Vista blue screen crash, help!

[Sandman]

when i first installed vista (yes i know that was my first problem, but i spent $200 on it and i'm going to use it) my computer would crash to the blue screen everytime i started up TF2. somehow i fixed it and TF2 works fine. Now everytime i start up DOD:S which i just installed, my entire computer goes to the blue screen. I've verifyied the integrity of the game cache and defragged it. out of ideas, help!

~Sandman~

 

[dunk182]

what version of vista and do you have sp1?

 

[Sandman]

i have home basic, and it says i have all my updates so i suppose i have sp1

 

[Rebel4055]

i have never gotten the blue screen of death on vista! something major must have been done to do that lol knock on wood i havent got it get sp1 and make sure u install ANY update from windows update keep checking it

 

[Dreadmaker]

I can't help you, unfortunately. The only reason that I posted was to say that I haven't ever gotten a blue screen with vista either. That's awesome. Is it the same as the old blue screen? or have they updated it?

 

[dunk182]

ok did you install something before the bluescreen?
is steam being ran as administrator <--- put as no if it is
is steam being ran in xp sp2 backwards campadablity --- put as no

 

[Sandman]

yes i installed DOD:S and how would i go about changing those other two things dunk?

 

[Rebel4055]

and make sure nothing is conflicting with it like say gomez peer is a money thing and can not run on vista will make it conflict with other stuff

 

[^RabbiT^]

Remember, SP1 isn't auto installed, you have to download it!
it's supposed to show up in the "update center", if it isn't, google it!
can you also put up your PC's specifics, such as RAM, grafics, processor speed and total number and so on....

 

[Sandman]

sorry i had to go away for 2 days xD
yeah sure computer specs are:
2 gigs ram
9600 GT Nvidia
AMD Athlon X4 CPU i think its 2.2ghz
800w PSU
and a 500gb hard drive
if you need anything else just ask, thanks for all the help btw, still haven't fixed it though =(

 

[dunk182]

hmm, did you install any programs like Zone alarm? because some programs only work in Vista without the SP1
or just dont work on vista.. did you install any other programs?
and see if your drivers are update
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5688-IFHZ-2170
look there for more help ^^

 

[InductedStorm]

Have you tried updating your video drivers? Some times updating the video drivers will take care of strange problems like that.

 

[Ma$termind]

A BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) can point to many different problems with either your hardware or software. If it is a hardware problem it most likely is the RAM that is corrupted or your HDD that is beginning to fail. If it's a software problem the BSoD will state what crashed it (normally a GPU driver, USB driver, or a SPU driver).

To narrow down the possible errors we will need the exact wording of the BSoD message.

Also, it would help to have the following information:
1. What is the GPU driver version you have installed, and is it the most recent one?
2. Are you using a separate sound card, or built-in?
3. What motherboard you are using, and are you flashed to the most current BIOS release?

Before we have this info, just knowing you are getting a blue screen is way to general to help.

EDIT: It would also be good if you ran Memtest86+ to eliminate the possibility that your RAM is corrupt.

 

[Sandman]

here is a link to my motherboard
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=M452-6006
as for the other things i'm not sure how to check or do, i tried running memtest, but it kept wanting me to do something with a floppy disk... and my RAM is brand new, so i hope its not corrupted (heres a link to it too: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?Sku=O261-7054)
i've updated my video drivers so its not that, and i believe my bluescreen says something along the lines of IRQRL_DRIVERS_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL if that makes sense.

and like i said, TF2 runs fine, its just DOD:S and CS:S i believe: Heres what will happen in order of events. Double click the game icon, the menu comes up fine and the music, when i click on the find servers a little window pops up telling me about the new custom tab, and thats when i crash, i remember the custom tab update icon popping up before for TF2 but i somehow fixed that, but now everytime i get on DOD:S or CS:S it'll pop up.

 

[Ma$termind]

Well that error message eliminates the possibility of it being a HDD failure, but it still leaves open the possibility of corrupt RAM.

Most commonly though, this problem is caused by a driver error. Video and sound drivers cause this the most, but there also is a chance that it was caused by the NVidia Chipset drivers. It might also be a network driver error.

Was there a certain file mentioned in the BSoD? Something like ******.sys? That could clue us in to what specific driver is causing the error.

Also, in case you didn't know: If you click your "Start" button and right click "Computer" and click "Properties" it will take you to the "System" window. From there you can click "Advanced System Settings" in the task pane it will open up the "System Properties" window. In the "System Properties" window, go to the "Advanced" tab and click "Settings" under "Startup and Recovery". In the "Startup and Recovery" window uncheck "Automatically restart" then click "Ok".

Doing the above should stop the BSoD from disappearing, giving you more time to read and record the error.

Also: Be sure you have SP1 installed. That might solve it.

 

[Sandman]

okay the error message says bcmw76.sys-address 8955ADA5 base at 8951B000, Datestamp 45231e90

EDIT: i did find out that i am running sp1, do i need sp2 because when i clicked on it it sent me to the microsoft site to a page to upgrade my entire version of vista, but like i said TF2 works fine, just my other games that feel like misbehaving...

 

[Ma$termind]

Humm.. Google has failed me when searching for "bcmw76.sys". If that is the file that consistently comes up though, it would eliminate your graphic drivers...

Do you have any clue what that file is from?

It would also be nice to eliminate your RAM if you can run Memtest86+... You do need a floppy drive for that, unless you can make a bootable ISO or your motherboard allows you to boot off a usb drive.

EDIT:
This guide should help you make a bootable CD for memtest if you are having trouble.

http://icrontic.com/articles/diagnose_with_memtest86

 

[Sandman]

i don't even have a floppy drive lol, so i'm out of options? i'm just going to call dell support here in a second and yell at them lol

 

[.[BORN]2kill]

Have you verified that you indeed do have SP1?

You should do the following:

1) Run the memory checker
Memory Diagnostic Tool - This tool can check your systems memory to determine if the cause of system crashes could be the result of bad memory. The tool it self can be accessed from:

* Going to Start menu - Search - and typing in the word - memory - and then click on the Memory Diagnostic Tool which requires a restart to run.

* Or the tool can be located by going to Control Panel - Administrative Tools - then Memory Diagnostic Tool. Either way works the same.

What the tool does. The Memory Diagnostic Tool runs a short series of tests to determine the integrity of the RAM modules on your system. It will either find the memory to be functioning properly or alert you to errors it has found. The tool itself should not be used as a standalone diagnostic, and other tests should also be used to diagnosis RAM of it is suspected as being bad.

2) You can disable auto-restart after a crash to read the info on the blue screen. Right click on the computer, properties, left side advanced system settings... Startup and recovery SETTINGS...disable automatically restart.

3)On the same screen change the drop down from "kernel memory dump" to "Small memory dump". We can analyze the dump file to see what the cause is. The default path for dump files are off the root of C.

--born