Multiple Random BSODs

Randomly while I am using my computer I tend to get three different BSODs and I cannot for the life of menotice a pattern as to when they happen and why. This has been going on for a LONG time and I had fixed it for a while by moving my memory from 4x512MB to 2x512MB and my comp worked perfectly. THen my friend decided that it sucked without 2gigs so he put the other 2x512s in it and it started screwing up again, so I took them out but the BSODs still came! And when I say they come at random times, they come at random times anywhere from idling at the Windows logon menu, to idling at the desktop, to playing BF2, to sufing the net. The three type of STOP errors I get are:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR

BTW I noticed that in my DRAM settings on my motherboard, it says that my CAS Latency is set to 2 when my memory is only CL3. The only reason I mention this is that when reading the pssible causes for KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR I noted that faulty memory or memory timings were a possible cause.

Can you list your computer specs and settings? Either here or make a sig for future reference. Try running memtest86 from a boot disk for a few hours. Any obvious errors should take 5-20 mins to find. Also, if your memory is only rated for CL3, and is running at CL2 I'd say that's a problem. Do you have your ram settings for auto in the bios? I'd try that.

Ok I set my memory setings to Auto. My specs are:

Aspire X-Cruiser
Asus A8N-E
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
eVGA 7800GTX
Linksys WMP54G Wireless Adapter (Inactive)
Maxtor 160GB IDEHD
Lite-On Combo Drive
Lite-On CD Drive
2x512MB Ultra PC 3200 DDR 400 CL3 Memory
Ultra 500W Power Supply

In your bios, do 'load fail safe defaults'. Play around in Windows a little bit, see if it comes back. I bet your RAM timings were messing you up.

Are you overclocked? Always default your BIOS if you're getting errors in windows. When you OC/mess with performance stuff, you should check for stability before you call it done.

Arg after setting my memory settings back to automatic the stop errors are REALLY random. It can stay on for either days or minutes before barfing crap up. No I'm not OCed anywhere. I noticed something though, even when I put the RAM settings to automatic, it still had the CAS Latency at 2 when I have CL3 RAM. Should I attempt to make this change?

Did you ever follow Bios24's recommendation afa running Memtest to rule out your RAM, and if so... what were the results? Did you try mdameron's suggestion afa trying the 'Load Fail Safe Defaults' setting in the BIOS?

I noticed something though, even when I put the RAM settings to automatic, it still had the CAS Latency at 2 when I have CL3 RAM. Should I attempt to make this change?

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If your memory is rated at CAS 3, then YES... make the change, then run Memtest to rule out the RAM. I'm guessing the Ultra 3200 is rated at CAS 3-3-3-8, so manually change the RAM timings in the BIOS (if the SPD settings aren't being read correctly) to the default rating.

Ok lets add a few new symptoms to the list. I now get a new and improved STOP error!

MEMORY_MANAGEMENT

Oh and to add to the strangeness I get a random problem where Fs (yes the character f) shows up as [] cant really insert it its the little square that gets printed when a font character cant be loaded.

Oh and I also get this TOTALLY COOL problem where windows fails to locate the executable files for ANY program I try to run. Ok ok fine im gonna run memtest now god!

Ok, memtest98 has been running for about 5 hours now doing all of its little test thingies. For one thing, about how long does/is the program supposed to run for. Here are the results thus far at about 5:15:00 into the testing:

WallTime: 5:15:00
Cached: 1024M
RsvdMem: 276M
MemMap: e820-Std
Cache: off
ECC: off
Test: Std
Pass: 16
Errors: 3995
ECC Errs: 0

Can anybody help me interpret this and fix whatever errors its encountering.

Come on somebody has to know.

Tracekill said:

Here are the results thus far at about 5:15:00 into the testing:

Errors: 3995

Click to expand...

With almost 4000 errors in Memtest you obviously have a serious hardware problem, and/or incorrect BIOS settings issue. I can't help but wonder why you refuse to post as to whether or not you followed our recommendations, and if you did... what the results were (and if you didn't... why not?). You keep posting symptoms like BSOD errors and strange characters appearing, but don't mention anything about whether you tried relaxing RAM timings, resetting the BIOS to "Failsafe Defaults", etc.

Tracekill said:

Can anybody help me interpret this and fix whatever errors its encountering.

Click to expand...

