pc shut down

[Joe van Raamt]

In the last few weeks my pc shuts down and a blue screen comes up. This happened while playing a Dutch card game and while using microsoft word (editing a file on different occasions). Please see attachment on last occasion. I have not installed any new programs or hard ware that could cause this. I have run Norton virus scan, ad-aware and spybot S & D 1.3 to no avail.

[Jay Bollyn]

Hi Joe,

I would reseat (remove and re-insert) any components which are in a socket. This includes the PCI slots, AGP slot, RAM modules, etc. Also check any cable connections to make sure they are secure.

Remove any hardware components which are not needed. You want to make the environment as simple as possible; otherwise it is just too hard to troubleshoot.

When you have the stripped down PC working reliably, add components back in one at a time, testing thoroughly at each individual stage.

These intermittent problems are very time-consuming to troubleshoot. Depending on the age of the PC, sometimes it is just not worth it, and the PC needs to be replaced.

:-) Jay

[Joe van Raamt]

Hi Jay,
I can not remember for sure, but I think I have this pc for about 8 months. I will double check the cables as you suggested, but if it occurs again, I will take it to a shop. It only happens occasionally while playing the card game and now the latest time it happened while working in MS Word. ps. the information on the blue screen is each time different.

[Jon Finley]

STOP 0x0000000A usually indicates an incompatibility between hardware or a device driver.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314063

This can also happen if you have system memory that is going bad, or is incompatible.

Try running a test on your system's memory.
Download the ISO image to make a bootable CD.
http://www.memtest86.com

Jon

[Jay Bollyn]

Joe,

Are you saying the PC was brand new 8 months ago? Do you have any kind of warranty? We buy all our desktop PCs from Dell. They have a 1-year warranty included, plus we always buy at least 2 years additional extended warranty. The extended warranty really makes sense in cases like this.

Intermittent STOP errors are really the most difficult and most time-consuming problems to troubleshoot. If you have not done any software upgrades or additions, or added any hardware, my feeling is it is probably either a bad RAM module, or a RAM module which needs to be re-seated in its socket. (but there are certainly other suspects)

A shop is going to charge you hourly for this kind of problem, and there is no guarantee of success. Most people with the skill and patience for this kind of troubleshooting, are not working in a PC repair shop like the Service desk of CompUSA.

Since you are getting a different STOP error each time, to me that means that the trigger is unrelated to what you are doing with the PC. It could very well be heat-related. Does the STOP error seem to happen when the PC has been powered on for a long time?

:-) Jay

[Joe van Raamt]

I was not totally sure when I got this pc because of memory impairment from a accident. I found the documentation and I did get it in March 2003. The times the shut down did happen was after the pc had been on all day. I uninstalled the card game and will keep you posted if it happens again. Thanks

[Joe van Raamt]

after uninstalling that card game, I worked with MS Word and did not have any problem with the pc shutting down. What I do not understand is the fact that I have used this game for as long I have this pc and it never acted up before on account of that card game. Hopefully this is the end of the shut down problem. I will post again if and when it happens again.
Thanks for the replies.

[Ronald Postma]

Hi Joe,
Try installing the cardgame again, maybe there was a corupt file or so, see what happends.

You propebly have to load the restoreCd's if you still want to go to a shop, otherwise they will say it is software related and it could be, but I agree with the rest, hardware is more plosebel.
So if you want to take it back, backup everything you want to keep, do a restore and see if it happends again, if so, then go to the shop. HP has 1 warenty in all countries to my knowlidge.

Regards,
Ronald