[RESOLVED] Blue screen of death, PartMgr.sys, RAM, etc.

I'm having a strange problem, which will take some detail to describe.

I've been getting a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (blue screen of death) 'caused by' PartMgr.sys every time I attempt to start Windows. I currently have Windows XP SP2 and I always get the latest updates.

I did a bit of searching and it's possible that my PartMgr.sys file is corrupt. So, if any of you are currently on a machine that has a single partition (C drive only), could you please upload your PartMgr.sys file here? You will find it in C:\windows\system32\drivers\

To add to this strange problem though, it might also have something to do with my RAM. I currently have 3 RAM chips in my machine.

Ram1 = 256 MB
Ram2 = 256 MB
Ram3 = 1GB

If I have just 256 MB of RAM in the machine, it will work fine! In other words, I can have either Ram1 or Ram2 in the machine, but not together. Ram3 alone will not work though. Which is why I think it limits itself to 256 MB of RAM.

There have been no software or hardware changes recently that would cause this.

I'd like the 'Reformat your machine' option as a last resort.

To further add to this, Safe Mode (which is what I'm using now) always works. Safe Mode does not seem to care how much RAM is in the machine.

I'd appreciate any advice you guys give me.

More info...

I got a PartMgr.sys from TomGibbons, but got the same error as before.

I went into the Windows XP Recovery Console, I typed

DISABLE PARTMGR

but then I'd get a Blue Screen with no error description at all. It would give me a simple STOP command. And I wouldn't be able to get into safe mode even then.

So I had to re-enable PARTMGR to get things working again.

Don't suppose you installed any new drivers latley? :P
Do all drivers get loaded in safe mode?
Tis all i could find sorry :(

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true

Quote:

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Stop 0x00000050 or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

The Stop 0x50 message indicates that requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause Stop 0x50 messages.

Possible Resolutions:

• If you added new hardware recently, remove and replace the hardware to determine if it is causing or contributing to the problem. Run diagnostics software supplied by the hardware manufacturer to determine if the component has failed.

• Stop 0x50 messages can also occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If the file name is listed, you need to disable, remove, or roll back that driver. If not, disable the recently installed service or application to determine if this resolves the error. If this does not resolve the problem, contact the hardware manufacturer for updates. Using updated drivers and software is especially important for network interface cards, video adapters, backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, and CD mastering tools. If an updated driver is not available, attempt to use a driver from a similar device in the same family. For example, if printing to a Model 1100C printer causes Stop 0x50 errors, using a printer driver meant for a Model 1100A or Model 1000 might temporarily resolve the problem

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This is what My stop error codes dictionary had to suggest.

Here's the attachment

The solution seems to be obvious .

If I use www.memtest86.com and am able to determine that my RAM is absolutely fine, can I safely assume that this is a software issue? I'd like to at least narrow down the area I should be fiddling in.

Since the problem doesn't come up when in safe mode,It surely means that it's either a driver(any recent updates?) issue or a hardware one because windows doesn't load drivers(only basic ones) in safe mode.

How about that video ram?

Alright, when I get home tonight, I'll run memtest and ensure that the RAM isn't faulty. I'll also check out my graphics card, oceane.

I ran memtest, it worked out fine. And nothing wrong with the video card either.

So I am now bound to believe that the problem is a software one which, hopefully, should be resolved by a Windows re-install.

As a last resort you could try disabling all your extra hardware and try out one by one to see if you can nab the culprit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by litlewiki

As a last resort you could try disabling all your extra hardware and try out one by one to see if you can nab the culprit.

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Although I didn't see this message at the time, I did just that, but again, it was a problem with PartMgr.sys and again, safe mode worked.

I ended up reinstalling Windows (without a reformat), and obviously, that fixed the problem.

I can't help but thinking that someone less intelligent may have fixed this problem faster. :lol:

Lets hope it wasn't a hardware one because if it is so ,then it's sure to come up again . :lol:

Does it have that new Windows smell?

that blissful desktop ...

It smells like corrugated marshmallows. It simply reinstalled the core windows files, retaining all the users and settings that I had earlier.

Hence... I should've asked someone dumber than me to fix it.

I'm having a similar problem with this, except the problem says that DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATIONS. Any ideas?

Mendhack, this is why you should leave automatic updates turned off. It messed up my xp install once when it automatically installed the wrong sound driver for ac97 audio. I got the BSOD when it tried to play the opening sound. And of course it worked fine in safe mode. Exact same error. Even down to the odd memory problems. It booted fine with only one ram chip, usually. I finally decided that whatever was interfering with it was butting heads with the memory bus's 2nd channel. Eventually figured out the problem by uninstalling one piece of hardware at a time (in the bios that is: on-board audio, you know.)