Help requested with a blue screen of death variation

**zznɟ ǝɥʇ** · May 29, 2007, 11:03 AM

Hey all, for the last year or so, every so often, my parent's PC has been doing this:

Sorry for the blurryness, my dad sent me the pic.

Now, a few questions:

What has caused this, or what might have?

Will a complete reformat fix it?

and disabling or removing new software is a moot point as this problem has being going on for ages.

Any help would be great, thanks!

**The Sundance Kid** · May 29, 2007, 11:08 AM

ive had that screen several times over the past few weeks. i hit restart like it says, every time, and it logs me on normally and i naturally forget about it until next time. if only my computer didn't fix itself so readily, i mightve already run into the same problem. but no, sorry mate, the restart worked for me...

**spartan_phalanx** · May 29, 2007, 11:32 AM

Most likely hardware related, I found this on google quoted directly from...

http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm

and more info here...

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=137539&sd=RMVP

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0x0000007F: UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
One of three types of problems occurred in kernel-mode: (1) Hardware failures. (2) Software problems. (3) A bound trap (i.e., a condition that the kernel is not allowed to have or intercept). Hardware failures are the most common cause (many dozen KB articles exist for this error referencing specific hardware failures) and, of these, memory hardware failures are the most common.

* General Causes {KB 137539} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
* Windows Stops Responding with Stop Error 0x7F Error Message {KB 814789} Win 2000, Win XP (when running Terminal Services)
* Windows NT 4.0 Setup Troubleshooting Guide {KB 126690} NT 4 (Recommendations for the current error message are buried down inside this article, which isn’t necessarily limited to NT 4.)
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**Incinerate_IV** · May 29, 2007, 02:49 PM

Some things you can try, if you can start the PC that is.

-Install the latest drivers for all your hardware, look on the manufacturer's site.

-Download Prime95, and run some torture tests.

-If you have a Windows CD on hand, try to repair it. When you put the CD in, go through the steps as if you were installing Windows. When the computer ask you which partition to install Windows on, select your current Windows partition, and it will ask you if you want to repair that Windows installation.

**Spiff** · May 29, 2007, 06:12 PM

In my experience random blue screens like that are most likely to be caused by either a faulty RAM module, or a faulty motherboard.

If youre pretty sure its not software/driver related then you may want to test the ram

**Erik** · May 29, 2007, 06:48 PM

My old PC did that sometimes, when the weather was really hot (I don't have any air conditioning in my room).
underclocking the CPU and RAM fixed it for me.

You might also want to check all liquid capacitors (the cylindrical components on your mother board and expansion cards) for leaks.
If one of them looks out of shape or damaged it could be leaking.
Leaking liquid capacitors are the most common cause of hardware failure, or so I've heard.

**GrnEyedDvl** · June 07, 2007, 03:50 PM

Does this happen to be an HP machine? There are several models of HP mid range desktops out there using an Intel integrated video card that get tweaky with certain drivers. I dont remember the driver version as it was last fall that it came out, but I fixed about 20 of these. I thought they removed them from the Windows Update site but its possible they didnt and someone just happened to do a driver update to that version.

Hardware failure is the last thing you want to assume. Assume its a driver problem until you know for sure. Boot to Safe Mode by pressing F8 when its loading and selecting Safe Mode. Then go into Control Panel, System, Hardware and select both the video card and the audio card drivers and click Roll Back. This will get you to the previously installed driver. Boot normally and run it for a few days and see if the problem occurs again. If not then you can either leave it as is or get current drivers from the manufacturer not from Windows Update.

If you still have the problem then go ahead and get new drivers from the manufacturers sites. If you have problems figuring out exactly which piece of hardware you have then use this tool:

http://www.pcitree.de/

All this is assuming your machine isnt overheating. Take the side panel off and use an air compressor or canned air to clean it up.

