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BSOD!!! Okay Bass Geeks and Nerds what next?

Bassman7PM

Bassman7PM

Mar 13, 2006
1,017
26
68
Chicago, IL
www.activebass.com
#1
Ok, so I installed the AVG's anti-virus software and my system started slowing down drastically (at least thats when I noticed that things were going to a crawl). Now I get the dreaded Blue Screen of Death on my Dell PC running XP professional.
1. Systems goes directly to BSOD
2. Hit F12, F8 etc and still can't get it to boot into any mode, i.e. Last Known Working Config, Boot Sector, IDE Drive, etc.
3. Can't get to Start menu
4. Error message reads "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA)0x00000050.........
5. No new hardware installed.
6. Wife is REALLY unhappy and I need to get this fixed ASAP and the Geek Squad is pretty expensive.
 
#4
My initial thoughts are that you have a virus. Sometimes if you already have it and then install an av it can crew things up. You might try booting linux from a flash drive or CDROM and then scanning the HD.

bc
 
#7
My guess is AVG ran a scan. It found some results and you had it clean them all. Somewhere in that list was a DLL you needed that may or may not have been infected and it "cleaned" it. If that's the case, boot from the windows cd and run the repair. If that's not it, re-seat your memory. If that doesn't do it, try some percussive maintenance.
 
#10
this is a hardware issue (specifically ram), i'd bet on it. in other words, your ram is fried.

i've seen this kind of thing with unstable overclocks, bad ram, and also with poorly flashed bios upgrades. if you haven't upgraded your bios recently, or tried to overclock your computer, then that leaves the ram as the most likely candidate.

most software will not invoke a bsod on its own, unless it's malicious or extremely poorly written. it may invoke a hardware failure causing a bsod, but that goes away on reboot, usually, unless the hardware has been maimed in the process, which ceases to be a software issue and becomes a hardware one.

you say this happened right after you ran an overnight scan. your ram probably overheated and spazzed.
 
#11
Can you boot off your Windows XP CD? That would (almost) eliminate hardware as the problem.

If you don't have a Windows CD, you can always use a live Linux CD to make sure your hardware is good, for example:
http://www.knoppix.net/

If your Windows installation is pooched, you can use "BartPE" to boot and manually fix it, but you will need an XP disk to make the CD. If you want to nuke the whole thing and install from scratch, you can at least boot your system to access and save a copy of your personal files to an external drive:
Link Removed
 
#14
Others have stated that this is a RAM problem, and indeed that is a common cause for the Page Fault in A Non Paged area.

However, just last week I had a client bring me a laptop with this error, and it was not RAM, it was a corrupt registry. I had to run the repair console and then do a System Restore to get it fixed.
 
#17
waleross said:
This is no big deal. Get you Windows XP re-install disk ( you have one don't you) re-install windows. Back up your files if you can and you're all set................:cool:
Click to expand...

It won't even run Windows XP Reinstallation CD. Fortunately I've already backed up about 80% to my external HDD. I have about 85GB worth of music not including songs I've been working on and losing that would make me suicidal. One of my buddies is coming over to look at it, he's good and I've run out of ideas. If the RAM is fried I was looking into tripling the amount (from 512 and 2G) so having to buy new memory was already in the mix. Keep the ideas coming as I'm learning new things from you guys.
 
#18
A couple of quick things to try before you head off to get your new RAM...

Try resetting the BIOS to defaults. When you power up the PC look for a message like "Press F2 for setup" and press that key. Look for a menu item like "Load Defaults" select that and save. It might be under another item like "Maintenance"

If you have two separate pieces of RAM, try booting with just one installed, then the other. Its unlikely the would both fail at once. Note that depending on the system, you might need a pair installed to work at all, so this won't work.
 
#19
Get a friend to burn you one of these:

Invalid Link Removed

Then run the MemTest86+

Then you'll know for sure if it is your ram, and which RAM slot it is, too.
 
#20
DreadRaver said:
Others have stated that this is a RAM problem, and indeed that is a common cause for the Page Fault in A Non Paged area.

However, just last week I had a client bring me a laptop with this error, and it was not RAM, it was a corrupt registry. I had to run the repair console and then do a System Restore to get it fixed.
Click to expand...

do you remember what element of the registry was effected by this? i've heard of nulls in the registry doing this kind of thing before (i.e. secure-rom-type crap) but only after the registry gets loaded. other root-kit-type malware acts similarly, but of course the registry has to be able to load for it to corrupt the runtime kernel.

from what i'm reading of the op's post, the failure is before windows loads (i.e. he's not able to even get to a startup select menu).
 

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