Area51: Win7 crashes

Windows 7 on Area51 keeps crashing when my son punishes the box with excessive CPU loads. Culprits include:

• Gary's Mod
• Saints Row
• GTA 4

You get the idea. Background tasks include Firefox running Youtube, Facebook, Yahoo, etc. Time to run the Basic Windows Troubleshooter!

Basic Windows Troubleshooter



Assess

First, can I find any information about what led to the crash?

• Reboot and log in as admin
• Review any crash data. See a sample report.
• Administrative Tools >  Event Viewer. Review Custom Views > Administrative Events, sorted by Date and Time.

Update

One of the easiest ways to stop crashes is to make sure everything is up to date, especially the OS and critical software.

Run Windows Update. Reboot as required to install all important updates.

Area51 Win7 Updates for 2011-06-22

Lots of updates today!

• Windows Update
• Flash
• Java
• MSIE 9

Windows Update fails: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) installation error: 0x800F0A12

Resolution:

Click the Start button Picture of the Start button, and in the search box, type command prompt.

In the list of results, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

Type bcdedit, and then press Enter.

Error reads "The boot configuration data store could not be opened. The system cannot find the file specified."

This error can occur if the system partition isn't being mounted, or made accessible to Windows during startup. To re-enable automatic mounting of all partitions and volumes, do the following:

type mountvol /E and press Enter.

Restart your computer, and try reinstalling SP1.

Let's see what happens.

Win7 Crash Data 2011-06-22

From July 22, 2011, on reboot:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    BlueScreen
  OS Version:    6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
  Locale ID:    1033

Additional information about the problem:
  BCCode:    116
  BCP1:    FFFFFA80072374E0
  BCP2:    FFFFF8800FFD7CF8
  BCP3:    0000000000000000
  BCP4:    0000000000000002
  OS Version:    6_1_7600
  Service Pack:    0_0
  Product:    256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
  C:\Windows\Minidump\062211-22152-01.dmp
  C:\Users\Neil\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-292673-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
  http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

Click [Check for solution]: that  process seems to have disappeared! No results, I guess. Let's look ourselves...

C:\Windows\Minidump\062211-22152-01.dmp

Looks like four (4) ".dmp" files were created in the last 4 days. The largest & oldest is 512 KB. Permission settings make it difficult to open, so I copied the file to the desktop. I open it in Notepad, and see

PAGEDU64 .... PAGEPAGEPAGEPAGEPAGE

and some non-ASCII characters. Nothing to see there.

The next file looks promising.

C:\Users\Neil\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-292673-0.sysdata.xml

The next file looks promising, but is not visible. Hidden? Nope, "Show hidden" is on. It's gone? I can't find it with either the MS or Google Desktop search. Gone, I guess.

Windows 7 Ultimate Custom Install on Area 51

Finally, it's time to erase the preview edition of Windows 7 and install the real deal onto Area 51, the Quad Core box with two SLI nVidia cards, Windows 7 Ultimate has been sitting in the box for months now. The preview edition expired long ago, but booted up for 2 or more hours at a time. But, we are having some boot up problems, and I've been working to elimainate potential issues for some time.

The boot issue is this: often, the BIOS phase of the bootup is very slow, and it may take several minutes to reach the GRUB menu, if it appears at all. The workaround has been to boot off of an old Knoppix 5 CD, but I suspect my 7-year old cracked it and we can't use that disk anymore. We've had mixed results with an Ubuntu CD and Spinrite.

I ran Spinrite and did an exhaustive (level 4) check on the 200 GB C: drive partition (IDE HD) and it was fine. I was not able to finish the testing on the internal SATA drive, as it is 2 TB and the test would take forever.

I suspect the problem is either a bad SATA cable, a loose connection, or some problem with the SATA drive. Whatever the issue, I've disconnected the SATA cable from the drive, and the boot problems have vanished.

So, I just installed Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) after formatting the C: drive (an NTFS volume). The new install recognizes all 8 GB, which means the 64 bits are all working away at managing my RAM.

