Hardware or software?

Im having problems with my pc right now, I always get something different, from "irql not equal to" and "bad pool header" BSoD to "system32/config/system" corrupt, and reboot loops. Im posting here though, because it all started after a power outage in the neighborhood. The electricity failed, then came back on 2 seconds later. Then failed again and came back on 5 seconds later. Then failed one last time before it came back on an hour or two later. Since that day, I started having problems with the reboot loop, but after that it got worse and started giving me the system 32 corrupt message. I got it to work in safe mode for a while, and before that I was also able to get it to work normally a bit but instead of trying to fix anything, I decided to spend the time backing up as many files as I could. Fortunately I was able to back up some of the more important stuff, but not everything. I also disabled the automatic restart on system failure, which Im guessing is what started the BSoD. But like I said, I never know what problem I'm gonna get when I try to boot the PC. So could the outage have "fried" something in the OS? Or is it the power supply that got "fried"??? Thanks for any help.

So could the outage have "fried" something in the OS? Or is it the power supply that got "fried"???

Possibility on both accounts but lets do some diagnostics and see what we can find. Starting with the memory itself please do the following.


If you have more than one RAM module installed, try starting computer with one RAM stick at a time.

NOTE Keep in mind, the manual check listed above is always superior to the software check, listed below. DO NOT proceed with memtest, if you can go with option A

B. If you have only one RAM stick installed…
…run memtest…

1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)
2. Unzip downloaded memtest86+-2.11.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find memtest86+-2.11.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file… icon:

[external image: Posted Image]

8. Locate memtest86+-2.11.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:

[external image: Posted Image]

10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS
Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:


[external image: Posted Image]

It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.

[external image: Posted Image]

The following image is the test results area:

[external image: Posted Image]

The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

OK, here is what happened. I was gonna leave it running overnight doing the RAM test… but check this. It found about 12,000,000 errors (yes, that many). I was gonna stop it, but decided to let it run (it only made about 3 passes) until the whole screen went red, with only white letters that looked like an upside down U. So I guess its safe to say there is something VERY wrong with the RAM?

Yep that is correct. Do you have more then one ram module in your system? If so try testing them individually to see if they both are bad or if it is just one of them.

I only have one. So if I replace it should that be it? Or might it just me the first step? One more question… its a really old PC, it uses a 256 RAM (PC133 I believe. I was planning on getting a new PC, but money is a bit tight right now.) The times I've opened it to blast the dust out of it, I noticed that it has 3 RAM slots. Would it be a good idea to out in 2 RAM modules??? Or could more than one do more harm than good?

The best way to answer all these questions is to do the following and supply me with a link to the result page. This will give me the exact type of memory and the total amount of memory your system can handle. Then I can research some options for you as 256 megs of memory is bare minimum to run any OS now. Being you only have one memory module then it is safe to say it is bad.
Go to HERE and run the Crucial online scanner.
This will give you the exact memory configuration for your system.
You do not have to buy the memory from there, but write down the information and if you need assistance in purchasing the upgrade memory GTG can assist with suggestions also.

Hi again. I scanned the PC like you said, but it couldn't get a complete reading on it, here is the info it did get. SDRAM PC133 MAX. MEMORY CAPACITY 786432 MB CURRENTLY INSTALLED 256 MB AVAILABLE SLOTS 2 TOTAL SLOTS 3 DUAL CHANNEL SUPP. N.A. CPU MANUFACTURER GENUINEINTEL CPU FAM. INTEL ® PENTIUM ® 4 CPU 1.80 GHz MODEL 1, STEPPING 2 CPU SPEED 1808 MHz SYSTEM MANUFACTURER VIAP4X SYSTEM MODEL AWARDACPI MOTHERBOARD MANUFACTURER U COMPANY MOTHERBOARD MODEL U8648 Well, that's all I got for now. Thanks for your help so far…

OK is this a custom built system or a name brand system? If name brand what make and model?

It's a custom system, should have mentioned that… sorry.

OK then the steps are a little different for the info I need. DO you know what make and model motherboard you have ?
If not please do the below.
Download and install Free Everest Home Edition
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: And then to Quick Report-Summary
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Click the + by computer, click on Sensor. Get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages…

DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING UNDER THE LINE THAT SAYS "DEBUG- PCI"

Well, I guess it will have to wait, 'cause now the PC won't work. The most it will go to is the page where Windows is loading (before the blue screen that says Windows is starting up and gives you the option to sign in as Administrator, etc.) and then it will give me a BSoD. Amazingly enough, it worked for a good while… enough to run the "Crucial" check you told me to do, and to back up a few more things. But yeah, now I'm trying to do the other check, but can't. I ordered a RAM stick online, so once it gets here hopefully the PC will be more stable and I'll be able to do the Everest check. So I guess I'll post again in a couple of days. Thanks!!

OK no problem. We will wait for the memory but i would like to see if we can still access your data just in case.
Get Puppy Linux from my signature below…Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd
..
if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files get Burncdcc from my signature…it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program…

NOTE…do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ….in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device….

put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer….puppy will boot and run totally in ram…if your hardware is is good working order you will know…
after you get it running and your at the desktop…you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all your data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy…

==========================
quick guide for saving data…music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux..


after you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon…looks like a flash drive…top row..it will list all the drives connected to

your computer…

click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount…in this case its a flash drive …puppy will

mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted…
minimize the drives mounter window..you will need it again in a few minutes..
drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size…about half the width of the screen…then drag the window to the right edge of the screen…

now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive…it should
already be green..
you will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to
the narrowest you can..about half the width of the screen…drag that window to the left side of the screen…
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..
go back to the folders on the C: drive…click on the documents and settings folder…then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window…

your options are to move ..copy ect…JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full…(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive…
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier
UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmouting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them…

now delete the data on the flash drive…take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..

Thanks to happyrock

Hi, well first off, thanks again for all your help. And now… guess what? The PC decided to work again for a while before giving me yet another BSoD. While it was working, I was able to do the scans you told me and yet again back up more stuff. Still don't have it all though, hopefully I can get it before the dayam thing explodes, I would hate to have to burn all my cds again, get album artwork for the ipod, back up my dvds, etc. Haven't tried the Puppy Linux yet 'cause like I said, at least I'm getting good chances to back my stuff up. I attached the reports and the screenshot you asked for. As for the reports, I couldn't find the Quick Report Summary button so I did two different scans, hopefully one of them is the one you needed. Well I guess that will be it 'till the RAM arrives, which is being sent ground, so hopefully I'll get it in a week if I'm lucky. Thanks again!!

Temps and voltages are good and within acceptable ranges. The reports show what i have said before about the lack of memory with only 224 which means you have onboard video using 32 megs of memory for a total of 256 megs. With the memory being bad I believe the issue would be resolved with the replacement of the memory and also increasing that memory to 1 gig total. Backup your data and try to get new memory as eventually the bad memory will cause further problems including the system not booting at all.

So I take it then that the PC can handle 1GB of RAM. What would be best though, to buy one 1GB module or two 512MB???

Also, the model # for the one I currently have is a Kingston KVR133X64C3/256. Would you happen to know which model (or models if two 512MB are better) would be compatible? I found the specs for my current RAM here: Specs