Trouble with nagging persistent BSOD

[mikek82]

BTW,After I do some testing and let the computer run all night to be 100% sure,I'll be back to let you all know and mark this post as solved then.

 

[mikek82]

After some thought,can I be blaming the SATA drive as at fault too soon? Could I still have a problem with the SATA/RAID controller or drivers? Only other SATA drive I'm using is the CD/DVD drive,and have had no apparent problems with it. I still have no crashes yet. Please let me know what you guys think. Are there any methods or utilities you guys can recommend to verify 100% that it is a bad hard drive?Thx.

 

[Dave76]

It's possible the drivers are causing problems.
Go to your motherboard support site and D/L and install the SATA/RAID drivers, check the rest of the drivers while you're there.
Asus M4A79XTD EVO support

Then test your SATA HDD:
Download and run Seatools on your HDD.
How to use SeaTools for Windows
Run the Short Drive Self Test and Long Drive Self Test.
The long Drive Self Test is most important, but run the short test first, if it fails then no need to run the long test.
Long test may take several hours.

Don't replace your RAM until you're sure it is causing problems, sometimes adjusting the settings will fix it.

 

[mikek82]

Well I guess I'm stumped here. With SeaTools,I've done all the basic tests,and no errors on the SATA drive.
I think I'm going to blow this build up....now if I could just get a hold of some dynamite,I
could fix this damn 'puter once and for all! hehehehe

Seriously though,The 20gb drive I'm currently using is dreadfully old,slow and small.I am
constantly running out of drive space. Unable to install the utilities to truly test the
machine as a whole. Unfortunately I'm in a bind here with having a 5+ year old computer
before this barebones I built June 2011. I don't have the resources to swap parts with this
current machine. I't was working flawlessly early on,and then slowly got crash crazy over
the last year plus.

Please note...I'ts been running for almost 80 straight hours now on the old drive,and in that time,I've had 2 crashes so far. A page fault error happened while the SATA was in as a slave. But curiously,an IRQL error when it wasn't in. The SATA drivers were updated while the crashes got worse,so I can't say really if they,or whatever is the cause anymore.

So bleep it! I will upgrade my RAM to the more suitable pair as recommended. And decided to go with a
Solid State Drive to house windows(a friend's suggestion). Then use the SATA drive for my
games and other programs,and see where it goes from there. Also I believe I should upgrade
my PSU to a more reliable brand as well. Any thoughts on these part or anything else are certainly requested.

I'll have to wait a few weeks until I'm able to afford these changes I've mentioned,so I'd hate to keep this thread going anymore other than I'll update things after I do this minor rebuild and
hopefully with some luck,I'll have things worked out.

I have to thank Dave76,Koolkat77,Karlsnooks,and Brink for their input to my request.The
best thing about the internet is how so many people are willing to share their knowledge
with others.Truly appreciated. Thanks again all!

 

[Dave76]

Did you run the SeaTools Long Drive Self Test?
It is a more thorough test, it will take a few hours to complete, but needs to be done.

Good upgrade plan.
I wouldn't be surprised if a new PSU solves the problem.

Recommend a little research on the PSU, getting another marginal quality PSU may give you more problems.
This is a good source of information.
POWER SUPPLY REVIEW DATABASE
The best recommended brands that I have found:
Seasonic
Corsair
Antec
PC Power & Cooling
XFX
Most brands are from an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), with the exception of the OEMs that sell their brand.
If the database linked above has the OEM listed as Seasonic, you can't go wrong.
If the PSU brand is not listed in the above link I would not get it.

 

[mikek82]

Hey Dave,thanks for the info on the PSU's. I can see it being an unsuspecting problem too.
And I ran every test available under the basic tests in SeaTools with a pass. Firmware upgrade too. So go figure. hehehe

I DO realize the nature of pc's with all the different manufacturers making all the different parts,and having to make them all work together consistently without failure. Actually rather amazing pieces of technology computers really are. So while very frustrating to overcome trouble sometimes,its not surprising it happens. Life goes on.

 

[Dave76]

You're welcome.

Good news on the HDD test.
It is a challenge to troubleshoot systems most of the time, sometimes the tests will point to several things only to find a faulty keyboard in the end.
I read somewhere that the two main causes of hardware failure are RAM and PSU, and the PSU is very difficult to troubleshoot.
Good luck with the upgrades, let us know how your system is performing.