B(lack)SOD w/ Cursor | Fist Shakers for Vista

[blucube]

When Vista first came around I always said, "Eh, Vista's not so bad... People just do not like change! If your system can handle it, and you're open to new things, why not get used to it now"...

Other than a few problems that came up, that were easily resolved... I ran into something that had made Vista my current "not-so-mortal" enemy!!!

Stable Specifications:

Q6600
8800GTX
Crucial Ballistix 2x1GB PC6400
Gigabyte GAP35DS35
Corsair 550vx
Vista Home Premium

I knew that Vista was only registering 3.5MB worth of Ram... but I decided to get two more Gigs of the exact same sticks anyway....

Well, when I first installed them, it booted up fine... though after about 5 minutes or less... it would just shut down... right to black, no warnings no nothing... it did this several times until it decided the next time it would boot up, after the knight rider loading bar, it wouldn't go to log in... it would just boot a black screen, with a mouse cursor...

I've tried using the windows repair disk, says nothings wrong...
I've tried memtest... memorys fine
I've tried safe mode... boots the same way, just a crappy cursor instead
I've tried last known good config... no help
I've tried to go back to a later date... no help
I've tried to bring up task manager but nothing...
I've tried contacting MSFT but I just got an automative response...

The only thing I haven't tried was formating, I'm fairly certain this will resolve the problem but I don't want to lose my files just yet... even if I did do this I have a feeling this problem would be re-occurring

I have no XP cd no anything really... Has anyone encountered this or found a solution?

 

[KSoD]

veedubfreak is going thru the same thing. You know of the limitation of Vista and 32Bit OS's. So even XP wouldnt help you. You need a 64 Bit Vista in order to stop this from happening. I bet if you remove 2GB (!GB stick each) of RAM your system will be fine.

 

[blucube]

I bet if you remove 2GB (!GB stick each) of RAM your system will be fine.

That's something I forgot to mention, first when I was testing for bad ram I went through every combination of ram possible. Three sticks, Two Sticks, One Stick... using all different sticks... and still nothing really happened

Though what is this limitation you speak of? I guess I don't understand why 64bit would have handled 4gigs and 32bit wouldn't have (assuming I understood you right). Also, I'm baffled by why XP would have handed me the same plate as well. I guess I took it for granted that there are people using the same ball parked PC's, using either Vista or and XP with 4gigs of ram (That being said, this limitation you're referencing, is that related to the ram? Even if so... it should only register 3.5gigs and thats fine, but why did it kill my PC from an unrecoverable state?)

Edit: And when I say using 4gigs of ram, I mean using 4 gigs, but only getting 3.5gigs registered... my biggest concern is that I can't recover it no matter what the situation thus far

 

[KSoD]

The limitation i speak of is with all 32 Bit OS's. they can not fully utilize 4GB of RAM. They will only recognize 3GB to 3.5GB of RAM.

So you have a couple of options here. Run Memtest86 to see if you have any errors or maybe update your BIOS?

 

[blucube]

The limitation i speak of is with all 32 Bit OS's. they can not fully utilize 4GB of RAM. They will only recognize 3GB to 3.5GB of RAM.

I mentioned in the beginning that I was aware only 3.5gigs would register.... but what I didn't know is that 3.5gigs would kill my PC...

If you look on google my problem isn't uncommon on vista right now... differences seem to be my problem was caused after the installation of ram.. as to where others were caused by installing a program or something silly like that... I think people are looking for the solutions in all the wrong problems... checking for "bad hardware" or whatever... I get a heavy feeling this is heavily reliant on Windows Vista it's self... whether or not the crashing due to me having 4Gigs TRIGGERED this event... never the less it's not the only way to get where I am currently...


