BSOD 0x0000008E stop error

Here is the error message in its entirety.

A Problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, follow these steps.

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x806FF94F, 0xB59E33C8, 0x00000000)

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.

Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

I should have adequate disk space since I have at least 20 gigs free on the HD. There are no drivers identified in the message so I haven't really played around with those. I haven't tried changing video adapters. I have updated my computer BIOS to the latest one dell offers for my system (A12). I'm not sure how to disable BIOS memory options as suggested in the message.

I am running Windows XP Home SP2 with automatic updates.

My system:

Dell 4600i
Pentium 4 3 Ghz
2 Gigs of RAM

I recently updated the RAM from 512MB. This problem was happening before I upgraded the RAM though so I can't believe its a direct RAM issue. As stated before, this only seems to happen whenever I use my DVD burner drive, which I upgraded my computer with about a year ago. It is a Sony DVD RW DRU-720A. I also updated the firmware on this drive according to this link: http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=2028
to JY08. The BSOD only started occurring several months after the firmware upgrade so I tend to not think it was the updated firmware.

You can double click those errors to read a fuller description, the "system" error may be relevant.

The BSOD error will be represented by a "save dump" file, but probably won't contain any more information than you've seen already.

I'd clean out the DVD burning goodies you have installed. However one workaround to test first might be to try a "clean boot", although I'm not sure if it disables everything that DVD burnining utilities install, as there are registry entries that would still remain:

Run msconfig and select the "Services" tab. Check "Hide Microsoft Services" and then disable the rest. Also uncheck "load startup group" on the general page.

See this link for detailed information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310353

Now restart and test the issue at hand

If no problems, run msconfig and recheck half the disabled items on the Services tab. Test again. If the problem recurs, UNcheck half the items you just checked to narrow down the culprit.

If the problem didn't occur, check the other half, so all the Services are enabled -- proceed to do this on the startup tab as well.

Get the idea? You want to isolate the problem to a specific startup if possible.

Note: if you already have items unchecked under msconfig > startups and are in "selective" startup mode - you should note what these are before beginning. They will need to be de-selected again.

Well, I posted the entire BSOD error message I get whenever the system crashes, and in that message it says to "try changing video adapters". Just wondering if it could be that.

Either way, I went back to a post when you told me to go to the Device Manager and check under the IDE ATA/ATAPI tree, and here's what I see under that:

Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers
Primary IDE Channel
Primary IDE Channel

When I hit properties for the first one, it tells me this: PCI Bus 0, Device 31, function 2
and the second one: CI Bus 0, Device 31, function 1

When I go to advanced settings for the Primary IDE channel's in the above list, it says "Ultra DMA mode 2 and 5, respectively. I'm not quite sure what these mean, and how to tell which controller the drive is on?

I have two drives, a CD-Burner and a DVD-Burner. The DVD-Burner's location is 0(0) and the CD is 1(1).

I also get this tip when I run the SiSoftware Sandra Lite program and open the Physical Disks icon and look at my DVD-Drive:

Warning W3104 - Current transfer mode not optimal, i.e. not highest supported. This affects drive performance. If the controller is also capable of the highest supported transfer mode, there is no reason not to use it.

Fix: First check controller supported transfer modes. Then check the mode the driver for the controller/BIOS is set to use and modify; some default to a lower mode for compatibility. You may need to install newer drivers if the current drivers do not natively support the controller (especially for RAID). You may need to update the controller BIOS or drive firmware, if the mode does not stick. If data corruption occurs verify the cable and consider switching (if any) drives on the same channel onto other channels.

If the built-in controller does not support the mode, consider using the on-board/RAID controller or even disable the built-in controller and install a new controller.

How do I fix this? The program confirms the DVD-Drive's active transfer mode is UDMA-2.

Also, the SiSoftware Sandra Lite program, when I click on the display adapter icon, gives me this tip:

Warning W314 - The video BIOS is more than 3 years old. If the video adapter has a flash video BIOS, check whether an update is available and install it. You may gain extra performance or bug fixes.

Fix: If your video card has a flash BIOS check whether an updated version is available from the manufacturer.

Could that possibly be causing a problem? I have the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 video card, and the BIOS is 4.34.20.22.BF from December of 2003...should I bother updating it? Where could I get the update?