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[Akura]

On top of everything else, now my computer has started acting up. It crashes randomly, often in the middle of something. Blue screen, yadda yadda, all that. I've started trying to narrow down the cause:

Overheating - It's pretty hot in my room, ~85°F, and my computer's airflow isn't really the best due to its position. After pulling it out a bit, and cleaning off a couple fans, I watched the temperature display in BIOS, and the CPU temp hovered around 57°C while the motherboard temp was about 40°C. According to its software, my graphics card is about 62°C. It might not be the cause, since the last time I had trouble with overheating(a wire was blocking the CPU fan when I first built it), the CPU got to about 100°C before auto-shutdown.

A virus - I've got avast! scanning now, but it's also supposed to scan every file that's opened as it opens. This seems to be the likely case, since it started around the time I downloaded a piece of software from a questionable source. That particular piece of softeware doesn't seem to have anything suspicious about it, though and I did scan it pretty thouroughly. There haven't been any other problems from it, either, and if it were a malicous virus, it'd be crashing more often.

Hardware problems - From one of the crash screens, I was able to make out a filename called athrusb.sys, which I'm pretty sure is related to my wireless device. It doesn't make any sense why the driver for a wlan device is suddenly acting up.

It could also be something the pops up randomly and goes away on its own without explanation as to why it comes or goes. My computer does that .

[HideousBeing]

Did you update any drivers recently?

Malwarebytes is awesome.

Also you can clean the dust out of your computer with compressed air to help with heat, but the temps seem alright.

[optimumtact]

I believe that the blue screen error messages can provide useful information try googling the error message that is shown when you crash. If anything it might help you narrow down the causes a little.

[smigenboger]

Also you can clean the dust out of your computer with compressed air to help with heat, but the temps seem alright.

I rescued my computer from a danderly fate, as the heatsink was clogged by too many years of being at my friend's house with all their pets. It's significantly cooler now, which is good as he fried his video card from furry buildup.

[Akura]

Crashed again, about 5 minutes after startup this morning. It mentioned volsnap.sys, and I have now idea what that does.

[Urist Imiknorris]

>google

Description: VolSnap.sys is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32\drivers. Known file sizes on Windows XP are 52,352 bytes (94% of all occurrence), 49,152 bytes.http://www.file.net/process/volsnap.sys.html
The driver can be started or stopped from Services in the Control Panel or by other programs. File VolSnap.sys is a Windows system file. The program is not visible. The service has no detailed description. File VolSnap.sys is a Microsoft signed file. VolSnap.sys seems to be a compressed file. Therefore the technical security rating is 2% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.

...

Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as VolSnap.sys, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder.

[eerr]

>google

Description: VolSnap.sys is located in the folder C:\Windows\System32\drivers. Known file sizes on Windows XP are 52,352 bytes (94% of all occurrence), 49,152 bytes.http://www.file.net/process/volsnap.sys.html
The driver can be started or stopped from Services in the Control Panel or by other programs. File VolSnap.sys is a Windows system file. The program is not visible. The service has no detailed description. File VolSnap.sys is a Microsoft signed file. VolSnap.sys seems to be a compressed file. Therefore the technical security rating is 2% dangerous, however also read the users reviews.

...

Important: Some malware camouflage themselves as VolSnap.sys, particularly if they are located in c:\windows or c:\windows\system32 folder.

numerous sites say that about everything!

[Akura]

I can't even find that file on my computer anyway. Wierd.

Also, it just crashed, and then crashed again immediately after Windows login. The second time, I caught the message "PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED DATA" or something like that.

[optimumtact]

Interesting, after a little research it appears that some people have linked the page fault error to faulty ram. You could try moving your ram into another slot if you have it. Heres some more info from another forum (not my post)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Windows XP and most NT/2000 kernal OS by MS come complete with a variety of hardware safety measures designed to keep a business PC in top shape by stopping problems before they occour. Unlike Win98/ME/95 the NT kernal has a BSOD (Blue screen of death) message system that is meant to give the admin all the info needed (as if).

Now as I said there are two main causes of the following messages

Page Fault Found In A Non Paged Area BSOD's
Memory Dump BSOD's
IRC BSOD's

Now the first thing to do is make sure that EPROM CACHE is disabled in the BIOS, When this is enabled windows gets confused and will promptly display the BSODs randomly, if however this doesnt work or as in most boards you dont have an EPROM cache then its likely to be the RAM at fault

Now heres a quick test we run at work. First off power up the PC with the side panel on but unscrewed. Use normally until you recieve the BSOD. as soon as this appears turn pc off immediatly and see how close you can move your hand towards the ram before you feel any heat coming off of it. The closer you get the better! If you can feel heat from the ram more than 3cm away then its a heat problem.

Now if this is fine its your ram stick, check theres no dust on the ram that could be linking pins together and the like and ensure all sticks are properly inserted into the board. Also make sure you fill the slots up in order as in slot1, slot2, slot3 !NOT! slot3,slot1,slot2 etc etc. If again this fails then in my experience its about 90% sure your ram stick has gone up the shoot.

I must also add this is most common on DDR sticks, both PC2100 and PC2700. Ive heard of PC133 doing the same but only when the RAM gets aged.

This may be linked to overheating although I am not sure.

 Also if volsnap.sys is missing from you computer you might need to re-install it (I looked a bit further into this and it appears to be a microsoft service driver so It definitely needs to be present on your pc. I think you can use the windows disc if you still have it and use the repair option. If you deal with the volsnap.sys problem it might clear up the other errors too, good luck.

edit: it appears that volsnap.sys is related to the volume shadow copy service which is related to copying data onto and off the hard disk.

[Akura]

Could be overheating RAM, then? I'm touching the top of the case and it feels like this thing is powered via a blast furnace, but the air coming out the back fan isn't very hot.

[smjjames]

Maybe one of your fans isn't working right? It sounds like that your computer isn't cooling itself off fast enough (and the heatwave you guys have in the NorthEast doesn't help either).

The simple fact that its overheating could make all kinds of things trip over themselves.

Do you have a floor fan or something? (No idea if you're someplace else or at your 'old' place, if you know what I mean) Perhaps aim that at your computer.

[optimumtact]

Could be overheating RAM, then? I'm touching the top of the case and it feels like this thing is powered via a blast furnace, but the air coming out the back fan isn't very hot.

This could very well be it. Try checking your fans like smjjames said otherwise you clearly need to work on regulating the air temp inside the case better

[Akura]

It's not overheating. It just crashed minutes after startup, when no heat could possibly have built up.

Also, there's another error message in addition to the page fault: "IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL".

[smjjames]

It's not overheating. It just crashed minutes after startup, when no heat could possibly have built up.

Also, there's another error message in addition to the page fault: "IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL".

Scratch that as a root cause then, although overheating could be a trigger later on. Did a search and came up with a few places that could help, it basically sounds like a driver or memory problem:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/157098-45-blue-screen-irql-equal

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/p/19309996/19610005.aspx

http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=198138&mpage=1&print=true

http://www.cometforums.com/topic/12793466-bsod-driver-irql-not-less-or-equal/

http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.php?t=579575

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100221141106AAOeYQm

[optimumtact]

It's not overheating. It just crashed minutes after startup, when no heat could possibly have built up.

Also, there's another error message in addition to the page fault: "IRQ NOT LESS OR EQUAL".

Ok there is most definitely a problem with your ram

Try removing the ram and putting it in another spot, check for dust and all that. Apart from that you might have to stump up for some more.