posted
I really like the new layout of Windows 7 - love it in fact.
However, I have been a bit disappointed in the fact that this newly touted 'stable' operating system has given me several blue screens of death, and unexpected shutdowns.
Per Glenn Taylor's suggestion... I have just double-checked my drivers... motherboard and peripheral hardware... and they are all up-to-date Windows 7 64 bit drivers.
I just deleted my temp files also...
So, I'm not sure what to do at this point. The system works fine, but I surely cannot have confidence at this point that it will run reliably.
Any suggestions? Here are some screen shots ( of my last unexpected shutdown - shown in three screenshots to get all the data for you )
I sure appreciate your help. Computer topics may not be the most exciting in a forum as this, but they are vitally important to the sign business today... so again, I appreciate the advice of any sign/computer guru's out there.
I haven't experienced any shutdowns while I am actually working on the computer yet. Seems like I find this happen after the computer has gone into power-saving 'sleep' mode. Wondering if there is a connection here? Maybe motherboard driver related to this function?
Edit:
Device Manager shows NO conflicts.
System specs:
Processor: Intel i7 2.66 processor Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe Ram: 12 gb (OCZ) installed as 6 - 2gb sticks Video: Evga G-Force 8800 GTS (dual dvi) Hard Drive: Western Digital 140 gb SAS 15K rpm boot drive Storage drives: Samsung SATA 1 tb 7200 rpm (2 of these) Power Supply: Corsair 850 watt USB add-on PCIE card (4 ports) Floppy/Card Reader: powered by Internal usb connector on Pcie USB card DVD drives: Samsung Super Writer DVD recordable drives (2 of these)
I'm committed to working with this system... so please, positive, helpful suggestions only.
posted
Todd, You may want to check your Ram.. I had a similar Problem with an asus board and All version of windows. It was a bad stick of Ram. Take all your Memory out and reseat it. do 2 sticks boot 2 stick then boot.. Sometimes windows 64 has a hard time with a lot of memory.
posted
i'd pull the ram out and try 1 stick at a time, or whatever the minimum is (maybe 2 sticks). Anytime I had blue screen problems in the past, it was usually memory related. This being pre-windows 7. The thread Glenn posted sounded reasonable about the memory voltage being incorrectly set. Your computer guy could have easily let it slip by.
Turn off the hibernate function and see if it eventually blues out. If not, somebody on that forum could probably suggest a better possibility related to that part of the system.
Curtis seems to be alot more on top of this stuff. Sad thing is I was a CIS major but I'm a little out of tune when it comes to 7
Tha Mac guys gotta be loving this about now!
-------------------- Bruce Evans Crown Graphics Chino, CA graphics@westcoach.net Posts: 912 | From: Chino, CA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Us Mac guys would never say anything about a problem like this...
We would never laugh at Todd's or any other PC's problem... I just thought of a very funny joke at the very same instant I read the title of the thread...
It was coincidence .... REALLY!
-grampa dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
Thanks guys - checking into all these things now... Also sent a IM to Curtis and Jon to see if they have any suggestions - will keep you posted.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Well, I just got off the horn with OCZ - my memory module manufacturer - and they went through the Bios with me on the memory settings - which were all set to "auto" previously.... so I entered all the correct values per his instruction.
He said this could be causing me BSOD errors... so I think I will run the computer now with the correct settings and see if that solves the issue.
If not, I have also downloaded the blue screen program Glenn linked me to... so that it will give more descriptive explanations of the problem... and hopefully that will give me more concrete clues if the problem persists...
Any more thoughts? I'd sure appreciate it.
Thanks Bill and Bruce and everyone so far... I will also test the memory by removing it and running it separately ... but I did run it through MemTest86 V4.0.... for about an hour or so and nothing glaring popped up.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
as i was taught back when DOS 5.0 was the "new kid on the block"..........and the person who told me this was a computer programmer............. if you want TROUBLE FREE OPERATION.......always stay back 1 version of any NEW OS SYSTEM........and let the one who load it 1st do the BETA TESTING))))))
[ November 30, 2009, 04:25 PM: Message edited by: old paint ]
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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Lots of good guesses. But no one read the error report...
empty the entire temp folder appdata/ local/ temp... and delete the minidump folder in the windows folder.
another $50 bux please...
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
(Curtis posted while I was typing..... try his solution before reading all this.... LOL)
Todd, I haven't had time to study this or read all through the other links posted... but a couple ideas...
