[Macboatmaster]

I have an XP machine running SP3 that won't wake up from stand by. Well, it WILL wake up from stand by, but between 5 and 30 seconds after I type in my password I hear a <cronk> noise from the speakers and then the whole thing locks up tighter than a drum. No mouse, no keyboard, no front panel power button, nothin'. The only way I have found to recover from that is to remove power and then reapply.

After this crash, sometimes the fans in my machine spin up to jet-taking-off volumes. I can't tell if this is the case fan making the noise or the graphics card fan (I'm using an ATI Radeon X1650).

These quotes are from this thread and the other thread you started on the - will not wake up from standby - weel it does wake up but then locks up.

Could the first quote be the Start Windows sound - that is then corrupted by the system fault.

Re the second quote I have just noticed that this problem started after you had cleaned the case and fans using an air duster spray or similar.
Directing that at the fan blades, can cause the fan to spin so fast that it destroys the small bearing/running sleeve.
Just an idea.
I do not think the suggestion on the other thread that the SP3 update has damaged critical system files is relevant to this. If SP3 is installed manually then there are particular steps to take, before downloading and installing SP3 but on automatic updates, as far as I understand the situation, Micorosoft updates will ensure your system is ready for SP3 before installing it.

rshaffer61 - not staying on this, got one going on another site that is taking up all my time. Just dropped in while waiting for the latest on the other site.

[Advertisements]

rshaffer61 - not staying on this, got one going on another site that is taking up all my time. Just dropped in while waiting for the latest on the other site.

No problem I understand that for sure. I'm just offering some assistance to try and resolve while you are gone.

[rshaffer61]

rshaffer61 - not staying on this, got one going on another site that is taking up all my time. Just dropped in while waiting for the latest on the other site.

No problem I understand that for sure. I'm just offering some assistance to try and resolve while you are gone.

[Anamacha]

hey there --

I have not yet had a chance to run the memory tests you've suggested.

However, I did observe that my machine crashed a whole lot more today, when I started it from a cold boot. Plus which we had a cold front blow in on the other side of my open window ... I'd say it was 40-50 degrees out. Yes, that's a cold front for Central Texas Anyway, this suggests a hard drive issue, or maybe some other temperature related thing.

I am in Safe Mode with Networking right now, though, and I am not having any problems whatsoever, other than Safe Mode related issues (like my screen resolution is b0rked). I think if the HDD was really the problem, I'd be having issues in SM as well ... right?

Now, I did "upgrade" to iTunes 10 recently, and I've been observing a lot more crashes since then. Related? Don't know yet.

I will run those memory tests later. I have 2 gigs of memory in this thing, and I seem to remember CPU-Z reporting I had two sticks.

[rshaffer61]

I am in Safe Mode with Networking right now, though, and I am not having any problems whatsoever, other than Safe Mode related issues (like my screen resolution is b0rked). I think if the HDD was really the problem, I'd be having issues in SM as well ... right?

Normally this would indicate a drivers, service or startup problem and not a HD problem. If it truly was a hd problem being in Safe mode would not make any difference honestly. Safe mode means it loads generic drivers so the system is using less resources and being stressed at much.

[Anamacha]

Normally this would indicate a drivers, service or startup problem and not a HD problem. If it truly was a hd problem being in Safe mode would not make any difference honestly. Safe mode means it loads generic drivers so the system is using less resources and being stressed at much.

that's what I was thinking. I don't know how reliable the SMART indicators are, but the last time I looked at them, they were all green for this drive.

Here's a little something else to add to the pot: I have already said that my computer will crash when left idle for too long. I noticed the other day that this will happen even at the Windows logon screen after a restart -- in other words, before any drivers and whatnot have loaded. I think this is indicative of a low-level system problem or corruption, something in one of the base Windows files or drivers.

Any idea on how to troubleshoot that? Oh, and I got another BSOD yesterday -- same stop code, 0x000050, PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, in win32k.sys

[rshaffer61]

0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card)

Do you have a Antivirus installed and if so what is it?
Do you have any pci add on cards installed in the system like a video, sound or nic card?

[Anamacha]

0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems (e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card)

Do you have a Antivirus installed and if so what is it?
Do you have any pci add on cards installed in the system like a video, sound or nic card?

I have avast! v 5.0.677 installed. I keep it updated.
I have an ATI Radeon X1650 installed; it's PCI-X. I have a Firewire card installed that I am not using, but has never caused me problems before (I am not sure the drivers for it are even installed).

