Specs:
Windows Vista Ultimate and XP Home (dual-boot)
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Asus M2N-E
Mushkin PC5300 DDR2 667 - 3 gigs
EVGA GeForce 7600 GT KO
Antec NS 430 Watt
WD 250 gig SATA II x2
Problem:
Most of the time when I bootup I get a BSOD with the following message:
I removed the CMOS battery and reset the BIOS with the mb jumper. No change. I just now tried "Last known good configuration" for the second time today. No change."The BIOS in this sytem is not fully ACPI compliant. Please contact your sysem vendor for an updaed BIOS."
STOP 0x000000A5 (0x00000011, 0x00000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)
I following a MSKB article that dealt with this error that recommended removing the "hiberfil.sys" file, but I wasn't able to delete it. When I tried to delete it I got an error message saying "File not found"??? But it is definitely there.
I wondered if the same anomalies I'm seeing in Vista also would be in XP. So, I tried booting into XP (dual-boot) system and the bootup hung and the bootscreen logo. So, I can't get into XP to find out. I then used Vista BootPro 3.3 to restore a saved backup but no change. I pulled the mb battery and reset the BIOS with the mb jumper, no change. I have run 2 memory diagnostic tests both with no errors. I have run WD's "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic" utility and all passed with flying colors. I have tried booting into "Last known good configuraiton", but again, no change. And I decided to restore a week-old True Image backup, using the Boot Disk, but clicking "Next" on the first screen of the Restore feature, the system hung and I got one loud, long beep. I had to hard reboot to escape. I've flashed the BIOS with 3 different versions, no change.
I booted with the Vista DVD and ran the Boot repair/check and no errors. Also ran Vista/Microsoft RAM diagnostic even though memtest86 said no errors and Microsoft's test was good too. I ran WD's "Data Lifeguard Diagnostic" utility, both Quick and Advanced with no errors or problems. I removed the last two "Hot Fixes", uninstalled Logitech Mouse drivers, disabled the Sidebar, etc. No change.
The only real change I have made is to install a new Samsung 931c LCD monitor. And, I even disconnected that and tried an old CRT monitor out of desperation.... no change. I am running the latest Nvidia drivers v. 162.66 and reverted back to an earlier version 158.44 and no change. There are some display anomalies as well, e.g., scrolling a webpage fairly quickly with mostly text, pink "highlights" can be seen which is very annoying. Brightness 90 and Contrast 70. Video Card is an EVGA GeForce 7600 GT KO.
Another very strange anomaly is after the sysem boots into Windows Vista, if I click on the Start Orb to open the Start Menu, a very long line of "+" symbols fills the field. After about 30 seconds the same Search results are displayed above. I can use "Ctrl + a" to select all the "+" signs and delete them which then reverts the Start Menu to the way it should be. These same "+" signs will appear in the "Instant Search" box of Windows Explorer if I open that first.
HELP!!
