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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#682416
12/21/10 03:49 PM
12/21/10 03:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
InlandAZ
BAAG Specialist
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BAAG Specialist
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
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Yeah, they're all after a fee these days - I'd recommend giving Dell a visit (below) Dell Driver Download Enter your service tag number and it will lead you to the downloads specific to your PC. Install any that haven't been applied, but the ones you're most interested in will be the BIOS, Chipset and SATA Drivers. If the problem persists then you may need to check out the components in the case. A good memory check wouldn’t hurt either. Give memtest86 a shot - Memtest86 3.5a Release
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: InlandAZ]
#682420
12/21/10 04:02 PM
12/21/10 04:02 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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OP
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This is all so much above my head. I think I need someone here who can help me with this. Will be gone tomorrow and the weather is supposed to turn rotton Thursday night and Friday. So I think I will just terminate this for now and hope that I don't get a fatal crash.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#682921
12/23/10 10:03 AM
12/23/10 10:03 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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I tried to find my hidden device drivers by using this: Click Start->Run->CMD
SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1
START DEVMGMT.MSC
In the window that opens, Click View/Show all hidden devices.
StarForce drivers will show up in Device Manager under Non-Plug and Play Drivers when "Show hidden Devices" is checked in the View menu. You may have to re-check "Show hidden devices" every time you open Device Manager.
It didn't work. Any other way of trying to view these?
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#682948
12/23/10 10:57 AM
12/23/10 10:57 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
InlandAZ
BAAG Specialist
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BAAG Specialist
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
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It didn't work. Any other way of trying to view these? The same feature is available in Device Manager under Control Panel, System. For XP click the Hardware tab and start Device Manager. From that point select View, Show hidden devices.If you've run the Starforce Removal tool - the drivers should not be present.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#682950
12/23/10 11:00 AM
12/23/10 11:00 AM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Near St. Louis, MO
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I recently had a friend try this to check for Starforce Drivers in XP... Go to your Device Manager and click on View - select Show Hidden Devices.
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#683012
12/23/10 01:53 PM
12/23/10 01:53 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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I didn't see anything for Star Force so I guess I got it off.
Drac, is there a good free backup software that I can get. I could do a search for one but I want to be sure it is safe.
Last edited by flutist; 12/23/10 01:54 PM.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#683051
12/23/10 03:38 PM
12/23/10 03:38 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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I don't know of any good free ones, but someone else may have some recommendations. If you're just wanting to save pictures and files, you can just transfer them to another drive or burn to a DVD. I'm using the Carbonite continuous on-line backup right now. But it's a paid service.
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Starcom]
#683221
12/24/10 04:29 AM
12/24/10 04:29 AM
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,170
Waimea Big Island of Hawaii
hawkavonpuka
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I don't think she could get Carbonite to work anyway if the hard drive is going, happened to my daughters laptop. When my drive was going bellyup nothing would even install properly. Maybe best to get an external drive or try the copy route that Draclvr said.
What kind of magic spell to use?
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: hawkavonpuka]
#683312
12/24/10 11:55 AM
12/24/10 11:55 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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Emily's boyfriend Bob is coming over Tue. or Wed. to look at my computer. Sure hope he can find the problem.
Have backed up some files and folders to my external drive.
Last edited by flutist; 12/24/10 11:56 AM.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: hawkavonpuka]
#683315
12/24/10 11:57 AM
12/24/10 11:57 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
InlandAZ
BAAG Specialist
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BAAG Specialist
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,263
Arizona
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I don't think she could get Carbonite to work anyway if the hard drive is going, happened to my daughters laptop. When my drive was going bellyup nothing would even install properly. Maybe best to get an external drive or try the copy route that Draclvr said. I had a drive go bad not too long ago and did the same. I picked up a terabyte USB drive and back up all my data. They're really inexpensive these days, so it's a great way to ensure your data files are backed up. Software is another story - they always create registry entries, so reinstalling is a must.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: InlandAZ]
#683345
12/24/10 01:45 PM
12/24/10 01:45 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
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I have a 500 gig external drive so backed up all my important files including pictures.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#683353
12/24/10 02:26 PM
12/24/10 02:26 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
True Blue Boomer
Joined: Jun 2005
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Near St. Louis, MO
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That's a relief, Bets! Has anyone used the free Acronis Drive Monitor software? There was a blurb about it with a "4-star" rating in my latest issue of CPU Magazine. Acronis Drive Monitor
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#683356
12/24/10 02:56 PM
12/24/10 02:56 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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I looked at that and it sounds interesting. Hope someone answers.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#683357
12/24/10 03:01 PM
12/24/10 03:01 PM
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,170
Waimea Big Island of Hawaii
hawkavonpuka
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Addicted Boomer
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Bets do you know the manufacturer of your hard drive? You could go to their site and test to see if it is your drive going bad. If it is under warranty they will replace it, at least I know that Seagate and WD will. If you run the test on their site, then have will have a record of it. Of course I have no idea how old your drive is. In my case I purchased a new hard drive first, reinstalled Windows and then returned the defective one. Manufacturer should be somewhere in your system info or run Belarc Advisor.
