Blue Screen of Death

I recently purchased a new HP machine with Win Vista on it. I reformatted the hard drive after numerous problems and installed a licensed copy of XP Pro. This is a desktop with a dual core processor, 4G of RAM less than 3 months old. Everything was working great until this past Thurs morning. When I try to open my e-mail program (Incredimail), I wind up with the blue screen or my machine will restart. I have tried rolling back on the restore point and no luck. I did try shutting down my security software (something I don't like to do (Etrust by Computer Associates thru my broadband provider) and that seemed to work. Does anyone have any ideas what could be causing this? Thanks. I'm at work right now but I will check this site when I get home this evening if any other technical info is needed.

Hello punkinsmom,

If you haven't already, please turn-off the Windows Automatic Restart function, so we can see which error your system is encountering:

• Go to Start, right-click My Computer, and click Properties
• Click the Advanced tab
• In the Startup and Recovery section, click Settings
• In the System failure section, uncheck/untick "Automatically restart"
• Click OK twice

Now, your system will not automatically restart when the error occurs. This does not mean the issue is resolved, it just means you will be able to see the Error Name when it is encountered.

When your machine next encounters the problem, you will see the Windows Stop Error screen, also known as the "Blue Screen of Death" (BSOD). Encountering this screen means that Windows can no longer continue operating normally and needs to be restarted. Please write down the Error Name and Number (on paper) and post it back here into this thread when you reply.

Regards,

Ax

Ok, auto restart is officially off. I like your signature line. He is our strength!

Now we just wait for the BSOD to rear its ugly head. Yes, our strength indeed, but having an ever-present help is great as well!

Ok, it just happened again! What do you need from me.

HI, When you get the BSOD just write down on a piece of paper the full message then type it in to your next reply , so that Ax can check it out for you. Regards paws

Ok, here is what I get A problem has been detected & Win has shut down to prevent damage to your computer. DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL The usual: if this is the first time, blah, blah, blah. TECH INFO: STOP: 0X0000001, (0X0000002, 0X0000000, 0xB5FA85C0) KmxCFsys address B5Fa85C0 base at B5F9700 Datestamp 46a6126d Beginning dump of physcial memory, blah, blah blah. Can you tell what's happening from this or do you need more? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Hello punkinsmom,

KmxCF.sys is what is causing your BSOD. This file is a part of CA's eTrust Security Suite. It is actually part of the associated firewall. What version of CA eTrust are you running? See the following site:
CA Personal Firewall HIPS engine multiple privilege escalation vulnerabilities - CA (confirm that the engine version number is 1.0.176 or higher)

Please make sure you are running the most up-to date version.

You can optionally remove the firewall component (probably want to replace it though):

• Go to Start | Control Panel | Add/Remove Programs
• Find "CA Security Suite" and click Remove
• At the prompt with the list of the programs, uncheck the ones you want to keep
• Continue with the uninstall

If you do remove the firewall, I would suggest replacing it with one of the following recommended firewalls:
Free Firewalls for Windows

Regards,

Ax

I just wanted to let you know, I uninstalled my security suite, then re-installed and everything seems to be functioning normally. Thanks for the help!

Hi, That is good news…well done. Ax doesn't seem to be around just at the moment, but I'm sure he will delighted that things are now running well for you Regards paws

Hey punkinsmom, that's wonderful to hear! paws is right of course. Thanks for the follow-up, I'm glad to have been of assistance. Regards, Ax