Solved Validation of Windows 7 problem after updates.

[essenbe]

Lady, you may want to try to just put the CD you burn in the DVD drive and just reboot. If it is set right, you will see 'if you want to boot from the DVD press any key', then quickly press a key on your keyboard, you only have a couple of seconds. If that happens, you don't have to do anything, the test will start by itself and run until you stop it. You can stop it by pressing the escape key.

Please download the test from Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool and scroll down to the middle of the page. This is what you will see and I have outlined which one to download.

View attachment 331257

Save it to your desktop, right click it and you will see an ISO file which looks like a CD disk. put a blank CD into your DVD drive, then double click the ISO file. Windows disk image burner will pop up, or if you have another image burner installed on your computer, you can use that. just burn it to the cd and you are done. Then close the DVD drive with the CD in it and reboot. If your bios is set up right, you will see the 'if you want to boot from DVD press any key' message. Then, go have lunch. It will take several hours to run 8 complete passes, which you need. then you can press escape and remove the CD and you will boot back into Windows. If you get any errors, just press escape when you notice them, you don't have to run it any longer.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask. One of us will answer you.

 

[lady]

Okay, I am doing it and on the 2nd pass with no errors thus far. Internet speed not good so taking about 50 minutes per pass. Will report back in the Spring..lol Thanks

Having looked at your instructions I am using the versión 5 type as previously instructed.

 

[lady]

Sorry about last post, DOH, nothing to do with internet. Feel really stupid now but can I ask why each pass takes longer? The first was 50 mins and the 2nd took 2 hours, so I presume that my PC must be slowing down the longer it runs. Goodness knows when it will have run 8 passes, at this rate. Is this normal??? Thanks

 

[Layback Bear]

Yes it's normal.
It takes a long time. Hours. Because I have a lot of ram my last time to 13 hours. If you get a red error message stop the test you have a problem.
One failure indicates a ram or motherboard problem.

I see your motherboard has 4 dimm slots. Which slot/slots does your motherboard manual recommend the ram to be installed in?

I see your specs indicate 2 gigs of ram. How many modules (sticks) is being used?

 

[Arc]

Which slot/slots does your motherboard manual recommend the ram to be installed in?

Your question inspired me to have another look.

Now, the system specs is not right, IMHO.

What I am seeing there, the motherboard is ASRock > P4i945GC

BaseBoardManufacturer = ASRock
BaseBoardProduct = P4i945GC

The BIOS is old, but latest.

BiosVersion = P1.30
BiosReleaseDate = 11/18/2009

And RAM in use is 4 GB.

[U][Memory Device (Type 17) - Length 27 - Handle 0010h][/U]
  Physical Memory Array Handle  000eh
  Memory Error Info Handle      [Not Provided]
  Total Width                   64 bits
  Data Width                    64 bits
  [B]Size                          2048MB[/B]
  Form Factor                   09h - DIMM
  Device Set                    [None]
 [B] Device Locator                DIMM0[/B]
  Bank Locator                  BANK0
  Memory Type                   0fh - SDRAM
  Type Detail                   0080h - Synchronous
[B]  Speed                         0MHz[/B]
  Manufacturer                  Manufacturer0
  Serial Number                        
  Asset Tag Number                          
  Part Number                   PartNum0

[U][Memory Device (Type 17) - Length 27 - Handle 0012h][/U]
  Physical Memory Array Handle  000eh
  Memory Error Info Handle      [Not Provided]
  Total Width                   64 bits
  Data Width                    64 bits
[B]  Size                          2048MB[/B]
  Form Factor                   09h - DIMM
  Device Set                    [None]
[B]  Device Locator                DIMM1[/B]
  Bank Locator                  BANK1
  Memory Type                   0fh - SDRAM
  Type Detail                   0080h - Synchronous
[B]  Speed                         0MHz[/B]
  Manufacturer                  Manufacturer1
  Serial Number                        
  Asset Tag Number                          
  Part Number                   PartNum1

I think the speed and manufacturer info are just some glitches of WinDbg analysis?? Or the facts??

