Puzzling Problems -- Pulling Hair

So many things are going wrong, I'm not sure where's the best place to
start asking for help. Bear with me:

This past summer I built a new system:

Motherboard: ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX
Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache
LGA 775
Memory: Crucial 2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR2
PC2-8500
Video Card: SAPPHIRE 100210L Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI
Express x16
Power Supply: PC Power and Cooling ULTRA-QUIET PSU: SILENCER(R) 610
EPS12V
Video capture: ATI VisionTek TV Wonder PCI Express (added within the
past month)
Storage: Four 500 gigabyte hard drives -- three Western Digital and
one Maxtor.

I'm running a triple-boot configuration with these OSs in separate
partitions on a single 500 gigabyte drive:

C: WinXP
D: Vista
E: WinXP testbed (a small partition where I try out things before
installing them on C

Until recently everything's been working just great. Then two or
three weeks ago I began to get an error message at WinXP shutdown.
Something like "The instruction at 0x66903f88 the memory could not be
written at 0x66903f88" along with a critical stop sound. Didn't
happen all the time at shutdown, but pretty often. Then a few days
ago I was online and I heard a "click" and the system rebooted. Right
out of nowhere. Then, when XP loaded again, I saw this error:
"Catalyst control center monitoring program has encountered a problem
and needs to close." When I closed that window, I saw this message:
"Catalyst control center host application has encountered a problem
and needs to close."

Weird. So I decided to try Vista, which I seldom do anymore since
first playing with it, because XP is just easier to use and more of my
software works with it. But when Vista loaded, my beautiful Dreamscene
desktop waterfall appeared for a second and then the desktop went to
black. And then I got an error message saying Windows Explorer had
stopped working. Then another message saying Windows Explorer was
restarting. Then another message saying it had stopped working. And
on and on. I also got a message saying I had no ATI drivers. I also
found the Aero scheme wasn't available to load.

Weird. But I had a backup of the Vista partition, so I started Ghost
from the WinXP testbed partition and tried to put a known working
version of the Vista partition in place. Ghost failed. Now this was
getting really strange. I'd done this before several times with no
problems. So what was going on?

I noticed that the Vista partition had lost its D: drive designation.
So I used the drive manager to give the partition its D: back and I
reformatted it. Then I tried loading the Ghost backup of the Vista
partition and it worked. But when I ran Vista, it would load but all
the previous problems reappeared.

So I disconnected all four of my hard drives, took a perfectly good
previously used 120 gigabyte IDE hard drive out of a drawer, and
hooked it up. I partitioned it into two equal-size partitions and
loaded Windows XP onto the first. It loaded OK -- there was one
problem when it said it couldn't find a file on the WinXP disk, but
then it seemed to find it after a few tries and went on. I fully
updated WinXP online -- SP2 and everything. But it won't load
Internet Explorer 7 no matter what I try. Seems to load fine, but
then XP announces it failed to load.

Then I installed Vista on the second partition. Big failure. It
seems to have loaded properly, but when it tries to start all I ever
see are the little horizontally moving green blocks. When they close
and Vista says it's about to run for the first time, I hear a click
and the system reboots. I am offered the opportunity to start it in
safe mode, but even then, just when the Vista wallpaper is supposed to
load, the system reboots.

I've loaded the newest version of ATI's Catalyst Control Center into
the new WinXP installation. When I started WinXP to type this
message, I got the old "Catalyst control center monitoring program has
encountered a problem and needs to close" and "Catalyst control center
host application has encountered a problem and needs to close"
messages. And this, mind you, is on a FRESH installation of WinXP on
a different physical hard drive.

I've removed the TV Wonder from the system. I've removed all four 500
gigabyte hard drives from the system. And still it's flaky.

So ... I'm guessing I have a hardware problem. The power supply?
Memory? Or, what I think is the likely culprit, the Radeon video card
itself?

Ideas, anyone? I hate to go over to Best Buy to get a new video card,
but I may just give it a shot. BTW, the first time I tried to type
this message, the computer rebooted and I lost what I'd typed. Very
annoying. Help, please.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog
If you want to send a private reply, use

Nothing is getting too hot? I would start with RAM. I have seen bad RAM
corrupt files on hard drive and cause many problems. Run MemTest86. Try
increasing voltage or slowing speed and timings to troubleshoot. Next likely
is mother board then power supply. You can trouble shoot to see if video
card is problem by running ATI Tool and undrclocking GPU.

Troubleshooting a problem like this is often a matter of replacing parts
until fixed.

