Blue Screen of Death... help?

[2broke2smoke]

Hey guys, I'm Dave.  I'm running a custom built computer with the following:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-57 processor

2x 256mb nVidia 7800gtx-oc Graphics Cards

1x 74gb Western Digital wd740 raptor hard drive

Skyhawk 620 watt Power One power supply

ASUS A8N-SLi Premium motherboard

2x 512mb OCZ EL Platinum Revision 184-Pin DDR 400 RAM

Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card


Now, there's been lots of problems with the hardware in this computer, first being the cd/dvd writing slot loading Plextor drive that I had which just got really messed up and started "eating" my cd's and not spittin them back out.  Then I kept running into trouble with one of my hard drives, which is why I am running on one right now.  Then, on top of that, I have a feeling that the OCZ RAM is failing also, but here is the real deal...  I keep getting the "BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH" which I'm sure you have seen/heard of at some point in your past.  The messages I get are usually any of the following:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR

and many more...

Almost every time the computer BSOD's, it has a different file name listed for it...  everything for my nVidia driver's to program files.  For example, after I saw the nVidia driver listed i un-installed it and re-installed a new one, but then the BSOD just came up with another file.  Also, many programs are crashing such as Mozilla Firefox and Internet explorer.  Pretty much any program i try using, especially any kind of game, (whether it uses 8mb of memory or 800mb of memory), it end up crashing or having some kind of error.

These random crashes and pattern of blue screens all started at the same time, and I really need some help on fixing them.

One thing that I do not have is a floppy drive, so I can't run a memory test that I need to boot from a floppy.  Any help in this subject would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Dave

[2broke2smoke]

Also, I searched some probabilites that it might be the RAM... is that a common cause?

[stones]

Also, I searched some probabilites that it might be the RAM... is that a common cause?

Yes, bad ram can cause crashes.
Heres a memory tester program to try-
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=350
Quote-
MemTest is a RAM reliability tester. It evaluates the ability of your computer's memory to store and retrieve data accurately. A correctly functioning computer should be able to do both these tasks with 100% accuracy day in and day out. A computer that fails these tests, perhaps because of old hardware, damaged hardware, or poorly configured hardware, will be less stable and crash more often. Even worse, it will become even less stable over time as corrupted data is written to your hard disk.

By running MemTest you can ensure that your computer's RAM is correctly functioning. It is wise to test this when you buy a new computer, install new ram, or change the configuration of your machine (for instance, to overclock it). If you are the sort of user who likes to push the performance of your machine to the edge, relying upon whether your machine will boot after your new BIOS tweaks is a poor way to determine the safety of your new settings. Use MemTest as a true test of stability.

Limitations: The Pro version is also a Windows native program, and similar to the normal version. It is tuned, however, to the needs of users who diagnose the quality of ram often, or on multiple machines. It offers options like a nice mode which allows you to test RAM in the background, during normal use of the machine, as well as more detailed reporting of errors. It also does not pause every time an error is found, so it can be used to determine the overall reliability of ram that is prone to errors, rather than just as a tool that determines if there are any errors at all.
  

[2broke2smoke]

im now running memtest and it came up with an error after 10 percent but its still goin... right after d/l memtest my computer crashed again and BSOD'd with the message DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

do interrupt codes have anything to do with the RAM?

[stones]

I dont know, we will need to wait for one of the moderators to answer that.

The memory test however should be error free, I can run the test forever without errors on my Kingston DDR3200 1Gig stick.

[2broke2smoke]

well, so far its just that one, but yea as i suspected there's probably something wrong with the RAM in addition to whatever else could be the problem... hopefully a moderator can help me out here sometime soon... but the weird thing is that it seemed to be working for the last year and a half ive had it...

every time i had a problem id be able to fix it by reformatting the drives and reinstalling windows, but new problems would come along every couple of months...

[2broke2smoke]

well, i guess im gonna run it again and let it run all night, and before i do that, im gonna disable all my startup processes and reboot the computer so the least RAM is being used... well thanks for the advice thus far, and if anyone else is able to help any more, plz, it would be greatly appreciated... :-?

[street1 (RIP)]

Have you tried Microsofts debugging tools? :-?

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx

[Neil]

I had similar problem.

I actually fixed it by uninstalling a nvidia driver from add/remove programs. Not sure what it was called, network access manager or something. I mean the nforce motherboard drivers, rather than graphics ones, if you use nforce.

Or try this
http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t6174.html

I'm not sure if this will fix all your problems though, but it might eliminate one

[GX1_Man]

A $1000 machine without a $10 floppy drive?

Anyway the RAM should be tested one stick at a time, then all together for at least 30 min each.

Free hard drive diagnostics are available at the appropriate drive maker's site.

Has any part of this system been overclocked at any time?

[2broke2smoke]

no, it hasnt, and it was 4000 dollars altogether when i was puttin it together, since it was all brand new technology, lol.

[2broke2smoke]

this is really startin to piss me off lol

[linuxpenguin13]

your ram may be dead!

[patio]

Good for him to know that since he hasn't returned in over a year...