 

[Layback Bear]

SD ram mercy.
That is why a dummy like me needs System Specs in the My System Specs location. My System Specs is there for a reason.
I want to help if I can but I need to know what dog I'm walking in the park.

This tutorial by Kari should help us help the OP.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/311593-speccy-publish-snapshot-your-system-specs.html

 

[lady]

Seems like I´ve got a dog of a PC. Firstly pleased to know that it is normal for the test I am running takes such a long time. So far, no errors but has taken 7.18 hours to complete 4 passes.

The only info I can provide at the momento is what I can see on the screen which I presume comes under the part headed Memory SPD Informations.
Slot 01 2048 MB DDR2 - 800
Slot 1 2048 MB DDR2 - Kingston

I am unable to provide any further information at the moment due to running the test. I have found a manual for ASRock P4VM890 Motherboard but I was not involved before as it was assembled by the guy in the shop where I took it for an upgrade. Found receipt and it´s the P4i945GC. PC has had a few problems since 2011 but worse this year.

I will study the link regarding snapshots and upload tomorrow as obviously I am using another PC at the moment to read this.

Thanks

 

[Layback Bear]

No hurry Lady just keep running the test.
Remember when and or if the memory test finds a problem stop the test and get back to us.

I glad you found the motherboard manual. It's very important. Just take a read through it while your waiting for the memory test to complete.

If you use Speccy you can print out the report and keep it with your motherboard manual for future use. Speccy is very simple to use. It does all the work for you.

 

[lady]

I´m back and report that there were no errors from the Memtest. I have downloaded and ran Speccy and here is the URL.

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/fCOIPZQEUwft6EAlMIugC0h

I was unable to attach this, only paste, so hope it works. Fingers crossed but was amazed to see that it even shows the temperatures the components are running at. Only just put PC on and have fan running in the side so hope this does not give you a false reading. I´ll wait to hear from one of you and thank you very much for your time and trouble.

 

[Layback Bear]

Thank you for the Speccy log.

Use this tutorial by Brink to correct your system specs when you get time.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/180324-system-info-see-your-system-specs.html

Things I noticed are many but I will mention a few.

1. You have Tuneup Utility 2012. That program alone can cause all kind of problems including Windows 7 validation problems.

2. You have 1 stick of ram (unknown) and 1 stick of ram (Kingston). That doesn't mean the ram is bad. Their is a good chance they don't get along with each other.

3. You have a lot of auto updates for all kinds of things.
Bing Bar, Adobe, H.P., Google and a lot of Java programs.

4. You have Windows 7 Defender and Eset active at the same time.

5. **I do not see the cpu temps. That could be because Speccy can't read that old of system.

Their is a lot more but what does all this mean.
Your system need a good cleaning of what I call Junk to start with.
I didn't see anything that needs Java which is a trouble maker.
Bing anything can and does cause problems.
Auto update any thing can cause problems because you never know what you get and when.

***Post some more pictures and I will take a look and then give some suggestion.***

Use this tutorial by Brink to post the snap shots.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

Start Orb and type msconfig and then I would like to see Startup programs and NON Microsoft Services.

Examples:

View attachment 331518

View attachment 331519

All this might sound overwelming but it is easy to do if you take your time.
We know you have a old system but I think we can breath some life back into it.

If you have question please ask. Noel says verification log looks good and that is a plus.

You probably have notice we do work as a team on this forum.
We try to help each other help you through your problems. I never assume their is one problem.

Get back to us when you can.

 

[Arc]

Please check the RAM timings?

View attachment 331521

 

[essenbe]

I saw that Arc. It's 2 different brands and speed of ram which is never a good idea. But, it can work. It's running it at a the lowest speed from what I can tell, and it passed memtest86. It can work like that, but I wouldn't want to try it. I don't know of a respectable computer shop that would do that. I suspect they just threw some used ram they had around in the machine instead of new ram. No shop that is knowledgeable would do that. But, I do know of a few that would, and charge you for new ram.

What I'm most curious about is all of the remote connections that are showing. Unless she uses that for some specific reason, I don't think they should be there. But, I'm not sure.

 

[Layback Bear]

Remote connection or Desktop I know very little about because I have never used them.
Saying that; remote anything is worry some.
The ram is a problem but I don't know if its the problem. I have a feeling that their are many problems.

