BLUE SCREEN, PHYSICAL DUMP OF MEMORY, CRITICAL ERROR

It could very well be a driver. Look here for Blue screen errors and how to trouble shoot them:

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm. Make a note of the error you are getting and check the list.

Miya,

"ati3d2ag.dll" is part of the ATI video drivers for your machine. Did this problem happen after you ran a particular program, or visited a particular Web site? What Dell product are you using? What ATI video adapter is installed in it? Were any new programs installed on the machine, or hardware changes made, shortly before this problem first happened?

There may be updated versions of the ATI video drivers available from Dell. You can click on the "Downloads" tab above to find them.

Jim

I've been having a similar problem, but I have no clue how to fix it. I copied down the text displayed on the screen:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to be sure you have adequate disk space. If a driver is identified in the Stop message, disable the driver or check with the manufacturer for driver updates. Try changing video adapters.

Check with your hardware vendor for any BIOS updates. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

***STOP: 0x0000008EC(0xC000005,0xBFA14E38,0xF180C61C,0x00000000)

***ati3d2ag.dll - Address BFA14E38, base at BF9F3000, DateStamp 00000000

Beginning dump of physical memory

Physical memory dump complete.

Contact your system administrator or technical support for further assistance."

So. If all that means anything to anybody, here's what I'd like to know:

How do I change video adapters? How do I change BIOS memory options? Is a driver identified in the stop message? If so, how would I disable it, and who is the manufacturer I should be checking with? I did a search for 'ati3d2ag.dll' and found four files in my computer, all in different (system) folders. None of them seemed obviously related to drivers or disable-able in any way, but I don't know what I should be looking for.

>"ati3d2ag.dll" is part of the ATI video drivers for your machine.

So it is. And it's got a green check next to it when it shows up in Control Panel/Display Properties/Advanced/Adapter/Properties/Driver/Driver Details, just in case that's significant.

>Did this problem happen after you ran a particular program, or visited a particular Web site?

I don't *think* so. I was in Internet Explorer - all web sites I've been to before (Hotmail and the like) - MSN Messenger, and Windows Media Player at the time.

>What Dell product are you using?

Golly, I'm sorry. I completely forgot to mention. It's an Inspiron laptop, and it's running Windows XP.

>What ATI video adapter is installed in it?

No idea. Um ... Mobility Radeon 9000. Unless that's something else entirely.

>Were any new programs installed on the machine, or hardware changes made, shortly before this problem first >happened?

It's possible - it first happened while my sister was using the computer, quite a while ago. If so, should I try to undo whatever changes were made?

>There may be updated versions of the ATI video drivers available from Dell. You can click on the "Downloads" tab >above to find them.

I'll try that. Thanks for your help.

That is the same blue screen I was getting on my i8500. (ati3d2ag.dll" ) Installing the ATI driver from the Dell website fixed the problem.

Message Edited by purrplexed on 03-14-2004 08:26 AM