motherboard issues?

Hi Guys, A couple of months ago I was having problem with the the pc shuting down rebooting and having boot in safe mode. 8120Guy was helping with the problems but after numurous try's I decided to send back to where i bought the P.C. they had it for 2 weeks and when it was returned it still has they same problems. I have noticed that when the system reboots it shows the entrance screen to the bios but each time it reboots it changes to a different bios screen, sometimes its AS ROCK another will be as-rock and another is P2R ? I am wondering if there could be a conflict and if there might be a solution by downloading software update from the motherboard web site. As I am a bit of a novice I am seeking your help and advice. Thanks in aticipation, Tuxedo

Hi, thought we had it cracked lol, oh well back to the beginning again, for starters what did they say when they sent it back to you ?
Just wondering if they did find anything wrong\faulty, if they did, and it's reverted again I would go back to them and say nothings changed, ask what they can do.

Now a quick look back says Avast was a major player in your problems, are you still using this at all ?

The next thing I'd suggest is to test the hardware with some scans, start off with SpeedFan, find out what the system temps are, it may be an overheating issue, this would help see if this was\is a problem.

Next identify the make of hard drive, then run the makers utility for that drive to check for errors, this will help see if the hard drive is starting to fail.

Then you can run something like memtest, basically test the ram, see if this is showing errors.

Finally try to take note what you were doing when the system plays up on you, just wondering if it only happens under heavy load, this could support it being a heat issue if it does this.

See if any of this gives any clues, maybe run Who Crashed again, if it's a massive list save it to notepad or something and upload it here, it will be easier on the board than scrolling for miles lol, hope something here helps get us on the right track.

Hi GUY, thanks for coming back to me, was hoping that they would find something but alas no, they say there is no hard drive fault. They reinstalled windows and avast but i have unistalled avast using revo and installed AVG full program (2012) and this runs o.k. but sometimes when it has crashed and after the restart only some components come up and the fire wll says it needs a restart, after the restart it comes up o.k., also when I startup sometimes programs start in a different order, ie: task bar icons are in a different order. Have downloaded seagate utility and run, results show no errors Will now run who crashed. Below is the log, hope this helps, Thanks GUY Rgds Tuxedo System Information (local) ——————————————————————————– computer name: PC-699D85E4C36B windows version: Windows XP Service Pack 3, 5.1, build: 2600 windows dir: C:\WINDOWS CPU: GenuineIntel Intel® Pentium® D CPU 2.80GHz Intel586, level: 15 2 logical processors, active mask: 3 RAM: 1875914752 total VM: 2147352576, free: 2047426560 ——————————————————————————– Crash Dump Analysis ——————————————————————————– Crash dump directory: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump Crash dumps are enabled on your computer. On Wed 30/05/2012 09:48:47 GMT your computer crashed crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini053012-01.dmp This was probably caused by the following module: afd.sys (afd+0x2DE9) Bugcheck code: 0x1000008E (0xFFFFFFFF80000003, 0xFFFFFFFF804E2A66, 0xFFFFFFFFA5B699CC, 0x0) Error: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\afd.sys product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System company: Microsoft Corporation description: Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch. This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time. On Mon 28/05/2012 17:56:55 GMT your computer crashed crash dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini052812-01.dmp This was probably caused by the following module: win32k.sys (win32k+0xDA07) Bugcheck code: 0x1000008E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFFFFFBF80DA07, 0xFFFFFFFFA847BB80, 0x0) Error: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_M file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\win32k.sys product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System company: Microsoft Corporation description: Multi-User Win32 Driver Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode program generated an exception which the error handler did not catch. This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time. ——————————————————————————– Conclusion ——————————————————————————– 2 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information. Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.

Take it back and tell them they failed to fix it - ESPECIALLY if under warranty.

If me, I would swap in a different but known good power supply. A flaky or struggling PSU can cause all sorts of very odd symptom - including unexplained reboots, shutdowns, and freezes.