If you are still having problems with new drivers installed then you can try a format and reloading as there might be soemthing in the registry that got screwed up. If you still have the problem after reloading then take it to someone who can run a voltage drop test on the boards.

**OTZ** · June 07, 2007, 06:08 PM

Check the error log in Windows...could be somthing as simple as an audio driver...

**Titus Protius** · June 08, 2007, 05:35 PM

I had that error alot on my old computer so i took it apart and back together but tested it, starting with the RAM. I didnt have a blue screen for about a month after, then i got new computer. check the RAM on the computer becuase from experience with mine and other peoples i know it has always been down to the ram.
Reformats probably wont fix it and if it does then you know its a software fault.
If you can try the ram, if you have more than one stick just try taking one out and leave one in to see if you still get the error.
so i agree with spiff and would say the RAM.

**fatsheep** · June 09, 2007, 07:45 PM

I'm suprised nobody's beat me to this: Run memtest to check your memory.

**mrmouth** · June 10, 2007, 11:12 PM

It could be a number of things and its all a process of elimination that is both frustrating and unless your lucky, time consuming.

In my experience the page fault errors are hardly ever hardware related. Microsoft like all developers would like us to believe its our machines when in my experience its almost always a hotfix meant to solve issues or a update from Microsoft that causes the problems. Increasingly viruses are becoming something to look for too.

Unless your parents or yourself want to go through the painful process involved I would bite the bullet and take it to a mom and pop PC shop where they can look at the mini dump and find out what exactly the problem is. Dont take it to the Geek Squad, and even if you think you have found a nice 'honest' shop it would behoove you or your parents to do some research so you don't sound all that naive when you drop it off, just frustrated.

Other than that you could try a reinstall or even a repair. Or if you really want to fix the issue yourself download windows support tools and debugging tools to read the mini dump yourselves and go from there.

**Steistas** · June 11, 2007, 03:26 AM

I had bluescreens popping up after some of the windows hotfix updates, I was sitting for hours taking them out (uninstalling) one by one and everything is ok now, the only problem - don't remember which one was causing problem.
The best way is to do as BarnabyJones suggested, he is right.

**zznɟ ǝɥʇ** · August 26, 2007, 12:53 PM

Hella bump!

The computer finally croaked apparently. My mom wouldn't let me touch it back when I posted this topic, so I just shook my head and hoped the computer wouldn't die when I was home.

Well apparently the computer boots to a black screen with the good 'ol options to boot in safe mode or various other...erm...variations of that. Whatever you do you eventually get to the same blue screen as posted above.

My mom can't seem to understand that she's going to need to take it to a shop, or even buy a new one. This computer is three years old, and she keeps on throwing the price around, $1300...I'm like come on Mom, it doesn't matter how much it cost, it's still subject to dying like all computers....

So from my descriptions will it be possible to save the thing or is it just better to upgrade and get a new one?

**mrmouth** · August 26, 2007, 01:14 PM

Originally Posted by The Fuzz

Hella bump!
My mom can't seem to understand that she's going to need to take it to a shop, or even buy a new one.

Literally the most frustrating thing I do is deal with my mother and her PC troubles.

Blue screens are a fact of life. Even the most experienced will have problems, some times nothing will help except a reinstall of windows. If you can still access the boot options or if you cd rom is still set to boot first try to reinstall windows I guess.

**GrnEyedDvl** · August 26, 2007, 02:12 PM

Fuzz, dont just dump it until you try a few other things.

Go through the restore process, either by booting from Windows CD or whatever process is outlined by the manufacturer. The part you want to get to is the Repair Windows Installation. This will set your operating system back to original specs without deleting your other files and stuff.

When you get to the Install Windows part it will list the partitions and operating systems installed. DO NOT DELETE THE PARTITION. Press enter to Install Windows then it will give you an option to install a New Version of Repair Windows Installation. Go through the Repair process. When thats done you will have to install service packs and stuff like that. Then go through and update drivers one at a time. If you get to one that causes problems you can roll back the driver installation.