Tech support site for my comp problem?

[Lord Gay]

I'm having an issue with my comp and was wondering what a good site might be for help. I didn't get it from a dealer so there's no customer service to call.

On the off chance anybody here can offer advice, I'm using win XP with SP 2. My comp doesn't like restarting, often crashing during bootup with a "machine check error". I can't tell if it's a hardware problem or a configuration setting issue, but I think it might be related somehow to net connecting, as I seem to have a better chance of a successful boot with the modem turned off, though not always.

It has no problem loading into safe mode, and in any case once running, I have no problem doing stuff (except connecting, what with the modem off). As a result I've been leaving my comp on 24/7, and trying not to reboot for any reason, as it causes a big ole' headache.

Once I eventually get net connection, like now, I dread the next time I have to reboot, and fear I won't be able to connect next time.

So, what's a good site for tech help?

 

[Maniacal]

I usually ask here, on another forum or a friend. And/or google it.

No idea what the problem is though, sorry Someone else here will probably be able to help you though.

 

[GoodGame]

Google can be useful, especially since MS has extensive help pages for their OS.

In your case, you'll probably have to decode what the computer is actually communicating is the error.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_Check_Exception

 

[warpus]

Yeah, at what point during bootup do you see the error message? What exactly does it say?

 

[Birdjaguar]

I use this forum when i have a problem that is tough to resolve. They are free and quite good.

http://www.techsupportforum.com/

 

[warpus]

Toms hardware forums were good, from what I remember. Haven't been on there in a while though

 

[innonimatu]

On the off chance anybody here can offer advice, I'm using win XP with SP 2. My comp doesn't like restarting, often crashing during bootup with a "machine check error". I can't tell if it's a hardware problem or a configuration setting issue, but I think it might be related somehow to net connecting, as I seem to have a better chance of a successful boot with the modem turned off, though not always.

You shouldn't be using SP2 any more, its support is about to end. Installing SP3 may even fix whatever problem you have, if it is being caused by Windows. But "machine check error" doesn't sound like a Windows error. But you also mention that it books in safe mode, so I have to assume that you know it's happening while the OS boots. Still, are you sure it happens after the operating system starts booting? I've seen computers hanging during POST because of USB printers connected - some bad code in the BIOS.

 

[Lord Gay]

I use SP2 because I tend to favor older games, and they aren't always happy with newer formats. I've also read that SP3, like all Microsoft products, is buggy, plus once installed there's no going back.

I don't know what POST is so perhaps my language was too vague.

About the midpoint of booting the Windows XP screen with three colored dots comes up (blue for SP2). Normally the dots move across for about five seconds before freezing for a split second and then resuming for another few seconds. It's that split second where it usually BSODs, requiring me to press the reset button.

 

[Maniacal]

Never had a problem with SP3, hell I didn't even notice it had been installed.

 

[Genocidicbunny]

SP3 is pretty much a bunch of windows updates rolled into one. The vast majority of your games should have no issue with it if they were fine with SP2.

POST is the Power-On-Self-Test, one of the first events during boot.

It usually looks like this:

Spoiler big picture :

[IMG=Wikipedia]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/POST_P5KPL.jpg[/IMG]

Accompanying POST will be a series of beeps (or lack of them) which can help point you at malfunctioning hardware. If the computer gets through POST fine, it means your hardware is initializing fine. This does not mean it is working fine.

You say you have a Machine Check Exception, which means that there is in fact a problem with your hardware, either the CPU or one of the buses on the motherboard. Microsoft's help article says that it can either be problems with the CPU, Memory or one of the buses.

Since it seems you can boot sometimes, and once you do boot, the problem isnt absolute. I would still look into replacing the motherboard, and possibly the CPU and RAM. I have a feeling the problem will only get worse.