memory error message in windows

[VJ]

Hello,

Yesterday, my system (XP SP2) crashed severely; upon reboot it showed "the system has recovered from a serious error".
Ever since then, whenever I close a "complex" application (i.e. notepad won't cause it, but e.g. winace will), I get this error:

Application Error : The instruction at "0x7c9105f8" referenced memory at "0x02420010". The memory could not be "read".

Click on OK to terminate the program

The instruction is always 0x7c9105f8, but the memory addres is always different.
My DMI event log has not recorded any error messages (memory is ECC).

Can I solve this one way or another, or is this a sign it is time to reinstall my windows...?



Jörg

[KeiFront]

If the memory address is always different first check for viri, spyware, etc. I don't suspect the memory at first sight because the memory address is changing, it could be some other hardware though, but my first guess is some viri, spyware app.

[VJ]

The machine isn't connect to internet (so this minimizes the chances a lot). Virusscanner doesn't show anything...


Jörg

[ZokesPro]

Hmm, have you tested your ram?

[VJ]

Not yet (I didn't have software at my disposal). But I have enabled the detailed memory test at POST.

Besides, as the memory is ECC, I suspect there would be an entry in the DMI Event log (in bios).


Jörg

[Wombat]

I've gotten that when I was overclocking and unstable.

Can you do anything with your CPU or RAM voltages?

If I (or somebody else?) has the time, decoding the instruction would be interesting.

[Helevitia]

I've seen this message on several systems and it never seems like it is the memory. I've seen it on my own system with Photoshop7 and I've seen it on my work laptop with Reflections and some other apps. I think it is a WinXP problem actually. But that is just MHO.

[mmp121]

Since you had a hard crash, maybe you should do a CHKDSK C: /F /V /R and then reboot and let it scan you HDD. Maybe a bad sector on the HDD is cauing your issue because your swap file got damaged? Anyhow, that's all I got for now. Hope it helps.

/F = Fixes errors on the disk
/V = On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any
/R = Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information

the /R is optional, and will take a long time (about 2 hours on my 100GB C: drive).

I only run it if I suspect bad sectors.

[Wombat]

It looks like that instruction is a jump. If the instruction is always exactly the same, then it probably involves the same sequence of instructions every time.

Just looks nasty. But since you don't have an ITP setup, you may never know what's actually happening.

[VJ]

Memory test shows no problems, harddisk checked ok...

I'm leaning towards Helvetia's explanation....

I hate reinstalling this system, there is just so much *required* software on it , but it has been running for about 2 years, so all in all I think I'm lucky to have managed to run XP this long *without* having to reinstall...


Jörg