nipohc3
03-13-2012 01:06 AM (1 days ago)
Specs and status for my HP Pavilion Elite M9080n desktop PC
System: Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit, SP1, bought in late 2007
BIOS: Version 5.11, released 9/27/2007 (HP Support site shows a later version, 5.13, released 5/18/2008, yet to be updated. (HP Smart Friend assisted me in a System Recovery to factory installed configuration followed by many SW updates in late 2010, perhaps the BIOS was not included.)
Browsers: Firefox 10.0.2 (Default); Chrome 17.0.963.56 m & IE 8.0.6001.19088 (both used sparingly)
Security SWs: McAfee Internet Security, renewed and upgraded to McAfee Total Protection 2/7/2012.
Monitor: Gateway FHD 2400 LCD, HDMI, native resolution 1920x1200
Graphics Card Drivers:
“Faulting application rundll32.exe, version 6.0.6000.16386, time stamp 0x4549b0e1, faulting module nvapi.dll, version 7.15.11.6960, time stamp 0x478633b2, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x000278b0, process id 0x17d4, application start time 0x01ccff3df13d78ab.”
As is, max display resolution achievable is 1280x1024, instead of 1920x1200, with the accompanying image distortion. Most of frequently used applications seem to run fine.
Typically, for a given Start Up-Shut Down session, other Administrative Events are also recorded: 2x of “Event 46, volmgr” (Crash dump initialization failed), “Event 15106, HttpEvent” (Unable to initialize the security package Kerberos for server side authentication), and “Event 3036, Search” (SystemIndex Catalog not accessible) immediately before the Rundll32 error event above; then “Event 7026, Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider” (ntiomin failed to load), and “Event 8194, VSS” (Volume Shadow Copy Service error) immediately after the Rundll32 error event; If IE is used, “Event 1000, Application Error” (iexplore.exe, faulting module mshtml.dll) is recorded sometimes. Just before power off, “Event 4001, WLAN AutoConfig” is recorded. The symptoms associated with these events are not obvious to me.
I have read about a number of solutions for each specific issue/symptom listed above from various user forums. There are probably many more out there. I have implemented as many of them as I felt comfortable with to reach this point. HP support site provided some seemingly inconsistent information about the Graphic Card driver, so I am holding off the BIOS update, too. Suspecting these issues/solutions are inter-related, I would like to have your advice on reaching an integrated diagnosis of the root cause(s) of the symptoms described here, as well as a systematic approach to implement the relevant solutions.
Many thanks,
-nipohc3
System: Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit, SP1, bought in late 2007
BIOS: Version 5.11, released 9/27/2007 (HP Support site shows a later version, 5.13, released 5/18/2008, yet to be updated. (HP Smart Friend assisted me in a System Recovery to factory installed configuration followed by many SW updates in late 2010, perhaps the BIOS was not included.)
Browsers: Firefox 10.0.2 (Default); Chrome 17.0.963.56 m & IE 8.0.6001.19088 (both used sparingly)
Security SWs: McAfee Internet Security, renewed and upgraded to McAfee Total Protection 2/7/2012.
Monitor: Gateway FHD 2400 LCD, HDMI, native resolution 1920x1200
Graphics Card Drivers:
- Nvidia GeForce 8000 GTS, Driver 7.15.11.6960, released 1/10/2008 (Device Manager shows: not working, code 43. Installation of the one recommended on HP Support Driver Update site, SP35167, failed. [ver. 7.15.11.6230, released 2/22/2008.] “HP Update” on-line check from my PC says I have the most updated version.)
- Two HP RC mirror drivers, both are version 1.0.0.0, released 4/21/2009, working.
- Intermittent Windows Start-Up failures since 2/3 this year, apparently correlated with streaming video in a previous session. No problem with safe mode start-ups. Later on, when only Nvidia driver is disabled, Windows can start up in normal mode all the time. However, whenever I disable the RC Mirror Drivers and enable the Nvidia driver, Windows Start-Up fails. Screen artifacts (See photos below) appear during Start-Up but not afterwards. I have cleaned up the dust inside the PC tower, especially around the fans, heat sink, and Nvidia card. Nothing changed.
- After Windows starts and logon, a rundll32 error message appears, and Windows Solutions points to a Nvidia driver problem. This message coincides with the following entry in the Event Log for Administrative Events in time.
“Faulting application rundll32.exe, version 6.0.6000.16386, time stamp 0x4549b0e1, faulting module nvapi.dll, version 7.15.11.6960, time stamp 0x478633b2, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x000278b0, process id 0x17d4, application start time 0x01ccff3df13d78ab.”
As is, max display resolution achievable is 1280x1024, instead of 1920x1200, with the accompanying image distortion. Most of frequently used applications seem to run fine.
Typically, for a given Start Up-Shut Down session, other Administrative Events are also recorded: 2x of “Event 46, volmgr” (Crash dump initialization failed), “Event 15106, HttpEvent” (Unable to initialize the security package Kerberos for server side authentication), and “Event 3036, Search” (SystemIndex Catalog not accessible) immediately before the Rundll32 error event above; then “Event 7026, Service Control Manager Eventlog Provider” (ntiomin failed to load), and “Event 8194, VSS” (Volume Shadow Copy Service error) immediately after the Rundll32 error event; If IE is used, “Event 1000, Application Error” (iexplore.exe, faulting module mshtml.dll) is recorded sometimes. Just before power off, “Event 4001, WLAN AutoConfig” is recorded. The symptoms associated with these events are not obvious to me.
- Windows Vista SP2 installation failed for three attempts, stalled either in download or installation. Installation of CheckSUR to verify readiness for SP2 installation also failed, twice. McAfee was not turned off at the time.
I have read about a number of solutions for each specific issue/symptom listed above from various user forums. There are probably many more out there. I have implemented as many of them as I felt comfortable with to reach this point. HP support site provided some seemingly inconsistent information about the Graphic Card driver, so I am holding off the BIOS update, too. Suspecting these issues/solutions are inter-related, I would like to have your advice on reaching an integrated diagnosis of the root cause(s) of the symptoms described here, as well as a systematic approach to implement the relevant solutions.
Many thanks,
-nipohc3