Disk Cleanup == Blue Screen O Death

[|3lack|ce]

I'm running XP under SP1 fully upgraded to the point of getting SP2 - (I had it, then had to do a reinstall a week ago and haven't spent the *hours* it takes to download SP2 again yet). My machine was doing this prior to the original SP2 install and the reinstall I just did. Somehow I think it's in the way windows is configured -

This particular box has the following:

AMD Athlon 1.66 processor
480 MB ram (ddr I think - haven't cracked it open in forever)
S3 ProSavage DDR video card
Maxtor 38.2 gig hdd
A DVD rom I cannibalized off an old Compaq
CyberDrive 52/24/52x CDR-RW
It's got a few other bells and whistles - nic, 56k modem, etc but that's about all the hardware I'm willing to share with the world - for further details pm me.

Steps I've taken so far:
Chkdsk /f (repeatedly - I've got it setup to run after every bluescreen on reboot)
Full system scan in safe mode by Adaware SE and Norton AV

No luck - it also happens when I run other softwares on my machine, and occasionally when I loadup various ISP softwares..but the only time it happens *every single time* is when I try disk cleanup.

I keep getting IRQL less than or equal errors, or errors in different memory hex locations, or errors in atapi.sys with each bluescreen - it varies each time, then dumps the memory to disk and reboots.

Any advice on how to repair this would be greatly appreciated!

[morganlefay]

Atapi.sys is your disc controller. Check your MB Manufacturer for updates.

XP is very fussy about modems..try removing it and see if it still crashes

IRQ not equal errors ...maybe the RAM...try different RAM if you can

Because this is happening on a new install also..I suspect hardware....core hardware.

I had one machine (NT4) where I had to swap RAM,Video card,, updated the MB drivers etc.....

Ended up being the logitech mouse driver...autocad didnt like it much

MLF

[|3lack|ce]

Yah, was thinking heat issues - seems to happen on the 'random instances' when it's been up and running awhile. Ram might well be it as well... thanks for the confirmation on that and I'll post up later on after I afford new Ram/investigate heat.

[morganlefay]

My experience with heat issues...was the computer just seizing up...
But that was with *older* versions of windows..NT\2K

I think its RAM if its random

You could also try just basic hardware video, mouse\key...then slowly add hardware til it crashes...

I had one 2k machime I could crash by running a full virus scan....swapped the memory...all fixed.

Good luck

MLF

[|3lack|ce]

Yah, it's probably memory - keeps crapping out while trying to update to sp2 now...

[SDK]

That look bad... When you get error message with "Atapi.sys" in it, it mean your hard drive is gonna die soon usually. I HIGHLY recommand that you burn your data as soon that you can as backup. Then try the best solution = erase all your partition from your hard drive and recreated them. Re-install XP and see if you have the same Atapi.sys problem. If you still do, change hard drive.

[J_K9]

|3lack|ce: This was exactly the same problem that happened to me a few months ago with Win XP, and it was an over-heating problem of the RAM. Though, with me, as well as happening at really random times, it always happened during AV scans. Whenever I started an AV scan, half-way through it would get stuck and the BSOD would come up. As mine was a lappy, I just made an elevated stand out of plastic for it with holes for ventilation, and this made the problem occur much less. As I assume you have a desktop, maybe installing some extra fans might work? Hope I've been of help,

J_K9

P.S Since I installed Linux on the lappy, I haven't had a single problem with it!

[|3lack|ce]

Ok, update since yesterday -

Here's what all I've done now -

Dug a cd copy of SP2 out of my (badly organized) cd case, and installed it (after letting the computer have an hour or 2 of cooldown time). Success!

Went to the parts store and got a new cooling fan for the cpu, and one for the front vent on the box - we now have wind tunnel effect across both the ram and the cpu and they're cooling quite nicely.

Spent the morning updating windows everything so now I'm fully up to date on all my M$ software, as well as windows.

Result:

For some weird reason, installing sp2 seemed to fix the problem somewhat - I went and bought the fans because I still suspected overheat, and sure enough, no more bluescreens to right now - the computer has been up and running since 8:00 this morning, it's now 2:30pm, no overheating, no crashes!

Thanks to all of you for the advice.