BleepingComputer.com: Hard disk and BSOD's

Okay that problem is furstrating.

I had my laptop to a technitian to put some paste on my CPU.
Some days before that I had Win XP SP3 and started having problems.

I told the guy to check the disk (I had KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE bsod's then) but we thought that the problem was the RAM (512) so we went ahead and put 2GB RAM.

I thought the problem would be solved; the guy checked the disk and said that there's nothing wrong with it.
I formatted to Vista and the following BSOD's occured from time to time:

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE (often)
MEMORY_MANAGEMENT (only once)
STOP ataport.sys (many times)

Also, the SYSTEMROOT/WINDOWS/SYSTEM32/CONFIG/SOFTWARE was broken all the time. Both Vista and on FRESH XP SP2.

D:\ got formatted by mistake and that error seems like dead.

But my laptop hangs. A LOT, before it BSOD'd.

Seems that when I have it squeezed on my chest it wont freeze.

Sometimes its DMA 5 drops to PIO 4. I dont know what that can be. Any ideas?

What is PIO - A Word Definition From the Webopedia Computer Dictionary - http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/P/PIO.html

DMA reverts to PIO Windows Problem Solver - http://winhlp.com/node/10

IDE ATA and ATAPI disks use PIO mode after multiple time-out or CRC errors occur - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472

Louis

hamluis, on Nov 8 2009, 07:19 PM, said:

I know that far. I am just trying to get a diagnosis here


The second link doesnt solve my problem

<<Sometimes its DMA 5 drops to PIO 4. I dont know what that can be. Any ideas?>>

If you knew the answer, why ask?

Louis

hamluis, on Nov 8 2009, 07:25 PM, said:

If somebody would have the same problem they could help; I am aware of this link - but with all the other symptoms, its not the only problem. So I try to find out what could cause that mode dropping - other than just that...

OK...but the problem is that there are any number of things that routinely can cause the DMA mode to switch to PIO mode.

I didn't try to list every link of possible causes...because I think it unimportant what the exact cause is on a system...the proposed cure (the registry edits) apply to the symptoms, regardless of cause.

Such a change has happened to many of us, it's not just any one thing which can be corrected.

But...it can be overcome when it happens.

FWIW: Ataport.sys seems to be a Vista file, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943899.

0x0000007A: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
A page of kernel data was not found in the pagefile and could not be read into memory. This might be due to incompatible disk or controller drivers, firmware, or hardware.

Note that it does not say anything about defective RAM.

The pagefile is hard drive space that can be used to help systems with insufficient amounts of RAM...it's more likely (IMO) for a pagefile problem to indicate a hard drive or Windows problem...than a RAM problem.

You don't have to pay someone to check the hard drive or RAM...you can do those things yourself and be sure that they were done correctly and still have your money in your pocket.

Manufacturer and model of this laptop, please?

Do you have a Microsoft Genuine XP CD? Do you have a Microsoft Genuine Vista CD?

Was the XP install deleted...before installing Vista?

Why change from XP to Vista?

Without the numeric/alphabetic code that accompanied the memory management error...I can't guess what that might point to. But here's one such error, from http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.htm:

0x0000001A: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
This memory management error is usually hardware related. See the General Troubleshooting of STOP Messages checklist above. If this occurs while installing Windows, also check the Windows system requirements including the amount of RAM and disk space required to load the operating system. If none of the above resolves the problem, see the MSDN article linked above for further steps.

Now...when I add these things...to the fact that may have had overheating problems...my guess would have to be that you now (after system overheating) have a bad CPU or a bad motherboard...or both.

What I would do to confirm or refute that...a clean install of the right operating system, with the right drivers. That will give you a good base upon which to determine what is wrong with your system as it exists today.

Louis

Hello Louis thank you for the valuable information...

Let me answer to you first:

Manufacturer and model of this laptop, please?

-It's ACER's Aspire Notebook 5100.

Do you have a Microsoft Genuine XP CD? Do you have a Microsoft Genuine Vista CD?

-XP CD is Genuine and Vista is not (blush)
I'd like to note here that I 've tried both clean installations with the Registry problem described as well as BSOD's for pagefile.

Was the XP install deleted...before installing Vista?

-Yes - clean and formatted disk welcomed Vista

Why change from XP to Vista?

-I had the first issues with Kernel Inpage in XP so I had a pirate copy of Vista and wanted to try it with an other OS; Same problems occured.



Now, to the point: here is something I might forgot. CHKDSK is making my life worst: if I let it scan, it will find 216 orphaned files which when it says that chkdsk is done, Windows can't logon: a) The user profile is gone b)the registry problem won't let me logon.



You said about overheating; Do you believe that CPU or HDD is overheated?

CPU and motherboard act fine, that's why I cant find a solution here. Before I take the big step to change the disk I really need to know what's the fault...

I also ran Everest disk diagnostics and tests, but nothing bad happened there either...

Can you lead me into some tests so we know what's the fault?


EDIT: Clean install didnt work either. Same problems occured after some hours.

<<You said about overheating; Do you believe that CPU or HDD is overheated?>>

Initial post: <<I had my laptop to a technitian to put some paste on my CPU.>>

The only time thermal paste is applied to a CPU...is when it is first installed...or a key component (CPU/heatsink) is changed...or the user suspects/knows that the system is overheating. If thermal paste had to be applied, who knows how many days the system ran without it or with an inadequate application? That being the case...logic tells me that damage to the board or the CPU is a possibility.

IMO...anyone who uses a pirated copy of Windows...and who doesn't seem to realize that they have no clue as to how that version of Windows may have been hacked, what additions may have been made...is asking for trouble.

FWIW: There is no test that I know of for a motherboard or a CPU. There are reliable diagnostics for hard drives and for RAM...there are ways to test the PSU...everything else is just guesswork and trial-by-temporary substitution.

FWIW: The normal testing that a person might do on a desktop...does not apply to a laptop, due to the differences in the way that the two types of systems can be repaired/assembled. The hard drive and RAM can still be tested by a user...I would not suggest users attempting to test anything else, other than an optical drive.

The fact that you have issues right after a clean install...IMO, suggests hardware problems beyond my ability to deal with from long-range.

Louis

I thought you assumed heating for HDD too!

So I should change the drive with blind eyes?

And that's the fault for freezing every little time?