On Dec 8, 2:28 pm, "Kent_Diego" <N...@no.way> wrote:
> Nothing is getting too hot? I would start with RAM. I have seen bad RAM
> corrupt files on hard drive and cause many problems. Run MemTest86.

I actually did run Memtest 86, but I'm not familiar with the program
and I don't understand what I see. My guess, though, is that it's not
good:

I'm not at all familiar with Memtest 86. But I downloaded it and
created a boot floppy and while I really don't know how to interpret
the results, they certainly don't look promising to me. I removed
one
of the 1-gig sticks and put the other in the first memory slot.

First Memtest 86 runs some tests and then the screen that was running
them disappears. Instead, I see a summary on the bottom half of the
screen. It contains this info:

Bits in error: Total 15 Min 0 Max 14 Av 8 7
Max contiguous errors: 2


Test Errors
0 56
1 24
2 40
3 56
4 72
5 88
6 104
7 120
8 136
9 152
10 168


In addition, to the immediate left of the 6 for Test 6 was this
number: 84208028
And further to the left of the 9 for test 9 was this number 538982199

Saw something similar when I put the other stick in the first memory
slot.

So what does this mean? Is it certain that the memory sticks are
bad? Could a bad power supply or Mbo make Memtest 86 give these
results? Should I head straght to Microcenter to get some new memory?

Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog






Try
> increasing voltage or slowing speed and timings to troubleshoot. Next likely
> is mother board then power supply. You can trouble shoot to see if video
> card is problem by running ATI Tool and undrclocking GPU.
>
> Troubleshooting a problem like this is often a matter of replacing parts
> until fixed.

Kent_Diego wrote:
> Nothing is getting too hot? I would start with RAM. I have seen bad RAM
> corrupt files on hard drive and cause many problems. Run MemTest86. Try
> increasing voltage or slowing speed and timings to troubleshoot. Next likely
> is mother board then power supply. You can trouble shoot to see if video
> card is problem by running ATI Tool and undrclocking GPU.
>
> Troubleshooting a problem like this is often a matter of replacing parts
> until fixed.
>
>

Kent, the problem is solved -- at least I think so. I am typing this
from a newly-reinstalled Vista partition, which I was beginning to think
would be impossible. Memtest 86 didn't do me any good -- it gave the
same results no matter which memory stick I had installed, and I really
couldn't figure out what it was saying to me about the memory. It may
be a good program for experts, but it didn't seem user friendly to me.
But while researching Memtest 86, I came across another memory test
program called Docmemory. For me at least it was more user friendly. I
removed one of my two 1-gig memory sticks and ran it and the stick
passed all tests four times. It was starting on its fifth round of
tests when I shut it down and switched memory sticks. This time it
found about 10,000 errors in the first ten seconds. I didn't believe
it, so I switched the sticks back and forth a few more times just to
see. Sure enough, I had one bad stick. Well, they are 1-gig sticks and
both XP and Vista will run fine with 1-gig, so all seems OK. I am about
to contact Crucial to see about returning the bad stick. Many thanks
for your help. Who knows, I may be able to put everything back the way
it was without spending any money.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

> ...
> Kent, the problem is solved -- at least I think so. I am typing this from
> a newly-reinstalled Vista partition, which I was beginning to think would
> be impossible. Memtest 86 didn't do me any good -- it gave the same
> results no matter which memory stick I had installed, and I really
> couldn't figure out what it was saying to me about the memory. It may be
> a good program for experts, but it didn't seem user friendly to me. But
> while researching Memtest 86, I came across another memory test program
> called Docmemory. For me at least it was more user friendly. I removed
> one of my two 1-gig memory sticks and ran it and the stick passed all
> tests four times. It was starting on its fifth round of tests when I shut
> it down and switched memory sticks. This time it found about 10,000
> errors in the first ten seconds. I didn't believe it, so I switched the
> sticks back and forth a few more times just to see. Sure enough, I had
> one bad stick. Well, they are 1-gig sticks and both XP and Vista will run
> fine with 1-gig, so all seems OK. I am about to contact Crucial to see
> about returning the bad stick. Many thanks for your help. Who knows, I
> may be able to put everything back the way it was without spending any
> money.
> ...
I looked up the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-8500 you have. Although I could not
find the exact listing of voltage/frequency, it did say is required 2.2
volts to meet the 8.5 Gbps data rate. It would be interesting to run CPU ID
(CPU-Z) to see the SPD info. What speed/voltage are you running? This stuff
is one of my personal pet peeves, over-volted memory. Many low end
motherboards cannot even over-volt the memory. It is regular memory that
they change the SPD table to super high numbers at too high a voltage. I
only buy the honest RAM that can meet it's specs at standard voltage. It has
the same parts and if I wanted, I could over volt and over clock too. Any
RAM manufacturer that lists a speed grade only achievable by over voltage
conditions is ripping unsuspecting people off. I am sure Crucial will RMA
this and hopefully give you something that works. By using only one RAM
module you cannot run in dual channel mode and slightly slow your computer.

