HEL80 - Blue Screen of Death

Hi all,

My Compal is acting strange.. sometimes(most of the times) on boot up i get a BSOD right after the XP logo and the scrolling squares, then i go into Safe Mode and it boots normally, then i restart again and all goes well. On a new boot or shutdown it starts again BSOD...

I've just formatted the hard drive and installed XP SP2 with the latest drivers and it happens again....

I have one/two last tests to do: run a HD test (any tool recommended?); install XP again with the stock drivers...

I have the feeling that this might be caused by some device driver or a HD malfunction.. Any help/suggestion??

thanks
aluis

 

Did you get the error code from the BSOD?

 

It is very quick and i can't read the white characters... It reboots immediately.
Well, after a "normal" boot it says that the system has recovered from a severe crash and asks if i want to send information to Microsoft.. Is this information you are asking? Is there a way i can read it?

 

Check your memory with MemTest, I think your memory might be broken.

 

How to read the BSOD:
1.Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2.Click the Advanced tab.

3.Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog box.

4.Clear the Automatically restart check box, and click OK the necessary number of times.

5.Restart your computer for the settings to take effect.

Now when you go to shut down and a fatal error occurs, you'll at least see it and it won't cause an automatic reboot. You still have to sort out what's causing the problem.

I also agree... make yourself a memtest86 bootdisk and give that a whirl... but I'd suspect bad ram as well.

 

Hi,

I've rune HDTune and it detects a "damaged" cluster (red square). Anyone familiar with this software knows what this means?

 

Damaged cluster means that you've probably got data being written to a detectable bad location on the HD. Sometimes you can get around this by having software mark the location as non writable (I've use drives for years this way). Do some google treading to see what you can find that helps you with repairing damaged clusters.

Taken from the HDTune homepage:
b) Run the Error Scan
There shouldn't be any damaged (red) blocks. If there are you should backup your data and replace the hard disk.

I personally think this is a tid bit harsh.. but..
Maybe you have a warranty on the drive/notebook you can use? Thats the best of any option to you.

 

Thanks pyro,

I'll definitively will use the warranty.. I've brought the laptop in the last September so it is brand new.

What makes me sad is that i've heard that this Hitachi HD is very weak (it has awful access times) so i'll try to trade it for a better one, even 7200 rpm, giving the price difference.

aluis

 

I'm glad to see the root of the problem has been exposed. Definitely take advantage of this situation to get a new HD. Unless I'm mistaken, Hitachi's are a tad faster than the Seagates though, but not by a noticeable amount.

 

They are all so close to each other when it comes to 2.5" drives that its more a choice of price / warranty...

 

I also have been having the exact same issue with my HEL80. Though i just had my harddrive replaced, and i have reinstalled xp several times with drivers and all. I continue to have this issue and im not totally sure if its the harddrive at fault.

 

Your best bet is to troubleshoot with your reseller's tech support team. They should be able to identify your problem and help you get it solved the fastest.

 

Never ceases to amaze me how many people I've found over the years that try to find a fix before they use their warranty, or actual supplied tech support.

 

I had this problem 4 days after I got my laptop. I had to reformat and reinstall windows. I think it may be a problem with the drivers that came on the CD. I have run the memorytest86 for 1 hour and 40 minutes with no errors found and will scan my hard drive when I get home. This is kinda freaking me out...

 

You might just have a dud.... it happens... something could has also been damaged during transit to your home... have you called your retailer?

 

Hello,

i have new developments.
I've contacted my technical support and they said that they verify the HDs using manufacturers tools. In my case Hitachi. So i downloaded Hitachi Drive Fitness Test(DFT), made a CD-R and booted it. It performed a simple test and it detected a problem in a sector like HDTune also did. DFT as a Sector Repair Tool and so i used it and the problem was solved: No more reports of bad stuff in my HD from DFT or HDTune. But the BSOD still happens... Which leads me to my other suspicion of the cause of this BSOD:

Almost simultaneously when i checked the HD with HDTune and discovered the "bad" sector, sometimes i had crashes with software like MSN Messenger, Firefox, P2P, etc.., in Remote Procedure Call and a 1 minute countdown started to reboot my pc.. (THIS IS NOT SASSER VIRUS!! Its the same error window but not it..).

So, my suspicion goes to WI-FI drivers.. I've only had this RPC crash with latest Intel drivers... I will perform the ultimate test: Format, install XP with latest updates and install ONLY the stock HEL80 drivers because with these ones i've never had a problem.. it can also be some XP update that messes up.
Lets see.......Maybe tomorrow i'll do the format.

I justify this suspicion because the error report generated after the crash(BSOD) relates to a problem in a device driver but it doesn't specify which..


@j-maj
@band-aid
Are you using the stock drivers with XP updates?

 

I'd say of all the drivers available, one of the safest sets to use, if not the safest, is the set that comes with your HEL80 drivers CD. I've been using them without a hitch for 6 months.

This is another possibility, band-aid. I'd try reverting to known drivers first though.

The stock drivers may not be the newest available, but they are known to be steady and reliable. I personally never rush out to try new drivers unless there's a good reason to do so.

 

Im using all stock drivers except for video. For that im using 97.02 from laptopvideo2go. My Hel-80 uses a seagate drive, i have used seagate's harddrive utility, seatools and it shows i have corrupted NTFS files. I have formated and reinstalled several times and i come up with the same problem each time.

Originaly my first seagate drive crashed so i received a replacement from my reseller. So this drive may have some issues or it could be something else.

 

Work with your reseller more? You might have bad memory, which would cause bad data to be written to the HD... maybe try running memtest86? Might also have a glitchy processor. Again, *points to your vendor* use that techsupport, you are paying for it!

 

Well, i'm almost 100% sure the problem is on Wi-Fi drivers..
I haven't formated yet but i made a simple test, reboot with the wi-fi switch turned off. The BSOD never appeared this way! I hope this is not a coincidence. But anyhow i'll format this weekend and install the stock drivers and post a result here.

Have a nice weekend!
troll

 

That could also mean the wifi card itself is bad...

 

Also make sure that the WiFi switch in the front is in the "ON" position when reformatting. I believe there were others who ran into this problem, because the drivers were not installing properly without the actual hardware being on.

 

Funny that every time i have made a BIOS update my wi-fi card stopped working because it lost it's drivers after the BIOS update... and i had to install it again..