XP Blues (BSOD, BIOS Checksum Error, DCOM error)

Recently I have really HUGE problems on my beloved, 12-year old Win XP desktop now. I don't know whether should I post it here or to the hardware section (Please change if it is unrelated to Win XP)

Actually it caused a lot of problems before this, including hanging screens, unexpected BSODs, but it turned out to be okay after it is left for one day.

However this time's different now. My dad left the computer to run continuously for an hour and took a nap, but when the moment he's back to computer, the computer has failed and showed a BIOS checksum error screen and it keeps searching for CD-ROM drive and Floppy drive (But both devices are absent in the desktop, so the search is looped)

Initially I thought that the connection between HDD and the wires are loose, so I tried to tight all the connections and restart the computer. YAY! back to XP startup screen!! Wait! There's a catch. After it booted to desktop, besides my mouse, everything just hanged there!! (cursor is still moving but it wont respond when I click something) I have to do force restart and even tried Safe Mode and Last Known Good Configuration, but no luck.

I decide to leave it to cool down for an hour, and I get back to my desktop. Yay!! It functions just like before!! So I went to check BlueScreenView (which will show up something when computer fails), it appeared to be a BSOD (KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED), and when I checked Event Viewer, it turned up to have a long list of DCOM errors, including errors like 'something' taking more than 30000 milliseconds to respond, 'something' failed to start etc. And I do the surfing of Internet, as usual, but not until half an hour, I witnessed the horrible BIOS checksum error screen happen before my eyes AGAIN. And yeah, no more access to my beloved desktop.
(look at attachment, sorry it's blur)

Well, after a whole long story, something must be happening to my desktop now. What is the cause of this events to occur? What is the main component to cause this? Is it caused by viruses? If it is an uncurable problem, what should I do in order to take out some of my important files stored in HDD?? Is there any way to solve this problem?

Basic SPECS:
Windows XP Professional SP3
1.24 GB RAM
2.02 GHz Intel(R)Pentium 4 Processor
Intel Extreme Graphics

Any help is appreciated.

 

A 12 year old computer (Pentium 4), you are very, very lucky and pat yourself and your family on the back, for keeping it going so long . I am happy after anywhere over 6 years.

Back up as Pete said, because it might be going to the last boot-up.

It sounds like a heat problem to me, you mentioned cooling down. (More than once?)

Open the case (power disconnected), loosen any dust with a brush or a straightened paper clip in "tight areas ", like the cooling fins under the fans.

Take it outside and blow the dust out. You can get a can of compressed air from a stationery supplier.

If it is a hardware problem, it is not worth fixing. You have had more than a "good run" with it's lifespan.

Back up, check the basics like overheating, but don't throw much effort at it after that. We were trying to keep relatively expensive computers going a decade or so ago, but now it is not worth keeping old machines going. 12 years cool!!

Matt

 

Hell Yeah. The Desktop Wont survive even for 10 mins
I was online here just a FEW MINUTES AGO (using my WIN XP Desktop), the whole cycle runs again. -.-
PeteC: I searched for the HDD diagnostics software (I am using Maxtor), but I couldn't find the disk diagnostics tool. I went and download Speecy, and yeah, this is when that whole thing looped again.
PeteC I did some backup of my mum's photos, but not my files (not really important though), and now I don't even have a chance to get it back.

Mattman: It's really be the last moments of my beloved computer now. Feeling sad though, because it followed me since kindergarten till now.

 

PeteC: I only have a laptop, so inserting the HDD as slave drive is impossible for me. And Opening the computer case and replace CMOS battery is too troublesome, and I doubt that CMOS battery is a problem, because system date and time is still functioning properly. Can I just reset BIOS settings to factory settings? Can I know the way of creating a DOS image in USB Drives? Because my computer can't boot from CD or floppy drive, but it support booting from USB devices.

p/s: During the 10 mins survival, I found out something 'new' - NEW BSOD code:
summary: PFN_LIST_CORRUPT 0x4E

Most of the websites said that it comes from bad RAM. Is it true? Should I suspect bad RAM also?

 

Thanks a bunch for your link of creating image of USB disks for me. Well, i am going to use my laptop to do the process.

Yes, my desktop did not have CD drive (spoilt)

Actually I have already test RAM using Memtest (USB boot). Found no errors though. But how many passes need to prove that RAM is working properly? And how to count test passes?

 

Recent Windows XP observation + cannot create usb image file

Recent Windows XP observation:
Yesterday I just finish cleaning away the dust of my computer, and I turn on the Safe mode. It's working fine, it didnt pop out a single BSOD for 30 mins. And my dad like Safe Mode pretty much, because the word font is much bigger compared to before

BlueScreenView showed a new BSOD: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

15 Oct 2013: I re-run the memtest again and let it run continuously, and......... (look at attachment #2)
so my conclusion: CORRUPTED RAM. Am I correct?

I can't create USB image file for HDD checker. It showed me this, said that it's invalid disc image. (look at the attachment)

 

Nah, it burns the iso image but wont work. Tested on both laptop and desktop. Should I choose the option 'bootable' or create partition before execute this?

Sorry my english is bad, but what is IMO?

Ok, gets that a lot.

 

p/s: I am using Win XP desktop now. Seems that it has a good mood today

I have did backup to all my important files, and downloaded Seatools for Windows. I did all the tests (SMART, long generic, short generic) but all showed a 'pass' result. However when I choose 'Advanced Tests', it prompted me to press F8 to run it, but when I pressed F8, it showed the option but when I clicked on it, nothing happens. What should i do now?

 

Sorry for my late reply (I was not around few days ago)

My dad stopped me from disassembling the CPU because scared it may cause more damage to computer. But I know that my motherboard is somehow defective (You can see my previous thread posted in Hardware sections year 2011)

So, can I know, besides motherboard, what other factors can cause this problem to happen?

 

CoreTemp Results

Is this normal? Or should I wait longer?

 

Speecy Results

umm I got this