If you don't follow our suggestions then post the results of your findings, what's the purpose of asking for our help? Maybe you expect that someone will magically be able to diagnose your PC's problems, excluding you from doing any troubleshooting on your own... for example by posting numerous BSOD errors one after the next.

1. First of all, did you or did you not try resetting the BIOS to "Failsafe Defaults" like mdameron suggested?... then making changes only as absolutely necessary.
2. You obviously ran Memtest, but did you try running it with only one stick of RAM installed at a time, and if so... what were your Memtest results?
3. Have you tried increasing or decreasing Vdimm, and if so... what were the results in Memtest?
4. Have you readjusted Vcore?... as an incorrect Vcore can also cause Memtest errors.
5. What EXACTLY have you done as far as troubleshooting? In all of your posts in this thread, I can only see one mention of anything troubleshooting related...

Arg after setting my memory settings back to automatic the stop errors are REALLY random

Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry I'm not very clear with troubleshooting and such.

1. I did set the BIOS to the defaults and for some reason it set my CL to 2 so I had to set it back to 3 because it was still crashing constantly.

2. Yes, right before you posted I actually tested each stick individually and found that one of the four was causing all of the problems and made it fail. So now, I don't get any stop errors, or strange missing Fs replaced by ►, yet now my computer just restarts randomly without even warning me with a blue screen error and when it restarts Windows gives me the error (in the little error report message thing) that the restart was caused by a device driver so I'm looking for updates or some people with similar problems.

Ok first off do what everyone here says BUT do it with a NEW or DIFFERENT PSU. I jsut battled this with a 2 year old system of mine and finally tracked down the issues to the PSU.

I don't really have the money to do that...are you sure it's the PSU?

I replaced the psu in one of my rigs about a month ago. It started randomly BSODing around the same time, then it stopped for a while once I backed my oc down a little. Well I woke up this morning to another BSOD! I restarted and went to school. I came home to find my rig off with a blown PSU! So I put my old one back in a few minutes so and hopefully I won't be seeing any more bsods for a while

The motherboard or PSU may have bad caps.

Check out this web site:

http://badcaps.net

Whoa you must have crapped your pants man, I'm glad you got it working. I seem to have gotten mine working as well. I figured out that I had a bad stick of memory so I removed it. So I figured I fixed it, and for a while, it seemed I was right. It ran all night but in the morning when I installed Oblivion, half way through the install it BSOD with a IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL so I searched forums knowing that it wuld a) be a hardware problem most likely and b) cost alot. So i was reading through post after post of people telling their stories of how they had this problem and were forced to buy entirely new sticks of mem or an entirely new hard drive. And then suddenly somebody posted a link to an article on Logitech's website that their moust software often causes this error if it is out of date. Uninstalled and updated the software and so far no more BSODS.

This is a prime example of why troubleshooting is so important. Back on the 22nd of February, Bios24 suggested you run Memtest... whereas you replied:

Ok ok fine im gonna run memtest now god!

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... as if we were twisting your arm to test your RAM (isn't it a good thing you finally took his advice?). After running Memtest, almost 4000 errors were found... you then found the faulty stick of RAM by trial and error, and removed it accordingly. You then finally decided to troubleshoot the IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSOD (which was one of the errors you made note of in your original post), by researching the error... and finally coming to the conclusion that the outdated Logitech software was the culprit.

We can't always give a concrete answer to a particular problem, and as such some troubleshooting is actually required of the user... as you eventually found out. As the thread starter who posted the original question, you should have been open to any and all suggestions made by the forum members here... then prepared to respond to these suggestions with replies of what worked and what didn't work, noting exactly what you did and what the results were. Without this information, all we can do is supply an educated guess as to what your problem may be... instead of being able to formulate a more concrete response based on the information you've given us in response to our suggestions.

You have a random-access-memory or power problem. I guaran-damn-tee that Memtest will error out. Ninety percent sure. The other ten percent is left for acts of God or Microsoft, for the odd possibility that you're overheating, etc.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, once driver conflicts are ruled out, is almost exclusively a RAM problem. MEMORY_MANAGEMENT (as the name might suggest ) is also a RAM problem. So something is rotten somewhere.

Captain Newbie said:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, once driver conflicts are ruled out, is almost exclusively a RAM problem..

Click to expand...

That can be a CPU problem, too. It probably is if you just started OC'ing your processor. Especially if you only get this BSOD when running a game.

If OC'ing the processor, increase the Vcore and try again. Also, run Prime95.