blue screens on older dell dimension 4500 desktop

Anyone?

A few things off the top of my head:

First, the most important part of the BSOD stop code is the the last few characters in the first string of digits (7b, 8e, etc).  See here for a list of stop codes.  Probably driver related, but best to be sure:

http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.php

Second, F8 is standard on XP for getting a safe mode menu.  If F8 doesn't work, try F12.   If it still doesn't work, and you can get into Windows at all, go to start - run; type msconfig.  On the Boot.ini tab, find the boot path and click the /safeboot box, or try /basevideo to use normal mode with just basic VGA drivers.   If you can get into either mode and get a stable display, at least the card isn't completely toast.

Third, have you tried just using the old CRT monitor yet until you get the new one? 

Fourth, odds are you'll have no choice but to at least try updating the drivers.  If the driver is corrupted, you may want to go for a completely clean install - see SR45's post here.

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19149428/19272820.aspx#19272820

Thank you Alexandra for the stop codes article. One of the Stop codes was indeed a 7f but unfortunately does not correspond to the "unexpected kernel mode trap" listed in the article, i'm pretty sure that phrase was not there. "...ad pool header" is clearly bad pool header (Thanks!!) and the code ends "...0019" like in the article, though the 4 examples do not seem to resemble mine. I had at least 3 different bluescreens and stop codes but i stopped writing them down when i saw the bluescreen wasn't repeating but different each time.

I'll try f8 (and f12) again. at first i wasn't getting a dell logo screen (when you have to hit f8), just different black flashing and stuttering when windows was booting up but the last 2 times i tried i got a dell logo and got into setup (f2). I also managed to run dell diagnostics which i haven't done in about 9 years or more, i ran most of the tests and they passed, i cut off the hard drive tests after several hours wihtout an error. There were 1 or 2 minor points like "warning undefined value" but i wasn't able to make anything of them.

I will probably try the old CRT monitor again later today but i don't expect that will help, because even if its a driver problem, its probably the video card driver, not a monitor driver. Probably worth a try... though i don't know what will happen if its still set for 1920x1200, when the old crt maxes out at less than that. There isn't enough time to change the res or go into msconfig before the blackout. (There's no blackout in setup or dell diagnostics though, which again suggests its a windows problem.) Oh, when windows tries to start up there is an hourglass and very intense hard drive activity for what seems like a longer than normal boot and much more intense hd activity. I now get mouse control during this (i didn't for the first half dozen reboots) but the clicks don't register til just before blackout.

Clean install is always the last resort, thanks for that link too.

Yeah, here's hoping i can get into safe mode.

Ok, managed to reduce resolution (1 second before windows died again). Also got into safe mode (yay) and i can do stuff in safe mode, no black or blue screens. the driver verifier and its manager program looks way too advanced for me; and there seems to be nothing under special pool header in windows help. Old Dell CRT monitor back in now, though the screen resolution (aspect?) looks squashed; the monitor basically works but did not help, windows regular boot still dies. One thing is different though: i actually get to see the bluescreen without having to switch off and on the monitor. possibly this suggests the problem is indeed related to the interaction between monitor, and windows graphics driver.

Got into safe mode (once anyway), what should i do next? i was too dumb to set a restore point before the upgrade, but i could go back to the last restore point a year or so ago. I could try putting in the newest (2006) ATI driver but i'm not sure how. Anyone able to give me a hand clearing this up? The ATI all in wonder 8500dv driver link is here.

http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/aiwradeon-prer300-xp.html

There's 2 massive files (over 130 mb), Catalyst software suite and ATI multimedia software. I downloaded the first and the second one is actually 4 files, not downloaded yet. I am assuming i need all these files (?).

How to install your ATI product:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=20870

Software installation: All in Wonder - removing old ATI software:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=20870

How to install software for the Remote Wonder:

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=20870

What i'm not clear on is this: the All-in-Wonder section says to remove all ATI software before installing the new files, but the ATI Multimedia Center part says "ATI Multimedia Center™ found herein is provided as an UPDATE to previous versions included on original installation CDs for supported products. The software should not be downloaded or used for products that did not ship with ATI Multimedia Center." Are these contradictory? Is this a replacement or an update, do i remove all ATI software or what...

I already installed the microsoft .NET framework as precursor to installing Catalyst as per instructions. Also All-in-Wonders below 9600 (like my 8500dv) should skip the step to install the "ATI dvd decoder" ... there is an entry for "ATI DVD Decoder Update" ... but again this appears to be only an update, i am so confused. If anyone can make heads or tails of this can you take the time to spell it out to me?

Any advice what to do next, restore point, driver, something else, much appreciated. Clean install is a last resort.

Sincerely,

Jay

I meant a clean install of the DRIVER, not the whole operating system.   That's all SR45's post in my link talks about.

Sounds like you're analyzing it to death instead of making any progress.  Just do it :emotion-5: .  The ATI instructions are as clear as can be and in sequence starting with just the driver and Catalyst software.  Just start there and take it one step at a time.   You should be able to do all of this in safe mode.  If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.  It's already messed up - you can hardly make it much worse.

