[DarkGob]

Ever since I got back from school for Thanksgiving Break (Tuesday), my computer has been having random crashing fits, giving me a blue screen saying something about MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION. A restart would "resolve" the problem. This morning, I found another blue screen, but after restarting and getting to the desktop, the machine froze when I started clicking icons or doing anything. I'm pretty much unable to do anything with the machine at this point except use it as a giant paperweight. I tried loading it with "fail-safe settings" (closest thing I could find to Safe Mode in the BIOS, unless I missed something), but there seemed to be no difference.

I built the machine this summer, 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 3000+, motherboard is called K8N Neo Platinum or something (forgive me for not being sure, I haven't slept and my memory is not working right). That's pretty much all the specifics I can recall at the moment. The only thing that's changed since I got home is the speakers I'm using -- the ones that came with my old computer, a Compaq purchased over 4 years ago. I haven't overclocked or messed around with anything inside the computer since I put it together back in July, and this is the first time I've had problems with it.

Enough rambling. Any ideas?

Just remembered, the BIOS said the CPU was running at 104 F (40 C). Not sure if this is good or bad or what.

Edited by DarkGob, 26 November 2005 - 07:34 AM.

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Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Can you boot into safe mode? Some guidance from M$:
When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.
Notes

In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers (mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system services, and no network connections). You can choose the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, or you can choose the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option, which is exactly the same as safe mode except that a command prompt is started instead of the graphical user interface. You can also choose Last Known Good Configuration, which starts your computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.
Safe mode helps you diagnose problems. If a symptom does not reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and minimum device drivers as possible causes. If a newly added device or a changed driver is causing problems, you can use safe mode to remove the device or reverse the change.
There are circumstances where safe mode will not be able to help you, such as when Windows system files that are required to start the system are corrupted or damaged. In this case, the Recovery Console may help you.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.


Do you have a windows install cd that you can boot to if you can't get into safe mode? You may need to change the boot order in the bios to boot from cd first.

[austin_o]

Hi and welcome to Geeks to Go. Can you boot into safe mode? Some guidance from M$:
When you see the message Please select the operating system to start, press F8.
Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.
If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot system, choose the installation that you need to access using the arrow keys, and then press ENTER.
Notes

In safe mode, you have access to only basic files and drivers (mouse, monitor, keyboard, mass storage, base video, default system services, and no network connections). You can choose the Safe Mode with Networking option, which loads all of the above files and drivers and the essential services and drivers to start networking, or you can choose the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option, which is exactly the same as safe mode except that a command prompt is started instead of the graphical user interface. You can also choose Last Known Good Configuration, which starts your computer using the registry information that was saved at the last shutdown.
Safe mode helps you diagnose problems. If a symptom does not reappear when you start in safe mode, you can eliminate the default settings and minimum device drivers as possible causes. If a newly added device or a changed driver is causing problems, you can use safe mode to remove the device or reverse the change.
There are circumstances where safe mode will not be able to help you, such as when Windows system files that are required to start the system are corrupted or damaged. In this case, the Recovery Console may help you.
NUM LOCK must be off before the arrow keys on the numeric keypad will function.


Do you have a windows install cd that you can boot to if you can't get into safe mode? You may need to change the boot order in the bios to boot from cd first.

[DarkGob]

Ah, so THAT'S where Safe Mode is.

I'm loaded up in Safe Mode now, and it doesn't seem to be freezing or crashing.

[DarkGob]

I've been told that I can use the Windows install CD to perform some "repair" function that might fix things (assuming the problem is with Windows files), but I can't seem that when I insert the disk.