Nick, XP tuneup help

[jwenham]

I have now switched to x64 XP and am going thru the OS tune up guide and have came across a problem I didnt see in the 32 bit. After I set the page file size to none and rebooted I went to verify the page file was gone and I got a BSOD. I then rebooted and after a min another BSOD. I then rebooted again and very quickly was able to set it to 3072 as per instructions and then all was fine. So, I now have 2 questions.

1) Why did I BSOD untill I set a new page file size (3072)
2) Why only 3072 for the size?

[jwenham]

Update. I think the crash I am getting is not related to the page file setting as even after setting it back to the default the problem still happens. The error I am getting is:

page_fault_in_nonpaged_area

I think it may be driver related or one of the hardware updates I did on the HD sound. Luckily I didnt turn off the system restore yet so I was able to get back to stable without a reload of the OS. What is your take on that error?

[NickN]

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodte ... x?mfr=true


I have never seen a BSOD in result to turning off the page file when a system has enough physical memory unless there is some type of software or driver installed that may be trying to access the page in a error that has occurred


In theory with the amount of memory you run you only need a page file for program boot allocation as it will NEVER be used for anything else unless you exceed the system memory of the system, or, a crash occurs and the system needs space to write the error log

that is why I specify 3072-3072.. its just there in case you ever exceed PM and/or crash and need the space for a memory dump.. otherwise it will not in any way, shape or form effect performance or be used by the system AT ALL

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 202636/5#5

[jwenham]

Nick, I did a restore last night to a restore point and left the computer on all day with no crash. I just tried going thru the tune again and again when I got to the setting the page file to none after reboot BDOD. The info it gave in it was disk.sys.

When I installed XP x64 I did a quick format, should I have done the long version of the format and totally wipe out the drive?

What should I try next boss?

Jim

[jwenham]

I did a search about disk.sys and found alot of people saying it was a DVD drive error. I disconected the drive and no crash yet.

[jwenham]

I fixed the problem. My search on the internet lead me to something with the DVD drive. When it was disconnected, no crash. So I started looking at my BIOS and for the dvd I had it set at CD ROM. Well I changed it to AUTO and WaLa no more problem It then read in the BIOS that it was a DVD/CD and added a few other settings applied by the auto setting. Long story short, the x64 OS seems a bit pickier to its setting for the DVD/CDROM. Now on to the fun stuff and enought trouble shooting (for now at least)

[jwenham]

Spoke too soon. Still no luck! This x64 switch is not going good at all. All I know for sure is that with the DVD unplugged there is no BSOD. I think I will reinstall the OS and see if it goes away, if not then I will try a new DVD drive.

[NickN]

OK then there is something about the DVD drive which may have issues in x64

Sometimes firmware corrects that or if its a really old drive it may not have any update to help it. .. you are not installing any DVD software, are you? If you are it may install some kind of TSR that trys to run at boot... just let windows install the driver for it

You must remember that you may need to check into you hardware with x64 to assure it will work in the OS and only obtain x64 drivers. Make sure you installed the chipset drivers for all the hardware

It sounds to me like this hardware is throwing an error and without the page file enabled it will crash due to the fact there is no place for the error to write to..

A 3072-3072 page file is not going to crash a system unless there is a device that is really messed up in a 64bit OS

[jwenham]

On my way home from work I stoped and picked up another drive even bought a different brand and it does the same thing. The orig drive is also a new one bought for this build. So based on that test I have decided it is not the drive. I also dont think it is the MOBO as it will only BSOD when in windows. Right now I am doing a format on the HD and when done will do a fresh install. Everything is disconnected except for the mouse and keyboard and monitor. When I loaded x64 from x32 I only did a quick format so this time I am doing the long format just to make sure the HD is clean. I did rum Memtest lastnight for 2 passes and all was good with the memory. So long story short I hope a fresh install will fix it.

[NickN]

On my way home from work I stoped and picked up another drive even bought a different brand and it does the same thing. The orig drive is also a new one bought for this build. So based on that test I have decided it is not the drive. I also dont think it is the MOBO as it will only BSOD when in windows. Right now I am doing a format on the HD and when done will do a fresh install. Everything is disconnected except for the mouse and keyboard and monitor. When I loaded x64 from x32 I only did a quick format so this time I am doing the long format just to make sure the HD is clean. I did rum Memtest lastnight for 2 passes and all was good with the memory. So long story short I hope a fresh install will fix it.

I would have to point to the BIOS at that point. I have never seen a page file set to a high enough static value cause any kind of crash in Windows other than if a program boots and attempts to allocate more page than has been reserved and even then all it does is pop up a message which states the page is too small and suggests more is needed for allocation

So at this point I am not sure what you are seeing and why

I could understand a BSOD if a driver is causing an error on Windows boot and the page file is set to zero. At that point there is no place for windows to write the error and a BSOD can come up.


However with static allocated page file space I have never seen such a problem

Set it to 'System Managed" and see if the same problem appears.

[jwenham]

Nick, I dont want to jinks anything but I think I found the problem finally. This has been racking my brain and I think I have read everything there is to read about my problem. My main problem is that this problem is not very specific to one thing and could be caused by many things.

My MOBO has 6 SATA ports on it, 4 facing the back and 2 onto of the MOBO. I HAD both my HD's and the DVD in 3 of the 4 on the back. When the DVD was connected that way if I looked at the SATA connection in the BIOS the DVD was on I had a option to pick what kind of drive it was as well as 2 other options (cant remember what they are now). Well I had it set to AUTO for the type in the BIOS, the OS saw the drive but I would get the crash when the DVD/CD service was being stopped (according to the event viewer). So ... for some reason I decided to try a different SATA port to connect to. I unplugged the DVD from the back section of SATA ports where the HD's are connected to and plugged the DVD/CD into the SATA port ontop of the MOBO (there are 2 there). I then went into the BIOS and then noticed that the option to pick what type of device it was was not there as it was before. I left the other two options at auto and booted up. Normally the computer would crash after about 2 or three min. , I then noticed ... no crash! Looked around on the internet for a while,... no crash!

[NickN]

Then it was a BIOS issue. The system was not supporting the hardware correctly on the sockets/settings you were using. The error when Windows booted would force a BSOD