Desktop heap allocation failure

[arliedog]

I have upgraded my Vista Home Premium system to Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit.
I am getting an error logged with a ID of 243 and a description of desktop Heap allocation failure. This happens at boot thus there is no windows open other than the desktop itself. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[reghakr]

The upgrade route is really not the preferred method. It leaves useless files on your system and can cause conflicts.

I'd suggest you perform a "clean" install

 

[PC WhizzKid]

Yes do a backup of your docs and do a clean install.

 

[arliedog]

Thanks for the help, however I spent several hours last night to do a clean install and this morning I am still getting the desktop heap allocation failure at start up. When it doesn't crash I like Win 7.

 

[reghakr]

Are you having any problems accessing the Internet?

 

[arliedog]

When I don't get the desktop heap allocation failure everything works fine. When it happens none of the icons on the desktop work as well as links in the start menu. This only happens at start up about 25 percent of the time but may happen two or three times in a row. Do not have a lot of windows open when it happens.

 

[reghakr]

Do you have a restore point you can go back to?

 

[arliedog]

[Since I have had this problem ever since I installed Win 7 I don't have a restore point where the problem did not exist. I have been doing a little investigation on the net and get the idea that Win 7 is a little more picky about memory. Would the fact that my system came with three 2 Gig sticks and a 1 Gig stick be causing any problems? If I look at my desktop heap size in the registry by doing the following I wonder if the size is correct with the second number being so large.
desktop heap
If I go to the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Windows
My Desktop heap size is:
ObjectDirectory=\Windows SharedSection=1024,20480,768 Windows=On SubSystemType=Windows ServerDll=basesrv,1 ServerDll=winsrv:UserServerDllInitialization,3 ServerDll=winsrv:ConServerDllInitialization,2 ServerDll=sxssrv,4 ProfileControl=Off MaxRequestThreads=16
Anyone make sense out of this info?

 

[reghakr]

I know most of the registry like the back of my hand, but the CurrentControlSet is dangerous to mess around with

 

[arliedog]

desktop heap failure related to graphics driver?

I am thinking now that my desktop heap allocation failures are related to my Graphics drivers for my NVIDIA Geforce 6150 SE on board graphics.
If I attempt to install the latest drivers from either the NVIDIA or HP web sites I get an increase in this Desktop Heap Allocation Failures. Roll back the drivers and I go back to the rate I am getting failures before updating the graphics drivers.
Is there a better source for drivers for this Graphics card?
I do have an available Express X16 slot but HP made the great choice of only including a 250 watt power supply which I believe will not support a graphics card being installed.
Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[reghakr]

Did you download the driver here

I don't know what the SE is........Special Edition?

NVIDIA DRIVERS 195.62 WHQL

 

[arliedog]

graphic driver

when I install the 195.62 driver I get a greater number of the event id 243 desktop heap allocation failure errors and system crashes. The only driver that works with fewer event 243's is 190.62. I have purchased a new PSU and a xfx ATI 4550 graphics card but have yet to install it as I happen to be blind and need sighted help to install the new parts. Would rather get this on board graphics working and return these parts since the total cost of the PSU and Graphics card was $130

Did you download the driver here

I don't know what the SE is........Special Edition?

NVIDIA DRIVERS 195.62 WHQL

 

[arliedog]

graphics drivers causing the problem

Having been dealing with this problem for several weeks now it seems very clear to me that the NVIDIA graphics drivers are causing the problem. I have finally got help from NVIDIA and they have supplied several drivers some of which when installed make the problem worse. Their latest driver 195.62 causes the desktop heap allocation allocation failure more often than the 190.62 driver which I am currently running with still some desktop heap problems but not too often. I have purchased a XFX ATI 4550 Graphics card but have not installed it as I need sighted help to install it. Is this a good Graphics card choice for a non gaming computer? The fact is that since I have limited vision and can't read the screen anyway I am just looking for a graphics card that won't cause problems and will my wife to play her Club Pogo games which are not that grahic intense as I understand.

I have upgraded my Vista Home Premium system to Windows 7 Home premium 64 bit.
I am getting an error logged with a ID of 243 and a description of desktop Heap allocation failure. This happens at boot thus there is no windows open other than the desktop itself. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[reghakr]

Yea,. it sounds like a decent mid-range card,. your index score should go up with this card.

 

[arliedog]

what are my chances

What are my chances that the video drivers are actually causing this desktop heap allocation failure. In one last attempt I just completed a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and it was going so good then the same darn event id 243 started again. My fear is I will install a new graphics card and end up with the same results. My other option is to simply go back to Vista where I had no such problems.

Yea,. it sounds like a decent mid-range card,. your index score should go up with this card.

 

[reghakr]

I can;t garatee a new video card will solve the problem, but it is a hardware problem somewhere,

Take a look in Device Manager and see if any entries have a yellow flag next to any entry

 

[arliedog]

hardware seems fine

I have done all kinds of hardware checks and everything seems fine. Device manager shows nothing wrong. I am a old schooler and normally turn off my computer every night. Over the past several nights I just put the computer to sleep instead and have had no desktop heap allocation failures. The darn heap failure only happens at a boot or restart. My conclusion that it is a graphics card problem is based only on the fact after having tried numerous graphic drivers suggested by NVIDIA with some drivers the problem occurs more often than others. Also I am wondering if the Monitor driver could be the problem. I am running the HP W2408H monitor and HP does not have a Windows 7 driver so I am using the driver provided by Microsoft update.

 

[torrentg]

The upgrade route is really not the preferred method. It leaves useless files on your system and can cause conflicts.

I'd suggest you perform a "clean" install

If you would have followed this two weeks ago, you'd have two weeks in of being problem-free by now.

 

[arliedog]

clean install didn't help

Sorry I thought I indicated in a earlier post that I did follow the suggestions and did a clean install. The clean install however when using the Windows 7 upgrade disk isn't a real clean install as I see it since it won't let you completely reformat the hard drive as part of the process. It does remove all your applications and creates a folder called win.old.
The other error I get after returning from sleep mode is a HAL error which when you do a net search turns up a Microsoft White Paper saying that a BIOS update is needed to resolve the problem of getting HAL errors. HP offers no BIOS update for Win 7.

The upgrade route is really not the preferred method. It leaves useless files on your system and can cause conflicts.

I'd suggest you perform a "clean" install

If you would have followed this two weeks ago, you'd have two weeks in of being problem-free by now.

 

[torrentg]

I must have missed it. My bad!

Use CPU-Z to find the motherboard model. Then search the manufacturer's site for update.

Also, install the latest drivers for everything you can think of - especially motherboard/chipset.