travr6

I bought a used Laptop that had the Blue screen of death problem.
I reformatted the HD and installed a clean windows XP on it.

It still throws up the Blue Screen within an hour of it being on.
It does not show any driver errors on the blue screen.

Any clue what this might be?

I searched a while but couldn't find anything in regards to compaq laptops.

My guess was a software problem but since I restored the computer I am guessing a hardware problem now.

HArd drive maybe?

What should I check or do to fix it?

TriggerFinger

it could be hard drive but it could also be the RAM. D/load Memtest86+ from http://www.memtest.org and burn the ISO image to CD. Boot from that CD and diags to test your RAM will start immediately. if you have 2 RAM modules, remove one and run test on the remaining module. Run two passes of diagnostics. Do the same for the other module.

travr6

I already have memtest on my computer. I have regular memtest not the 86+ version though.
I ran it yesterday for about an hour. It says run for at least 20 min. It wasn't done yet when I stopped it but it had ZERO errors

Not sure about modules though.

It just says
Enter Megs of RAM to test

ALL unused RAM is what I selected

No way of switching modules.

IS the memtest86+ an ISO file that is less then 1 meg in size?

travr6

ok answered my own question on that one. It is less then 1 meg

Burned it to a cd and am running it right now

so far no errors on the memory

TriggerFinger

hmmm that is good news... at least now we can focus on the hard drive. do you know the brand of your hard drive? you can get the diagnostic tools for your specific hard drive from this page http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287.

travr6

2.5 passes with no errors

I am going to exit memtest.

TOSHIBA hard drive
MK8025GAS

travr6

"Toshiba does not provide diagnostic tools for hard drives, currently."

Any other ideas?

TriggerFinger

if you cannot find the utility for your brand of hard drive, use the Hitachi Drive Fitness Test utility.

EDIT:
by the way, do you notice any hot air coming from the vents? i am just thinking aloud that may be laptop is overheating.

travr6

I know it is not overheating because it gives the blue screen sometimes within minutes of turning on the computer.

I got the Hitachi fitness drive test burnes to a cd but it does not autoplay.

So I restarted my computer to boot from the CD.

It has a lot of options to choose from
do you know what I am supposed to choose?

TriggerFinger

just run the Quick Test.

For more information, Drive Fitness Test (DFT) users guide can be d/loaded here:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/suppor...User_Guide.pdf

EDIT:

travr6

hmm. Well the vent seems warm but it only locks up in windows.

If I leave the memtest running or this drive fitness it doesn't seem to lock up.

No clue what function I am running on fitness test but it has been going for over an hour

travr6

ran the quick test and got this

Operation Completed Successfully
Disposition Code = 0x00

TriggerFinger

warm is OK... hot is... you will know because it will feel unusual already. Memtest or DFT (AFAIK) do not cause a lock up. Probably because they do not use too much of video and CPU resources.

Ok no errors in DFT... if you can boot up Windows, go to Safe Mode and see if it would lock up. Btw, you said this is a clean install of XP. So you installed all the drivers... right?

dai

what it like in safe mode

travr6

I installed no drivers.
The only thing I installed was kazaa lite codecs pack and then the wireless internet driver for COMPAQ.

The Blue screen problem was happening before I installed those though.

When I bought the laptop that is the reason they sold it to me. It have the factory compaq restore done to it and it still got the BSOD.

So I formatted the drive and installed a fresh copy of windows XP.

It ran for a about 24 hours without locking up.


It doesn't do it as frequently as it did with the compaq settings.

It has done it twice in an hour since the format

It has gone nearly 24 hours without shutting down

And right now it is going on about 3 hours without shutting down.

I am going to leave it on all night and see if it has shut down when I get up.

I will then try the safe mode boot tomorrow and let you know.

Time for me to hit the sac. I have to work in the morning

Thank you for your help so far.

TriggerFinger

ok travr6... have a good night..

EDIT:
if you used an XP OEM CD for installation, i suggest you install all related drivers for your laptop model from Compaq/HP website.

also since you are working on it already, give it a good clean. best if you are game to open it up, clean the insides and reapply the thermal compound between the CPU and the heatsink.

travr6

Ok.

Had it off all night. When I woke up I turned it on. It turned on and about 30 seconds after it booted up I got the blue screen of death.

So I really don't think it is from overheating.

OEM XP?

I used an Original XP cd but not a branded one like a COMPAQ version that comes with a computer.

Thermal compound? Where can I get that stuff from?

So as far as we know right now the ram is ok and the hard dive tested fine correct?

travr6

I heard you could get a driver package from the website but I could not find one.

I found where you can dl each individual driver though.

I have installed the wireless internet drivers and the audio drivers.

TriggerFinger

hi travr6,

here's one thing quite far fetched that i need you to try. see the Ubuntu link in my sig? download Ubuntu and burn the image into a CD. if you need a cd burner software download ImgBurn whose link is also on my sig.

what i need you to do also is to boot from the Ubuntu live CD. if that works without problems, no crashes, no shut OFFs and hopefully no blue screens, i suggest you do a non-destructive repair... steps for this can be found here:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...questid=491223

EDIT:
for the drivers, see this page http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...eriesId=499881

and choose your model of laptop... from there it will guide you to the drivers section.

travr6

I thought Ubuntu was a form of Linux?

I will dl it right now