Glad you all come to help. The more eyes the better. That tuneup program could of and most likely caused many problems.

Hopefully when Lady post back we will have the needed information to make this old computer happy again.

My last old computer was a intel 775 socket. The power supply blew up so I replaced it and everything worked. Slowly piece at a time over a period of a couple of months different hardware in the system would go belly up. Finally I just sent the old system to the recycle station in town.
Their comes a time when you just have to get or build a new computer.

 

[lady]

This is very enlightening and Noel also said that Tune Up Utilities causes problems. I had stopped the utilities part making alterations to my computer but kept the one click tune up part as I know of no other way of keeping the PC running well. Looks like I was wrong and wasted my cash on that so I should probably uninstall it. I thought I was supposed to have Windows defender working as well as ESET. Woops! Not sure how and when I picked up Java but presume it was part of a website I use or maybe music production software. I suppose I should uninstall it and then see what fails to function without it. Is that the correct approach? I shall look into this in depth over the next few days and come back with more screenshots. You guys are great and I can´t thank you enough.

 

[Arc]

One-click tuneup things are not needed. Practically, windows 7 does not need any tuneup program. But if you want a program to do this job, we will suggest you one thing only, CCleaner.

If you want to know how to use it: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/306648-ccleaner-delete-junk-files.html

As the memtest86+ passes, I would suggest you next to enable Driver Verifier to monitor the drivers.

Driver Verifier - Enable and Disable
​

Run Driver Verifier for 24 hours or the occurrence of the next crash, whichever is earlier.

Before doing it, Read the items below ▼ very carefully:

   Information

Why Driver Verifier:
It puts a stress on the drivers, ans so it makes the unstable drivers crash. Hopefully the driver that crashes is recorded in the memory dump.

How Can we know that DV is enabled:
It will make the system bit of slow, laggy.

   Warning

Before enabling DV, make it sure that you have earlier System restore points made in your computer. You can check it easily by using CCleaner looking at Tools > System Restore.

If there is no points, make a System Restore Point manually before enabling DV.

   Tip

• If you fail to get on the Desktop because of DV, Boot into Advanced Boot Options > Safe mode. Disable DV there. Now boot normally again, and try following the instruction of enabling DV again.
• If you cannot boot in Safe mode too, do a System Restore to a point you made earlier.

Free up the startup. Windows does not need any other program to auto start with it, but the auto start programs often conflicts and causes various problems including BSODs.

1. Click on the Start button
2. Type “msconfig (without quotes), click the resulting link. It will open the System Configuration window.
3. Select the “Startup” tab.
4. Deselect all items other than the antivirus, egui for your case.
5. Apply > OK
6. Accept then restart.

Let us know the results, with the subsequent crash dumps, if any.

 

[Layback Bear]

Lady please post the pictures I requested when you can. They will help.

 

[lady]

Can I ask "Layback Bear" the order I should do things as I feel a little overwhelmed with this. I had started last week by removing everything out of start with the exception of ESET, as suggested. I have now uninstalled "Tune Up Utilities". I need to stop Windows defender running as I have ESET but how do I do that? Easy guidance please. You also want more snapshots but of what and easiest instructions please to do this. The drivers test seems very daunting and reading about restoring if windows doesn´t open, I would not know how to restore to an earlier date without windows, or am I misunderstanding the text. Seems I should run this driver test program all the time in the background until my PC crashes. Presumably doing various tasks that would use different drivers. I would never run the computer for 24 hours a day or leave it unattended as I would be scared of fire in the heat we have in Spain.

Not sure whether to uninstall java as I think it is used for a music website. Or should I just uninstall and see what happens? The bing bar I believe is an extension of Chrome and it´s just an easy access to websites I visit a lot, rather than listing in favourites. Is that correct or is it something completely different.

Reading other inputs in this thread there was mention of being concerned about remote connection. Is that when I have allowed someone from outside to remotely change something on my PC, as ESET and my Internet Supplier have both been in but I could see what they were doing and disconnected them afterwards. Or have I got this totally wrong too?

