page faults

[Dan]

I just set up a new hard drive with win98se. Fresh install, installed all my drivers....etc.
With only a small fraction of the programs I'll eventually load, I'm getting "invalid page faults" in krnl.386.exe and kernel32.dll...
I seem to get them when closing programs...even after playing solitaire.
It doesn't happen every time, but quite frequently.
anyone have any suggestions, anyone know what might be causing this?
thanks

[GaryRouth]

Hi Dan

Seems like testing the memory would be a good place to start. DocMemory for an oldie should be OK, or MemTest86 for something more recent.

You could check in the Bios Setup too, just to make sure the timings are Ok (no accidental overclocking).

Is the cpu faster than 2ghz?

My first guess would be the memory.
. . . Gary

[Dan]

Hi Gary and thanks for the reply......
'been awhile since I've posted last (which, I guess, is a good thing).
I ran memtest86 and passed with flying colours......
I have a 1.9 ghz p4 cpu.....no overclocking.
any other ideas? (when I was running my other (replaced) hard drive I wasn't getting these page faults).

[glc]

How large is the hard drive, what did you use to partition and format it, and how is it partitioned?

[Dan]

120gb Maxtor
I used Mazblast (the software that came with the HD) to format, and have not partitioned it.
(I'm amazed that I paid only $60 for this drive, on sale...my first build had a 14 gb IBM Deskstar...it was the largest drive made at the time and I paid almost $400 for it!!!)

[glc]

Did it install EZ-Bios? If so, that's a source of instability. You may want to run Powermax on it and make sure the drive isn't defective.

[GaryRouth]

[. . . and if you kept the Maxtor CD that came with the drive, you can boot from that CD, and one of the options in the menus will be to create a PowerMax floppy diskette: as far as I know, it still runs from a floppy, even the latest version. So you have to create one, then boot the system from the floppy to start the diagnostics]. Powermax is also available for download at maxtor.com too, of course.
. . . Gary

[Dan]

thanks Gary and glc-
I didn't install ez-bios, and the hard drive checks out...no problems.
while the invalid page faults haven't happened since I started this thread, I'm still getting small lockups, like when I try to open or close some programs like outlook express.....

[GaryRouth]

Hi again -

Dan, can I assume you've already done full-system antivirus/antispyware scans in Safe Mode already? If not, might as well make sure it's not that.

Corrupted password files, virtual memory settings that are off (if you're using a static swap file, see what happens if you check "let Windows manage virutal memory" in the System Performance Advanced tab), problems with low system resources, -- all sorts of things -- can cause these errors. It's a little intriguing to see it on a new installation. See if you get any clues with the Aumha.org troubleshooter.

http://aumha.org/win4/a/kernel32.htm

(... and maybe glc will know which is likeliest on a new system)
Hope it's Ok soon!
. . . Gary

[Dan]

thanks Gary, I'll check this out......yes, I've done all the virus/spyware scans, I've made no changes to the default settings.....it surprised me too.