump_wmimmc.sys, this was the first site it gave me =)
i seem to be getting this error a lot when i'm playing games, especially when i alt-tab out of games or when i'm exiting a game.
in my system events, i found this:

Driver detected an internal error in its data structures for .

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

not very helpful...
i installed some newer drivers, version 84.21, for my 7800 GTX, but i'm still getting this BSOD.
any help will be appreciated =)

[liam858]

Hi kwongnewman, and Welcome to Virtual Dr.

The latest Nvidia Forceware Drivers are 91.xx, and are available here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_2k_91.31.html


Liam