Help with my W7J please!!!

Hey all

I'm in a bit of a panic right now. Today during a lecture my W7J blue screened on me. Basically it said to restart, and if I got the message again there was a problem with either my software or hardware configuration. I've since gotten the message 3 times. I don't know what's wrong! I bought it from milestonepc.com a few weeks ago. Since then, I've installed:

Ad-Aware
Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5
Adobe After Effects 6.0
Adobe Audition 1.0
AOL Instant Messenger
Mozilla Firefox
VLC Media Player
NoteTab Light
PartyPoker
ZoneAlarm
Norton AntiVirus
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Tweak UI

I haven't had any problems with the software, nor the hardware on the computer. Keep reading, though...

OK so I just booted the machine up, and it's running fine. It's been finicky on the past few reboots. I got it in Safe Mode once, but the second time the machine hung before going into windows (still loading all the drive(0)partition(1) files).

I have no idea what may be going wrong, but I do have some hunches. When I first received the notebook, there was a program called "NTFS converter" on the desktop (I did not install this.). I ran the program, and a MS-DOS console popped up. I'm not positive, but I think that the program may have been running, and I closed the DOS window since I didn't know what it was doing. Ever since then, Windows occassionally wants to check the file format of the system before it boots (ScanDisk or whatever). Could that be a problem? And how do I solve this?

I've installed SP2 and all of the Asus/Windows updates as far as I know.

Help please!!! I don't want my new investment dying on me!

EDIT: I did purchase it with the following upgrades:

1.5 GB RAM
100GB 7200RPM HDD
Core Duo T2500

 

I also have a W7J from MilestonePC with a similar configuration. And I ran the NTFS converter on mine soon after receiving it. You can find some detailed info about converting to NTFS here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=63639&highlight=ntfs+convert
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.php
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=52835&page=3&highlight=ntfs+convert
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/maintain/convertfat.mspx

It's possible that you corrupted some data on your drive if you stopped the NTFS conversion when it was partially complete. In a nutshell, the above links say that there are advantages to converting to NTFS (more stable and secure file system) and disadvantages (not as compatible with different OS's). Also, if you convert to NTFS, you should try and fix your cluster sizes first, or else you may not be taking full advantage of the benefits.

I followed all the instructions on the above linked pages and converted to NTFS. Everything seemed to work OK, and I haven't had any system instability since. Good luck!

 

I don't think it's the NTFS converter, since many people have used it without any problems.

May I suggest reformatting and reinstalling Windows from scratch to see if that solves the problem. I think it's a Windows issue vs any hardware problems.

If that doesn't solve the problem, then try talking to danny at MilestonePC, I'm sure he will be glad to help you out.

 

"NTFS converter" is used for convert a hard drive format from FAT32 to NTFS only. Your machine's problem doesn't relate this or any application.
You mentioned that you have 1.5GB RAM, please try to check your memory or use memory tester to test it first. Make sure any error memory can be found by testing. If you have 1x1024 and 1x512MB DDR2, please take out the either one and boot it up.
Cheers

 

Did you read what the blue screen said? There is usually an error code or a certain file, especially if there are driver conflicts, that show up on the blue screen.

 

I had the same problem with a brand new dell notebook... bluescreened on me twice while opening microsoft word.. same error message... regardless to say i was worried that i had a faulty computer.... but i updated my windows on the windows update site and problem solved ! have been using it for a couple of weeks now ... never happened again !

 

I would suggest since you can still get into Windows, back up your files and run the system restore from CD.

 

Thanks for all the replies, guys, and I'll be trying to sort this one out today.

Here's the error message; I was able to snag it when it popped up again just now.

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you’ve seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000000A (0x20202036,0x00000002,0x00000000,0x804E88E9)


Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

 

Rock, if your windows doesn't has any crash or file corruption, it should not have a software problem. It seldom happen to make a blue screen except the error memory. If you don't still figure out this issue, please contact our technician or bring it to us if you are in Toronto.
Cheers

 

OK I'm trying to run a memtest, but if it keeps blue screening on me, how should I do that?

http://www.tweaksforgeeks.com/IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.html

That website says that it may be the processor overheating, which would suck royally. I'm counting on the RAM being bad, and I hope it's the replaceable 1GB stick and not the 512MB soldered to the motherboard.

I just got the BSOD again, and it gave me a different error:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you’ve seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the Stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x00000008E (0xC0000005,0x805084EE,0xB58E8728,0x00000000)


Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

This time no IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL...and it's saying my video drivers are screwed up...wtf.

How can I run a memtest?

 

Try reseating your RAM. The RAM might have gotten loose for some reason or another. My friend's laptop did and it wouldn't get past the windows boot screen. Also try reinstalling your video drivers.

 

Please go there to read all the instruction and download the file and save as a bootable cd.
http://www.memtest.org/

Cheers

 

Just ran Memtest86+, well over 1600 Errors.

In all of them, the failing address was around 100MB and 650MB. None of them were over 1000MB. Could this mean that the soldered 512MB is still good and the 1GB stick is faulty? I don't know how to read the Memtest output, but I assume that if all the errors are in the first GB, then the 512 soldered should be fine....????

I'm going to try to reseat and see if that changes anything. Can anyone answer the question about memtest?

 

Simple question - have you tried pulling out the 1Gb stick and running your notebook without it? I.e., does your system work correctly if you pull out the 1Gb stick and run with just the 512 integrated mem chip? If the problem is truly the 1Gb stick then all should be fine since it's not in the loop anymore..... .

Else, then back to the video drivers and/or get on the phone with MilestonePC as they suggested yesterday.