I will wait for a reply before tackling anymore, so that I do everything in the right order. My PC behaving at the moment, famous last words, but I would like to get this antique, by your standards, running as well as it can.

So sorry that I am causing you all such a headache.

 

[Layback Bear]

You are not causing any headaches on this end.

Here are some easy things to do and some guidance on how to do them.
We use tutorials as much as possible because they are exact and you can always refer back to them.

By Brink:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/6397-windows-defender-turn-off.html

---------------------------------------------------------------

Now Java; most don't need Java. I haven't used it in years because of the security risk and I don't need it.

If you remove Java and you find out that a program that you like needs it you can always install it again.
If you do have and want to keep Java you MUST keep it updated. I would check daily for updates. Java is a huge security problem.

How to: Windows 7 and Vista - Uninstall Programs

1. Click Start
2. Select Control Panel
3. Select Programs
4. Click Programs and Features
5. Select the program you want to uninstall by clicking on it, and then click the Uninstall button.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bing Tool Bar and Bing Desktop is something of choice.
I have found them to be trouble some and at times cause problems and use resources.

Again that is something that can be removed and if one gets a desire for them again, just install them again. Most find they like things without them.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


Their are many ways to uninstall programs. I'm giving you the Windows 7 method.
It's pretty much fool proof and easy to do. The easy way.

*Start Orb
*Type Remove
*Tick on add and remove programs.

If the program is listed there you can uninstall (Remove) it from there.
If you find a program to remove and it isn't listed there just ask and we will show other methods.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now lets get this taken care of.

Screen shots are very important.
We can see things that help us help you.
When you post them it also let us know that you understand and followed the instructions.

I will give you another tutorial by Brink:
Take your time and learn how to use it. Any question just ask.
It's not difficult believe me. I can use it and I only got 3 brain cells.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

_________________________________________

I'm not sure why your ISP and or Eset would be in your computer.
Can you explain why this was done and what was done?
How are you sure that they were who they say they were?
Do you use a paid for version of Eset Security.

essenbe has brought that to our attentions. I will investigate.

Take care of these things at your own pace.

 

[essenbe]

Lady, you have caused no headaches for us. This is what we do every day. We are happy to help you in any way we can. Do you have the Windows 7 Installation Disk? Have you created a system repair disk? It wouldn't hurt for you to create one. Here is a step by step instructions http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2083-system-repair-disc-create.html There is no hurry in doing this, but you should do it soon. Then label it and put it up so you will have it if you need it.

I was concerned about the remote access because of security problems. If you give anyone access to your computer, be absolutely sure you know exactly who they are. Don't believe someone just because they say they are from someplace you trust. Make sure they are who they say they are. A big scam right now is people calling saying they are from Microsoft and you need help with your computer. They are Scam artists and are looking to cost you a lot of money. Trust me, Microsoft will never call you to help with your computer problems. Those were some of my reasons for concern about remote access.

 

[lady]

I am aware of the scams and both times those that I allowed remote access to my PC were genuine. With ESET it was due to their new software that would not function on my pc and I contacted the website direct on-line and they tried to talk me through from their help desk but I was struggling, therefore the remote access. In the end they decided to give me a different version that works fine now. Again with the ISP I contacted them myself due to a problem, something to do with the router but we got over that in the end. I did have one of those scam people call me asking me to switch on my computer now. Of course, I was aware and said that I was going out and would need their phone number to call them back when I returned. Of course I did not phone them but I did report them to ESET and my ISP.

Essenbe: i do have my original Windows 7 Pro disc but I have never used it as it was loaded by the shop. The writing is in Spanish, so I have avoided it. I will make a System repair Disc and have put it on my to do list. Thanks Would it be best to wait until you think my PC has been cleared of problems?

Layback Bear: Windows Defender is now turned off.

Java uninstalled - 3 lots - 2 Spanish + 1 English. (Hadn´t been updated since 2012 it appears)

Bing Tool Bar uninstalled but I did not have Bing Desktop.

I have read through the instructions for making screenshots using paint PrtScn and I think it may be a key named Impr/Pant/Petsis on my Spanish keyboard but I will have to try it and see. What do you want screenshots of?

BTW, ESET is something that I pay for and updates several times a day. Thank you