Thread: Need some serious help

Here is the system I have (built last year):

http://www.teamplayergaming.com/pc-h...-new-pc-4.html

1 x Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

1 x ZALMAN CNPS9900MAX-B 135mm Long life bearing CPU Cooler Blue LED

1 x SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-222AL/BSBE LightScribe Support - OEM

1 x Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, ...

1 x XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with ...

1 x G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-

COOLER MASTER Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000W ATX12V v2.3 /EPS12V v2.92 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active

ASUS P8Z58 Deluxe

Core i7 2600K LGA 1155 Boxed Processor

Windows 7 64bit

The last piece of software that I "installed was last week: latest version of Norton 360" ... no ... I did install IE 10 also ... hmm, I don't know how that would do anything.


All I have added to it is another 8 Gb of RAM.

Last night the computer suddenly started freezing ... no blue screen ... I had to do a hard reboot. Upon reboot it either didn't recognize or use the SSD as the boot drive so it would give the BootMgr error message ... I'd restart enter the BIOS and if the SSD showed up (it is my C drive) I reassigned it as the boot drive and Windows would fire up okay.

I am at a loss. At first, I thought Windows was just having a fit (disc space on the SSC was down to 18 Gb ... not too bad, but slowed things down a little). I cleared up space. Freezing has continued.

I tried to update my BIOS, believing maybe that's where the problem resided. I can't update it beyond the current AMI 3304. I tried to update the AI Suite II and that doesn't appear to have helped.

I am now experiencing the freezes again. I think either my SSD is failing, MB is failing, or the BIOS is corrupted.

Can someone help? If this gets worse or if it is a bad SSD or MB I need to get that fixed ASAP to avoid additional corruption or loss of data.

Okay, the first thing I can recall from that board (as was a previous owner), for any memory speeds above 1333MHz, you need to set the Memory Settings to XMP in your BIOS, or you will be running into some possible crashes/blue screens. I originally thought this was for memory frequencies OVER 1600MHz, but I read some other people having the BSOD issue when the memory is not in XMP mode (with other settings defaulted)

If that doesn't work, then I have a couple questions...

How much hard drive space did you have before adding the extra 8 GB of RAM? Do you now have 16 GB total?

Have you tried doing a system restore to a point BEFORE you installed the Norton 360? Sometimes going back to a restore point can work out any buggies that could be jacking up your registry.

Does it crash with only 8 GB of memory? Did you do a fresh install of Windows on the SSD?

Before doing any sort of RMA, I would try the restore, and even a fresh install of Windows again. I know it is a pain, but sometimes you can work out some bugs by doing a reinstall.

When ruling out hardware, do a minimalist approach. Put in 1 stick of memory, the SSD, and the graphics card. See how far you get. If things are running well, start adding components until you get the BSOD again.

Thank you Heavy. Switched to my laptop as the desktop crashed while I was writing a reply. I had some other applications running, Word, Outlook, AI II, IE … first Word stopped then I could use anything else and eventually the screen was non responsive. I hit ctrl alt del and now there is a spinning icon with text saying “Preparing Security Options …” That’s a new to me.

The laptop does not have IE 10 on it but it does have the latest Norton 360. No crashes, but then it is also not 64bit OS (Win 7 Pro, but 32bit) and I don’t think it has an SSD, never bothered to check.

Anyway to your questions:

Originally Posted by HeavyG

How much hard drive space did you have before adding the extra 8 GB of RAM? Do you now have 16 GB total?

The SSD has 29 GB of free disk space. I installed the extra 8 GB tonight. It was crashing with 8 GB last night. I bought the extra 8 for no good reason … it was on sale so … I said “can’t hurt.”

Originally Posted by HeavyG

Did you do a fresh install of Windows on the SSD?

No, same install on SSD since last year. Path of last resort – much pain, but it may be necessary. I should start backing it up now just in case.

Originally Posted by HeavyG

Have you tried doing a system restore to a point BEFORE you installed the Norton 360?

A good idea, I will likely try that this evening.

Originally Posted by HeavyG

When ruling out hardware, do a minimalist approach. Put in 1 stick of memory, the SSD, and the graphics card. See how far you get. If things are running well, start adding components until you get the BSOD again.

Hmmm … it is possible that RAM went bad. I should probably check all the components. I was getting some grief playing FEAR2 and FEAR3 a few crashes with these games last week but not lock up issues. I have work to do.

Is there a good utility to check the integrity of the SSD out there?

What bothers me is that the BIOS does not see the SSD when I do the initial hard reboot. I have to tell it to reboot again and enter the BIOS to assign the SSD as the first boot device.

I’m going to try the following:

1. Flash the BIOS correctly with latest version, if this doesn’t help
2. Attempt a system restore, if this doesn’t help
3. Beat myself senseless … take a break and use the laptop to get work done now … tomorrow, reassess and start backing up as much as I can

I'm probably being punished for seriously considering using Chrome!

I did neglect to mention that the current desktop is a system I built last year and was fairly stable until it freaked out on me last night.

I still can't seem to get the BIOS to Flash correctly to 3603. hmmm ...

You can try updating the firmware of your SSD. You would need to check the manufacturer site for instructions and utilities. Sometimes an SSD firmware update can fix problems.

Updated the firmware; if it crashes again, I'm just going to have to use the laptop ... still plenty of work to do tonight. I'll get back to the desktop Friday.

No crash since ... though, been treating it with kid gloves ... haven't really put any stress on it.

Originally Posted by Amador +JP2+

No crash since ... though, been treating it with kid gloves ... haven't really put any stress on it.

That is good news. I had some issues with an SSD that did not like a specific motherboard. I updated the firmware and didn't have a problem after that. Hopefully your problems are now resolved.

I just wanted to follow up and say that the computer has worked without a hitch since my last post. I still don't understand what happened, but I am glad it is working okay now. I would like to know how the malfunction started and how to avoid it going forward ... we'll see. I'm also looking into a larger SSD. I want to find one larger than 200 GB.

Thanks for the help guys!