What kind of magic spell to use?
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: hawkavonpuka]
#683364
12/24/10 03:54 PM
12/24/10 03:54 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
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Your hard drives must be S.M.A.R.T drives. Which stands for Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology. I guess there is a way to write custom script if they are not S.M.A.R.T.
I downloaded it and after it checked my hard drives out, it told me my 3 S.M.A.R.T. drives are 100% healthy and my old XP drive is not S.M.A.R.T which I already knew. It checks a whole bunch of parameters and tells you the health of your drive. Interesting...
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#683559
12/25/10 11:38 AM
12/25/10 11:38 AM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
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I downloaded the software and it doesn't show any disks.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#683597
12/25/10 01:03 PM
12/25/10 01:03 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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That's probably because they're not S.M.A.R.T. enabled disks. Supposedly there's a way to write some script to make it work on other disks, but I didn't look into it.
You can always do like Hawka suggested and find out what brand your drive is and download the software to check it out.
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: flutist]
#683623
12/25/10 02:04 PM
12/25/10 02:04 PM
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,029
Indiana
Demosthenes
Addicted Boomer
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Addicted Boomer
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Unless you're getting bluescreens with other drivers mentioned, I suspect this all relates back to the iastor.sys driver file that's crashing. It's a driver for Intel's storage controller. If it's crashing, that would explain these symptoms. It's possible the driver just needs to be updated. If that's the case, then as InlandAZ suggests, you should probably download and install the latest version of the Intel Matrix Storage Manager for your computer. The driver for the XPS 400 is located here and dated to late 2006. Download it and follow the installation instructions they provide, which I've copy-pasted below: Download
1.Click Download Now, to download the file.
2.When the File Download window appears, click Save (Windows XP
users will click Save) this program to disk and click OK. The Save In:
window appears.
3.From the Save In: field, click the down arrow then click to
select Desktop and click Save. The file will download to your desktop.
4.If the Download Complete window appears, click Close. The file
icon appears on your desktop.
Install
1.Double-click the new icon on the desktop labeled R130119.EXE.
2.The Self-Extracting window appears and prompts you to extract or
unzip to C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R130119. Write down this path so the executable (I.e.
Setup.exe) file can be found later.
3.The Self-Extractor window appears.
4.Click OK.
5.After completing the file extraction, if the Self-Extractor
window is still open, close it.
6.Click the Start button and then click Run.
7.Type C:\DELL\DRIVERS\R130119 in the Open textbox and then click OK.
8.Follow the on-screen installation instructions.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Demosthenes]
#683629
12/25/10 02:11 PM
12/25/10 02:11 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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Is this just an update and not a replacement driver? I don't have to remove any driver?
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Demosthenes]
#683634
12/25/10 02:28 PM
12/25/10 02:28 PM
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 11,505
Kirkwood, MO USA
flutist
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Okay, wish me luck, I'm gonna do it.
Edit: Done. I am running a full virus scan. Will see if it crashes. If it does, then there is something else wrong.
Last edited by flutist; 12/25/10 03:08 PM.
Corgis fill your life with Joy, your heart with Love, and your soul with Sunshine.
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Demosthenes]
#683644
12/25/10 03:14 PM
12/25/10 03:14 PM
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,115
Near St. Louis, MO
Draclvr
Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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Reviews Editor - Hints/Glitches Mod - Site Support
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Ah, the sweet voice of knowledge!
Once again, weeds are my life!
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Re: Computer freezes
[Re: Draclvr]
#683659
12/25/10 03:43 PM
12/25/10 03:43 PM
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,029
Indiana
Demosthenes
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There are four possible outcomes I can think of at the moment:
1. The new driver fixes the problem.
2. The new driver doesn't fix anything. The BSOD returns, naming the same iastor.sys driver as the culprit.
3. The BSOD returns, but with a different culprit.
4. You see some other symptoms, either replacing or in addition to the BSOD.
We can hope for option 1.
Option 2 implies that either another driver is conflicting, or (more likely) that there's a hardware issue. Given that previous chkdsks have come up clean, and the Dell diagnostic came up with SATA issues, this would mean the most likely culprit is the motherboard's SATA controller, or (less likely) an SATA cable connecting a drive to your motherboard. If it's just an SATA cable, that's easy to replace, but if it's the motherboard, there's no easy fix.
Options 3 and 4 would make diagnostics tricky, but make sure to write down the contents of any further BSODs you get, in case they have important information.
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