But also power related problems can be the result of poor or faulty facility power. I would check your wall outlets with an AC Outlet Tester. I recommend one with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupt) indicator as it can be used to test bathroom and kitchen outlets too. These testers can be found for your type and voltage outlet, foreign or domestic, at most home improvement stores, or even the electrical department at Walmart.

Definitely do the above if it comes within the description given by Digerati, and we have similar testers over here, but the 1st error still suggests Avast was the problem, reports I've seen from searching this say Avast picks this up as a root kit or similar, the afd.sys file giving the error is used for networking, and DHCP, TCPI etc, my best guess at this time is that while Avast was installed it removed the file, probably quarantined it, and if you selected to remove all such files as a part of the uninstall then it has gone, best advice I can offer is try the following link for a download, which will hopefully rectify that issue.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/958752
I also suggest running the Avast clean up tool, it will remove the bits that other methods can't.

The second one may suggest ram issues, if this is the case you have separate issues, and each could have you chasing ghosts, so best advice currently is try the above fix, if all goes well leave it be and wait for the next crash, if it does, run WhoCrashed again and we can see what it finds this time, removing all but 1 stick of ram is the usual test when scans show nothing, if it runs stable then you have a bad stick, if that stick crashes swap it for the other stick, and the same rules apply again, but I suggest dealing with these issues one at a time, here's hoping we sort it this time.

Thanks 8210GUY and Digerati, To save the expense of sending the p.c. back again by courier I will follow GUY'S help first and see how we go. I have just downloaded the link from microsoft and will wait to see if we crash again before trying the avast removal and the ram problems. Thanks again will post again soon, Tuxedo

TBH I would run the Avast clean up tool straight away, sorry I wasn't clearer above, but "IF" Avast has caused this again, theres no knowing what may be happening out of sight, so clearing Avast wont confuse anything, in fact quite the opposite, just incase there is something left behind that could still cause further issues when this file is put back, but fingers crossed this helps.

I installed and run the avast uninstall, msg read all completely removed, so soak test for a couple of days with fingers crossed

Super! I hope it holds and thanks for the followup

Hi 8210GUY, Having run all the suggestions and still having the odd crash I decided to have a look at Digerati's idea, that it may be a power problem. I first checked the connection from the mains which seemed to be fine, I then checked the cable that runs from the PSU to the back of the tower case and the connection from the cable to the PSU did not seem tight enough, I unpluged that cable and put the mains cable into the PSU direct. I have had the P.C. now running for 2 days, and touch wood no crashes. Will run for another couple of days and will post again with what I hope will be good news. Thanks you guys for your help and advice yet again, you are the best!!! Tuxedo

Sounds good, great call by Digerati, with luck you will be able to have a stable system again.

Going crazy now! All was good for nearly 3 days, then small crash, ran who's crashing the report was igxpdx32 dll, so went onto Intel found the updated driver downloaded and installed. After the reboot it had changed all the settings for fonts and icon sizes, not a problem I thought. Then this morning switched on the pc and after the Windows loading screen I have nothing but a black screen. Tried to boot in safe mode but will not go past the installed drivers screen. the last driver on the list is a AVG driver? Any suggestions please.

TBH if this is under warranty, I would send it back as is, I realise the inconvenience and expense of doing this goes against the grain, but there must be something going on in there, and if it is leading up to some kind of failure, you want it sorted while it's still covered. The main reason I suggest sending it as is, is because as it's currently in a failed state, it may be easier for them to see possible causes for this, the hardest part of diagnosing problems on a screen, is you can only go on what you see, when a system is in a failed state, it may be possible techs can get a better idea from seeing it in this state, but I would suggest adding some history as you know it in with it when you return it, give them the WhoCrashed logs, point out the issue from Avast, and the graphics, also request they do NOT put Avast back on when they return it, then when you get it back use m$ essentials would be my advice, and fingers crossed they find the issue this time, good luck.

Hi 8210guy, Sorry for not getting back but decided to take advice yet again and send back the p.c. so I hope they will fix this time. Thanks for all your help, endebted to WTT as always. great support, regards. Tuxedo