Windows XP Bluescreen on Logoff

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Edi
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Windows XP Bluescreen on Logoff

Post by Edi »

The fucking piece of shit WinXP Pro on my computer started acting up yesterday, and I'm less than amused. It starts up just fine and runs all programs as it should, but whenever I try to log off, it bluescreens on me and dumps memory. I get the message

Code: Select all

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
STOP 0x0000000A (0x0000F9CD, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x806BBA4E)
and I've no idea what the hell I should do to fix it. I found this article on Microsoft's site, but I've no idea how to go about debugging and finding out what the root cause is.

I suspect that it might be because I installed a second processor on my machine a couple of days ago so it now runs two Celerons instead of one (I'm going to install Linux in a few days, and I want the added oomph, because they're old processors, 500 MHz), but I didn't have any problems then. Windows installed something when I powered it up after the installation, but it was only yesterday that it began acting up.

Anybody here have any good advice for me?

Edi
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Post by The Kernel »

You need to reinstall Windows XP Pro, the installer decides during the install whether to install the multi-CPU kernel or the single-CPU kernel so adding a second CPU requires a reinstall.

EDIT: BTW, I take it you are using a Abit BP6 motherboard yes?
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Post by Edi »

The Kernel wrote:You need to reinstall Windows XP Pro, the installer decides during the install whether to install the multi-CPU kernel or the single-CPU kernel so adding a second CPU requires a reinstall.

EDIT: BTW, I take it you are using a Abit BP6 motherboard yes?
Yes, I am (with latest BIOS). And thanks, I suspected it was that issue, but wanted confirmation.

Do you think I can just do an overlay install and then update my drivers for gaprhics etc, or should I go the whole hog and wipe C-drive clean and install from scratch?

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Post by The Kernel »

Edi wrote: Yes, I am (with latest BIOS). And thanks, I suspected it was that issue, but wanted confirmation.

Do you think I can just do an overlay install and then update my drivers for gaprhics etc, or should I go the whole hog and wipe C-drive clean and install from scratch?

Edi
You might be able to get away with that, but I wouldn't recommend it and I don't think the overlay install replaces everything so you might find a few sneak files that could render the whole system useless. I know it's a pain in the ass, but just wipe the drive and reinstall.
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Post by Edi »

The Kernel wrote:You might be able to get away with that, but I wouldn't recommend it and I don't think the overlay install replaces everything so you might find a few sneak files that could render the whole system useless. I know it's a pain in the ass, but just wipe the drive and reinstall.
Thanks. I figured as much, but fortunately the only thing I have to back up is my Mozilla profile, all my other data is on other partitions so it won't get wiped. It's the driver installation and all the additional utils required to actually run Windows efficiently that are going to kill me, but shit happens.

Just have to wait a couple of days, though, because I've got some translation work that I need to finish by the 15th and I'll get that out of the way before tackling the reinstall.

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Post by Faram »

Check the systemlog for error msg and post them to me please.
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Post by Edi »

Faram wrote:Check the systemlog for error msg and post them to me please.
Thanks, but there aren't any relevant error messages. The only ones there were are from Windows complaining about not being able to start some services and devices in Safe Mode (I tried that for troubleshooting) and the only others are about DHCP server giving back DHCPNACK messages, from four days ago. Not much of a surprise, because as soon as I try to log off, Windows tries to write something somewhere that it's not allowed to, and the whole system crashes into the bluescreen stop message I gave above. The system has no opportunity to write anything into the System Event Log because it just drops dead or hangs (log off --> crash, shutdown --> total freeze, not even bluescreen).

The only thing that has changed is that I added the new processor, so the predictable and likeliest answer is that Windows is just too fucking stupid to be able to adjust to the addition without screwing everything up.

I'll go with the reinstall routine, it'll be the least hassle for everyone and won't take me too long.

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Post by phongn »

You might have to go into the Device Manager and change your computer to multiprocessor configuration. You shouldn't have to reinstall (not since the days of NT4, and even that had a tool to do it)
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Post by Executor32 »

From the Device Manager help file:
Microsoft wrote:To upgrade from a uniprocessor to a multiprocessor computer
1. Open Device Manager.
2. Double-click Computer.
3. Right-click the computer model, and then click Properties.
4. On the Driver tab, click Update Driver. This starts the Hardware Update Wizard.
5. Click Install from a list or specific location, and then click Next.
6. From the Please choose your search and installation options page, click Don't search. I will choose the driver to install, and then click Next.
7. From the Select a Device Driver page, click the appropriate computer type from the Models list.
8. Click Next, click Next again, and then click Finish.
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Post by Edi »

Phongn & Executor, thanks, but it didn't work. Windows had already autoinstalled the multi-processor system things. After doing the steps described, I've still got the same problem, so I'll do a reinstall. It's not that bad, I don't have much to reinstall and just the Mozilla profile to back up.

