Another computer question

[Alucard]

Been rather busy here to post here. I've been restoring my old desktop rather slowly.
I've replaced the hard drive and a corrupted memory stick.

However whenever I try to run an application such as Steam or itunes I get a crash
of blue screen and this is what it says.
-------------------------------------------
Hardware Malfunction
Call your hardware vendor for support
NMI: Parity Check/Memory Parity Error
This system has halted
--------------------------------------

Furthermore my sound card does not seem to be operating at all as well. I use
headphones instead of speakers and all I get is a hissing or electronic beeping
type sound.

The computer which I'm restoring is probably about 3 years old.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Open your case, and check all the capacitors for burst seals.

 

[Matt²]

on the blue screen, on the bottom of the screen, there should be a STOP error, usually something like 0x000000e7 or something similar.. can you get that to us please?

 

[Alucard]

Sure I'll try. But it usually happens quite frequently or randomely.
When it does I'll be sure to get it to you. Just very annoying.
--------------------
Got the blue screen again that said that exact message but it did not list any 0x0000000e7 something or other
just the memory error thing crap.

 

[Matt²]

wait, .. parity check? how old is the computer in question, and what sizes of memory are you using?

 

[PatrThom]

"Parity" means it is a memory error of some sort, though the exact cause isn't immediately obvious.
1) Check to make sure all your RAM is the same speed/type (all ECC/non-ECC, for instance).
2) Make sure your RAM is distributed amongst your memory slots the way your MLB manual recommends.
3) As mentioned above, check capacitors (the little metal cans) on the motherboard for any signs of failure.
4) Start pulling out memory chips and testing to see if you can isolate which ones cause the machine to crash.
4b) Run a memory test to heat that memory up and make sure it is solid (Note: This can take a loooong time)

If all of the above is successful:
5) Try to run something really CPU-intensive to see if the memory causing the error is the L2/L3 cache memory in the CPU itself (which often has an ECC/parity check associated with it).
5b) You can also (usually) disable the cache memory in the BIOS to see if that makes a difference (though this will make your computer much slower).
6) Start pulling expansion cards out and seeing if you can reproduce the issue. This includes the graphics card (it has memory on it, too!), though I don't know if you would have a spare to test with.
7) If all else succeeds, try a different hard drive. It may be the cache memory on the HDD or possibly the interface itself that's doing it.

I realize I tried to be thorough, but you're actually most likely to have resolved this by the end of step 4 and probably won't need the rest.

--Patrick

 

[Matt²]

4b) Run a memory test to heat that memory up and make sure it is solid (Note: This can take a loooong time)

if the error is the memory, it should be nearly instantaneous, though not always... my tests usually take under an hour.

 

[Alucard]

I use 3gbs of corsair memory. However thanks for the assistance guys.
I'm going to have to start computer shopping now since I only get a blue screen screen of death.