Hi Jim, I see you have already got some helpful replies. As a general rule, the 'blue screen of death' usually indicates a hardware problem, although sometimes it can be caused by software, for example, a missing or corrupted Windows system DLL. The 'STOP' code supposedly tells you the cause of the problem, but in practice is useless. Since people more knowledgeable that me suggest checking the memory, I would try that first. Other things to consider:
Try booting from a CD. If you still get the blue screen, it is most certainly a hardware problem.
The most common cause of hardware failure in a PC is the power supply. If it hasn't been replaced in 8 years, it is really suspect. A flaky power supply can manifest itself in countless bizarre symptoms.
Running fractals takes a *lot* of CPU time. It is possible that the CPU is overheating. Do you have a temperature sensor that warns you of this? It could be that a fan has failed or the glue that holds the fan and/or heatsink to the CPU has dried out causing it to overheat.
Good luck! Nick On 10/26/2011 5:37 PM, Jim Muth wrote:
Fractal fans:
As I have been reporting the past few days, the main 2000mhz fractal computer is out of action and I am using the 200mhz backup machine. I am posting this list of symptoms hoping that someone on the list with more computer knowledge than myself might have an idea of what ails the machine and what if anything might be done to fix it.
When I first turn on the machine it starts up normally and runs for a few minutes. Then a blue screen with white characters appears. The message says there is a problem and windows is shutting down to prevent possible damage. The message says to try restarting the machine, but when I try, the machine is locked up. When I cut the power for a minute or so, the machine beeps 1-3-2 and the normally all-green lights on the back panel turn (left to right) amber,amber,green,green. Nothing else happens.
But if I keep the power shut off for a couple hours, the computer will again start up normally, only to go dead in a few minutes, with another identical blue screen.
The following is some technical information that appears on the blue screen. It is beyond my understanding.
STOP: 0x0000008E (0xc0000005,0xBF80232A,0xB797DC14,0x00000000)
win32k545 - Address BF80232A base at BF800000, Datestamp4341deff
Hopefully, I have copied all the characters correctly.
The machine is a Dell dimension-8400 series about 8 years old, running WindowsXP Professional. Any help would be appreciated and would also promote the fractal cause.
P.S. I have already tried reseating the memory cards.
JIM
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