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Post by Praxis »

Ironic. You have no idea how many Windows lovers have told me, "There's no such thing as a BSOD in WinXP!"...
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Post by Executor32 »

Bah, that's just because they haven't changed it from the default setting of restarting the computer when a BSOD occurs. Lamers. :lol:
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Post by phongn »

Praxis wrote:Ironic. You have no idea how many Windows lovers have told me, "There's no such thing as a BSOD in WinXP!"...
Oh, they exist, and usually for driver issues. Edi's probably is probably rather low-level since he went from a uniprocessor configuration to SMP.
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Post by Praxis »

I know, I had that problem with my old graphics card, even with the Windows XP drivers.
I popped it in the old Windows 98 computer, and bought a new graphics card. Both computers work now. But before I had a BSOD every 30 minutes. And Windows lovers tell me I just don't know how to use the computer, thats why I get BSODs, since they don't exist. :roll:
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Post by phongn »

Don't sound so self-rightous, MacOS X is not free from flaws either.

If you were getting BSODs, did you at least try to figure out what was causing the problem?
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Post by Praxis »

phongn wrote:Don't sound so self-rightous, MacOS X is not free from flaws either.

If you were getting BSODs, did you at least try to figure out what was causing the problem?
My post above says it.

Oh, I know, my Mac had kernal panics when the wireless card comes loose. Note that I didn't say anything about Macs in this thread this time around ;) The difference is, with Mac and Linux, its a lot easier to find the problem. With Windows, it'd just BSOD, give me a bunch of useless hex and restart.

I just gave a little chuckle about Windows zealots that claim BSODs are nonexistant, and I just get BSODs because manufactured computers suck and I don't know how to use a computer, and if you build a computer yourself properly you'll never ever ever get a BSOD. BTW, this windows zealot I refer to, is leader of the Bill Gates Fan Club, that calls Bill Gates God and thinks he should be president.
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Post by phongn »

Praxis wrote:Oh, I know, my Mac had kernal panics when the wireless card comes loose. Note that I didn't say anything about Macs in this thread this time around ;) The difference is, with Mac and Linux, its a lot easier to find the problem. With Windows, it'd just BSOD, give me a bunch of useless hex and restart.
Oh, come on, Linux and BSD kernel panics are just as much gibberish as a Windows BSOD. And yes, the Windows BSOD gives useful informatoin.
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Post by Praxis »

phongn wrote:
Praxis wrote:Oh, I know, my Mac had kernal panics when the wireless card comes loose. Note that I didn't say anything about Macs in this thread this time around ;) The difference is, with Mac and Linux, its a lot easier to find the problem. With Windows, it'd just BSOD, give me a bunch of useless hex and restart.
Oh, come on, Linux and BSD kernel panics are just as much gibberish as a Windows BSOD. And yes, the Windows BSOD gives useful informatoin.
It does? In that case, where do you find BSOD logs so you can find out what the problem was? Thanks.

I was just laughing at the fact that some people had actually claimed BSODs don't exist (SEVERAL people, in fact). I'd think someone was just as insane if they were to claim that it was utterly impossible for a Mac or Linux computer to get a Kernel panic.
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Post by phongn »

Somewhere in the system control panel there is an option so that NT/2K/XP doesn't do that auto-reboot thing. Once there you can scribble down some of the pertinant information and look it up. There are also tools that can analyze a memory dump and see what might have gone wrong.
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Post by Xon »

Right click My Computer -> Properties -> "Advanced" tab -> "Startup and Recovery" section -> "Settings" button -> "System Failure" section -> Untick "Automatically Restart".
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Post by Edi »

Hello all, I've finally got my problems solved (after no less than three reinstalls, it took me that long to use the process of elimination to figure out what I was doing wrong and where).

It turns out that the SMP configuration was not to blame at all, nor any of the couple of other things I started suspecting when my reinstalls started crashing down around my ears. No, the problem was something very simple. Windows severely frowns upon two different user accounts having the same TEMP and TMP variables. I'd set those variables as C:\Temp for both the Administrator and my own accounts, and that's what was causing the problem. Apparently Windows tries to write some information about the folder somewhere on logoff, and because two accounts with the same privileges use it on a continual basis, it gives that error. The OS probably needs permission from both accounts simultaneously, which is impossible in normal login mode.

