RegRoch

I just finished reformatting my HD because I thought it would help, so I am royally pissed. I kept getting the BSOD in the picture, so i uninstalled my graphics driver and that helped. I tried to think of what I did before it started doing that, and I had installed SP3, so I got rid of it. I just got my computer up and running again, and installed the Nvidia drivers for my GEforce FX7300, and now it is happening again. It ran fine without the drivers, except for the incredibly low graphics performance. Should I just buy a new card? a half decent one is fairly cheap, but I would rather find out what is going on so that maybe I dont need one. Any suggestions?

Attached Images

Picture 001.jpg (44.2 KB, 10 views)

Underclocker

First check that you have the latest chipset drivers installed. Then uninstall the graphics driver in Safe Mode, run Driver Cleaner and reboot. Install the latest driver. See if that works. You could also try optimised drivers from Omega Drivers or NGOHQ if the reference ones still cause problems. Lastly, is it an AGP or PCI-E card? Your power supply needs 18A on the +12V rail for AGP or 26A for PCI-E, that 305W Dell PSU doesn't seem to be sufficient.

RegRoch

It has worked for years, so I don't think it is the power supply. Where do I get the chipset drivers? It is a dell dimension E520, and It is a PCI-E card.

RegRoch

I tried the omega drivers, I get the same error. Is it possible that it is my card?

FreoHeaveho

The fact that has worked for years, is even more daming, as the PSU is old and probably failing in this case. However, in the meantime make sure you upgrade the chipset drivers as Dell has recently (in the past month or so) released Urgent updates:

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&catid=&impid=

I would suggest downloading and storing all these drivers/software for future reference. Make sure all aspects of your computer are updated including the bios.

RegRoch

How can I force a driver to install? The Nvdia drivers for my card keep saying that they don't detect any compatible hardware, which is BS because I am installing the driver for the damn card. Any ideas?

Also, what is the bios update utility? According to the dell page, I can run it from windows somewhere.

RegRoch

I got the bios to upgrade, I did all the upgrades I could. How would a power supply make it blue screen because of a file getting stuck in a loop? Should I look into a 430W PSU? Or a new graphics card?

FreoHeaveho

Did you install the chipset drivers. What BSOD message are you getting? Try uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics drivers in safe mode.

RegRoch

Yes I installed the chipset drivers. I am getting the same one as in the pic above. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers several times, so I dont know what is up with that.

FreoHeaveho

1. Download (but don't install yet) this: http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...glish_whql.exe
2. Download and install Driver Cleaner (but don't run yet): http://downloads.guru3d.com/download...2171476965c5ed
3. Set a restore point.
4. Uninstall the nVidia drivers from Add and Remove Programs.
5. Restart in Safe Mode (tap F8 on Restart).
6. Run Driver Cleaner for nVidia drivers.
7. Restart again in SAFE MODE.
8. Install the downloaded nVidia driver
9. Restart normally.
10. Update DirectX here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
11. Update Windows via Windows Update.
12. Restart computer normally and post results.

RegRoch

Can someone get me an iso file for the dell resource cd that comes with the dimension E520? I cant find mine >.<

RegRoch

Never mind, my brother had it. I am gonna try the steps listed when I have more time, thanks for the response, be back soon.

RegRoch

when i try to install the driver, i get a message "The NVIDIA Setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit" I dont remember where I got the driver that did install, but it didnt work very well. Any suggestions? or how to force the install?

dai

for pcie you would expect to find a min of this running the system
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b550w
download the driver from here
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_169.21_whql.html
save it to the desktop where you can find it easily
then
in the device manager uninstall the video card
reboot tapping f8 and choose vga mode
when windows finishes rebooting
disable a/virus
install your drivers
reboot the computer

RegRoch

I got it installed thanks to omega drivers, restarted and got a new BSOD: BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO It appairently means my ram is bad, but I tried all 3 sticks in all 4 slots one at a time, 2 at a time, and 3 at a time in all the slots and it still gives me that message. What is up with that???

dai

run memtest on the ram 1 stick at a time
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326679
http://www.memtest.org/

RegRoch

Just finished testing my ram, its all good like I thought, but I still get the same message.

Edit: I am about to try repairing my windows installation, i'll post the results as soon as it is done.

RegRoch

The repair has fixed both problems.... for now. It will probably happen again, but for now, for whatever reason, the windows repair fixed it. Thanks for all the replies, bye for now.

Edit: Oh wait, no it didnt! I spun around to see my graphics card sitting behind me, so I havent tested it yet, but repairing windows fixed my second BSOD. But, I was wondering if these little things looking burst could be a factor in the problem (see photo) I don't know much about circuits, but I am pretty sure that this isnt good.

Attached Images

graphicscard 003.jpg (218.7 KB, 6 views)

RegRoch

Just tested it. Its still not working. I did everything posted to try and fix it, and I still get the first blue screen that I posted at the top of the page. Are the little cylinders with the popped tops contributing by any chance?

RegRoch

I stuck 2 fans on it, one connected to its power supply, one connected to a spare drive power supply to make sure its not a cooling issue. So far it isn't helping. What happens now (an improvement?) It starts up and everything looks normal. Then, I try and open this website, and the screen goes black. The monitor doesn't turn off anymore, It just goes black and thats it. I turn off the computer, and try again, but this time, i turn on Diablo 2. The screen hasn't turned off yet, but the screen freezes, after the cinematic (***?) and it just blue screened. I think this is an improvement, but still. Anyone got any suggestions?