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Karl Herber · 09-29-2008, 07:10 PM

Warkirby's not the only one having disturbing PC issues.

Mine is this: Basically when I first boot up the machine, not every time but approx 1/3 of the time, the computer will immediately start up with a Blue Screen of Death. There is some information in the text that I don't understand, one of the suggestions included there is to check video drivers. The only way out of the BSOD is to restart, which I do, and after the restart, 100% of the time the PC then boots up normally. It then behaves absolutely fine for the rest of the day.

Another 1/3 of the time, the PC will boot up normally, except it will start in 800x600 screen resolution (my normal setting is 1280x960). I reset it back to my usual screen res, and everything is fine.

The remaining 1/3 of the time, the PC boots up completely normally in the proper resolution.

In all 3 cases there are no other issues, once the computer is booted up, everything functions completely smoothly, even SL never crashes.

I'm guessing this means the graphics card is on the way out, but I'm not sure of that, and I don't want to risk spending money on replacing it, if it's not going to solve the problem. Or if its just a software issue or something (although I'm fairly sure its not a windows-related thing because the BSOD happens right at the very start of bootup even before the OS starts loading. That smells like a hardware fault to me).

I have opened up the case and given everything a good cleanout inside, checked that nothing is obviously loose, everything is clean and (as far as I can tell) secure. But then again when it comes to the inside of a computer I don't really have a clue what I'm looking at in there.

I am running a Pentium 4 with 2mb RAM, and an nVidia 8400 graphics card (yes the drivers are up to date) and Windows XP (service pack 3).

My other question is, if it DOES turn out that I need a new g-card, there are two better ones that are within my budget; the nVidia 8600 and the 9400. Out of those two, which one is the better one? (Yes I know, I would really like a 9600 or an 8800 but my bank balance won't let me).

Ran Garrigus · 09-30-2008, 03:37 AM

A far as the cards go, benchmarks I've seen sugest that the 8600 is superior to the 9400, except 9400 has video acceleration (possibly useful if you watch DVDs or Blu-ray discs on your computer).

Karl Herber · 10-02-2008, 06:49 AM

The mystery deepens.

A friend (who knows more about computers than I do) suggested that when it boots up in the wrong resolution I should be using the nVidia control panel to correct it, not the Windows screen properties box. So next time it booted up in 800x600 I went to do just that... and the nVidia control panel hadn't actually loaded at all - the nVidia software wasn't running.

WTF?

Beebo Brink · 10-02-2008, 07:10 AM

I would recommend doing a backup of all files, just in case your hard disk is on the verge of crashing.

Have you checked disk fragmentation? That kind of erratic behavior can be caused by extreme file fragmentation.

Tya · 10-02-2008, 07:59 AM

i just had really bad pc issues and reformatted the other day. was not fun.

yeah what beebo said, back up your data in case your in for a crash. I did that once, not backing stuff up and my hard drive crashed. This last reformat, took 2 hours to back all my stuff up and making sure it was virus/spyware/crap clean.

I still haven't re installed all my programs

Karl Herber · 10-02-2008, 04:27 PM

Everything's backed up already but I'll do a defrag tonight and see if that helps.

The computer doesn't behave erratically at all during operation though, it's only on bootup.

Karl Herber · 10-11-2008, 02:09 PM

Well the mystery is solved. I had a friend run a system check on it, and it turned up over 300 registry errors on it. Most of them were connected with the crap that Packard Bell had installed on it before I purchased it.

So I'm just gonna wipe the HD, and start again from scratch.

Ran Garrigus · 10-12-2008, 07:39 AM

You could try a registry cleaner, like CClean, to see if it improves anything before going the wiped-HD route (if you haven't done so already).

WarKirby Magojiro · 10-13-2008, 03:15 AM

I had similar problems. When the low res thing occurs...
Check your device manager

(my computer > properties > hardware > device manager)

You'll probably see a yellow exclamation next to your video card. The properties on that gives the error like "the device cannot start"

I'm afraid that despite many attempts, formatting the system drive and resintalling windows was the only thing that fixed it for me.

Be sure to back up all important files.

