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Printable Version of Topic "Which Driver is Crashing?"

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-- Posted by drifting at 8:50 pm on April 9, 2008

Im dual booting Vista x64 and XP.

Periodically, Vista will just lock up. I cant move the mouse, anything on the screen stops, and I cant ctrl+alt+delete. I have to flip my rig off. It even does this in screen saver sometimes.

Ive narrowed it (broadly) down to a few possible drivers.

Video -- I have an nVidia 8600GT. I used the standard x64 download from nVidia. Apparently video drivers are a big problem on Vista.

Wifi -- I have a Belkin USB wifi adapter. They did not make x64 drivers for my model, so I googled around and found ones for a device with the same FCC ID. Since its not the right device, its a likely candidate.

Bluetooth -- The software made for my keyboard/mouse combo (Logitech MX5000) fails quite often, though the crashes do not seem to be related. Since Bluetooth is not as common of a device, I thought it MIGHT be that due to a lack of support in most OSs.

I know its Vista (and probably drivers) because I dont have problems in XP.

Is there any method that would tell me what driver (or other thing) is causing the crash, or does anyone have any other idea what the problem might be?

In case it matters (and because I like posting them) my specs are as follows:

Dual Boot XP x32 Home/Vista x64 Ultimate
Phenom 9600 2.3 Quad Core Processor
ECS 770 AM2+ Mobo
4gb RAM, Dual Channel
MSI 8600GT TT Super Clocked
160gb PATA HDD
80gb PATA HDD


-- Posted by kdc824 at 8:51 pm on April 9, 2008

Have you attempted to boot into safe mode, or VGA mode?


-- Posted by drifting at 8:54 pm on April 9, 2008

Quote: from kdc824 at 11:51 pm on April 9, 2008


Have you attempted to boot into safe mode, or VGA mode?

Yes, the problem with that is, it doesnt always render itself all that quickly.

Sometimes the problem will occur within minutes of booting, other times, it will take a day or two of the PC being on. Its completely unpredictable.

I suppose that I could try using it in Safe Mode for the next few days, and see what happens.


-- Posted by kdc824 at 8:54 pm on April 9, 2008

Also, to rule out the bluetooth issue, plug in a standard USB keyboard and mouse (if you have one), and try to boot...if this works, I would bet it's going to be the WiFi adapter, simply because, while the drivers for video cards have had issues, i feel that nvidia would be a bit more stable with their drivers than a wifi adapter with only "similar" drivers...


-- Posted by drifting at 8:58 pm on April 9, 2008

Quote: from kdc824 at 11:54 pm on April 9, 2008


Also, to rule out the bluetooth issue, plug in a standard USB keyboard and mouse (if you have one), and try to boot...if this works, I would bet it's going to be the WiFi adapter, simply because, while the drivers for video cards have had issues, i feel that nvidia would be a bit more stable with their drivers than a wifi adapter with only "similar" drivers...

Ok, that is smart thinking.

I will do that next time it crashes (simply because all the time I have on it is precious).

God, I hope its not the Bluetooth (I doubt it is), because I LOVE this keyboard.


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