Kent_Diego wrote:
>> ...
>> Kent, the problem is solved -- at least I think so. I am typing this from
>> a newly-reinstalled Vista partition, which I was beginning to think would
>> be impossible. Memtest 86 didn't do me any good -- it gave the same
>> results no matter which memory stick I had installed, and I really
>> couldn't figure out what it was saying to me about the memory. It may be
>> a good program for experts, but it didn't seem user friendly to me. But
>> while researching Memtest 86, I came across another memory test program
>> called Docmemory. For me at least it was more user friendly. I removed
>> one of my two 1-gig memory sticks and ran it and the stick passed all
>> tests four times. It was starting on its fifth round of tests when I shut
>> it down and switched memory sticks. This time it found about 10,000
>> errors in the first ten seconds. I didn't believe it, so I switched the
>> sticks back and forth a few more times just to see. Sure enough, I had
>> one bad stick. Well, they are 1-gig sticks and both XP and Vista will run
>> fine with 1-gig, so all seems OK. I am about to contact Crucial to see
>> about returning the bad stick. Many thanks for your help. Who knows, I
>> may be able to put everything back the way it was without spending any
>> money.
>> ...
> I looked up the Crucial Ballistix DDR2-8500 you have. Although I could not
> find the exact listing of voltage/frequency, it did say is required 2.2
> volts to meet the 8.5 Gbps data rate. It would be interesting to run CPU ID
> (CPU-Z) to see the SPD info. What speed/voltage are you running? This stuff
> is one of my personal pet peeves, over-volted memory. Many low end
> motherboards cannot even over-volt the memory. It is regular memory that
> they change the SPD table to super high numbers at too high a voltage. I
> only buy the honest RAM that can meet it's specs at standard voltage. It has
> the same parts and if I wanted, I could over volt and over clock too. Any
> RAM manufacturer that lists a speed grade only achievable by over voltage
> conditions is ripping unsuspecting people off. I am sure Crucial will RMA
> this and hopefully give you something that works. By using only one RAM
> module you cannot run in dual channel mode and slightly slow your computer.
>
>

Here's the info you asked about. I confess I'm in over my head with
this. I've never tried to overclock or adjust voltage or whatever. But
I would be very interested to know whether I have a problem here. Thanks.

http://paintrock.net/spd_memory.jpg

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

> ....
> Here's the info you asked about. I confess I'm in over my head with this.
> I've never tried to overclock or adjust voltage or whatever. But I would
> be very interested to know whether I have a problem here. Thanks.
>
> http://paintrock.net/spd_memory.jpg
> ....
It seems you are running at 533 MHz and I assume the motherboard
automatically over volted the memory. That is right at the hairy edge. The
400 MHz (800 MHz DDR) it the highest speed for JEDEC specification voltage.
You said earlier that Memtest86 said both RAM modules had errors. If
Memtest86 (or Memtest86+) says you have errors, you have errors. Do not run
533 MHz and expect your system to be stable and not corrupt data on your
hard derive. If Memtest86 says both RAM modules are bad, contact Crucial and
ask them. Either RMA both modules and hope for better or give up and run 400
MHz. At least play with some of the memory settings in your BIOS setup to
see if you can fix the problem and find something stable. Also see if ASUS
has newer BIOS available that may do better.

Kent_Diego wrote:
>> ....
>> Here's the info you asked about. I confess I'm in over my head with this.
>> I've never tried to overclock or adjust voltage or whatever. But I would
>> be very interested to know whether I have a problem here. Thanks.
>>
>> http://paintrock.net/spd_memory.jpg
>> ....
> It seems you are running at 533 MHz and I assume the motherboard
> automatically over volted the memory. That is right at the hairy edge. The
> 400 MHz (800 MHz DDR) it the highest speed for JEDEC specification voltage.
> You said earlier that Memtest86 said both RAM modules had errors. If
> Memtest86 (or Memtest86+) says you have errors, you have errors. Do not run
> 533 MHz and expect your system to be stable and not corrupt data on your
> hard derive. If Memtest86 says both RAM modules are bad, contact Crucial and
> ask them. Either RMA both modules and hope for better or give up and run 400
> MHz. At least play with some of the memory settings in your BIOS setup to
> see if you can fix the problem and find something stable. Also see if ASUS
> has newer BIOS available that may do better.
>
>

I went into BIOS and made a change. Now look:

http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_memory.jpg
http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_spd.jpg

So did I accomplish anything? Am I better off? Memtest still gives
exactly the same readout, apparently still showing errors. Docmem shows
no errors. Wish I could take a screen shot and show you.

