SL Viewer Crashing Before/Just After Login

[Aura Hinterland]

Hi there. I know there's a million threads about crashing before or during login, so thank you for your patience. I'm hoping someone can assist me, and I really appreciate your time and patience. :)

The message I get, accompanied by the blue screen of death (I get this before and just after login, it varies):

 

***Hardware Malfunction

Call your hardware vendor for support

NMI Parity Check/Memory Parity Error

***The system has halted***

 

My specs:

Running SL Viewer 3.3.3.260300

Computer is a Dell XPS M1710 laptop

Processor is Genuine Intel T2600 @ 2.16 GHz

OS is Windows XP (Service Pack 3)

Graphics card is NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900GS

 

I'm not certain what else I should include here, but just let me know and I will find that information.

Any help would be wonderful. It's an inherited computer--have only had it for a few months, my newer Dell laptop bit the dust. :/

 

Thank you! :)

Aura Hinterland

 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

This might help:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315223

Whatever the problem, it appears it's a pretty serious one.  Something has failed (or is in the process of failing) in your computer.  The most likely suspect, in my opinion, is a memory module but it could be almost any hardware device installed in your computer (including your video card).  The problem often is one of those that progressively gets worse over time (one day you'll try to boot your computer is just won't do it).  Another problem (or I should say disadvantage) is that your computer is a laptop.  That makes if very hard for you to trouble shoot the problem yourself.......a repair facility is your best option (and your computer is not exactly a recent one so you would have to weigh the cost for repair against a new computer).

I would start with checking your memory modules first since that is probably the easiest thing that you can do without digging into the innards of your laptop (and I do not recommend anyone who doesn't have a pretty good level of experience in laptop repair).

 

[Aura Hinterland]

Oh, dear. Thank you, Peggy. I'm looking into that now. I appreciate your help, I really do.

[Nalates Urriah]

The best information you can provide for tech troubleshooting comes from the info from the viewer's Help-About... Paste that into your post with your next question. To add your info to an existing question use OPTIONS->EDIT. It’s in the upper right of your post.

There are free programs to test your computer's memory. There seems to be a rash of these types of crashes. There are not many and the Lindens say stats have not shown an up tic in the crash stats. But, some of us have noticed more requests for help with the issue here in the forum.

The problem with memory tests is one must make a CD or floppy to boot from and run the test from a special minimal operating system. Some computer shops will run a memory test for you in the hope of being able to sell you new memory. There is a bit of a conflict of interest, so trust is an issue. Fortunately memory for older computers is ridiculously cheap.

Google your computer model to see what memory type it uses and possibly how to install/upgrade memory. Installing upgrades or replacements of memory is simple enough and pretty much fool proof. It simply plus in. The complexity is in knowing whilch memory sticks to buy and Google will help you there.

With laptops the challenge is getting to the memory. Some laptops have to be disassembled to get to the memory. Others only have to have a simple cover removed, in which case the upgrade is easy and little experience is needed.

Some people with the problem have tested their computers and believe they are OK. So, don't be overly alarmed that it is a hardware problem. However, do check that possibility.

For nVidia you should be on the 301.42 version or 296.10 (I think I got the last one right) version of the video driver.

If you have the viewer's Automatic Update turned on, you may want to try installing one version older. If that works, turn off the auto update and run the older version unstil the next viewer release.

[Aura Hinterland]

Nalates, that was excellent. Thank you. Huge help here, and I will look into all of this.