That's the only thing I've left out this time, and now everything works like a charm. Thanks to everyone here, though, even if your suggestions didn't ultimately help with the solution, they were informative anyway. :)

Edi
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Post by Xon »

Edi wrote:It turns out that the SMP configuration was not to blame at all, nor any of the couple of other things I started suspecting when my reinstalls started crashing down around my ears. No, the problem was something very simple. Windows severely frowns upon two different user accounts having the same TEMP and TMP variables. I'd set those variables as C:\Temp for both the Administrator and my own accounts, and that's what was causing the problem. Apparently Windows tries to write some information about the folder somewhere on logoff, and because two accounts with the same privileges use it on a continual basis, it gives that error. The OS probably needs permission from both accounts simultaneously, which is impossible in normal login mode.
O_o

That sounds very weird, why the hell would a kernel land (which is where your error is coming from) be bothered by user security settings. They belong in system, which should have full access to anything. And causing a BSoD is definitly not right.

Also point TEMP & TMP to "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" instead of "C:\temp" or "%SystemRoot%\temp", this way every user has their own temp folder, and various DOS apps which require a temp folder will run under a limited user account.

Also doesnt cause the system to implode if you remap your C drive somewhere else.
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Post by Edi »

ggs wrote:O_o

That sounds very weird, why the hell would a kernel land (which is where your error is coming from) be bothered by user security settings. They belong in system, which should have full access to anything. And causing a BSoD is definitly not right.
You forget, this is Windows we're talking about, where everything has been designed to fuck everything else up if the user so much as thinks about modifying settings from the default Microshit ones.
ggs wrote:Also point TEMP & TMP to "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" instead of "C:\temp" or "%SystemRoot%\temp", this way every user has their own temp folder, and various DOS apps which require a temp folder will run under a limited user account.
They're set to "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" by default for every user account, and you need to modify them from the accounts themselves to change them. But I don't feel like digging through the whole damned system to find them when I want them cleared (because Windows doesn't clear them automatically, those directories can easily accumulate huge amounts of shit if left to their own devices. It's not just DOS apps that use temp folders, a whole crapload of Windows ones do as well.

Right now, I've got my own account's TMP and TEMP pointing to C:\Temp and the Administrator account's ones pointing to the default and it's working beautifully, hasn't crashed once. But the second I change them to point to the same directory, I'll get that error specified in the opening post. I don't much use the admin account, so I can leave that to the defaults.

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Post by Xon »

Edi wrote: You forget, this is Windows we're talking about, where everything has been designed to fuck everything else up if the user so much as thinks about modifying settings from the default Microshit ones.
Sounds like some shitty drivers somewhere, posible spyware or the like too.

I've had several computers where the temp directory isnt even writable from a user limited account and it hasnt caused an issue at all(beyond DOS programs expecting the temp directory to be writable when running under a resirticted account).

Dont blame windows or Microsoft, WinXP will not crash from just changing the temp directory location. It requires some 3rd party crap.

Windows XP original defaulted the TEMP and TMP system variables to point to "C:\Windows\temp" which limited users didnt have write permisions to by default. This changed in later releases to point to "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" as it should have.
They're set to "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" by default for every user account, and you need to modify them from the accounts themselves to change them. But I don't feel like digging through the whole damned system to find them when I want them cleared (because Windows doesn't clear them automatically, those directories can easily accumulate huge amounts of shit if left to their own devices. It's not just DOS apps that use temp folders, a whole crapload of Windows ones do as well.
Change the TEMP & TMP variables under "system variables" and not "user variables for <username>"

If you dont have custom user versions defined, the system TEMP and TMP expand to their full path for the user once they login, and they show up under the user variables.
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Post by Pu-239 »

Bad kernel space drivers will crash any OS.

I don't recall having any kernel panics in recent memory (then again, the only third party drivers I'm using are the nVidia ones, which are pretty good), unless I'm using a dev kernel- I do have problems with suspending due to conflicts with my SCSI driver, but that's not a kernel panic as the system is still usable, as in I don't need to reboot. The only times I remember a system halting kernel panic was when I tried to forcibly remove a busy module.

I did experienced a couple of BSODs on the school computers due to driver issues with the Intel "Extreme" (notice the quotes) GPU, a lot considering the relative amount of time spent on them.

Then again, my 6 year old hardware is pretty well supported though, so...

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