Ok, this is not looking good. I've been working on a Poser pic for about 6 hours, and finally gave up. I can't use Vicky at all (not even V1RR), and even HIM isn't working so well. I've gotten the blue screen of death about 20 times tonight. Here's the scoop

OS is Win 2k, with SP3 (or I can't run Access right)

So far, I've gotten errors on
    ntoskrnl
    hal.dll (think this is the Hardware Abstraction Layer)
    minisys4. (I have an Nvidia chip on the Motherboard)
    win32k.sys

Errors are
    - Page fault in Non-Paged area
    - IRQ less than or not equalt to
    - KMODE exception fault not handled.

I only had it blue-screen 10 times in Bryce, I finally had to use the simplest mats to even get some color in it. Anything complicated blue-screened out.

The remaining 10 times were in Poser. I'd just load V3 and get a blue-screen. I've been working my way backwards, but when changing the hand pose on HIM with a basic hand blows up, I'm pretty much done with Poser until a solution presents itself.

I've run Adaware (nothing), Avast (found some minor stuff and cleaned it out) , Zone Alarm, and
the usual checks for Cool Web Search (which could quite likely be the problem; I hit the registration field on a couple of programs (Ren, you idiot) which immedieately started up IE, and once that happens, Cool Web Search is immediately restarted, and by now, it's part of the OS.

I'm leaning towards the OS having to be redone (there goes Poser, until I can do a lot of backing up), because it's the one solution that doesn't require money..something I don't have..;)

Been looking at the memory addresses, which are all over the place. I have 1 512meg DIMM (it was all I could afford at the time), which would be a bit spendy.

Main check here is to ask- does this sound like a Virus infection to you? If I got the same message over and over, I could probably research it at Computer cops etc (I have a homebuilt, and ASUS is a bit hard to talk to). And if so, how does one get rid of it?

Inquiring minds want to know, thanks.

I'm no expert, but I'll offer a suggestion anyway.  Are your updates for Windows current?  I see you have SP3, but I've seen on the net that there is an SP4...unless that was a typo.

I did a google search for:   "KMODE exception fault not handled"  and from what I'm reading it sounds like a memory issue for that particular error.

http://www.motherboard-forum.com/asus/More_blue_screens_reboots_and_lockups_on_a_new_A7N8XED_565661.html

Another site mentions hardware acceleration and defective drivers IE: Video Card:

http://groups.google.ca/group/microsoft.public.win2000.general/browse_thread/thread/7e973b8685b6b0a3/3f231bbd13887a98%233f231bbd13887a98

http://groups.google.ca/group/microsoft.public.windowsnt.terminalserver.misc/browse_thread/thread/c3cea3b2c73c856e/b5e9f883a850b2e6%23b5e9f883a850b2e6

While reading searches for that search string, I saw that the other errors you are getting seem to be associated with those same thread discussions.

Sorry for the scrolling to the right.  With this new reply window I don't know how to make multiple clickable links with names that you can click on instead of the link itself.

Attached Link: http://www.tek-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=565377

yeah..looks like it's memory..great.  Unless memory has come down a lot, I may be limited to the forums for quite awhile.

Here's another link I found, with potentially all the BSOD errors known to man, woman, etc.

http://aumha.org/win5/kbestop.htm

Thanks for the help. It's 4am..I'm gonna hit the hey, can barely keep the peepers open..;)

My laptop died so I'm without poser until it's fixed or I can get another desktop. We can always meet at Yahoo and play Dominos :b_tonguewink:  We can start our own club :)

There are at least two or three freeware memory checkers out there - google memtest (one I found a while back).  I'd try one of those to rule out the memory.  Whwre'd you get the memory from.  The modules I got from Crucial have a lifetime warranty IIRC.   What is now Microsoft's anti-spyware got rid of cool for me when even the specialized cwshredder wouldn't, so if you have CWS, I'd try that but I don't think it would be causing all those problems.

I'd strip the box down carefully, remove and reseat the memory module and all the cards and make sure any socketed chips are seated - they can work loose over time.  Check the fan(s), make sure it's not overheating.  You might also try running sopme other freeware diagnostic programs.

I've had better luck with SpywareBlaster than Adaware.
Spybot Search & Destroy is another excellent ap.

Run Spybot S&D first to get rid of the bad stuff, then run SpywareBlaster to harden your system so you don't get any more bad stuff.
Spybot could well get rid of Cool Web Search for you.
FWIW
Bob

It could be your hard drive is failing.  That is what happened to me once before.  Do you hear any other noises when you start your computer?  There should also be a check on your memory and hard drive build into your bios, you should run that.  Sharen

Did you open your box and got rid of all the dust that has accumulated everywhere? This can do wonders. 

It could very well be overheating. I had a fan fail once, and that did result in BSOD on every processor-intensive application I used. And Bryce and Poser certainly fall in that category.

So first of all, open the box, turn it on and check the CPU fan. Those are cheap at least :o)

Okay... There are a few things which could cause the errors you list.  A bad memory stick could cause it.  a hard drive getting ready to fail (listen for occaisonal clicking sounds from the drive)  If files are actually being corrupted, then it is most likely the hard disk.  W2K is aa notoriously unpredictable OS for some applications, but I do not think it is OS related specifically.  Could you send up the remainder of your hardware stats, CPU MB etc...  Also try this, the next time you get a BSOD, Write down any stop messages on the screen.  Then do a yahoo or google search for them.  I'll be watching for your hardware specs.

