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

[Raven2k360]

I still think it's RAM. Ask someone to borrow you some just to see if you can boot.

Oh, I almost forgot. NOD32 ftw.

+1 for NOD32.

Oh, and to everyone saying it's his RAM/Hardware problem....it's not. OBVIOUSLY this all started after the OP installed AVG. Logic would dictate that this would be the root of their problem, and should be the first place to look....NOT the hardware. AVG is just about the crappiest AV program out there, and causes multiple problems depending on the system.

 

[Raven2k360]

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).

If he's not getting the alternate start-up menu, he might not be pressing F8 fast enough....but it seems to me that he is getting that menu. If he was missing a .dll, he wouldn't get the BSOD. If one was corrupted however, I think this would happen....it's been a while since I got a BSOD this bad...lol.

Corrupted registry was mentioned and also seems like the most likely candidate, considering how horrible AVG is and how bad it can mess your system up.

If the OP can actually get to the start-up menu (hitting F8 IMMEDIATELY after the Dell splash screen goes away), he needs to try and boot into Safe Mode. From there, he can run System Restore, edit/correct the registry, etc.

The alternative if Safe Mode can't be reached, is take the XP install disc and run a non-destructive recovery. I know it was mentioned that this didn't work, but it WASN'T mentioned on whether the BIOS was set to boot off of the CD first. If it wasn't, then the computer would still try and boot from the hard drive and into the corrupted OS.

 

[Bassman7PM]

If he's not getting the alternate start-up menu, he might not be pressing F8 fast enough....but it seems to me that he is getting that menu. If he was missing a .dll, he wouldn't get the BSOD. If one was corrupted however, I think this would happen....it's been a while since I got a BSOD this bad...lol.

Corrupted registry was mentioned and also seems like the most likely candidate, considering how horrible AVG is and how bad it can mess your system up.

If the OP can actually get to the start-up menu (hitting F8 IMMEDIATELY after the Dell splash screen goes away), he needs to try and boot into Safe Mode. From there, he can run System Restore, edit/correct the registry, etc.

The alternative if Safe Mode can't be reached, is take the XP install disc and run a non-destructive recovery. I know it was mentioned that this didn't work, but it WASN'T mentioned on whether the BIOS was set to boot off of the CD first. If it wasn't, then the computer would still try and boot from the hard drive and into the corrupted OS.

This all started like I said after I installed and ran AVG, it drastiscally slowed down my PC and I had intentions on uninstalling it after I let it do a full system scan. Too late. Hitting F8 takes me to the alternate Boot options but each Safe Mode option immediately takes me back to the BSOD. I tried using the XP Recovery disc to no avail and even ran the diagnostic and it came back with no errors.

 

[Josh Ryan]

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.

that and, oddly enough, backups are common times for issues.

 

[Muusers]

In repetition: get a new strip of RAM. 1x2GB @ 800 MHz should do the trick and isn't expensive either. Go for an A-brand. (Kingston, Corsair, etc.)

 

[whitedk57]

Normally, I would have agreed with the hardware excuse. But, I just had a virus about a month ago that caused all kinds of havoc. It would open IE in the background, and eventually bring my system to a crawl. It disabled the Task Manager, the Registry Editor, and the several well-known AV software packages.

I finally was able to find an obscure but effective AV by the name of Dr Web Cure It, and it found the in-process memory virus that nothing else was able to get rid of. I did have to baby-sit the scan process and delete the IE that would pop up.

My point is this... I got the BSOD many times during this infection (much like what the OP is getting). IE was opening web pages left and right (in the background), and bringing my PC to it's knees.

Just for giggles, see if IE is running in the Task Manager.

 

[john turner]

This all started like I said after I installed and ran AVG, it drastiscally slowed down my PC and I had intentions on uninstalling it after I let it do a full system scan. Too late. Hitting F8 takes me to the alternate Boot options but each Safe Mode option immediately takes me back to the BSOD. I tried using the XP Recovery disc to no avail and even ran the diagnostic and it came back with no errors.

run the memtest like dreadraver suggested. this will tell you whether your ram is corrupted or not.

i would bet real money this is a ram issue, and not some file that's corrupted or installed improperly.

your memory probably overheated during your all-night avg scan.

 

[john turner]

Normally, I would have agreed with the hardware excuse. But, I just had a virus about a month ago that caused all kinds of havoc. It would open IE in the background, and eventually bring my system to a crawl. It disabled the Task Manager, the Registry Editor, and the several well-known AV software packages.

I finally was able to find an obscure but effective AV by the name of Dr Web Cure It, and it found the in-process memory virus that nothing else was able to get rid of. I did have to baby-sit the scan process and delete the IE that would pop up.

