jawtheshark's Journal: My wifes desktop is worrying me...

A few weeks ago, I got a BSoD on ntfs.sys. Happened once, never again since.... Today, I got the dreaded Stop 0×0000000A: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSoD.

The thing is, I haven't installed hardware in ages... I am not a driver-updater. I only update drivers when needed, and this machine has been rock stable since I re-installed it in 2005, so I never saw the need to install new drivers.

Last hardware upgrade was a new hard disk, but that's over a year ago....

I ran memtest86 (the one on my Ubuntu disk) and it reports everything as normal.

I'm a bit stumped... My best guess is that the hard disk is failing.... That does match with the ntfs.sys error, but not really with the Stop error.

Yeah, yeah, I know.... "Just buy another computer". Screw that, I like keeping my hardware as long as possible.

Nein!

[Captain Splendid]

Yeah, yeah, I know.... "Just buy another computer

No, that's the second step. First step is wipe and reinstall. Once a year, whether it needs it or not.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

Euh.... Why the heck would I do that? Apart from Windows, we exclusively run Open Source programs, my wife as well as me run Limited User all the time and we're behind a OpenBSD firewall. (Limiting both incoming and outgoing connections)

The firewall does not report suspect traffic in any way or shape, the memory usage of Windows XP has only slightly increased and that's when I installed SP3 and there is no performance lag at all. Snappy as ever.

I can confidently say that the usual culprits are out....

We

Re:

[Doctor O]

Euh.... Why the heck would I do that?

Because Windows hoses itself, slowly degrading, independent on how you use the box. I've got servers here which just sit there and idle around (they get license queries once in a while, don't ask *g*), and they have to be restarted around once a week and reinstalled about once a year, without ever *seeing* software other than Windows itself.

But you can have it easy. When you reinstalled everything, make an image of the pristine state of the machine, put the user data on

Re:

[jawtheshark]

Because Windows hoses itself, slowly degrading, independent on how you use the box.

I still have to see evidence of that.... So, I will respectfully disagree with that statement. (Especially, that I manage several desktop machines that are rock-stable on Win XP Pro, but they are as locked down as my wifes desktop. They are getting fewer and fewer, but mostly because I move people to Ubuntu where possible)

they have to be restarted around once a week and reinstalled about once a year, without ever *seeing*

Spring Cleaning

[Daengbo]

Take out any PCI cards and wipe dust off of the connectors. Even though the memory passed, do the same for it. Reseat the CPU. Then vacuum out the case and any fans. Finally, check your power supply and the voltages (using the BIOS if it has that capability).

If all that doesn't clear up the problem, your south bridge could be suffering heat death or one of the PCI cards could be on the fritz.

Best of luck!

Re:

[Arker]

I'll second that advice wholeheartedly. Dusty buildup is most often the cause of off-the-wall unreproducible hardware errors. Plus of course it acts as insulation, raising the working temperature, which in term shortens lifespans, so it really should be done once a year anyway.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

In all those years I've been handling hardware, dust is the last thing I think of.... Weird isn't it? Especially, I have had a slew of dust-related hardware problems....

So, it's nice that other people actually think of those problems...

Re:

[jawtheshark]

Good advice... I didn't think of that! I will most certainly do that.

Hiren's

[Oculus Habent]

If you download a Hiren's CD, it offers a number of system test and burn-in options that will help identify if a component has stopped working.

Re:

[jawtheshark]

That for that invaluable tip.