BSOD problem

A

Azh

Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2013
Posts
6
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Hi all,

having a small problem this evening, and need some help and advice.

I noticed when installing a new Blu Ray drive the other day that one of the power connectors in my old case was rather dodgy, so I went out and bought a new case.

I transferred my system over to the new case, followed all the usual rules for connections etc, and fired it up. Now I'm getting a BSOD on startup, and nothing I've tried has got me any further.

Background: I've been a PC user since 1985, and have built more systems than I care to remember since that time. I always build my own systems, and I upgrade them rather piecemeal. This is usually not a problem.

Recently I was having problems with a drive claiming it was about to fail, so I bought a new one and did a fresh install approx 3 weeks ago. I bought the blu ray drive a week ago and installed it, and it has been working fine.

So tonight I changed cases, connected all the same drives to all the same connectors, and hit the start button. It comes up with the options "Launch Windows Repair" and "Start Windows Normally". No matter which option I choose, I end up at a BSOD, "DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL", almost immediately, and the system immediately reboots. I've tried going in through safe mode, same problem. I've tried booting from the install disk in the dvd drive, same problem.

I've stripped back the system to just the boot drive, same problem. Just the boot drive and DVD, ditto. I've tried the ram chips singly and in each slot. I've disconnected everything except monitor, mouse and keyboard, same problem.

As you can imagine, I'm rather stumped. I can't get far enough into a boot to get a log or memory dump. I tried connecting up the old drive with the previous install of windows, but I have the same problem.

Luckily my wife's computer is still working, and I have my ipad.

Looking for some fresh ideas - at this point I'm almost willing to try anything.

regards,
Azh
 
Thanks for your reply, however I am unable to run ANY program as suggested in that post, since windows does not actually boot up completely before the BSOD appears. I cannot access the documents folder, nor the drives, I cannot download or save. I can only access this forum through my iPad or my wife's computer.

cheers, Alex
 
Hi there,

I moved the thread to the BSOD forum. :)

Is it possible for you to attach the HDD to another computer and extract some files manually for me?

I need the files from C:\Windows\Minidump if there are any. If no files are there, check for a file called MEMORY.DMP in C:\Windows\ Zip these files up and attach them to your next post. If the zip file is too large, upload it to a free file sharing site such as Dropbox.

Kind regards,
Stephen
 
Hm... I just re-read your first post. Somehow I missed everything that you've tried so far when I read it the first time. That sure is a dilly of a pickle you appear to be in.

Hopefully one of the very knowledgeable techs here will be able to help you. I however am not one of those and wouldn't dare try to give advice. But I believe you've come to the right place.

Good Luck
 
I've taken the mobo and boot drive out of the new case and reinstalled them in the old one, and now my system boots again.

previously it would get as far as the swirling coloured balls on the intro screen, and then it would BSOD.

The .dmp files are unable to be zipped. No idea why - I've checked the permissions and I have full permission, however the several programs I've used do not permit me to zip them.

since it's almost 1am and my brain is now fried, I'll have another go at it, and another go at installing the mobo into the new case as soon as I have time.

Thanks for your help.

cheers,
Alex
 
Azh said:
I've taken the mobo and boot drive out of the new case and reinstalled them in the old one, and now my system boots again.

previously it would get as far as the swirling coloured balls on the intro screen, and then it would BSOD.

The .dmp files are unable to be zipped. No idea why - I've checked the permissions and I have full permission, however the several programs I've used do not permit me to zip them.

since it's almost 1am and my brain is now fried, I'll have another go at it, and another go at installing the mobo into the new case as soon as I have time.

Thanks for your help.

cheers,
Alex
Click to expand...
Hi Alex,

At least it's booting now :)

Copy the files from the folder to a folder your desktop. Then zip up that folder on your desktop.

No rush, reply when you get time :)

Stephen
 
Day two of the saga goes like this:

The score at the end of Day 1 was thus: minimal old system in old case (mobo, boot drive): working

Try to boot up the old system this morning, no video. Fiddle around looking for vga cable to remove graphics card. Discover motherboard has no onboard graphics adapter. Look for old (working) video card. Install. Still no graphics.

Hmmm. Fetch vga monitor from shed, connect up. Still no graphics, not even text from POST.

Remount mobo in new case. Boot up - graphics, but immediate BSOD as windows begins to load. Remount mobo in old case. No video.

Go to work and stew for about 8-9 hours.

Come home, demount mobo and drive from old case. Pack up new case for return to vendor.

Set up mobo with boot drive on desk top, mounted on a polystyrene box. Connect up a spare power supply and realise that it won't start up because there's no way to short the power switch, so haul the old case up next to the naked mobo and connect power switch. Turn on. No video.

remove spare power supply and connect up power supply from old case to mobo and drive. Hit switch - and the damn thing works. I'm using it right now.

Back in the early 90s I ran my BBS off a setup like this for about 8 months until I could afford a case for it.

Sometimes I remember why I got out of the computer industry after 27 years.

cheers,
Alex
 
The version of windows I use is not OEM, and I make regular small changes of hardware without needing to reinstall. For example, installing the Blu ray drive last week. At other times I have installed new video cards, or new secondary drives, etc. I have even changed cases and power supplies before without needing to reinstall windows. Just in this particular instance, there must be something a little flaky with the new power supply.

i have been building my own systems since the mid 80s, have run many different versions of windows, and have never yet had an OEM version.

regards,
Alex
 
Hi Alex,

I agree with you on not needing to reinstall Windows based on the hardware changes you listed.

Mobo, primary HDD, CPU - different story.

Regards,

John
 
OK, problem now appears to be completely solved.

Mea culpa - the end culprit turned out to be the DDR3 RAM. After a number of adventures, and a number of temporary solutions that worked right up until they didn't, I ended up doing a memtest this afternoon and discovered that both DIMMs were faulty - and in retrospect the clues were obvious - it was crashing in the same place despite all the other changes.

So, with a new 4Gb DDR3 1600 DIMM in place of the 2 x 4Gb 1333 DIMMs, all seems calm and logical. I've watched a movie, played a game of Unreal Tournament, imported photographs, updated Facebook, burned a DVD and accessed all my drives.

All up, the "simple" fix for a slightly broken SATA connector on the old power supply ended up costing me damn close to $200 - new case ($35), new 2TB sata3 drive, $99, sundry cables (two new SATA cables, plus two 4pin to Sata adapter cables) $12, and the new DIMM, $38. plus the time, inconvenience, driving, and pulling out of what little hair I have remaining. On payday next week I'll get another matching DIMM to bring the system back up to 8Gb.

My thanks to all for the suggestions received on possible causes and possible fixes. This is the first time in a long time I've managed to have two sticks of memory go bad at the same time, so despite the fact that I had swapped the sticks over and tried them singly, I was still having the same problem.

regards,
Alex
 

Has Sysnative Forums helped you? Please consider donating to help us support the site!

Back
Top