Kids computer not working BSOD

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Morgenmuffel

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#293494 26-Jan-2022 11:30

Ok Sons computer is not booting up, keeps crashing out with a fault of

Page Fault in Non-Paged Area and mentions win32.sys, the monitor also looks screwy with streaky lines

see here for a picture in the bios

The graphics card is a nvidia 460, am I right in thinking it may be toast;

edit-------------------------------------------------------------

Updated as forgot to put picture in

-swapped out cable

-found there are 4 memory sticks in the computer so trying those

- I know its not worth repairing, but hopefully its a cheap replacement from trademe or something

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#2856536 26-Jan-2022 11:38

It's worth trying another graphics card. Could be motherboard, RAM, CPU, anything really. Might not be worth fixing for a computer that might be ten years old if you have to buy parts.

trig42

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#2856537 26-Jan-2022 11:39

That could be a disk fault, in could be a RAM fault, or it could be a hardware issue (eg. graphics card).

If you can get it to a command prompt, you could try a scandisk /r

If you can remove one of the RAM modules at a time to see if it boots, that may tell you.

If you can boot it to Safe mode, it may tell you that a driver or other piece of hardware is causing it.

Have any updates just been done? Rolling back if you can get to system restore may solve that.

jamesrt

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#2856545 26-Jan-2022 11:43

I would have thought myself that "page fault in non-paged" is more indicative of RAM failure rather than Graphics card.

You could try some of these suggestions: https://www.tomshardware.com/how-to/how-to-test-ram

However, as timmmay said, it really could be almost anything...

timmmay

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#2856552 26-Jan-2022 11:50

You could try a Linux USB boot drive to see if that works, to eliminate the Windows install as the problem.

MikeB4

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#2856557 26-Jan-2022 11:54

what timmmay said

It will soon show if its hardware or a borked driver

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

robjg63

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#2856558 26-Jan-2022 11:54

It looks like there are 2 x 4GB memory chips from your screenshot.

You could try removing one memory stick and see if it boots ok.

If not swap them around and try the other stick.

Might help see if its memory that is the issue.

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Morgenmuffel

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#2856583 26-Jan-2022 12:33

what i have done so far

- swapped out cable (made no difference)

- found there are 4 memory sticks in the computer so trying those 1 by 1 (made no difference)

- tried a different graphics card, streakiness is gone, but now crashes out on different BSOD critical process crashed

i did briefly manage to get in using safe boot but when I went to setting I managed to BSOD it

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Morgenmuffel

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#2856605 26-Jan-2022 13:05

Ok, so i have uninstalled the nvidia drivers, I can consistently get into windows however the network doesn't work nd obviously the screen is shrunk, in fact I can't access any of the network/setting dialogs etc either nothing happens when I try to open them, or the setting box closes.

Could i be stuck in safe boot mode? I am sure just rebooting used to clear it

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DeepBlueSky

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#2856650 26-Jan-2022 14:02

Hi Morgenmuffel,

Seems Like your having fun;

Now that you have uninstalled the Video drivers does the computer boot normally if so and you have you network working again for the replaced video card note the model and download the drivers.

Looking at the original pics check your memory slots as your running both Memory DIMMS next to each other shows as Single channel in the BIOS. Dual channel is prefered may make the computer run a bit faster too so either slot 2 and slot 4 or slot 1 and slot 3.

If for some reason you have issues you could download teh drivers using a different PC save to Thumb Drive and install from this in Safemode.

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#2856655 26-Jan-2022 14:07

I would try a complete wipe & reload of Win10 .

Start from a fresh install . That at least eliminates Win corruption , fiddling or installed Crud .

Also run some sort of HD test , as mentioned above .
Then run memory tests to make sure the memory controller & slots on the MB are OK
Try another vid card , another power supply .

If its 10years old, it may simply be the motherboard failing

timmmay

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#2856658 26-Jan-2022 14:11

Use a Linux boot USB to get Windows out of the equation. If that works, reinstall Windows. If not, probably toss it unless you can work out the faulty party by trial and error.

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#2856668 26-Jan-2022 14:39

Assuming that nothing has changed about the machine (e.g. your kid didn't add random RAM sticks he got from TradeMe or something)?
It's a pretty old machine, so what windows version is it running? Was it trying to run an update? If you can get into safe mode, can you roll back the update?
One thing no one mentioned so far is a blown capacitor. You've got a fairly old machine, so quite possible it's a cap issue. Check if any of the capacitors on the motherboard are blown - instead of a cylindrical shape they're be kind of expanded, or the top is arching up. If it's a cap issue - it's pretty much a toast.

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