Blue Screen of Death?

Operating System: Windows XP Professional
Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce
Ram: 2GB

If you need any more specs feel free to ask :/



I recently started experiencing problems running second life, I would try to open it and I would get an error message, so I scanned for viruses and a few were found, I deleted the viruses but nothing changed. I then reformatted my computer and installed the newest graphics driver for my nVidia 8800gt. Now instead of an error message, when I run second life I get a blue screen of death. I tried to downgrade my drivers but Second Life told me I needed to update the drivers.

Please help
Thanks in advance.

Did you reformat just once, or twice? Often, the only way to get rid of a stubborn virus is to do a complete reformat twice, before reinstalling your OS.

Assuming a virus is not the cause, though, what does the bluescreen say? There should be some information on it about what triggered the crash. It won't be in plain English, though, just so you know.

I have reformatted about 4 times now.
I can't read the blue screen as my computer shows it for a half a second and then restarts :/ Do you know how I can delay the restarting? If its any helping I'm using the newest nVidia driver (181.20).

EDIT: Got the info...

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

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: nv4_disp

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


The device driver got stuck in an infinite loop. This usually indicates problem with the device itself or with the device driver programming the hardware incorrectly.

Please check with your hardware device vendor for any driver updates.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000EA (0x89311660,0x892E9CD0,0xBA4F3CBC,0x00000001)

nv4_disp
Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

You might find this helpful:

http://www.compatdb.org/support/topics/175199_nv4_disp_infinite_loop_error.html

In those 4 times, did you reinstall your OS with each reformatting? If so, you might not have gotten rid of some viruses. Reformat two or more times with no OS present, if you haven't done so already.



That's what I was looking for. nv4_disp.dll is part of your nVidia driver package. The problem is either in your graphics driver or in your video card itself. Hopefully it's the former.

Here's what I'd suggest you do:

1. Download Driver Cleaner from http://www.drivercleaner.net. It will cost you a small $10. It's easily worth 10 times that, so don't be shy about spending the money.

2. Download nVidia driver 175.19 from http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_175.19_whql.html . This is the most SL-friendly nVidia driver to date. Download it, but do NOT try to install it yet. Follow the next steps first.

3. Reboot to Safe Mode. To do that, tap F8 while your computer is first starting up, to get to the boot menu. Pick Safe Mode from the options.

4. Uninstall your nVidia drivers via Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs.

5. Reboot to Safe Mode again.

6. Run Driver Cleaner. This step is crucial because Windows cannot uninstall all parts of your nVidia driver package on its own. Driver Cleaner will get rid of every last trace. Remember to run Driver Cleaner every time you uninstall, update, or otherwise change your video driver.

7. Reboot normally.

8. Now install the 175.19 driver.

Assuming there's nothing wrong with your hardware, and also assuming no viruses are in play, your system should work normally now.

If you're still having problems, check your video card connections. Pull it out, and reseat it. Make sure its power cable is nice and tight. Make sure its fan spins freely, and that nothing is in the way of its air flow.

If that doesn't do it, try plugging in a different video card, if you've got one. Even a crappy one will do for now. If everything works with a different card, then you can be reasonably certain there's something wrong with your 8800. If you've got another PC around, try installing the card in it, and see if it has the same problem.

If you don't have another card and/or PC to try, or if you tried, but you didn't discover anything useful, call the card manufacturer, and ask for help. EVGA, ASUS, and XFX all have excellent tech support. I'm not sure about others.

Good luck.

Ugh. I tried installing the drivers the way you said,
(I used a free alternative to your driver remover program but it seemed to remove the drivers fine) but its still not working... .

I hope I still have warranty D=

I'd suggest you use the real thing. Driver Cleaner absolutely works. A free alternative might or might not. Again, it's well worth the $10. I'd buy if it cost $100, or even $200. It's that important.

It's a hell of a lot cheaper than needlessly replacing your video card if it does solve the problem. And you haven't lost anything if it doesn't since you'll need to use it the next time you update your drivers anyway.

Ehh. I'm sure it deleted the drivers, I checked folders and they were gone.
The warranty is still intact so i'll just send it in and get it replaced, its no biggy :/

Thanks for your help anyways

If it's a driver problem, sending the card back won't do any good. As soon as you put it its replacement in place, you'll have the same problem all over again.

As far as being "sure it deleted the drivers", have you also checked through the registry, and all your system folders? Not everything ends up in the nVidia folder, which is why Windows has such a hard time removing it. That stuff can be really hard to find. That's why Driver Cleaner is so important.

The dollar amount you'd spend shipping the card back is probably about the same as what Driver Cleaner would cost. Isn't it at least worth a try? Please don't take this the wrong way, but honestly, I've never seen someone so resistant to a $10 purchase, especially in the midst of a showstopping malfunction like this.


By the way, this is not just an nVidia thing, just in case you're thinking maybe switching brands will help. ATI drivers have the exact same issues in this regard. If you do switch brands, you'll want to make doubly certain every last trace of the old driver is gone. ATI and nVidia drivers do not get along with each other at all. A little piece of one can, and usually will, detrimentally affect the other. I've even experienced the drivers from an ATI TV tuner card all but destroy the functionality of an nVidia video card, which seemed to defy all logic.


If after reading all this, you're still determined not to get Driver Cleaner, well, I guess there's nothing more I can say that will convince you. I tried. Not much I can do when people won't follow the advice I know works. I wish you the best of luck, whatever you decide to do.

/me waves at Chosen, "Hi, big guy". Finally got my computer back last week. It only took them 5 weeks to replace the motherboard. Guess who's business they arent going to get again.

nvidia drivers crashing aren't always nvidia's fault... make sure your running the latest downloaded chipset driver for your motherboard as well....