"It looks like a bomb went off".....

Oh I know it wasn't babble but I wouldn't know where to get all the info required :o

I have that checked in Mozilla but it isn't the default browser :confused:

How do I turn shadowing off? :crazyeye:
 
Go into BIOS. When you boot up, there likely will be a line that says "Hit Del to enter setup" or maybe "F1". In any case, hit that key, then look through the settings until you see a setting saying something like "BIOs Shadows" or whatever, and make sure it's Disabled.
 
Isn't IE / Windows pretty much completely integrated now?: (IE being largely a an interface to windows functionallity???)

If so, is it the "interface" that is causing the conflict, or part of windows underneath?

Eg. If it is some form of hardware or driver conflict, then it may not be limited to just IE.
 
Ainwood is right about there being more than meets the eye here. I have run even unpathced versions of MS IE 5.01, 5.01 SP1, 5.01 SP2, and even 5.5 with shadowing on and off on different systems. But it is practically impossible to try and explain everyinthing to do to check stuff via typing... it is even frustrating to work with a troublesome system in person, and can take hours to work though combinations of things to get at the root problem.

But since Shadowing was mentioned, and you do not need it to run you system, then it won't hurt to turn it off and see if stability improves. It can be quite difficult to trap the chunk of code that triggers in some circumstance and conflicts with the Shadowed RAM. In theory, that is not supposed to be allowed by the OS... and a well-written application (that was properly tested, too) would not cause it.

In BIOS, you will find entries like these:

PCI/VGA Pallette Snoop
Video ROM BIOS Shadow
C8000-CBFFF Shadow
D0000-D3FFF Shadow
DC000-D7FFF Shadow
D4000-DBFFF Shadow
D8000-DBFFF Shadow
DC000-DFFFF Shadow


Write down what their current setting is, then set them all to "Disabled".


Some comments, so you know. The Snoop can conflict with some graphics cards if enabled. However, some card need it to keep the right colors on your screen. I doubt anyone reading this post needs the Snoop enabled.

We talked about Video ROM in my last post.

The upper memory shadowing (C80000-DFFFF) is primarily for certain expansion cards, which I doubt you have installed. If you want, you can state the expansion cards you use, and I'll ponder them.... but it is highly unlikely you need any shadowing at all. If you did, you would already know about it.

If you are in you BIOS and have questions about other settings, post the exact setting description and option that is set, and I can probably tell you about it.
 
I have that checked in Mozilla but it isn't the default browser

Advanced Preferences - System

Used to specify what files and protocols are opened using Netscape.

* Windows should use Netscape 6 to open these file types: Select the file types that you want to open by default using Netscape (HTML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, XML, XUL).
* Windows should use Netscape 6 to handle these protocols: Select the protocols that you want to open by default using Netscape (http, https, ftp, chrome, gopher).
* Alert me if other applications change these settings: Select this if you want Netscape to alert you when other applications have changed your default Netscape file and protocol settings.

That is the easy way to set netscape as the default browser.



but I wouldn't know where to get all the info required
Most of it is in the Motherboard manual. You need to look in the manual to find out where they stamp the Motherboard revision. On my Motherboard, it is stamped between the #3 & #4 PCI slots.

The software infor can be labroisuly obtained by using Control Panel --> System, and plowing through the hardware list. For the Video Driver, right click on the desktop, and choose "Properties", then select one of the nVidia tabs in the popup video properties window, and look at the driver revision (assuming you have an nVidia card). The names may be different for other chip sets.

If you use integrated utiliteisw, esp. like the awesome SiSoft Sandra, then all detail is not only easily available, but actually fun to look at... it will tell you things that MS cannot duplicate, even with billions of dollars of effort. ;)
 
Ok first thing-I have managed to get Mozilla as a default,but as mentioned,explorer is an intrical part of XP.I'm just not going to surf the internet with it again...EVER.

2nd-I went to setup(f2 on my machine btw) and nowhere that I can see does it have anything about shadowing..I did see a snoop and it was "off"

I have no expansion cards.Don't even know what they are :D

I have a low end ATI 16mb card.Cheap but functional for my needs.Standard issue from Dell for poor people like me.ATI is notorious for not updating drivers too often.IIRC it has the factory installed driver and there is no newer one.Driver is dated 9/26/2001.Its a signed version: 6.13.3279.0.I doubt if that means much though.

It is quite odd to me anyways.It has worked absolutely perfectly since I got it.Even Civ3 ran straight out of the box with no adjustments.This problem was straight out of the blue..so to speak.

The only app I installed recently was ad-aware....hehehe.On your recommendation I might add...but I don't think that did anything sinister either.

Oh well,it is working and my confidence in it is growing.I have been putting her thru the paces and all is holding up so far.
 
Did I mention my techie added a password to setup and forgot to tell me :mad:

Luckily,a quick phone call fixed that.
 
I have some ATI cards, mostly over 3 years old. ATI is a good company. The Sept 2001 date looks good for addressing most hardware issues I know of, so don't worry about that, unless they simply have revised it to fix developmental errors.

Do you know if your bios is "Award" , or "MR" or "AMI" or what it's called?


The way it works is this. A company, anyone, writes a BIOS. The basic bios is then adapted specifically for each motherboard. Things like Chipset, sound, etc. add/subtract features. It is possible that your specific MoBo Mfgr decided that shadowing is so obsolete that they simply no longer maintain it in their bios revisions. Almost no one need shadowing anymore. You don't, for sure.

You were able to look at several different pages of bios setup, right?

Typically, they have names like (these are Award BIOS for an ASUS Socket 7 Motherboard, but common to most Award BIOS):

Standard CMOS
BIOS Features Setup
Chipset Features Setup
Power Management Setup
PNP & PCI Setup
Load BIOS Defaults
Load Setup Options
Supervisor Password
User Password
IDE HDD Auto Detection
Save & Exit Setup
Exit Setup Without Saving


The place to expect shadowing is in "BIOS Features Setup".

If you don't see it there, don't worry about it.



Here is the most important thing. If teh error returns, or any error returns, you must get all that good info like you did before, even the gobbledy gook. If it happens once or twice more, that stuff will actually tell the tale... for better or for worse.



At this point, my question is an easy one.

1. Have you moved your case, or re-oriented it relative to exit airflow, or maybe next to an extrenal fan or airconditioning duct.

2. Can you determine the temperature inside your case.

3. Can you determine the temperature of your CPU.

4. Is there a temperature variation in the room where the computer is run (e.g, more than about 5 degrees or so)?



Every chunk of silicon has a limit on op temp, before errors begin to propogate. The exact way this happens, I will not get into. Chips are as unique as humans, though... all have individual weaknesses that cannot be seen at normal temps.


I have run many chips and cpus to and past the brink, and it is possible you had a temperature related failure. Those are elusive, and much more frequent in summer months, especially here in the northwest where most of us have no air conditioning. I have megabytes of logs going back years on my machines, and my CPUs (very well cooled) hit about 39-41 C in the winter, and as much as 51 in the summer. Much past 58 and they get squirrelly when I run special programs that detect the onset of chip errors.

Anyway, my guess at this point is its temp related. Which is good news, as that is controllable.

If you can't monitor your temp, tehn just be sure you have an excellent chip heat sink/cooler.



PS, I use MBM (Motherboard Monitor) to keep track of all my fan speeds, temps, history, and even a lot of motherboard settings.

Look here:

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?postid=346698#post346698
 
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