Performing the initial installation from the DVD was fast and easy, about 10 minutes, but then it's time to wait while all of the other updates install. The end results: Windows 7 Ultimate, basic installation, requires 25.6 GB of hard disk space and uses about 1.37 GB of RAM. Wow.

3D Visors

I've been predicting 3D immersion glasses for a while now. Here they are, on the market, the eMagin Z800 3DVisor from 3DVision.com, for a mere $1,20o ($1,500 MSR) -- that's not a mass market price point, though. Actutally, 3DVision looks like a reseller. The 3DVisor comes from eMagin.

Post a comment if you've used these. Are they convincing? Comfortable?

Here's a review of the Z800 from MaximumPC, and a review from FPS Labs that quotes a price of $550 in July 27, 2006. So, they've doubled the price since release 2 years ago? When it came out, they were also promoting it in games like Ubisoft's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter with a $75 rebate, and that drops the price to $475! Now the price is almost triple, which seems to disprove Moore's Law right there ... actually, they are probably not moving the volume they expected.

Disk Usage by OS

Here's my disk usage by operating system:


neil@area-51u:~$ df -h
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hdb1 14G 4.4G 8.5G 34% /
varrun 1.4G 196K 1.4G 1% /var/run
varlock 1.4G 0 1.4G 0% /var/lock
udev 1.4G 96K 1.4G 1% /dev
devshm 1.4G 0 1.4G 0% /dev/shm
lrm 1.4G 38M 1.4G 3% /lib/modules/2.6.22-14-generic/volatile
/dev/hda6 58G 13G 45G 23% /media/DRV1_VOL3
/dev/hda5 39G 9.6G 29G 25% /media/DRV1_VOL2
/dev/hda7 119G 46G 74G 39% /media/DRV1_VOL4

XP or Vista?

In case there's still any doubt about Windows XP vs. Vista, this surprising upgrade report settles the question of whether to upgrade or not.

(Thanks, Eric, for that URL)

Soundblaster X-Fi errors

I installed my new Soundblaster X-Fi in Area51. I tried to install the drivers on both XP and Vista; problems with both.

Creative suggest I might have a BIOS problem, so I find the support page for my mobo, here: ASRock Motherboard - Product - 939Dual-SATA2 - Overview. I downloaded and installed the latest BIOS update (939Dual-SATA2 - Download).

Although this was a Good Thing To Do, it did not fix my problem. As it turns out, moving the card to a new PCI slot fixed the problem.

Windows XP & Vista can't recognize all my RAM!

It looks like I need to go to Vista 64 to get this to work, according to this article in the MS Knowledge Base:

The system memory that is reported in the System Information dialog box in Windows Vista is less than you expect if 4 GB of RAM is installed

I've installled 3 GB of Ram, but Vista only recognizes 2 GB:

Total Physical Memory 2,798.69 MB
Available Physical Memory 2.04 GB

Note that the Total Physical Memory should be 3072, so I'm missing out on 273 MB of RAM I have installed.

Playtool

Great information about selecting a video card, plus extensive information on power supply issues, which are very important for current video cards.

More information on power supplies at Tech Hounds: Power Supply.

Basic Computer Setup Checklist

Before you set up your computer, review this checklist:

1. Find a surge protector or Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) for your computer. I like to be able to turn off all peripherals (monitor, speakers, printers) with a single switch. One of my favorite options is to plug the computer into the UPS battery backup, and then plug a power supply into UPS so you can switch off the peripherals with "one click."
2. Find a good spot for your rig. Make sure there is adequate ventilation for the computer -- don't pack it in too tight. Also, check the lighting: sometimes glare can make a monitor unusable, especially the flat screens. Ideally, you can get to the back of the computer as easily as the front, since this is where most of the connections are, anyway.

Now, assemble the items you'll need to set up:

• Power cable
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Network cable (usually Cat 5)
• Speaker system with power supplies
• External hard disk with the correct data cable and power supply (plug this into the UPS, too)
• Printer and data cable
• Others: scanner, tablet, joystick, etc.

