XP Reboots gives video device driver error

[Stark_Mad]

Hi all,
Recently changed monitors.  Old one was acting faulty - screen would warp and colors would blend.  A neighbor gave me a compaq 7500 monitor that he wasn't using.  New monitor seemed to work fine without any changes in drivers.  I then purchased DSL through my local phone company.  (Qwest)  They sent a modem and I went through the installation steps connecting the modem to my firewire card.  (They give the option of that or USB.)  Ever since then my computer will 'randomly' reboot.  I'll be working on whatever and BAM it does a sudden restart.  Sometimes it happens after working fine for 3 hours and sometimes it does it within 5 minutes of the last time. It boots up fine after that and gives the message "Windows has recoverd from a serious error."  and asks if I want to send an error report to microsoft.

When I sent the report, the first 10 or so times, it told me that it was an unknown error related to a device driver.  Now, about the last 6 or so times it tells me its caused by a driver error related to display.  It recommended updating my drivers.  Which I did. (I found the driver for compaq 7500 and installed it, previously it was using a 'plug and play' driver for the monitor) Microsoft also recommended setting 'hardware acceleration' to 'none' and to 'enable write combining' to 'unchecked'.  (Under the 'display' properties through control panel.)  Which I did.  I also individually checked for updates on all my drivers (including the firewire card) and they were all good.

Guess what?  It still does the sudden reboot.  I checked with my DSL provider and they told me that since the modem is hooked up through firewire connection that no drivers were installed for it.

I scaned for viruses and spyware using the links I found here and at another site and found none.

It seems to do it more often when I am downloading a file but it does not exclusively happen when doing that.  I am at wits end about this.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thank you!

[Backdated]

In general, you don't need monitor drivers.
Unfortunately, here in the UK, DSL modems, particularly the Sagems, cause all sorts of problems - Sudden reboots being a major one. Try a Google for your modem and see if any other users have had problems.
I'm surprised at the statement about no drivers being required. What make and model etc is this modem?

If you're using XP, entering shutdown -a in the Start>Run box will disable automatic shutdown on error.
Also, the Event Viewer may pinpoint something.

[Stark_Mad]

Thanks.

What is Event Viewer?  Also, if I shutdown the automatic reboot will that effect other things, or cause a major problem?

[Backdated]

Automatic shutdown is another stupid "feature" introduced by Microsoft. The only reason for it as far as I can see is to hide the fact that XP still bsods!

Entering eventvwr.msc in the Start>Run box will bring up the Event Viewer console which lists all major events, both good and bad. Have a look under the "System" and "Application" tabs for any errors (White X in a red circle) that may correspond to the times of your crashes.

[Stark_Mad]

OK,
First, I made a mistake, it was not connected to the firewire card it was through the LAN connection.  I uninstalled and reinstalled the qwest modem using the USB port.   I was on for about 20 minutes and it rebooted.  

I had unchecked the 'reset at error' as suggested and I got the blue screen of death.
The error was reported as "PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA"

Since then, I have been on and working for about 3 hours and have had no problem, yet.  

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can find out what is going on?
It is appreciated.
Thanks.

[Backdated]

Please report any error messages in full detail.
Have you checked the Event Viewer?

[Stark_Mad]

OK
the bsod says
"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
If this is the fist time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer.  It this screen appears again, follow these steps."
Then it lists checking recently installed soft and hard ware.
then
"Technical information
*** STOP: 0X00000050 (OXF7FFFFF8, 0X00000000, 0X8054A832, 0X00000000)"

I checked the results under eventvwr.msc
UNder system at that time I got
"Source: System Error
Cat 102
Event ID 1005
User N/A
Error Cache 10000050 parameter 1 f7fffff8 parameter 2 00000000 paramater 3 8054a832 parameter 4 00000000"

I hope this helps youl to help me.
Thanks again.

[Backdated]

Neither Microsoft or EventID have any knowledge of this error and I haven't come across it before so I'll have to do some digging.
I'm not going to be around much for the next few days so if you can put Google etc to work and post anything interesting you may find, it might help.

Have you updated your graphics card driver?

[Stark_Mad]

yep
one of the first things I did was update all drivers individually as it indicated a device driver
I think there was only 1 that needed update and it was related to USB

At this point I'm leaning towards a hardware error.

Does memory sometimes go bad?

Thanks again for responding.

[Backdated]

I'm thinking harware myself but let's persevere a little first.
Do not use MS updates for updating drivers! Where possible, download drivers straight from the vendors support area. If you don't know what graphics card is installed, right click the desktop, and from the context menu, select Properties>Settings>Advanced>Adapter. Post back with what you have and I'll point you to a driver for it.

[Stark_Mad]

NVIDIA GeForce4 MX Integrate GPU (Microsoft Corp.)

Chip Type: GeForce4 MX Integrated GPU
DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
Memory: 64 MB
Adapter String: GeForce MX Integrated GPU
Bios Information : Version 4.1F.00.08.09

Thanks again

[Stark_Mad]

A little bit of an update.
A friend of a friend came over and checked everything out for me.  The error only happens on one account(mine) and never on the other administrator account (wife's).  
This friend of a friend thought it was due to a 'conflict' with some software with a driver or software with software, but couldn't take the time to narrow it down any more than that.  What was odd is that the same software is installed everywhere, isn't it?
We created a new administrator account and the problem seems to be gone with the new account.
I appreciated the help but this seems like an 'inelegant' solution to me.  I'm not being ungrateful for the assistance, I just worry about it cropping up again.
Anyway, now when I play the 'neverwinter nights' game on the new account it goes extremely slow.  It's basically unplayable.  I can't seem to figure out why?
Any suggestions?

[Backdated]

You'll find the Nvidia ForceWare 8 drivers [highlight]here[/highlight].
Start by uninstalling the existing drivers and then installing this set.

[Stark_Mad]

Thanks.

On the Driver Installation Hints page from that link you gave me it says I should

"Do not run virus protection software in the background while installing the drivers. This prevents the driver from configuring itself properly."

I'm running AVG and Nod-32.  Is it really ok to shut them both off?  And, really stupid question here, how do I shut them off?

[Backdated]

You have just pinpointed a major problem with your system!
Never run two real time AV applications!!!!
NOD32 is very good, so uninstall AVG completely and your problems will most likely disappear. Overall performance will see a boost too.

It would still be a good idea to download and install the drivers though.