09-29-2008, 07:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
Karl Herber Beachcomber Blue Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 368 Blog Entries: 1 My Mood:	Another person with PC issues Warkirby's not the only one having disturbing PC issues. Mine is this: Basically when I first boot up the machine, not every time but approx 1/3 of the time, the computer will immediately start up with a Blue Screen of Death. There is some information in the text that I don't understand, one of the suggestions included there is to check video drivers. The only way out of the BSOD is to restart, which I do, and after the restart, 100% of the time the PC then boots up normally. It then behaves absolutely fine for the rest of the day. Another 1/3 of the time, the PC will boot up normally, except it will start in 800x600 screen resolution (my normal setting is 1280x960). I reset it back to my usual screen res, and everything is fine. The remaining 1/3 of the time, the PC boots up completely normally in the proper resolution. In all 3 cases there are no other issues, once the computer is booted up, everything functions completely smoothly, even SL never crashes. I'm guessing this means the graphics card is on the way out, but I'm not sure of that, and I don't want to risk spending money on replacing it, if it's not going to solve the problem. Or if its just a software issue or something (although I'm fairly sure its not a windows-related thing because the BSOD happens right at the very start of bootup even before the OS starts loading. That smells like a hardware fault to me). I have opened up the case and given everything a good cleanout inside, checked that nothing is obviously loose, everything is clean and (as far as I can tell) secure. But then again when it comes to the inside of a computer I don't really have a clue what I'm looking at in there. I am running a Pentium 4 with 2mb RAM, and an nVidia 8400 graphics card (yes the drivers are up to date) and Windows XP (service pack 3). My other question is, if it DOES turn out that I need a new g-card, there are two better ones that are within my budget; the nVidia 8600 and the 9400. Out of those two, which one is the better one? (Yes I know, I would really like a 9600 or an 8800 but my bank balance won't let me). __________________ Horse Tales - and - Free For Men

09-30-2008, 03:37 AM	#2 (permalink)
Ran Garrigus Weirdo in a Weird Land Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 220	A far as the cards go, benchmarks I've seen sugest that the 8600 is superior to the 9400, except 9400 has video acceleration (possibly useful if you watch DVDs or Blu-ray discs on your computer). __________________ Old Fashioned -- Occasional SL fashion reviews. Last edited by Ran Garrigus; 09-30-2008 at 05:50 AM..

10-02-2008, 07:10 AM	#4 (permalink)
Beebo Brink Uppity Alt I'm the woman your mother warned you about. Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,090 SL Join Date: October 2006 Business: Brazen Women Shapes and Skins SLShopper Ads: 20 My Mood:	I would recommend doing a backup of all files, just in case your hard disk is on the verge of crashing. Have you checked disk fragmentation? That kind of erratic behavior can be caused by extreme file fragmentation. __________________ Browse http://www.BrazenWomen.com

10-02-2008, 07:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
Tya Prim Whore Wears Cherry Chapstick Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 2,437 SL Join Date: August 2003 Business: Pixel Mode [PM] Blog Entries: 2 SLShopper Ads: 57 My Mood:	i just had really bad pc issues and reformatted the other day. was not fun. yeah what beebo said, back up your data in case your in for a crash. I did that once, not backing stuff up and my hard drive crashed. This last reformat, took 2 hours to back all my stuff up and making sure it was virus/spyware/crap clean. I still haven't re installed all my programs __________________ PM Website \| PM Blog \| Tya's Flickr \| PM @ SLEX \| PM @ Onrez

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10-02-2008, 06:49 AM	#3 (permalink)
Karl Herber Beachcomber Blue Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 368 Blog Entries: 1 My Mood:	The mystery deepens. A friend (who knows more about computers than I do) suggested that when it boots up in the wrong resolution I should be using the nVidia control panel to correct it, not the Windows screen properties box. So next time it booted up in 800x600 I went to do just that... and the nVidia control panel hadn't actually loaded at all - the nVidia software wasn't running. WTF?

10-02-2008, 04:27 PM	#6 (permalink)
Karl Herber Beachcomber Blue Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 368 Blog Entries: 1 My Mood:	Everything's backed up already but I'll do a defrag tonight and see if that helps. The computer doesn't behave erratically at all during operation though, it's only on bootup.

10-11-2008, 02:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
Karl Herber Beachcomber Blue Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 368 Blog Entries: 1 My Mood:	Well the mystery is solved. I had a friend run a system check on it, and it turned up over 300 registry errors on it. Most of them were connected with the crap that Packard Bell had installed on it before I purchased it. So I'm just gonna wipe the HD, and start again from scratch.

10-12-2008, 07:39 AM	#8 (permalink)
Ran Garrigus Weirdo in a Weird Land Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Sweden Posts: 220	You could try a registry cleaner, like CClean, to see if it improves anything before going the wiped-HD route (if you haven't done so already).