I made the change in the "Jumperfree Configuration" section of BIOS.
When I set everything up back in August I'd read that if I wanted to get
a full 1066 DRAM frequency from my Crucial Ballistix memory I needed to
go into BIOS and set the DRAM frequency to 1066 MHz. The closest thing
I could find was 1067 MHz, so I made the change. Everything seemed to
be working fine until a couple of weeks ago. Was I "overclocking?"
Whatever -- I have now changed the setting back to "Auto," and you can
see the result in the links above. Everything in the Jumperfree
Configuration section of BIOS is now set to Auto.

Do you think I'm where I need to be?

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog

>> ....
>
> I went into BIOS and made a change. Now look:
>
> http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_memory.jpg
> http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_spd.jpg
>
> So did I accomplish anything? Am I better off? Memtest still gives
> exactly the same readout, apparently still showing errors. Docmem shows
> no errors. Wish I could take a screen shot and show you.
>
> I made the change in the "Jumperfree Configuration" section of BIOS. When
> I set everything up back in August I'd read that if I wanted to get a full
> 1066 DRAM frequency from my Crucial Ballistix memory I needed to go into
> BIOS and set the DRAM frequency to 1066 MHz. The closest thing I could
> find was 1067 MHz, so I made the change. Everything seemed to be working
> fine until a couple of weeks ago. Was I "overclocking?" Whatever -- I
> have now changed the setting back to "Auto," and you can see the result in
> the links above. Everything in the Jumperfree Configuration section of
> BIOS is now set to Auto.
>
> Do you think I'm where I need to be?
> .....
Well that is 400 MHz. I bet ASUS has a newer BIOS since August. So Memtest86
is giving errors? Which test number is failing? Normally Memtest86 will just
run and the status window will be empty.
http://www.memtest.org/#screen
Maybe you can describe the errors and when they occur a littler better. This
is what errors look like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonasdionisio/1229794358/
Each one is a line in red.

Kent_Diego wrote:
>>> ....
>> I went into BIOS and made a change. Now look:
>>
>> http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_memory.jpg
>> http://paintrock.net/cpu-z_spd.jpg
>>
>> So did I accomplish anything? Am I better off? Memtest still gives
>> exactly the same readout, apparently still showing errors. Docmem shows
>> no errors. Wish I could take a screen shot and show you.
>>
>> I made the change in the "Jumperfree Configuration" section of BIOS. When
>> I set everything up back in August I'd read that if I wanted to get a full
>> 1066 DRAM frequency from my Crucial Ballistix memory I needed to go into
>> BIOS and set the DRAM frequency to 1066 MHz. The closest thing I could
>> find was 1067 MHz, so I made the change. Everything seemed to be working
>> fine until a couple of weeks ago. Was I "overclocking?" Whatever -- I
>> have now changed the setting back to "Auto," and you can see the result in
>> the links above. Everything in the Jumperfree Configuration section of
>> BIOS is now set to Auto.
>>
>> Do you think I'm where I need to be?
>> .....
> Well that is 400 MHz. I bet ASUS has a newer BIOS since August. So Memtest86
> is giving errors? Which test number is failing? Normally Memtest86 will just
> run and the status window will be empty.
> http://www.memtest.org/#screen
> Maybe you can describe the errors and when they occur a littler better. This
> is what errors look like:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonasdionisio/1229794358/
> Each one is a line in red.
>
>

Well stupid me. I should have figured out on my own that if you can't
do a screen capture, you can always just snap a picture.

Here's what Memtest looks like when it's starting. Sorry it's
off-center, but I think this one's not important:

http://paintrock.net/memtest-1.jpg

Here's what it looks like on my screen for a total of about one second.
This photo has given me my first actual opportunity to read this screen:

http://paintrock.net/memtest-2.jpg

When the previous screen disappears after the one second it exists, I
get this:

http://paintrock.net/memtest3.jpg

So you see I get nothing at all in red. I'm not sure just what Memtest
is saying to me. When Docmem began going crazy with all the errors it
was finding when the one Ballistix stick was plugged in, I knew I was on
to something. But Memtest just seems so casual about everything that
it's almost like I'm seeing something normal, even though it seems to be
showing errors at the same time. Can you decode it? Thanks.

--
Bill Anderson

I am the Mighty Favog