(This is just theory... I'm not trying to spread crazy rumors... just getting to the bottom of a problem that doesn't have much of a solution so far... no thanks to MSFT so far... they just want me to give them money so they can tell me things I already know and probably still leave me FUBAR'd)

What I'm seriously concerned about is that windows used to or still currently has what they call Reduced Functionbility Mode... which was cooked up to cut down on anti-piracy... the symptoms that others and myself are currently going through, imitate the same things that MSFT did to disable the user... I'm starting to wonder if somehow something was left in vista, that's accidentally working it's self into the picture... though being a way to resolve the ACTUAL process... this one doesn't have one because perhaps it wasn't meant to be left in there?

 

[KSoD]

I don not think this is related to Vista cause i installed it with just 1GB of RAM added 2GB more and nothign happened at all to my install. So your claims aobut it having to do with ah RAM install are not justified cause i have gone thru that process already and it went fine for me.

I also know several people that run 4GB of RAM on Vista (Both 32 bit and 64Bit) and have not issues other than it not being recognized.

So no this is not a Vista issue. This is a hardware related issue. I am not just shooting blindly at questions. I have reasons why i ask these questions. I have seen special cases where a BIOS update has fixed issues like this.

Yes Windows still does have Reduced Function mode for a copy that is known to be pirated. So if you did not activate your copy of Vista and it has been longer than the time frame you could be experienceing this issue. But that is a security measure. RFM is not set to be taken out of Vista till after SP1.

But again RFM ONLY goes into effect if you did not previously activate your copy of Vista and it has been longer than 30 days. If that is the case you would be prompted to Actiavte it via the internet or phone. Since you ahve not recieved those prompts this is not due to RFM.

Again i am not just shooting off question for fun. I have been dealing with Vista since it was in Beta and i have seen this situation before.

So i ask again. Have you checked for any BIOS updates? Have you run Memtest86? Not all RAM is good when delivered. Your RAM COULD be bad. Test it.

 

[blucube]

Obviously I'm not sure what the situation is, as I'm sure no one is... I don't even think MSFT knows the exact remedy...

If you take a look on google many many users are undergoing the exact situation I am WITHOUT changing hardware... It doesn't matter to me that you went from 1 gigs to 2 gigs... 2 or 3 to 4 gigs means a little more to me... but I've already stated that I know people run with 4 gigs, thats just when my problems introduced themselves...

I've dealt with bad ram before... theres very distinct symptoms when this happens... and LIKE I SAID before I've tried every combination with my ram possible, yes every... and I've RAN memtest like I said, and I've RAN vistas memory check... pass and pass...

RFT was a theory... and my copies activated so no that shouldn't be the problem...

Again if you look on google, people are experiencing the same problem just different circumstances to get there... be it running the latest vista update... or drivers that are roxio related... mine just happened to be my system completely crashing out without warning a few times when the new ram was installed...

I'm sure you're not shooting in the dark, but in a sense I think you are... as am I... as is everyone else... this is troubleshooting I figure... I appreciate your suggestions... but the things you're telling me to do have been done before I even started posting in the forums...

The only thing I haven't done thus far is set CMOS... or anything heavily BIOS related... thoughs at the moment with a couple of other minor things... are my only options left with out reformation

 

[atomic tofu]

there is a remedy, it's an old one that not many seem to understand but I sometimes repeat on these forums

BCDEDIT /SET PAE ForceEnable

just do a search on PAE and try to understand the limitations of the 32 bit hardware environment. Given what I just said, even if you explain to people what is what, they will still do as you see in your "google" search. . It may take another 1000 years before many will realize it's a bios io thing and not a software os thing.

perhaps a mobo bios update and the above will fix things

 

[blucube]

Alright so I just bit the bullet and re-installed windows... I thought I partitioned the drive but I'm sure sure lol (any fast way to check that down the line?)

I also entered the string you gave me, do you figure that'll stop my PC from crashing like crazy and avoid the B(lack)SOD?

 

[atomic tofu]

that just addresses the "extra" ram usage.
the other stuff could be your mobo, and other hardware setup
it may be pae friendly, may not