New
#1
Constant BSOD involving ntoskrnl.exe and win32k.sys
About a month ago, I started to get a lot of blue screens, which I thought was due to a new update for my Nvidia video drivers. They started getting worse so I downloaded WhoCrashed in order to get a better description of what was happening and it came to my attention that most were involving the ntoskrnl.exe. I had done some google'ing and apparently that is something you cannot just re-download and install as it is a compendium of your computer's drivings and/or settings (or so I've read). I decided to look further into it and it was also said that it could be due to using an old keyboard, which my keyboard was indeed 10+ years old. Ultimately, after making sure all my drivers were up-to-date and yet still getting blue screens, I re-installed Windows 7. I did this a few days ago, Thursday perhaps, and I am still getting blue screens like they are going out of style. I've used MemTest to check my RAM and after about 6-7 passes, it came up with errors. I cleaned all the dust out, re-seated the RAM, and tested each stick separately but could not duplicate the MemTest errors again. Regardless, I kept getting blue screens.
I use Steam often, and if I try to play any games, it's a guaranteed blue screen in about 10 minutes of playing. Leaving my computer just at the desktop will also result in a blue screen eventually, but strangely, if I leave Windows Media Player open playing an .mp3, it seems to put off the blue screens indefinitely until I either try to watch anything on youtube.com or play a game on Steam.
I'm at my wits end with this computer. It's a custom build and is a little over a year old (I built it in August '10 I believe). I'm nervous that if I take it to my local computer shop for a diagnosis ($35), it might turn into something a whole lot more expensive, and I would like to exhaust all possible solutions first. I've heard great things about these forums. Please help and thanks for your time!
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit OEM
ASUS M4A87TD EVO Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor HDZ965FBGMBOX
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460
G. Skill Ripjaws 2x2GB (4GB)
Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply