Ok, so I installed a new motherboard and cpu but I got this weird blue screen error at random times. So I reinstalled windows to fix everthing. Now I don't get the blue screen but my computer freezes up. I can't move the mouse and I can't press ctrl + alt + del. It happens randomly, but will definately freeze if I try to do something like transfer a large folder from my external hard drive to my desktop hard drive.
So far to correct this problem I have: updated my graphics card drivers, tested different ram modules (including newly bought ram), tried to update mobo bios software (but ASUS is too busy to download from), and I downloaded the current version of windows. A friend told me to try disabling CPU cache (whatever that is; isn't that something I need), deleting IDE drivers (I don't know what that is).
Do you guys have an idea of what might be causing this and how I can correct this? Any help is appreciated. My computer specs are listed below.
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra (256 MB)
Motherboard: ASUS AV8
RAM: Kingston 1024 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
CPU: AMD 64 x2 4600
DVD Writer: SONY DVD RW DRU-500A
Windows XP professional
Another friend told me it might be the timing with the ram; maybe it's too fast. So I guess I need to adjust it on my bios. Right now I have 2x 512 mb sticks of 400 mhz ddr.
You have listed your memory as PC2700 in the list, then updated your spec with 2x512 DDR400 (DDR400 is PC3200) so not sure what you have there.
It should run from the spid on the memory.
But otherwise enter the bios and make sure the settings are matched with what the memory is capable of, you'll get that info from the Kingston web site.
You could also download memtest86 and put that on a floppy, you can then boot to the floppy and test the memory without having to put windows in the equation.
Try it on both, if it fails, try it on each stick.
If the memory tests okay, then you can go one step further.
Is the memory new? sometimes memory can pass memtest and still be faulty, I had that on a pair of twinx modules which suffered a voltage spike. That is very rare though.
Here is a section from the tweakguide companion.
It may also be worth you adjusting certain settings ti allow you to fully read any issues shown on the BSOD.
This stops the auto restart function and keeps the screen up until you have time to read it and manually boot.
Startup and Recovery Settings
Under the Startup and Recovery section, click the Settings button. For a system with a single operating
system, select ʹʺMicrosoft Windows XP [Home/Professional]ʺ /fastdetectʹ in the list presented. For a system
with multiple operating systems, select the one that you want to boot up by default each time you start your
machine. If you only have one operating system, or you donʹt want to select a different operating system
each time you boot up, untick the ʹTime to display list of Operating Systemsʹ option. Tick the ʹTime to
display recovery options when neededʹ option and select at least 10 seconds if not more. This is the amount
of time youʹll get to choose the type of bootup from the recovery menu after a bad system crash.
Click the Edit button and change the timeout= value in the second line to =0. You can also change the
/NoExecute= setting here as covered under the DEP information above. When done, save and exit the text
editor and the changes will be made to your Boot.ini file in you base directory. Under the ʹSystem failureʹ
section untick all three options for optimal performance, and the ʹWrite Debugging Informationʹ option
should be set to None. That way if you run into problems youʹll see the error displayed (usually a Windows
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) message) and your system wonʹt automatically reboot. At the same time you
wonʹt get lots of logfiles and dumpfiles of the event cluttering up your hard drive.
Thanks for your help BigDK. It turns out I needed to set the CAS latency setting to 3 to accomodate my ram (it was on auto). So far my system hasn't frozen while doing tasks that normally cause it to freeze. Tomorrow I'm going to get better ram; hopefully I won't have the same problem if the CAS Latency is appropriate.