Checking Device Manager for other things I've installed and forgotten about ...
... odd. There's a "GA1055W KUN938Q SCSI CdRom Device" installed. I have never installed this. For a while I was running Alcohol 120%, and ... there's another ISO-mounting program that I can't remember, but I am no longer running these.

No, I don't see any other devices. I have run a few programs like CPU-Z and PC Wizard to see what else is in my case, but I think that's about it.

[rshaffer61]

I think we need ot get the memtest86 diagnostics run to do a thorough test on it.

[Anamacha]

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.

Yeah I will run the software test first as I don't have the bench space to easily open my machine and yank RAM.

I already have an Ultimate Boot CD ... I made it a few months ago. There's a memtest program on it, but I don't think it's the one you're referencing. There are other programs that it can run before the win/cd environment loads, and I think I'll give that a shot first.

haven't had time lately to do much troubleshooting. Comuter has been acting okay, though. Yesterday it crashed 3-4 times, so I'm on this again

[rshaffer61]

[Anamacha]

okay. What I had was MemTest86 v4.10 -- so I ran that for some 11 hours, 15 passes, and get this: NO ERRORS. NONE.

So I think we have a software problem.

More relevant data from the test:
I have 4 DIMMs, each a 512 DDR2-232 Micron Technology 16HTF6464AY-53EB2
2046M cached during test
8k reserved during test

[bleep] machine crashed 4 times yesterday, but that was coming off a 3 day stretch where it didn't crash at all.

Okay, so what are some other ideas?

[rshaffer61]

Since it crashed then lets see if it is the drivers causing it now.
Download WhoCrashed from the link in my signature below
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

Click on the file you just downloaded and run it.

Put a tick in Accept then click on Next
Put a tick in the Don't create a start menu folder then click Next
Put a tick in Create a Desktop Icon then click on Install and make sure there is a tick in Launch Whocrashed before clicking Finish
Click Analyze
It will want to download the Debugger and install it Say Yes
WhoCrashed will create report but you have to scroll down to see it
Copy and paste it into your next reply

[Anamacha]

Since it crashed then lets see if it is the drivers causing it now.
Download WhoCrashed from the link in my signature below
This program checks for any drivers which may have been causing your computer to crash....

we already ran WhoCrashed and it's not terribly useful as the crashes I am getting are not generating dump files to be analyzed. To recap, I get a noise from the sound device -- the particular noise varies; it is not a recognizable Windoes sound but is rather a <cronk> or a <crunch> or something similar. Then my whole machine freezes up, the mouse and everything. No mouse movement, no clock advancing, no nothing. I have to remove power, wait, and reapply in order to recover from this crash. About 1 time in 8, one of the internal fans accelerates to an abnormally loud level; I THINK it is a power supply fan but I cannot be sure.

If it is hardware related, then it's either hard drive or motherboard, and I don't have the experience to say whether it is definitely one or the other.

Anyway, as requested here's the data from WhoCrashed: As you can see it's been a while since my computer has given me a BSOD. It certainly has before, it's just that the non-BSOD crash is a lot more common.

On Sat 10.11.06 7.14.01 AM your computer crashed
This was likely caused by the following module: win32k.sys
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xE548A01C, 0x0, 0xBF83CFDA, 0x1)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Dump file: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini110610-01.dmp
file path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\win32k.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: Multi-User Win32 Driver
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect, possibly the culprit is in another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time. 

[rshaffer61]

Well the log shows the OS and a driver as the issue.

The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect, possibly the culprit is in another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

Go to

Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter ...It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot...click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note... there are 5 stages...
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area...this is normal...
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem

[Anamacha]

Well the log shows the OS and a driver as the issue.

The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect, possibly the culprit is in another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

Go to
[list]
Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /

I will try chkdsk again soon. I ran it a while ago and it didn't solve anything but rather stuck me in a continuous loop. Chkdsk would run, computer would reboot as normal and then chkdsk would run again. I ultimately fixed this by fiddling with am improper registry entry.

Before I run chkdsk, though, let me ask you this: at this point, several months after the original install, would there be any value in UNINSTALLING Service Pack 3? And going back to SP2?

I'll run chkdsk after I hear back from you. Thanks for your continued assistance, by the way. I sincerely appreciate it.