Need help! Blue Screen of Death in Windows XP PRO...

I've been getting the following error code with the blue screen of death:

STOP 0X0000007E (0X8000004, 0X80509FEF, 0XF9E49768, 0XF9E49468)

I think I might have missed a zero in the first series of numbers after the parentheses...but I wrote as fast as I could before the computer shut down. I keep getting the same error. Today I noticed it has been the same error all the time after I wrote it and it crashed about 5 times afterwards. I don't know if this helps but it's the only message I get. I'm trying to see if the error occurs when I do certain things but I can't see a pattern. It has happened while browsing, using photoshop, using kazaa, and so on. Sometimes it's stable for hours, and sometimes it crashes within minutes of the last crash. Same error all the time. Thanks for any help I get! You guys are great! you have helped me a ton before and I really, really, appreciate it. Thanks in advance to any replies!

- Omar

Athlon XP 2000+
256 PC2100 DDR RAM
Windows XP Pro
Every single drive up to date (thanks to DSL!)

 

error message -

you need to post the entire error message word for word and the exact alpha numeric error code with no numbers missing then it can be found for example:
STOP: 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0x804E518E, 0xFC938104, 0xFC937E04)
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
witht the complete information and phrase included then it can be properly looked up in the knowledge base. THere are many many of these messages and codes so it helps to have everything and imatching exactly what is on the screen.

 

This may be due to the use of third-party drivers, the use of non-WHQL drivers, the need for a BIOS update, defective RAM, or an incorrect driver configuration due to an upgrade as opposed to a clean installation of XP.

Try updating your video driver first. Look for updates for your NIC driver (if any) as well as sound.

Do you remember installing any non-XP or non-WHQL drivers that you had to give permission for installation?

 

The MSKB is your friend: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;314063

 

Thanks for all your help!

I think the problem is gone. I reinstalled Win XP PRO, upgraded drivers, and upgraded BIOS. Although I have not had the same problem anymore, I get another blue screen of death. But this one has do with the video card. It mentions some DLL file, something like ati32something...that a "Page fault" message...is there anyway to capture a blue screen of death when it's being displayed? Thanks for everything!

 

"BlueSave" from Winternals is still available some places (a discontinued product), but at $119, you may think twice. Not sure what functionality it contains, but you can still get e Demo of BlueSave here: http://www.prosoft.de/demo/Archive/Winternals/BlueSave/DEMO_Bluesave_101.exe
The information should be in the Event Viewer and/or the system log, anyway.

Which ATI card do you have? Try updating your ATI drivers---the ones released since last Summer seem very XP-compatible. (You may want to uninstall and delete any ATI drivers you are currently using.):

http://mirror.ati.com/support/driver.html

(The ATI Control Panel and driver must be installed separately).

EDIT:
Found a copy of bluesave on a Russian FTP server:
ftp://193.233.63.1/pub/Win/Tools/Sysinter/bluesave.exe
(slow)

 

Thanks...I'll try the program...

As for my video card, I have a Radeon 8500 LE with 128MB of Ram. I have done exactly what you said, I uninstalled all the drivers and put in the latest (approved) ones...and I still get the same problem. Although not as often as I used to. I'll post the blue screen to see what you guys think....A while back, I installed drivers that WERE NOT XP certified yet...could that have damaged something? I have uninstalled it since then...but the problems still persist...

 

It's possible that the old driver can be affecting things.

I'd uninstall all the drivers and try again. This time, remove any drivers that have entries in Add/Remove. Delete the ATI folder in the root directory. Delete all the files you can in Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp and Windows\Temp.

In Device Manager, click the View button and Show Hidden Devices to be sure that everything is visible and remove all display drivers past and present.

Then, reinstall the ATI driver again. Hopefully, cleaning up will prevent any interaction between the old and new.