Solved: hardware scanners/testers

ribald said:

does anyone know of any programs that will test ALL the hardware in my computer for errors or faults? i am running windows2000

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First, the mfg of your computer cobbles together components: mobo, memory, devices, etc. from different suppliers, so unless they have home grown software that does what you are asking, I doubt that any one software package exists - I could be wrong.

Next, the BIOS does a power-on self test (POST) that checks the DMI data pool which is a data base of your hardware. If the computer boots up without any nasty messages - then your hardware has not reached its end-of-life. This of course does not tell you how close any one hardware component it is to failing or about to fail. Each component has its own inherent hardware reliability derived from each component's hardware items that comprise it.

In order to answer your question, first a software would have to know what to test and then know how to test each component in your system.

If you do not know exactly what hardware your system has, a good first step is to download Everest Free (Home Edition freeware) from http://www.lavalys.com

It will tell you the SMART status of your disks which is desireable to know. It also monitors your system, cpu and aux temperatures - also, good to know. And it monitors cooling fan rpms, and voltage values for your system.

A good memory test package is memtest86 which you can google for and download from several websites, install and run in order to check your memory.

Another good idea is to download the disk diagnostic software from your hard drive mfgr website (its free).

Other than that, there is a website known as: The Ultimate Boot CD at: http://www.ultimatebootcd.com which has many utilities to checkout your system - or go to the Windows version link at the top of the webpage here: http://www.ubcd4win.com

-- Tom

How old is your system? How long have you been experiencing this problem? What downloads/installations/new hardware/system software occured just before you began to experience the problem? What Service Pack for Windows 2000 are you running?

When you say the webpages at Microsoft were no help whatsoever, do you mean that you do not understand what they are saying, or are you just looking for a quick fix? Are you unfamiliar with diagnostic troubleshooting?

What we need to identify is the context information regarding each error message that can help isolate the problem and give us some guidance in figuring out what to do to correct the problem.

Can you duplicate the nasty messages and record the entire Stop message with all of the text in the 2-4 lines from each of the error messages?

If so, post them here.

Turn off Automatic Restart: Start->Control Panel->System->Advanced tab->Startup and Recovery Settings button, then uncheck Automatically Restart - this should allow you to collect the information regarding the Stop messages. Make sure the other 2 boxes are checked and we are able to collect a Minidump file and event log file.

-- Tom

P.S. I had no problems finding all kinds of information at the Microsoft support website regarding each of the 3 codes you indicated - however, now we need the context information I mentioned above to whittle down the cause; note that the first one was inaccurate: i.e. 9 instead of 8 digits. - too many zeroes in the middle of the error code.

Ok, first a few simple questions:

1) do you have any surge protection for your computer - e.g. I have a Tripp Lite isobar touch master plus good for 1500 jules of surge suppression - good to have when lightening strikes.

2) is the building where your computer resides grounded? My house just got grounded with two copper rods after my galvanized iron water service line was replaced with plastic line. Also, good to have when lightening strikes.

I wanted the exact complete Stop error message text for each Stop error that the system spits out - not what you describe it says.

I assume the third Stop error message did not reoccur?

Can you get into the BIOS and disable caching (L1 and L2) and shadowing if there are any entries for either - and duplicate again?

Also, can you get into Safe Mode and turn off all the items in your Startup?

-- Tom

Here is some information you need to know:

Troubleshooting STOP messages: general strategies
http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...elp/troubleshooting_general_stop_messages.htm

Troubleshooting specific STOP messages link on above webpage

Windows 2000 Resource Kits
Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Resource Kit
http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/1393.asp follow Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or quantumbooks to find out reseller's discounted price

Safe mode startups options
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/advanced/help/boot_overview.htm

Recover a system that will not start
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/advaned/help/how_to_recover.htm

Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility List Web site
http://ww.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=Win2000HCL&pver=1

Note

If you have access to the Web, you can search for updated information on STOP messages. To do this, go to the Microsoft Web site,
http://www.microsoft.com/isapi/redir.dll?prd=Support&pver=1.0&ar=/support/
click Search Support, and then follow the instructions on the page. When typing keywords, use the STOP message number (for example, stop 0x0000000A).

For more information about articles, troubleshooting wizards, and items you can download, see Updated technical information http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/advanced/help/sag_KB_articles.htm

-- Tom