Mystery BSOD

It all started about 3 months ago. I have Epson printer that would give me messege about printing jobs in que when I had not printed anything for days or even tried. I then was trying to run spybot and it caused a blue screen with this messege Aproblem has been detected and windows has been shut down to protect your computer Machine_Check_Exception If this is first time you've seen this screen restart computer.If this appears again follow these steps. Check to make sure any new hardware or software is installed properly. If this is a new installation ask your hardware or software manufacture for any windows updates you might need. If problem continues disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safemode to remove or disable componets restart press F8 to select advance startup options then select safemode. Stop:0x0000009c(0x00000002,0x8054D370,0xF6002000,0x0000017A) There are no new software or hardware installed. Although this started with spybot now adaware and AVG free anti virus are affected and will not run without this error messege. Ewido continues to work ok so far.Everything is updated. I uninstalled my printer.Downloaded new spybot and installed new one.It will not run. No other hardware or software on this computer Could someone tell me how to disable Bios memory options shadowing or caching. I guess thats what it is telling me. I have unchecked all programs not needed at start up. Disk cleanup disk defrag. emptied cache in firefox and java.Used cc cleaner. No stopping the error when using any anti virus or spyware programs. Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600) MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180) This computer was upgraded to xp sp2 from me last year. Thank you very much

Take a look in your System Configuration Utility - StartUp (tab) Do you have unwanted/unneeded applications and utilities running? Sorry I didn't read your post well enough, and now see that you've already done this.

No stopping the error when using any anti virus or spyware programs.

OK, the problem occurs when using anti-virus and antispyware programs.
Does this machine operate without error at all other times?
Are you experiencing any difficulty when browsing the internet?
Unwanted popups, browser redirects, accessing unwanted sites?

I have not had any pop ups or browerser redirects untill just now. I tried to log onto email account and then this site/ It was a messege from McAfee site advisor that mentioned something about a certificate that wasnot valid.Got the messege from both sites. I have next to nothing installed on this machine. Just anti virus and adaware spyware blaster spybot system security suite ewido. Everything else came with xp except open officeand cdburner pro .It did crash once while I was reading email. I can run audio cds and dvd all day with no problem. Ram installed is 256 which I thought should be good enough for surfing etc. Thanks for the response.

The Error Stop:0x0000009c(0x00000002,0x8054D370,0xF6002000,0x0000017A) refers to Hardware changes that are incompatible or faulty within the capabilities of your machine. This "could" be a natural consequence of RAM memory "wearing out", CPU "wearing out", Heatsink and Case Fans "wearing out". Or someone could have changed BIOS settings, perhaps to attempt to "overclock" the performance of your machine to improve gaming performance? Disable bios memory options such as caching or shadowing. Shadowing would only be appropriate if your machine is run in DOS mode for much of its operation. How to turn off "Shadowing" in BIOS…. Well, it's going to be different on different machines. Often, the CMOS settings allow the system to shadow any BIOS setting. This may include: System BIOS (enable/disable) Video BIOS (enable/disable) Other adapters ROM BIOS (in a given select range) (enable/disable) You can "toggle" between "enable and disable" by using the BIOS instruction for the proper keyboard key. It is usually UpArrow/DownArrow or +/- sign key.

Do you have more than one Anti-Virus utility installed on this machine? (Note: More than one Anti-virus utility running active at the same time causes lots of conflicts)

It sounds like time has taken its toll! Not sounding good. Thanks Dough

Just one anti virus AVG Free71405 Zone alarm too. All free software as you can see.

Hi There are no games installed. Maybe play a yahoo game occasionally with no problem.

From Microsoft about your Error Message: Read it here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=329284
A machine check exception occurs when Windows XP and your hardware platform cannot recover from a hardware error so that the system can continue to run successfully and reliably. More specific diagnosis of machine check exceptions is difficult, and there is no general solution. Contact your hardware manufacturer or a computer hardware technician for help with troubleshooting this issue.

Machine check exceptions are frequently caused by one of the following conditions: • You are running the processor or mainboard beyond its specifications. For example, you are overclocking the processor or bus. We recommend that you run your hardware at the manufacturer-rated speeds.
• Noisy power, overstressed power strips, outmatched power supplies and failing power supplies can destabilize your computer. Make sure that you have a stable, reliable power supply to your computer.
• Extreme thermal conditions caused by the failure of cooling devices such as fans may damage your computer. Make sure that your cooling devices are all working.
• You have damaged memory or memory that is not the correct type for your computer. If you recently changed the memory configuration, revert to the previous configuration to determine what is wrong. Make sure that you are using the correct memory for your computer.


How long has it been since you opened up that case to blow out the dust bunnies?
My order of suspicion for hardware related issues:
Heat/airflow (check that all Heatsink and Case Fans are spinning freely and airflow is not blocked anywhere)
………………(Is your Tower siting on top of a desk without clutter blocking air intake/exhaust)
………………(Those handy desk "built-in" slots for computer towers can block airflow and cause overheating)
Power Supply Unit (especially if new hardware has been added to an "off-the-shelf name-brand machine)
…………….. (PSU faults can cause many types of system error) (easy to replace/ relatively inexpensive)
Video Card Malfunction: (Substitute a different card or use onboard video if available to test for Card Fault)
…………… If the machine works/displays fine in SAFE Mode, but not in Normal suspect Video Card
RAM Memory (Remove all but one RAM stick. Reboot. If machine boots and runs fine, then one of the removed RAM sticks is faulty. Rotate adding only one at a time until problem reapears)
……………..MemTest86 provides a good test for faulty RAM.