Can a problematic UPS cause my 64-bit Windows 7 HPE to blue screen?

[ant_apc]

Hello.

Lately, I have been having problems with hangs and blue screens. I thought it was not enough memory to make my updated 64-bit Windows 7 HPE hang or not respond (a stuck circular mouse cursor). So I tried replacing three 1 GB of RAM that came with this Dell Studio XPS 8800 with two new 4 GB of Crucial RAMs. I noticed two blue screens (I ran memtest86+ v4.20’s heavy stress tests over the whole weekend (almost 63 hours nonstop), and it passed over 40/forty times with 0/zero errors! I guess it wasn’t the RAM.

However, I did discover a new(?) problem when checking the memtest86+ results. I heard soft beeps every second. I discovered it was my old, used APC UPS Back-UPS RS800 from 2005-2007 or so. According to plugged in UPS’ blinking colorful lights, it said its battery needed to be replaced, its power was overloaded even if nothing power is connected to this old UPS except its power AC to a wall power socket, etc. Trying to power it on without its power AC fails so I guess its battery is indeed dead or something. I don’t know if this is related the recent blue screen crashes, but could it be if my PC is stressing and crashing after heavy usages from this problmatic UPS lately? Or maybe its USB connection to monitor power is confusing my PC? I use the default power settings in Windows I think (AC connected = always on, on battery = turn off monitor and suspend PC within XX minutes).

Could my problematic UPS be causing it? For now, I have unplugged and disconnected the UPS since it useless to me. I will have to decide to replace the whole thing or just replace its battery. Which one would be better? I don't know if my UPS will last long if I just replace its battery only. 😞

Thank you in advance. 🙂

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i have one of those too at home. have not had any problems with it myself but i dont have a super duper powered PC. they are nice and sleek looking though.

Cool. I wonder when they stopped using those color lights that their UPS' had.

[BillP]

still not sure what you mean :[

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
still not sure what you mean :[

My old UPS with its colorful lights (red, yellow, green): http://www.letterclip.com/uploadfiles/product/apc-back-ups-rs-800va-230v-intl-apc-back-ups-rs.jpg

versus/vs.

Upcoming UPS replacement with numbers, graphs, etc.: http://www.apc.com/resource/images/salestools/500/Front_Left/D66C85EA1D49F7048525775B006E4E6F_SLIE_8...

[BillP]

oh ok. i guess i misunderstood thinking you liked the new ones better. not sure, just part of the redesign to be black and white.

[ant_apc]

Woohoo, my new UPS arrived and is up. It's sexy! I love its front panel's lights and statistics (e.g., voltaegs, number of events, percentage). The front status reminds me of 1980s'/80s' Knight Rider's KITT car. Can we make UPS' talk like him too?

It's funny. My boss also bought the same UPS model that I got (she ordered both at the same time). Haha. So far, no blue screens and weirdness since I stopped using the old UPS. We'll see. BTW, I didn't install the software from its CD. I hope I am not missing much.

I think I will have to buy one for home too (1500+). 😛

[BillP]

i have one of those too at home. have not had any problems with it myself but i dont have a super duper powered PC. they are nice and sleek looking though.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
what ones are you talking about? i work at APC so i can research what you would like to know 🙂

Those new light labels to show status.

[BillP]

what ones are you talking about? i work at APC so i can research what you would like to know 🙂

[BillP]

i recently found a great program called WhoCrashed for my blue screen issues, might want to check it out.

for the UPS, it could be a driver that the UPS uses. we need more info on what LEDs you see on the UPS when its plugged in to figure out whats going on or you can try the who crashed program to see what the dumps from the blue screen are saying is causing it.

[BillP]

yes, more ram might draw a little more wattage, depending on how much more you add.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
yes, more ram might draw a little more wattage, depending on how much more you add.

I replaced three 1 GB of Samsung RAM with two new Crucial faster 4 GB of RAM. Is that a lot?

[BillP]

i was googling. i dont think we are talking more than a 10-15 watt difference.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i was googling. i dont think we are talking more than a 10-15 watt difference.

Hmmm, OK. I wonder if the malfunctioning UPS was confusing my PC through its USB cable even though I never installed APC's softwares. I only used the one from Windows 7's installation.

[BillP]

yeah, i dont think it is specifically based on the memory dump but the description was vague saying it could be a driver issue. you can run without it and see what you get.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
yeah, i dont think it is specifically based on the memory dump but the description was vague saying it could be a driver issue. you can run without it and see what you get.

Yeah, I am trying again without UPS stuff while I order a new one through its trade-in. The new one looks nice!

[BillP]

what did you get?

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
what did you get?

1000 VA model black vertical one. I don't have the model name and number with me at home.

[BillP]

ah ok, well let us know if you need anything else.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
ah ok, well let us know if you need anything else.

Sure and thanks.

BTW, other people also think my unstable old UPS is causing my blue screens due to unstable power and stuff from the symptoms I mentioned.

[ant_apc]

ant wrote:

i picKed a winna wrote:
what did you get?

1000 VA model black vertical one. I don't have the model name and number with me at home.

FYI, this one: http://buy.apc.com/commerce/storefronts/tradeups/product.aspx?storefrontcode=apcetu&countrycode=US&t... ...

I hope it's good. Maybe I will get a higher model one like that design for my home PCs later on since my home UPS is old too. 😉

[ant_apc · Accepted solution]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i recently found a great program called WhoCrashed for my blue screen issues, might want to check it out.

System Information (local)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

computer name: DELLSTUDIOXPS
windows version: Windows 7 , 6.1, build: 7600
windows dir: C:\Windows
CPU: GenuineIntel Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz Intel586, level: 6
4 logical processors, active mask: 15
RAM: 8580620288 total
VM: 2147352576, free: 1969045504



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.


On Fri 6/10/2011 8:18:40 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\061011-21465-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x70700)
Bugcheck code: 0x1A (0x5003, 0xFFFFF90000812000, 0x4D7F, 0x81B500009AEE)
Error: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
file path: C:\Windows\system32
toskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a severe memory management error occurred.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.


On Wed 6/8/2011 7:47:14 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\060811-20654-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x70700)
Bugcheck code: 0xDE (0x2, 0xFFFFF8A01935C8F0, 0xFFFFF8A01BC29909, 0x2B2BB8C0)
Error: POOL_CORRUPTION_IN_FILE_AREA
file path: C:\Windows\system32
toskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a driver has corrupted pool memory that is used for holding pages destined for disk.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver which cannot be identified at this time.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 crash dumps have been found and analyzed.
Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further.

for the UPS, it could be a driver that the UPS uses. we need more info on what LEDs you see on the UPS when its plugged in to figure out whats going on or you can try the who crashed program to see what the dumps from the blue screen are saying is causing it.

Weird, now I can't reproduce the symptoms I saw this morning. I am not sure if I want to trust this old UPS since it could be unstable. The only thing different is that I unplug UPS' AC from the power socket for a few hours since I wasn't going to use it. I think I am going to do a trade-in for a newer and better model.

Doesn't adding more RAM use more power?