RE: Computer issues

[firefighterjake]

Hoping for some help here . . .

Home computer keeps freezing up and/or crashing.

When it freezes up I have to shut down the whole computer as I cannot unlock it by using the keyboard (Alt and down keys or Control-Alt-Delete).

When it goes to the blue screen it says something about a data dump and crashing (it is a fleeting message) . . . this morning one message said something like PFN List Corrupt and then a few minutes later it crashed again (after starting it back up) and this time the message was IRQL Not Less Than Equal.

Any ideas?

 

[firefighterjake]

Just realized . . . this should have been in the DIY/Non Hearth section I think . . .

 

[Jags]

Time for a hard drive reload. It has its brains scattered. You could chase this for the next week or sit down for a couple of hours and have a fresh drive and improved performance. Just make sure that you back up what you want to save. If this doesn't fix it, you are probably witnessing the death throws of your drive.

There are only two kinds of computer owners. Those that have had a hard drive failure and those that will.

I personally recommend that home users reload their drive about every 1.5 yrs (assuming that it is used quite a bit).

 

[Delta-T]

I have slightly different take on your technical problem.....Number 5 is ALIVE!!

 

[GAMMA RAY]

Bullcrap Jagsy...Jake has been frequenting questionable websites...
Ever notice how many of you buggers have computer problems?
Just sayin...

 

[Jags]

Sooo much p0rn, so little time.

 

[ironpony]

Jake who???

 

[Adabiviak]

I don't recognize the PFN list corrupt error, but the IRQ error does sound familiar (although it's like a sneeze - you might have a cold, but you might have dengue fever, maybe you just snorted a bug). Those dumps will start to point you in the right direction, but they're somewhat of a pain to deal with.

It could be your hard drive, but it could also be almost any piece of hardware or hardware driver that throws these sorts of errors (faulty RAM may, for example). Do you have more than one stick of RAM in your machine? If so, you can do a simple test to see if you have a bad module: remove one and run your computer for as long as it takes for you to reasonably expect to see this error return. If you still get these errors, put that module back in, remove another, and try again. If the errors cease upon the removal of any of these modules, you may have identified the culprit. If the errors persist with each of the modules having been rotated out, they're probably not the culprit, and you'll want to try something else.

 

[begreen]

Go to the event log. It should list the blue screen crash and offending issue.

 

[firefighterjake]

I did a bit of research on my own yesterday . . . started running Memtest86 last night . . . as of this morning it was still running.

After that I'll probably do what Ada said . . . start experimenting by pulling out my Ram and seeing if this is the issue . . . and then disabling the various drivers to see if this makes a difference. Worse comes to worse . . . I'll junk it and get a new computer.

 

[semipro]

I did a bit of research on my own yesterday . . . started running Memtest86 last night . . . as of this morning it was still running.

I don't know if this is still a common problem but some memory chips used to have contacts made of a different metal than those on the main board socket. This sometimes resulted in galvanic corrosion at the connection. Pulling the memory module, cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser, and then reinserting them usually fixed the problem. You can have connection problems even if the contact metals are the same type.

Doing what Adibiviak recoommends above may actually fix the problem because removiing and replacing the modules may improve the connections. It may also confuse the issue when removing a module seems to fix the problem but putting what you think is a bad module back in doesn't recreate the problem.

The last time I had a problem like the one you're relating it was a defective memory module.

 

[Jags]

It could be a stick of ram. Ram has only two points of failure. Connection and heat. Rule it out first, and we can go from there. If this box has been in service for more than 90 days, I am betting it is not ram. Out of over 120 nodes in constant use, I RARELY get a bad mem stick, but it does happen.

I am betting on a driver or Hard drive.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. It's uncommon for RAM to just fail. I would look elsewhere. CPU or other fan failure is much more common. But the likely suspect is a driver update. Check the Event Log. It should give you the details of the crash and may even show a driver failing on launch.

 

[semipro]

CPU or other fan failure is much more common..

If you haven't already checked the fans that would be a good idea. I'd assumed you had. I agree its a much more common problem
A slow or stopped cooling fan, especially the one on the main processor will cause stange problems.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks folks . . . I'm almost a complete idiot when it comes to computers . . . I mean I was quite proud of myself when I installed a better video card and more memory by myself . . . I will check some of these issues when I get back from Alaska.

I am wondering if it might be a cooling issue . . . the tower is in a desk cabinet and my wife sometimes closes the door trapping in the heat.

 

[Jags]

Cooling issues can create weird and unstable things to happen, that is for sure.

 

[firefighterjake]

D'oh . . . I ran Memtest86 from my computer and now it will not stop running it . . . I can cause it to pause, but then it starts up again . . . turning the computer off and then allowing it to start up again causes Memtest to start running . . . I probably should have run this from a CD or DVD instead of the hard drive.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to stop this?

 

[Jags]

Hit delete and go into the Bios. Under advanced (probably, but it can be located elsewhere), disable the memtest. It then should allow a normal re-boot.