My point is this... I got the BSOD many times during this infection (much like what the OP is getting). IE was opening web pages left and right (in the background), and bringing my PC to it's knees.

Just for giggles, see if IE is running in the Task Manager.

he can't launch windows, so checking task manager is sorta hard heh .

again, bsod's can be invoked by viruses and poorly written programs, but those programs have to be able to load, and lanch, to invoke them.

what's happening here is that as windows is loading into memory it is failing, due to a failure in the process. there's a -possibility- that a driver has been corrupted, and is causing this issue, but that is highly unlikely, since usually when drivers fail they will give a different error than spitting back "an attempt was made to write to read-only memory" which is what he is getting in his bsod.

as i said earlier, this comes up often with fried memory. i've dealt with this specific issue before when i built my last computer.

 

[Bassman7PM]

he can't launch windows, so checking task manager is sorta hard heh .

again, bsod's can be invoked by viruses and poorly written programs, but those programs have to be able to load, and lanch, to invoke them.

what's happening here is that as windows is loading into memory it is failing, due to a failure in the process. there's a -possibility- that a driver has been corrupted, and is causing this issue, but that is highly unlikely, since usually when drivers fail they will give a different error than spitting back "an attempt was made to write to read-only memory" which is what he is getting in his bsod.

as i said earlier, this comes up often with fried memory. i've dealt with this specific issue before when i built my last computer.

I'm going to run the memtest this afternoon as Dreadraver suggested. I'll let eeryone know how it turns out. Thanks for the help everyone, you guys continue to be my heroes in many ways other than bass.

 

[john turner]

hope that narrows down the issue for you man.

if you do need memory, do not buy it from dell. there's a lot of places that sell memory very cheaply and are very reliable.

i've gotten a lot of stuff through the years from www.newegg.com - they've always been great to work with and usually among the best prices i can find.

 

[DreadRaver]

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).

No, I didn't confirm the corruption - it was likely a malware problem though, as once I did the System Restore, I scanned the laptop with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php and it found a ton of stuff.

(I highly recommend Malwarebytes!)

 

[john turner]

yeah, malwarebytes and hijack this are the first things i install on any machine, after updating the operating system.



so how'd this work out?

 

[Bocete]

yeah, malwarebytes and hijack this are the first things i install on any machine, after updating the operating system.



so how'd this work out?

When I do a fresh install, I install NOD32 before anything else, then go online to update it, and only after that install auxiliary stuff like drivers

I assume you use some antivirus software besides AntiMalvare. Do you? Do they conflict/overlap in roles in any way?

 

[Raven2k360]

The two I recommend and use are Nod32 and UnHackMe....UnHackMe got rid of a few NASTY bugs I had gotten in the past.

 

[Bassman7PM]

Update:

Took my PC to let an expert look at it and the HDD is toast. Its a 5 year old 80GB Seagate with less than 2% free space on it and apparently some of the software i.e. Limewire (which my daughter previously used....yeah, I know I know) along with other freeware/shareware, plus some additional bugs he found really crapped it out. He's trying to save as much as possible in My Documents folder which should make my life a little easier. Fortunately I have an external HDD which has over 90GB worth of music on plus other stuff I had already backed up so I won't freak out over losing what can't be recovered.

Thanks again for your suggestions and expertise. This is why I love TB.

 

[john turner]

knew this was a hardware problem, surprised it's the harddrive though. did he check the ram too? make sure he does - could be more than one problem (not as rare as you might think).

at least you know what the problem was.

 

[kesslari]

If you (OP) recently patched your system, that might be your problem. MS has pulled their recent security patch for this reason.

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[Bassman7PM]

knew this was a hardware problem, surprised it's the harddrive though. did he check the ram too? make sure he does - could be more than one problem (not as rare as you might think).

at least you know what the problem was.

The ram is okay however I'm going to upgrade it from 512M to 2G and replace the DVD drive with a DVD/RW.

 

[john turner]

cool. glad you got this thing addressed.

If you (OP) recently patched your system, that might be your problem. MS has pulled their recent security patch for this reason.

Link Removed

wow, that's a crazy development. gotta wonder what it was in the update that was conflicting so hard with the rootkit.

bassman7pm, you might want to try and contact microsoft about this, they might be willing to help you with it, since if it is the case that you recently updated your system, then they would be partially responsible.

 

[Fun Size Nick]

Update:

Took my PC to let an expert look at it and the HDD is toast. Its a 5 year old 80GB Seagate with less than 2% free space on it...

Slightly OT, but it's important to know that no hard disk (no matter how old or new it is) will run well with that little free space - you'll get huge fragmentation problems (which manifests largely as slow read/write performance) for one thing, and your OS wants to use a certain amount of that space for virtual memory.