WinXP Crash - Please Help!

[Keebler Elf]

This morning I turned my computer on and when I came back a few minutes later there was a blue screen of death with a bunch of writing on it. In short, it had a STOP: ... command followed by a bunch of numbers and letters, and then VIDEOPRT.SYS - Address ... followed by a bunch of numbers and letters.

I rebooted several times and the crash occurs after the WinXP splash page, at the login page.

I turned my computer off and unplugged my printer and the sound feed for my speakers. I then rebooted.

This time it loaded normally and here I am.

Before I try plugging the printer and audio cable back in, does anyone know what the VIDEOPRT.SYS belongs to? I have both an audio and video card, both relatively new (purchased this year).

I checked the Event Viewer and it notes "Application Hang (101) 1002 NA", and "Warning Userenv None 1517 SYSTEM". These appeared for each time I tried to boot up this morning.

Can anyone help?

 

[wumpscut]

when I googled videoport.sys, one of first articles was from microsoft talking about fixing a problem. Hope it helps. Here is the link.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/829884

 

[Keebler Elf]

I checked it but I don't think that's the problem. Regardless, I'm going to make sure I've got all my Windows updates. Thanks.

 

[Keebler Elf]

Update...

Well, I think it's definitely the audio card. The only Windows Update was for my audio card, dating back to June 2007. I downloaded and tried installing but I got a couple pop up windows saying it couldn't find certain files and then my system crashed.

I've rebooted and I'm back up and running again, albeit still without sound.

I'm thinking I should uninstall my audio card, plug it back in, and reinstall the software/drivers...

 

[Jimi Wasabi]

http://www.apple.com/

 

[Keebler Elf]

No thanks.

But thanks for the help.

 

[bogo]

Hi Keebler, I am no expert but have chased similar gremlins. Go out and buy a new sound card from an independent PC shop, shouldn't spend much more than $20.00. Installation is very easy, allow MS to find card and drivers before installing any software that comes with sound card.
My 2 cents, about the value of the advice.

 

[Keebler Elf]

As soon as I've got the time today, I'm going to pull out the card and reinsert and see if that helps. I just bought the card for about $50-60 this year as an upgrade to the onboard audio I had before. It was a big improvement and the brand name (Creative) is supposed to be good. I'm just surprised it's conked out after only about 6 months.

I'm thinking it needs to be reinstalled. Funny thing is, when I go into Device Manager I can't see the card (granted, I can't remember if it appeared there before). I double checked with PC Wizard and it doesn't see the card either.

I would have thought that it would appear but with a yellow warning beside it saying the device isn't functioning properly.

I know there's a software upgrade since I originally installed it so I'm hoping when I reinstall that will fix the problems and end the crashes.

 

[Anynym]

I don't want to open up any ratholes here, but while you're doing your investigations, keep a question in the back of your mind: how hot is the motherboard / video card / sound card / whatever getting when it crashes / works fine.

I wouldn't rate it as a high probability at this point, but I have seen instances where components were overheating causing a crash, and after "diagnosing" the problem for a while, things had cooled off enough to function again - for a short time. In one instance, a friend had built the computer himself but had not used heat compound to get a good thermal conduction from the cpu to the cpu fan. It worked fine for months, but then started to fail as the fan's efficiency diminished.

 

[Keebler Elf]

I don't think it was overheating. The computer was off all night and it crashed immediately upon startup, so it didn't have time to heat up.

I rebooted 2-3 times and as soon as I unplugged my speakers, it booted fine. So I'm pretty sure it's the audio card or audio software.

Now why it stopped functioning this morning, I have no idea. Audio was working fine last night. Maybe something conked out when it shut down.

 

[Keebler Elf]

Yes.

I unplugged the card and put it back in and now when I reboot I've been having blue screen problems. I also get a couple pop-up messages telling me files failed to load, including one call RunDU32.exe Entry Point Not Found.

I booted in safe mode and disabled the drivers to the audio card and now I can get back into Windows.

 

[wumpscut]

Can you reinstall Windows right over top of your existing installation, that might fix some damaged files?

 

[Keebler Elf]

No, I can't do that.

I'm downloading the software for the audio card and am going to try and install it.

If that doesn't work, I'm probably going to try a System Restore to see if that helps.

 

[Keebler Elf]

Even with the software update I'm still getting the popup messages upon hitting the Windows desktop telling me some procedure_entry_point files can't be found.

I unplugged the card and took it out completely but I'm still getting the same messages. I have no audio at the moment. If I try to play something, I get a pop up message saying I have the wrong codecs.

Otherwise my computer seems to be working. I think I'm going to take it into the shop and let them take a look at it. It looks like some Windows system files may have been corrupted.

 

[Keebler Elf]

So I did a System Restore to yesterday evening (a few hours before I shut down for the night) and Windows now boots without the popup file warnings.

However, as my card is not plugged in, I have no audio. When I try to play an mpeg, I get a popup window saying missing codec or do not have the right pins.

So... my question is this:

If I shutdown, plug the card back in and then reboot, does this lock me in to the System Restore? I know System Restore allows you to cancel it and go back to your previous settings if you don't like the results of the System Restore, but does this ability to cancel disappear once you reboot for the first time after performing a System Restore?

 

[Keebler Elf]

Well, I went ahead and rebooted and it worked and I still have the option to undo the System Restore.

I let it run for a little bit and it seemed stable so I shut down, reinstalled the card, and rebooted. No popups and I have audio back, so everything seems back to normal.

Fingers crossed it was just a fluke glitch that won't repeat itself.

Thanks for the help guys!