More clues from the Scene of the crime..;)

OK. got up this afternoon (hey, went to bed at 4 in the moaning..;), just ran Microsoft's memory test that (natrually) didn't find anything. However, I was able to create the pic with no problems.

This leads me to believe that it's a thermal problem with the memory, since I have a bad habit of cruising here first, then making piccys'..;)

All of the above selections have merit. The hard drive, that could be a possibility because of the OS using HD 'memory' when it's used up all the 'real' kind. I've done a defrag on it about a month or so ago.

The fans could be a possibility, I'll check that. A good roundup of dust puppies wouldn't hurt either (cheap trailer carpet..;)

I originally got the memory from a local chain of DIY computer stores, sort of place where people get parts for home builts (called Intrex, but noone outside of NC is going to know who they are..;) they're pretty reasonable folks, and I've had no real problems exchanging things that don't work, as long as they're in warranty. Alas, the chip is 4 years old. My challenge is to find out if the DIMMs they used 4 years ago haven't changed their form factor (which means I'm stuck with it, I've tried used memory once.....once..:| I'll also have to check into equivalent replacements. And hope they haven't stopped making 512's because the minimum now is 1 gig..;)

Hopefully, 512 meg chips have come down in price, so it won't bankrupt me. I'll just have to change my habits for awhile.

NOTE- I'm not sure which, but one of those spyware checkers mentioned actually turned out to be Spyware itself, so you might check. CWShredder stopped making free checkers almost a year ago, but as long as I use Firefox, I'm good to go. Sheesh, if'n it ain't one thing, it's another.

Thanks for the help everyone, it's appreciated. I've been fixing PC's since the late 80's, but nowadays, if you don't check back every 3 months, the whole architecture, parts lists, etc., have either become obsolete or unavailable..what a world..;)

Is there a sticker on the DIMM.. If it is like 4 years old, it is probably PC2100 RAM.  Might be 2700 as well.  Send up your system motherboard specs and I can look it up for you.  If it IS a thermal problem with the memory you can buy a very inexpensive cooling jacket for the DIMM.. I use them on my fast PC3200 Corsair DIMMS and they do a great job.  There are numerous online sources including various Ebay vendors that sell them. 

Quote - More clues from the Scene of the crime..;)

OK. got up this afternoon (hey, went to bed at 4 in the moaning..;), just ran Microsoft's memory test that (natrually) didn't find anything. However, I was able to create the pic with no problems.

This leads me to believe that it's a thermal problem with the memory, since I have a bad habit of cruising here first, then making piccys'..;)

All of the above selections have merit. The hard drive, that could be a possibility because of the OS using HD 'memory' when it's used up all the 'real' kind. I've done a defrag on it about a month or so ago.

The fans could be a possibility, I'll check that. A good roundup of dust puppies wouldn't hurt either (cheap trailer carpet..;)

I originally got the memory from a local chain of DIY computer stores, sort of place where people get parts for home builts (called Intrex, but noone outside of NC is going to know who they are..;) they're pretty reasonable folks, and I've had no real problems exchanging things that don't work, as long as they're in warranty. Alas, the chip is 4 years old. My challenge is to find out if the DIMMs they used 4 years ago haven't changed their form factor (which means I'm stuck with it, I've tried used memory once.....once..:| I'll also have to check into equivalent replacements. And hope they haven't stopped making 512's because the minimum now is 1 gig..;)

Hopefully, 512 meg chips have come down in price, so it won't bankrupt me. I'll just have to change my habits for awhile.

NOTE- I'm not sure which, but one of those spyware checkers mentioned actually turned out to be Spyware itself, so you might check. CWShredder stopped making free checkers almost a year ago, but as long as I use Firefox, I'm good to go. Sheesh, if'n it ain't one thing, it's another.

Thanks for the help everyone, it's appreciated. I've been fixing PC's since the late 80's, but nowadays, if you don't check back every 3 months, the whole architecture, parts lists, etc., have either become obsolete or unavailable..what a world..;)

My experience is that something like PC2700 RAM on a motherboard rated for PC2100 isn't going to be a problem. I've never, in 15 years of home-built computers, had problems with memory that's faster than the minimum for the motherboard. Memory has been pretty stable for the last few years, in terms of physical format, just getting faster. And, if your motherboard can take it, at least think about going up to 1GB from 512MB. It's what I did last year. If it's heat-related, it could still be the hard drive. At least Poser is easy to shift between drives. Apart from file associations, so that you can click on a file to open it in Poser, it's just a copying problem; drag and drop and wait.

well, I've got 2 drives in there, and I have a fanatical (155  CD) collection of Poser stuff, so the only thing that would be a problem would be time. I did go through a time when system boards could only have drive tables for a limit size of drives, so for awhile I'd wind up with a system board too 'small', or hard drives too large.

Glad to hear memory's slowing down, between SIMMs, DIMMS, SODIMMS, EDO, yada yada, interleaved, non-interleaved..there's just so many ways of getting the wrong thing. I'll check the memory and see what it is.

I'll need some time..I do really appreciate all the info. Just takes time to act on it..;)