system crashes

carbunkle

I'm getting a little frustrated with my computer. I get a lot of crashes. Usually the logs or the messages themselves show a memory address such as 0x3902901 or something like that. I usually run 2000 but I formated and installed XP so I doubt it is a virus. I also did a memory checking software off of a boot disk and it didnt show any bad sectors. So do people think it is more likely that it is a failing mother board or failing ram? The system didn't use to crash this much and I can not reproduce the errors.

jlambert

do a virus scan, can nearly guarantee you thats it.

RussS

Could be one of many things, but without seeing the exact message it is difficult to tell. Could be something like a slowly failing H/D that reacts when it heats up too much, or it could even be RAM doing the same thing..... More info needed

bellboy

if it is a ram problem, it is likely to continue with xp. it doesn't sound like a hdd problem. perhaps it's a virtual memory thing.

i have found that switching the virtual memory setting to manual and 0mb, then defragging, remembering to change virtual memory back to letting windows control it afterwards, can improve performance in some cases (particularly with win9x systems).

windows 2000 improved the virutal memory reliability over that of win9x, and xp improves on that of win2k.

to eliminate the ram as being your problem, the only soution is to swap out the module(s) for a week or so.

carbunkle

so we can rule out a failing motherboard? also when I blue screen sometimes (its usually diffrent) I can read page_fault_in_non_page_area

carbunkle

Hey I think I solved my problem the other day I noticed that my system time was always off no matter how I set it. So I put in a new CMOS battery and I havent had any problems.

Also CMOS are just regular button batteries both of mine say cr2032 I could just pick up a duracell battery with those numbers and use them in computers right?