Clean Install - Crashes Every Time

[momothemonster]

I bought a Shuttle PC with Windows 7 on it. It was working fine, but had no wireless, so I installed the suggested internal Wireless Card (PN20) and it worked great. Then, about 5 hours into using the machine, Windows detected an error and shut itself down.

When I started it back up, it got almost all the way through the boot sequence, then the graphics got glitchy (horizontal blue lines filling the screen) and it froze. I restarted into Safe Mode and tried restoring to the earliest config I could, no luck. I uninstalled everything I had installed that day (Steam, OpenOffice, etc.), no luck. So, last-ditch, I wiped the system and reinstalled Windows 7.

It gets all the way to 'Preparing to use your System for the First Time' or something similar, then the graphics glitch and the system freezes. I've disconnected the wireless card, ran overnight tests on the memory (all good), and reseated the graphics card. I was able to Install Ubuntu 9 without a problem, with full res on the graphics card, working wireless, etc. Then I wiped the system and tried to reinstall Windows 7, still nothing. Sometimes it glitches at the 'preparing' screen, sometimes I just get black and frozen. I can boot into safe mode, but it never finished install, so it just tells me to restart in normal mode.

I've tried both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, same results on each. Any ideas?

 

[Saltgrass]

Does the Shuttle have on board video? If so, you might try installing using that.

When someone says I did this and it broke, most folks would think the this is what needs to be fixed. I would probably remove the wireless card.

 

[momothemonster]

Saltgrass - thanks for the reply. I've already removed the wireless card, and it hasn't helped. No onboard graphics.

 

[Wishmaster]

no onboard graphics or you arent using them?
you may need to disable onboard in the bios if the MOBO has them, even though you arent using it. It can cause issues.

other than that:
Have you tried pulling the 4550, and replacing it with another card?
Any other older card you may have lying around?

 

[momothemonster]

No onboard graphics that I know of. I checked the BIOS for any mention of onboard graphics after reading a thread about it causing problems for some people, but found nothing.

It's a Shuttle SX58H7 - the only graphics ports are the three on the card. I don't have any other GFX cards around (this is my first non-mac in about 10 years), though I could probably dig one up from a friend.

 

[gregrocker]

Test your memory overnight using memtest86 bootable, then remove all but 2gb of RAM to try install.

Check the BIOS version to make sure you have the latest from your maker's Support Download's webpage for your model computer, or mobo.

What is your SATA controller setting in the BIOS?

What are you using to reinstall Win7? Recovery partition? Did you burn a DVD? Verify it with ImgBurn, if necessary burn again at 4x speed with Verify.

Since the PC is new and still under warranty with tech support, have you called your tech support for help with this?

Try resetting the CMOS: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

 

[momothemonster]

Memory check turned out fine. I've been using a disk I got from the guy who sold me the computer (second-hand, so no known support/warranty).

On the upside - I updated the BIOS and tried installing again, and it Worked! So I've got a working machine, for now. Going to take it through its paces today and see how well it holds up. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

 

[momothemonster]

As a follow-up, the computer is now randomly crashing. I've reinstalled the Graphics Driver, it hasn't helped. Perhaps I need to try a new GFX card.

 

[gregrocker]

Study the Event Viewer for the cause of the crashes. Google or post Critical or repeat Errors back here in Crashes forum to get help.

Try another Win7 or Vista display driver from the maker's Support Downloads page for your computer or video card model.

Have you checked Windows Updates to see if a newer display driver was delivered?

 

[momothemonster]

I had some kind of severe crash - windows restarted unexpectedly and then couldn't find an operating system to start up again.

So I reinstalled Windows 7 and it got most of the way through install, but won't start up except in Safe Mode. Here's the error I get from Safe Mode:

Problem Signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 50
BCP1: FFFFF88007E61FFC
BCP2: 0000000000000000
BCP3: FFFFF88004A422E0
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

It also points to two files - a .dmp and a sysdata.xml. I can't upload them to this forum, so I put them on my server if anyone can take a look:
http://mmmlabs.com/serve/win7/013010-23212-01.dmp
http://mmmlabs.com/serve/win7/sysdata.xml

This is with Windows 7 64-Bit. I have a 64-Bit Core i7 processor, but perhaps I should try Windows 7 32-Bit?

 

[theog]

Take a look at this:

[SOLVED] Blue Screen of Death BCCode 50 - Tech Support Forum

 

[momothemonster]

Hmm...the problem in the post you linked to was bad ram, caught by memtest86+. I ran memtest all night and found no problems.

 

[woebetide]

from your crashdump:

Probably caused by : atikmdag.sys ( atikmdag!GfxNode::CollectDbgInfo+60 )

Loaded symbol image file: atikmdag.sys
Image path: \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\atikmdag.sys
Image name: atikmdag.sys
Timestamp: Fri Apr 24 12:51:57 2009 (49F199CD)
CheckSum: 004CC863
ImageSize: 00522000
Translations: 0000.04b0 0000.04e4 0409.04b0 0409.04e4

So it should be a driver problem: atikmdag.sys

Maybe this can help it's for vista, but ......

Possible Solution to ATIKMDAG Driver Crash - Overclock.net - Overclocking.net