Have you tried turning your overclocking back to normal speed and see if that makes the BSOD quit?
You were having trouble with the wireless networking... I'd also try temporarily disabling that and see if that fixes it..
Like has been mentioned, a flaky memory stick is very often a cause for BSOD... I'd try the suggestions given about pulling some sticks out, and seeing if I could eliminate it down to a bad stick.
Also, (like Bruce mentioned) if you are letting your computer go into full hibernation, I'd turn that off too. Hibernation has always been a little flaky depending on your hardware...
As far as OP's post about OSes. I've installed Windows 7 on about 10 computers now and haven't had the least bit of trouble. Almost always has found ALL the drivers it needed automatically. No complaints from the users.... it has been fast, rock solid and over-all a lot better than Vista, in my opinion.
None of those have been a top-end collection of advanced hardware like you're running though... with the highend Asus motherboard, OCZ memory, overclocking, SAS, etc.
(Yeah, you Mac guys are right, Todd would not have had a lot of his problems upgrading a Mac, because it's nearly impossible to have these higher end components and setups on a Mac... in fact, Todd, it might be best to sell that extremely troublesome PC to me, and put that money towards a new Mac... )
[ November 30, 2009, 03:36 PM: Message edited by: Jon Jantz ]
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Curtis - thanks man!! I enacted your suggestion - and humbly appreciate your help!!
Jon -
Overclocking had been eliminated between my post indicating it was 'tweaked' and now...so that element was out of the equation.
Tested the memory - at least through the software link Glenn provided and it checked 'ok.'
I did just go in and look at my hibernation. It was already set to 'always off.'...but the "hybrid sleep was set to 'on.' Is that ok? Or should I turn it off too? Here's a partial screen shot of the settings...
Edit: Oh..and the wireless has since been resolved and works well now - - I ran out and got a 'known' working wireless card and windows 7 detected it immediately.
Under the "power Options' category in the Control Panel.... under the 'advanced settings' tab.... should I have PCI Express/Link State Power Management set to "Moderate power savings" or set to "off?"
Thanks.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
this was a fresh install, or an upgrade? If it was a fresh install, i don't see why you'd be needing to dump any temp stuff at this point.
If it's an upgrade.......and it were me.....i'd move any vital data to another drive and do a fresh install and not upgrade. There could be some little gremlin driver in there that just isn't cooperating with an upgrade. Probably not helpful if you purchased an upgrade though.
-------------------- Bruce Evans Crown Graphics Chino, CA graphics@westcoach.net Posts: 912 | From: Chino, CA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
We run a pc (windows xp) and an imac. The mac has only crashed once, and that was while running entourage (a Microsoft program) and the pc has regular glitches.
I know that some of you will gripe for me saying so, but the mac outperforms the pc daily. We looked at Windows 7 when we bought the imac, and it just didn't make sense. When the pc croaks, we will be replacing it with another mac.
quote: this was a fresh install, or an upgrade? If it was a fresh install, i don't see why you'd be needing to dump any temp stuff at this point.
Because the temp folder is full of temporary installer data and other config data.. and who knows what else,,, some of those install configure files are still running and causing interrupts...
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Thanks for all your helpful advice folks! Keeping my fingers crossed.... I haven't had a BSOD (blue screen of death) since I started making these changes yesterday...so we'll see if 'she' holds up. I'll keep you posted.
I'll also keep my eyes peeled for updated drivers as they become available...
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
...ALL of the problems Todd writes about and all of the PC tech experts advice, is nothing more than an ADVERTISEMENT as to why Macs are better units and easier to use for most of us.
Not trying to hijack this thread but, would deleting the temp files mentioned here be recommended for anyone with any OS? I looked in this location after reading this and it's got a lot of folders...
thanks!
-------------------- Jerry Berg South Paw Sign Washington State Posts: 87 | From: Washington State | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
I wish this site had a block feature. I'd have quite a list.
For the hundreth time, Dave, Billy and you other non-reading comprehension types.... if Todd had a normal system he wouldn't be having these problems. A lot of the higher end components he's running are either not available on Macs or cause EVEN MORE FREAKIN' PROBLEMS on them... so why do you have to push your SH!T in every thread?
I hope all your motherboards go out on your Macs, the day after they are out of warranty. Instead of $119, you'll be looking at probably $800. And it can happen on a Mac, believe me. I have a friend who's experienced it lately.
Ok... I feel better, now. Carry on.
