New computer - Blue Screen Of Death! HELP PLEASE

[Team3763 Adam]

So,

Recently my computer has started crashing via BSOD and I have no clue how to resolve it, nor do I know what is causing it.

Some detail I can provide:

The computer is about a month old
Only recently started crashing
Drivers look to be up to date, but I can't be sure
Windows 7
AMD RADEON 7870 GFX card
Doesn't crash unless on games like APB: Reloaded and Planetside 2
One BSOD said MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
Another said PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

I am not sure what's causing these errors and I'd rather not be directed to links upon links to fix it. Literal, straight-forward directions step-by-step to assess would be great. Any further detail I can provide I will.

[Ether]

step1: download Clonezilla Linux Live CD ISO

step2: burn to CD

step3: boot the CD

step4: run Memtest86+ and let it do 2 complete passes.

step5: if the memory test passes, then check the disk with smartctl: smartctl -t long /dev/sda. when that completes, do smartctl -x /dev/sda and inspect the results

step6: if the disk is OK per step5, then check the CPU: download, burn, boot, and run and Puppy Linux Slacko5.5 Live CD ISO and run the CPU test suite.

step7a: if all tests pass, boot Windows and use System Restore. Pick a Restore Point whose date is earlier than when you first started having BSoD problems.

step7b: if step7a didn't fix it, then re-image your disk with an image backup you created when the system was not having BSoD problems. If you don't have an image backup, then re-format the hard disk and re-install your OS and apps.

[Team3763 Adam]

How do I conduct step 5? And do I run Memtest86+ while on say my desktop?

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

How do I conduct step 5?

Have you already completed steps 1 thru 4?

do I run Memtest86+ while on say my desktop?

Memtest86+ is step4, so I guess the answer to my previous question is "No".

You use the CD you burned to boot the machine you want to test. It bypasses Windows and boots Linux. That allows you to test the machine's hardware without Windows getting in the way.

Once you've done steps 1 thru 3, ask for more detail if the menus are not obvious.

[Team3763 Adam]

Alright thank you. I'll post either in the morning or sooner if I get steps 1-4 done

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

Alright thank you. I'll post either in the morning or sooner if I get steps 1-4 done

I am assuming you can follow directions carefully. In step4, make sure to select the "Memtest" menu item. Do *NOT* select the FreeDOS menu item... it wants to reformat your hard disk to DOS.

You do have backups of your important data, right?

[Team3763 Adam]

There's nothing too important on the computer yet seeing that it's fairly new. We do have all discs for the software and whatnot if need be to factory reset. When do I know when it has completed one pass and when do I know if it passed or failed? This is all gibberish to me

[Team3763 Adam]

Also, I've been reading up into this slightly, and I've read that it could be the memory mods. If that's the case, do they have to be replaced? I know we have a 500GB Hard drive and replacing that is not cheap...

[wilsonmw04]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

Also, I've been reading up into this slightly, and I've read that it could be the memory mods. If that's the case, do they have to be replaced? I know we have a 500GB Hard drive and replacing that is not cheap...

you can get one for 60 bucks.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

When do I know when it has completed one pass and when do I know if it passed or failed?

It will be obvious when you run the test. The screen will indicate testing progress and pass/fail. Failure message will be in red against a blue background. You can see it all the way across the room.

[Team3763 Adam]

I let it run overnight and it got to pass test8 with 9 errors, but there was only 1 on test 1 then no more errors until test 5

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

I let it run overnight and it got to pass test8 with 9 errors, but there was only 1 on test 1 then no more errors until test 5

You want zero errors. Even one error is unacceptable.

If I were you, I'd remove the offending memory cards.

[Team3763 Adam]

The program didn't get past test 8, but I'll rerun it.

[Ether]

Originally Posted by Team3763 Adam

The program didn't get past test 8, but I'll rerun it.

If I were you, I'd remove the offending memory card(s) before re-running it.

How much memory is in this machine?

[Team3763 Adam]

I believe we only have one memory card, but I don't know how to check

The hard drive is 500GB
And I know it has 16GB of useable RAM