Set Up Process

1. Plug the UPS into the power outlet or power supply. Tuck the cord away as much as possible, since it will only get in the way later.
2. Plug in the keyboard (and mouse, if required).
3. Plug in the network cable.
4. Plug in any other connections, such as speakers or external hard drives.
5. Attach the monitor cable. If possible, tighten the finger screws, but only finger-tight. Check the power cable to the monitor and confirm the monitor power indicator (usually an LED) lights up when you turn it on.
   
6. Plug in the power cord.
7. Boot up.
   

Windows Questions

Here are some things I'd like to know:

I'd like to capture resource usages on different flavors of Windows. Can I capture the following info from the command line?

• RAM usage
• CPU
• Current Processes
• Disk usage

I know I can do this stuff on the Mac and Linux boxen. Please post a comment if you have any suggestions for good Windows command line tools. I'll update this post as I find the best options.

NetworkClue.com lists many useful Windows XP/2000 Commands & Tools.

Windows Vista activation woes

When I was away on vacation, my newly installed copy of Windows Vista Ultimate de-activated. Yet, because Vista is having so much trouble correctly identifying my simple/stupid DHCP configuration, I can't activate on-line.

I refuse to use the touch-tone call in system.

Today, I moved the Vista box in question, Area 51, to the third floor office where we have a connection via RCN. I've noticed a new option (I don't think it was there before -- I'm sure I would have noticed it) that shows up on the first Windows Activation dialog that appears just after I log in:

Access your computer with reduced functionality
This will also allow you to buy a product key on line

This isn't really what I want to do, but it opens a full screen window for MSIE. From here, the address bar slides out from the top of the screen when I mouse up there.

Now, all I need to do is press Alt-Tab to go back to the original Windows Activation dialog that popped up originally, and now select the "activate online" option.

This is the most opaque, confusing process I've had to hop through in some time -- and it's critical to get the computer to run correctly!

Amazingly, I'm all set. Now that I've activated, Vista auto-magically displays the task bar &c. Since I'm connected to a new router & ISP, it's time to do the network shuffle.

Vista asks:

Select a location for the 'Network 2' network.

I pick "Home" and I'm all set. Now, Start > All Programs > Windows Update, [Check for Updates].

Quote of the day appears:

To check for updates, you must first install an update for Windows Update. Your automatic updating settings will not change.

From the sounds of it, I should be relieved. Did I mention I was updating? Yes, and 13 are available. Off I go...

USB Legacy Support Enabled on Area51

I was unable to use my old HP USB keyboard on the Windows Vista boot menu, although I could use it to access the BIOS menu (F2) -- good thing, too, because then I was able to set USB Legacy Support to "Auto," from "Disabled." This did the trick.  

ShuttleX Dies: Massive RAM failure

I just picked up Battlefeild 2142 and imaging how pleased I was when I found it would (possibly) run on my old breadbox, ShuttleX -- a Pentium 4. Well, since I haven't really booted it up in almost a month, maybe more, I had no idea that I had a major RAM failure and now I can't boot into Ubuntu, Windows (installed on the HD) or even from Knoppix. Only the Knoppix 5.01 CD gave me the full report on the kernel panic error, which suggested bad RAM chip(s). I ran memtest off the Knoppix CD and confirmed that it was the RAM.

Use Knoppix to format large FAT32 volume?

Keith suggests booting Area51 into Knoppix and using the Knoppix tools to format my large (113 GB) volume as a FAT32 disk.

XP = Best Choice

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 1:24 AM

Today, it looks like the best Windows for me is XP (Pro). It’s patched, all drivers installed, and it uses less RAM than 2000, with a similar configuration. Both use around 200 MB, but right now XP is formatting my F: drive (again) and using only 179 MB. That’s all pimped up, too, including MSIE 7, all updates, .NET, etc. etc.

Plus, I can use VNC!