[ December 01, 2009, 10:51 AM: Message edited by: Jon Jantz ]
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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My mind wanders. And that's not a good thing, 'cause it's too small to be out there alone. Posts: 3129 | From: Tooele, UT | Registered: Mar 2005
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I've not been totally innocent in the Mac / PC wars... but at least I can attest to the pluses and minuses of both systems - having both myself.
In the final chapter - like someone said a hundred times and a hundred years ago - it really only matters what you personally like, and what you're comfortable with.
Probably not much sense, in hindsight, in comparing 'my cool thing to your inferior thing'...because it's really inconsequential to daily life.
That said, I posted this topic because I earnestly wanted people who know more than I about computers to help me get my system tuned to perform the sign and design related tasks for which it was built.
And I very humbly - and sincerely thank those that contributed toward the success of this endeavor: Curtis, Jon, Bruce, Glenn, and others.
C'mon Bill... no need to toss chum in the water for your own entertainment.
As Jon has stated: This system is a custom system, built with some high performance hardware and unusual configurations: much of which I have had little to no experience with. As it gets tweaked to perfection, I'll learn a little more than I knew before and should have a fast/robust system. Ferrari's need tinkering with too, ya know? What's so bad about learning about how computers work through experimentation? I like to learn the why's and why not's of things.
By the way... so far, since I have enacted the advice of the good people who were generous enough to offer it, I haven't experienced another Blue Screen/Unexpected shutdown....
Also - back to the subject: I talked to the OCZ tech support... and I had all my dram settings set back to default when I let a less-than-able Asus tech guy talk me into taking out the motherboard battery and rebooting at one point...wiped my bios settings.
So... I think a big part of the BSOD problems were that my motherboard dram defaults were all jacked... The OCZ memory tech went through the bios with me and had me put in all the correct dram timings, voltage settings, as well as had me de-tune the ram speed down from 1600 to 1333...because he said that it was too fast for 6 sticks of memory in my particular motherboard.
So... we'll see how she acts the next few days.
Thanks again guys for all the unselfish help - - this truly is a great place with a lot of helpful, kind people.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
You're welcome.... I apologize (to you) for going 'Todd' on the Mac fanboys...
As far as the car comparison it's more like this..
It's like the guy who puts a 800hp blown engine in his hotrod, is having trouble setting the timing and in the middle of the discussion there are about 2 or 3 people who keep repeating...
"If you'd have a 4-door Mercedes like me, this wouldn't be happening to you."
-------------------- Jon Jantz Snappysign.com jjantz21@gmail.com http://www.allcw.com Posts: 3395 | From: Atmore, AL | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
There you go... good analogy. The sideline 'noise' isn't very helpful. This is what I have, regardless of opinion, and I just want to work the bugs out.
Thanks again for the help Jon...
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Wow, touchy touchy. Glen says to try to upgrade a video card or add a usb port to a Mac, and I said I've done both. How does that qualify as pushing any kind of sh!t on you? Talk about non reading. Your rage over the fact that someone likes something different than you, and actually has the nerve to express it is consuming you. You PC fan boys are worse than the Mac fan boys. Please block me.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5398 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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posted
The reason MACS do not have these problems is because they are locked into what is given them. And then only after they bash the PC users who are experimenting with them.
The PC side has a gagillion iterations of options to choose from. Each and every one cannot be tested to perfection. If someone wishes to get on the cutting edge they have to put up with just a few minor glitches. They are easy to iron out. Just a few tries and he is ready to go.
The pee match starts when someone on the cutting edge does not get perfection the first try and the MAC fanboys jump on and spew their mine is better (mine is bigger?) thesis.
I like the gagillion options. It pushes the cutting edge even sharper. And then if the MAC fanboys would notice and admit.. Those cutting edge options later find their way to the MAC.
Hmmm. lets see here..
Ethernet. is one. Intel chips is another, standardized ram chips should be mentioned in passing... Oh yes.. shall we mention the video cards now available where at one time there was just one option.?
Oh yes, at one time a few geeks were even testing and running XP windows on MAC before it was even acknowledged it was possible. At that time the fanboys had their own grand mall hissy fit and started spewing the copyright law campaign.
Today they should be thanking those PC geeks because from that came out the parallels type software packages. Sheesh.
-------------------- Leaper of Tall buildings.. If you find my posts divisive or otherwise snarky please ignore them. If you do not know how then PM me about it and I will demonstrate. Posts: 5274 | From: Im a nowhere man | Registered: Jul 2001
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