built this system a couple of weeks ago and because i needed to use the old hard drive to get some stuff off, i threw in the old hard drive (with its active windows 7 installation) and booted it up...no problems, windows reconfigured for the new hardware and everything was roses for about a week

then it BSODs...figuring i needed to reformat (which i knew i'd have to do eventually, i just needed it operational for a little bit), i go ahead and do a fresh install, update drivers, download all relevant important AND recommended updates

first day, it BSODs again and locks up during the dump...this continues randomly

what's confusing is that half the time i can't even get the computer to turn on correctly...i'll hit the power button, hear the fans start up (but not always the HDD) and it just sits there, no BIOS, nothing...after turning it on and off a few times, it will suddenly decide it wants to start and i'll hear the HDD spin up and the BIOS shows...it did lock once at the BIOS screen, but only once

i'm thinking it's the power supply...i'm getting no beeps when it turns on (whether the BIOS screen shows up or not), so i don't think it's the mobo (and i surely hope it isn't...i really don't want to deal with taking it apart and getting a new one)

google tells me that the ACPI ATK0110 windows 7 update can be problematic for some, and sure enough, i did install it...i'll roll it back when i get home, but i don't think it will make any difference due to the issue of the computer turning on (rather than just at OS boot)

what say you?

12/11/2010 1:40:45 PM

BSOD with PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

i can't do a system restore because every time i do, the computer won't turn on (does that same thing where the lights are on, but the HDD isn't spinning and it doesn't even boot into BIOS)

the more and more i google, the more it sounds like an ACPI issue...but i can't believe that would affect the computer's ability to turn on unless it was BIOS related

[Edited on December 11, 2010 at 5:40 PM. Reason : .]

12/11/2010 5:29:02 PM

If you can get a crash dump, then you can use WinDbg (Debugging Tools for Windows, available for free from Microsoft) to find out what piece of hardware or driver is causing the problem.

12/11/2010 7:02:10 PM

bad memory?

12/11/2010 10:42:32 PM

Memory or mobo issue.

12/11/2010 11:59:14 PM

but i don't WANT it to be the motherboard...that's the biggest PITA to replace

still not sure what it is, though i'm leaning toward mobo...i took each of my 4 sticks of memory and tried them in each of the 4 slots...system wouldn't start with a particular stick in A1, so i set it aside and tried the others, all of which started...then i moved on and tried the "bad" stick in A2 and it booted fine...and another stick didn't work (so i set it aside)...the B1 and B2 worked fine for all sticks (so far)

it's currently running with 2 sticks in B1 and B2 and hasn't crashed...but sometimes the crash takes longer

i guess another thing that points to the mobo is that it randomly sees the processor (phenom II x4 925) as 3 cores (though windows sees all 4)

dammit

12/12/2010 10:20:01 AM

Sounds like what happens when you overclock and get the settings wrong. Try updating the BIOS/resetting BIOS defaults.

If that doesn't work and you've checked the RAM, it's probably your motherboard.

12/12/2010 12:10:50 PM

yeah...it's the latest BIOS, set to defaults, and no overclocking (didn't even try, actually)

12/12/2010 3:05:35 PM

with memory in B1 and B2, it hasn't crashed (yet)...but now the taskbar keeps disappearing, like this:

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-7/windows-7-taskbar-disappearing/

apparently something to do with the screensaver, as it alternates between disappearing and coming back each time the screensaver comes up

anyway, i've already applied for the RMA from newegg, but i have to wait till tomorrow to ask for a prepaid label (do they still do that? it's been a long time since i've needed to RMA something from newegg)

[Edited on December 12, 2010 at 4:20 PM. Reason : .]

12/12/2010 4:18:00 PM

get a dump
windbg
!analyze -v

or connect it via serial to another machine, reboot, press f8, select "enable debugging mode" and use windbg that way

12/12/2010 4:44:33 PM

rma the memory and board if you got them both from newegg since without another machine you can't reliably test if it's memory or board

12/13/2010 1:01:33 AM