Vista loses control of network card

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 1:23 AM

Now the network card that Vista used to recognize (and use) is now unable to connect to the router and get an IP address. When I boot into 2000 or XP, no problems. It’s clearly software, probably a result of one of the updates I installed.

Vista & 2000 fight it out over NFTS Permissions

I'm having nothing but problems with my large NTFS formatted data volume on Area 51. Vista erased all the data on it during the installation (nothing much); then reported errors and fixed them on reboot. Windows 2000 reported errors, and also had at it. Then, when I booted back into Vista, more errors, more fixes, more data loss.

Now, I'm reformatting the whole volume in Vista. I put a test file on the newly formatted volume, and boot into Windows 2000. No luck -- check disk runs again. It’s time to reformat as FAT32, but of course Vista only formats NTFS. Sheesh.

Monday, July 16, 2007 6:34 PM

Win2K isn’t complaining about the F: disk this time. More updates, and hardware lacking drivers.

Triple Your Fun: 3 Flavors of Windows

The plan is now to install three versions of Windows on Area51: 2000, XP, and Vista.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 10:52 AM

I formatted the hard drive with 3 boot partitions. I’ll devote the remainder to data. See my earlier post, New Partitioning Strategy, for details. Windows 2000 Slipstream is my first installation. All goes well, after I clean the CD. Here are my volumes:

C: 20 GB FAT 32 - 2000 SP3 (DRV1_VOL1)
D: 40 GB NTFS - XP (DRV1_VOL2)
E: 60 GB NTFS - Vista (DRV1_VOL3)
F: 120 GB NTFS - Data (DRV1_VOL4)

Total = 250 GB (of course, it doesn’t add up to 250).

Sunday, July 15, 2007 9:13 PM

Installing XP on D: (DRV1_VOL2).

For both this install & 2000, I need the drivers for the:

NIC
ATI Video Card x800
Sound Card

I complete this installation without a hitch, although the computer is off the network and not updated. On to Vista.
Vista fares much better with the drivers, especially the network driver.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 11:15 PM

Vista is loading my desktop for the first time. Let’s capture stats...

Wow, second time’s the charm for Vista. It recognized the network, and got the updates. That’s what took the first boot so long, I suspect: while Vista declared it was checking my performance, right after the installation completed, it was also downloading updates. Well done. Everything seems to be working, in the computer, but the monitor was not recognized.

On the significantly nasty side, the big data drive, F:, seems to have been formatted or fixed by Vista. Well, certainly not fixed in the normal sense, because all of my files (not many, really) were vaporized.

Reboot, tested a quick boot back into 2000. Still there, and looking absurdly ... flat. Back into Vista. Check it! For real -- Vista runs a consistency check on F:, and it all looks good. I really must check all the volumes, in the different OSes ... but right now, let me check it out in Vista.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 11:33 PM

More strangeness: after installing the correct drivers (or ones that worked, at least) and connecting automatically and downloading updates, now Vista can’t connect to the network. WTF?? The last time, I did a manual intervention, but this time I am going to poke around a little bit more.

Sunday, July 15, 2007 11:40 PM

I tried to discover the network with the Windows Firewall disabled, but that didn’t work. I’ll do my disk checks and reboot.

Also, note that the current driver for the ATI is working quite well.

I’d like to check out that rollback feature. Where is it? It’s called System Restore. Not yet ...

Sunday, July 15, 2007 11:52 PM

What’s this? Network Access? That’s crazy. How did I do that? Back on line. Is it because I enabled Network Discovery for a Private network? I can’t be sure, because Vista “couldn’t find solution” for my lack of network connectivity. And yet, it did.

Monday, July 16, 2007 12:42 AM

Anyway, I finished scanning the two non-boot NTFS partitions, and rebooted. Now, check the boot volume and the FAT32 volume. It looks like it started the scan on the boot volume, E:.

Monday, July 16, 2007 12:50 AM

Time to call it a night. Time to install 3 versions of Windows: 14 hours (not complete, but not continuous, either. Most of my work was really