BSOD at random intervals, no specific pattern even after clean install

[essenbe]

OK, under HDD, scroll to the OCZ and hit enter and see what happens.

 

[CliveK]

OK, under HDD, scroll to the OCZ and hit enter and see what happens.

Nothing.

 

[Britton30]

Should be under BOOT > HARD DISK
View attachment 242243

 

[essenbe]

OK, let's see what happens. Turn the computer off, disconnect the Samsung drive, just the data cable, and try to boot.

 

[CliveK]

Should be under BOOT > HARD DISK

Yep. Boot > Hard Disk Drives.

SATA 1 - Samsung
SATA 2 - OCZ

I highlight OCZ and press enter and nothing happens.

 

[CliveK]

OK, let's see what happens. Turn the computer off, disconnect the Samsung drive, just the data cable, and try to boot.

We are left with Windows. The same as pre-BIOS update - but I presume drivers and such were on the Samsung as there are issues with the graphics card, for example.

We have yet to see whether BSODs will occur.

 

[Britton30]

Try highlighting OCZ and pressing the UP arrow.

 

[CliveK]

Try highlighting OCZ and pressing the UP arrow.

Would it make any difference now that the Samsung is removed?

 

[Britton30]

I don't know, give it a try.

 

[CliveK]

I don't know, give it a try.

Well, I'll have to reconnect the Samsung again. So I assume you're suggesting doing that and then using the UP arrow on the OCZ? Ok, I'll see what that does.

 

[CliveK]

Right. Reconnecting the Samsung automatically altered the boot order of the HDDs so I didn't even need to change the order.

Windows loads fine and I can access both HDDs again. So the BIOS update issue is solved! Therefore I am exceptionally grateful to you all as I can now actually access my work again. Taking the Samsung out and then reinserting seemed to do the trick.

I have yet to see if any BSODs occur but, fingers crossed, the BIOS update has solved this. Would it be safe to insert the older RAM which I initially took out? There were more BSODs once they were removed, so I'm assuming they're unlikely to be a cause.

 

[Britton30]

Good news. Some older BIOSes will change the boot order. Try the older RAM, but see if you can run memtest now too. Good job!

EDIT, it may be better to run matched RAM sticks.

 

[essenbe]

I'm glad you have it working again, finally. Well done, good job. If it were me, I would run it with the new ram only long enough for you to determine if the BSODs have stopped. Once you find out the problem is solved, put the older ram back in. Then if you start having BSODs again, you will know the cause and how to easily fix it. But, good job on getting back to business.

 

[CliveK]

Memtest still won't run. I'm not even sure if the CD is spinning but I constantly get 'DISK BOOT FAILURE' when setting the Disk Drive as 1st in Boot Priority.

CD's not scratched and it worked before. Very odd.

 

[Britton30]

Do you mean with the CDROM set to first, or w7 is not booting again?

Does the light on the CD drive come on when you open the tray? That drive may be bad.

If your BIOS allows booting from a USB stick you can put memtest on one. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool Use the one with *NEW!* beside it.

 

[CliveK]

Do you mean with the CDROM set to first, or w7 is not booting again?

Does the light on the CD drive come on when you open the tray? That drive may be bad.

If your BIOS allows booting from a USB stick you can put memtest on one. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool Use the one with NEW beside it.

CDROM set to first and MemTest does not load. W7 works fine, so far.

The light does indeed appear. I'll try the USB later but I'll work on the CD first as it worked fine last week.

 

[Britton30]

I was wondering if you had disconnected a lot of cables? Check everything to be sure it's all connected.

 

[CliveK]

I was wondering if you had disconnected a lot of cables? Check everything to be sure it's all connected.

Hmm, yes. It's all connected appropriately from what I can see. It's just one problem after another, it seems!

 

[CliveK]

I've had no BSODs since November but one struck today.

I've removed the old RAM, updated my BIOS but there are problems with one monitor and the disk drive - it even spent ages creating a system summary with SF Diagnostic on the CD ROM and won't get past it. Would the best course of action be to disconnect it?

 

[essenbe]

If you think the DVD is causing problems, disconnect it and see if the problems go away. If they do, you are very lucky. You can get a DVD for $19 most places.