Comp resets and i get the Serious Error message!

[Senna_s1979]

Hi all, my situation goes like this; While working away at anything even spider solitair on its own, the comp all of a sudden 'trips' or resets itself. Upon restart i get the '...has recovered from a serious error' message.

I have installed an Sapphire HD2600 Pro card, and the drivers from the disk.

When i report the problem to microsoft they say that its the drivers.

So i try and update the drivers from the Sapphire website but then windows stops me from installing them as microsft hasnt 'officially' approved them!

It says i could ignore this advice and go ahead, but it will make my system unstable - which it is now!

I have had to install a new 550w PSU to power the poxy card as well.

I've also installed 2MB or PNY Ram.

Here's my specs;

Specifications

CPU

• Supports Intel® Pentium® 4/ Prescott (LGA 775) processor.

• FSB @ 800/533MHz.

• Supports Intel P4 Prescott CPU up to 3.2GHz, and Intel P4 Prescott Celeron CPU.

(For the latest information about CPU, please visit

MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO.,LTD. )

Chipset

• VIA® P4M800CE chipset

- P4 processors FSB (800MHz).

- DDR SDRAM memory (333/400MHz).

- AGP 8x.

- Supports 8X V-Link.

• VIA® VT8237R plus chipset

- Integrated Hardware Sound Blaster/Direct Sound AC97 audio

- Ultra DMA 66/100/133 master mode PCI EIDE controller

- ACPI & PC2001 compliant enhanced power management

- Supports USB2.0 up to 8 ports

Main Memory

• Supports two memory banks using two 184-pin DDR DIMM.

• Supports up to 2GB PC3200 (DDR400) SDRAMs.

• Supports 2.5v DDR SDRAM.

(For the updated supporting memory modules, please visit

MSI -- MICRO-STAR INT'L CO.,LTD. )

Slots

• One AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 8x slot.

• Two PCI 2.2 32-bit PCI bus slots (support 3.3v/5v PCI bus interface).

On-Board IDE

• An IDE controller on the VIAR VT8237R plus Chipset provides IDE

• HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 operation modes.

• Can connect up to four IDE devices.

Audio

• AC97 link controller integrated in VT8237R plus.

• Realtek® ALC655 6-channel software audio codec.

- Compliance with AC’97 v2.2 spec.

LAN

• Realtek® 8100C / 8110SB (optional).

- Supports 10Mb/s, 100Mb/s and 1000Mbs(1000Mbs for 8110SB only).

- Compliance with PCI 2.2.

- Supports ACPI Power Management.

On-Board Peripherals

• On-Board Peripherals include:

- 1 floppy port supports 2 FDDs with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M and 2.88Mbytes

- 1 serial port (COM1)

- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode

- 8 USB 2.0 ports (Rear * 4/ Front * 4)

- 1 audio (Line-In/Line-Out/Mic) port

- 1 RJ45 LAN jack

- 1 VGA port

- 1 COM2 pin header

- 2 SATA 150

BIOS

• The mainboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and

expansion cards of the board automatically.

• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface (DMI) function which records

your mainboard specifications.

Dimension

• Micro-ATX Form Factor: 245mm x 210mm

Mounting

• 6 mounting holes.

 

Sorry its long winded but i wanted to get everything on there lol :confused:

[Senna_s1979]

OK got this from Crucial scan thingy.... makes little sense to me. Might to somebody eho knows what theyr on about.....

 

 

• <LI class="">Maximum Memory Capacity: 2048MB <LI class="">Currently Installed Memory: 2GB <LI class="">Available Memory Slots: 0 <LI class="">Number of Banks: 2 <LI class="">Dual Channel Support: No <LI class="">CPU Manufacturer: GenuineIntel <LI class="">CPU Family: Intel® Celeron® CPU 3.06GHz Model 4, Stepping 9 <LI class="">CPU Speed: 3061 MHz
  
• 
  

Q: Will my system recognize the maximum upgrade?

 

A: Possibly How much memory your Windows OS will recognize depends on which version of Windows you are running. 32-bit versions of Windows will see (and utilize) only 3GB or 3.5GB. To utilize more memory, install a 64-bit version of your OS. More information about OS memory maximums can be found at http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.aspx?qid=4251.

 

 

Q: What memory goes into my computer, and can I mix speeds?

 

A: DDR memory with support for DDR PC3200 speeds. Because DDR memory is backward-compatible, you can safely upgrade your system with any of the guaranteed-compatible DDR speeds listed below, even if your manual calls for PC1600 or PC2100 speeds.

 

 

Q: How much memory can my computer handle?

A: 2048MB.

Adding the maximum amount of memory will improve performance and help extend the useful life of your system as you run increasingly demanding software applications in the future.

 

Q: Do I have to install matching pairs?

 

A: No. No, you can install modules one at a time, and you can mix different densities of modules in your computer. But if your computer supports dual-channel memory configurations, you should install in identical pairs (preferably in kits) for optimal performance.

 

 

Q: Does my computer support dual-channel memory?

 

A: No. Your system does not support dual channel.

 

 

 

Q: Does my computer support ECC memory?

 

A: No. Your system does not support ECC. Because ECC and non-ECC modules should not be mixed within a system, install the same type of modules that are already in your system.

[BeeCeeBee]

I am not sure what this has to do with your problem. The scan by Crucial is generally used for memory upgrades. It there some reason you chose that scan and what, if anything, else have you done recently in an effort to correct this issue.

 

We have a number of people who may be able to help figure this out as they come on line. If there is anything more that needs telling please do so now. :)

[Dalo Harkin]

Right - first of all - you only need the GPU driver - forget the other bumph that ATI try and give you go here - is this what you have Drivers & Tools | GAME.AMD.COM you want the bottom download button DISPLAY DRIVER ONLY

 

It says on the ATI website that this GPU requires 400Watt, I think this is being VERY safe on their part.

 

if you go to C:\ program files and then ATI within the ATI folder there should be some files - can you list them all please.

and we can go from there

[Senna_s1979]

hi again guys and thanks so far.

BeeCeeBee - I only put the Crucial scan up incase it was maybe the new ram that was causing it and microsoft error report scan maybe just blamed the graphics card..... i do have google as my home page after all lol.

Dalo Harkin - I've tried several times to download that driver but all i get is the message "Setup cannot find any drivers or updates that are compatible with your system" after its tried to install itself.

And also theres loads of ATi folders in the C:\ .... is there a specific one as i dont want to really list everything i have on there, theres thousands of files!

[Dalo Harkin]

Dalo Harkin - I've tried several times to download that driver but all i get is the message "Setup cannot find any drivers or updates that are compatible with your system" after its tried to install itself.

And also theres loads of ATi folders in the C:\ .... is there a specific one as i dont want to really list everything i have on there, theres thousands of files!

 

 

Right - you say there are loads of files - how many are there that start with numbers liek 8.10 etc - more than one and that may be the issue -

Go to add/remove programs via the control panel and REMOVE all the old display drivers.

RESTART

When windows boots the screen resolution should be massive - when windows tries and find drivers just click cancel - go to the link I posted and download the driver to your desktop - when its downloaded run the file and let it complete - it will ask to restart the PC - let it do this - and all should be working now :)

[Senna_s1979]

Sorry for the delay in replying i been ill.

OK tried all that and all i got was the same thing with that link. Have now discovered its a PCi-E driver - i have the AGP version of the card. Dunno if it wasnt obvious or anything in the O.P.

Is it worth trying to install the patch that windows tells me will make things unstable coz they havnt verified it? Coz it does say in the patch blurb its a hot-fix for the card when using XP. So i presume there must be issues.

 

Am also thinking of building another Mobo/RAM/CPU and GPU combo to use with current hard drive and get a new one when Windows 7 appears, so if it is the Card then i dont wanna have to bin it as i want to replace the whole lot at some point anyway.

Thanks again.

[DirtyPolo]

I'm afraid that it wasn't obvious as your spec shows you have both PCI and AGP slots on your mobo.

 

When you says "windows tells me it will make things unstable" is that on a popup that appears on your screen?

Also what is this "patch"?

Where is it from?

 

As for your idea about a new system, you will have to buy a new copy of Windows as you will not be able to just plug in your HDD and load it up.

 

 

ALSO:

 

Right - you say there are loads of files - how many are there that start with numbers like 8.10 etc - more than one and that may be the issue -

 

You havent answered this,

Do you have more than one folder/file in there with numbers such as the example? 8.10?

If so, what are those numbers?

Edited February 28, 2009 by DirtyPolo

[Senna_s1979]

Yeah it says windows hasnt verified the patch, so it could make the system unstable etc.

Probaly becoz they aint paid microsoft any money to release it lol

Its from the Sapphire website which is the card manufacturer, so i presume its ok?

Ive heard people have bought whole new mobo's etc. and used the old hard drive - I was hoping to do the same as i dont want to shell out for Vista when i dont want it if windows 7 is out a few months after i install it. Oh well.

[DirtyPolo]

I have taken a look at the Sapphiretech website and I presume that this is the download you mean?

 

The one labelled "Catalyst 9.2 HOTFIX for HD2K/HD3k AGP cards and WinXP 32-bit (if problems occur by using AGP cards)"

 

If so then yes I would download and install that.

 

Let us know how you get on.

[Senna_s1979]

Hi all, just an update on the state of play here. Well after installing the hotfix patch everything seems stable (touch wood) so far. Only had one instance of madness, which was a sudden i.e shutdown, but thats just windows playing silly buggers i reckon.

Havnt had a single 'trip' after 4 days of useage since the patch, so am hoping its fixed that issue. I might play stalker at some point just for something to push the card and see what kind of stability that gets me.

Thanks to DirtyPolo, Dalo Harkin and BeeCeeBee for your help.

Hopefully i wont need to post back in this thread! lol

Thanks again.

[DirtyPolo]

Thanks for getting back to us, and we're glad to hear that it is fixed and you're up and running again :D

 

Try to stick around, maybe you can learn more or even help someone else with a problem of their own :)