As for the multimedia stuff - it's completely separate and specifically talks about an installation CD.   Since Dell doesn't list that card on the downloads page I'm assuming the card and the software were bought separately (though the page isn't always complete).  Do you have an installation CD?

GPU and Power supply Failure due to being Choked with Dust.

You could verify this via Booting a Live Linux CD.

The ATI instructions are as clear as can be

-? So some files being "updates only" doesn't contradict removing all the original ATI files and replacing them because the updates require an installation cd for verification. Makes sense, but i might never have got it without you. I do :emotion-1: have my original red ATI driver/catalyst cd.

Sounds like you're analyzing it to death ... you can hardly make it much worse

-yeah, first big problem in long time. Wise friend of mine once said "Never challenge worse." Make or break today i guess. I do appreciate the help.

Since Dell doesn't list that card on the downloads page I'm assuming the card and the software were bought separately

-The all in wonder and the ATI software came together; long story short i did buy the AIW from dell with the pc.  

GPU and Power supply Failure due to being Choked with Dust.

-some dust, may vacuum it, thanks. But all the status lights on back of pc are green so i doubt the psu has failed. Never used linux, i hear its hard to get drivers and it helps to be very technical and as you can probably tell my geek factor is borderline.

EDIT One last stupid question. I have never used a "driver cleaner", do i need one in addition to the ATI remove utility? (I am not changing to a new video card.) If so, do you recommend Driver Sweeper or Driver Cleaner 1.5 ...

-

Live linux doesnt need to be installed.  It boots from CD/DVD

Knoppix is a good one that even has sound support when booting you will hear a young lady say:

"initiating startup sequence"

http://www.knoppix.net/

Knoppix is a Live Linux CD based on Debian GNU/Linux

This website is about Knoppix, a Free and Open Source Live Linux CD. Knoppix is a GNU/Linux distribution that boots and runs completely from CD. It includes recent Linux software and desktop environments, with programs such as OpenOffice.org, Abiword, The Gimp, Konqueror, Mozilla, Apache, PHP, MySQL and hundreds of other quality open source programs.

If you would like to learn more about Knoppix, you could look at the FAQs and Documentation, discuss it in the Forum, or just try it out!

You can download it ( 700MB ) or buy it from a CD distributor, on the download / buy page.

Knoppix.net is a resource for users, developers, and testers of Knoppix. The official website for Knoppix is on Klaus Knopper's website, at knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html.

In safe mode tried the ATI software replacement, but Remote Wonder and DAO wouldnt remove. Rebooting didn't help. Instead of coming back here and asking what to do, i tried a regular boot, nonsafe mode. The components removed (!) though i got a lot of errors. "error 1905...ATIx10.dll failed to unregister Hresult" Got about 30 errors in a row for report error to Microsoft (similar alphanumeric strings, 7F again), luckily not an infinite loop. The driver file did not have the same name as the link stated, the encoder package was only 1/10 the stated size, the new DAO said it would prompt to reboot but didn't, got a lot of shutdown errors incl ccSvchost, Magictune, .NET broadccastwindow, explorer.exe...

I removed Natural Color Pro and Magictune (came with LCD monitor) Anyone know the name of the actual Samsung T240 driver, i didnt see it in Add/Remove. Finally any advice as to what to do when replacement T240 monitor comes? I guess the obvious would be to just not risk using DVI cable... Couple things about the monitor driver/utility install: it worked fine by just plugging it in, no monitor driver cd necessary. I did install the cd driver and utilities anyway - onscreen instructions said i could use the original driver on the cd or the 64 bit driver online. I chose the cd, having XP Home 32 bit. Think i should i use no driver, or the cd driver, or maybe ask samsung? This is more of a samsung question than a dell one, but maybe someone has already done this?

The good news: no bluescreens! Rough as it was it seems stable now. Thanks everyone, especially Alexandra. :emotion-2:

Sorry about the delay.  I've seen others complain about ATI's drivers being a pain; if you're still struggling with it you can try a couple of things.

- Reinstall the drivers and software from the CD you have (instead of the downloaded files) and try removing them again.

- ATI's web site has an uninstall utility, though I don't think it will do anything about the problems with the multimedia and remote software.

http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=1695

-Try DriverSweeper to remove the bits and pieces of the driver left behind before trying to reinstall again.

http://www.guru3d.com/category/driversweeper/

Something you may not want to hear, though:  on a PC that old, if it's never had a clean operating system install, ultimately it will do the machine a lot of good and ultimately take less time to do than to keep fussing with it.   If you want to go that route Dell has a decent guide here:

How to install XP

As for the monitor:  the drivers aren't usually necessary.    Can't speak for the Samsung drivers specifically,  but in most cases monitors don't use active drivers per se.  Instead it's really just an information utility to give Windows specifics on what features it has (e.g,  if XP doesn't recognize it as a Samsung T240 and it just shows up as a "Plug and Play Monitor" , the driver gives it a name, resolution limits, sometimes power settings, etc.).  Driver won't show up in add remove (though it should show up in Device Manager).   Whether or not you install it is up to you.