Graphics Card Problem: Thread Stuck in Device Driver

[MarcL]

Hey all,

I'm kind of pulling at my last threads with this problem now, hoping someone here can help me out.

Pretty much since I made my PC in March (2007) it has had a problem of sporadic restarts. I had no idea what the cause could be and they weren't happening at any particular moment or while using any particular program.

I decided to send Microsoft an error report on the reboot and I got this page http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=293078 detailing a "STOP 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER " error. It lists the resolution as "To resolve this issue, obtain and install the most current driver for your video adapter, or replace your video card."

Now, I've uninstalled my video drivers, updated to the latest ones and the problem still exists. I bought a new hard drive about 2 months ago and it still happens. So at this point I'm seeing the only option as replacing my video card.

So does anyone have any experience with this error and know a way to fix it or is it 100% a hardware fault with the card itself?

As I say, I'm pulling at my last strings on this one as the problem is becoming increasingly frequent.

Thanks a lot for any help offered!

For Completion:
Core 2 Duo e6300 1.86Ghz
1GB DDR2-667
Nvidia 7600GT
250GB SATAII
P5N32-SLI Premium

Temperatures are all good so most likely not an overheating issue.

[Serunson]

Does this gfx card require a power cable to be attached to it? look for an open gap on the gfx card itself where one of the PCI-Express PSU connecters would fit in.
Are you getting Blue screens of death when the errors appear?
Try cleaning the conenctions on the gfx card with a pencil eraser to remove any finger prints.

[MarcL]

Thanks for the reply.

I had a look and the card doesn't have a connection for power from the power supply so it must run off the motherboard completely.

No error comes up when it goes to restart, it just loops whatever sound is playing at that time (or not if no sound is playing) and reboots itself. The "Windows has recovered from a serious error" screen comes up when it loads up again and sending the error report brings up the Internet Explorer window about the error.

I don't really have the means at the moment to check the card's connections but it was put in really carefully so no fingers came close to the connections themselves.

Hopefully that helps, thanks again,

Marcus.

[Serunson]

Did the gfx card come with a Disc that had some drivers on it? If it did revert back to these original drivers after totally removing the ones you have at the moment. It may solve your problems.

[MarcL]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

I gave that a go, but almost immediately after restarting with the drivers from the disc, the computer restarted with the same error.

Any more suggestions would be great, but I personally can't see any other way to fix it short of replacing the card at this point.

Thanks for the help, as I say, any other ideas would be great.

Marcus.

[Serunson]

It quite possibly could be a start up issue with the BIOS. Also it could be a virus, spyware causing this havoc. What antivirus do you run?

[MarcL]

Hm, how would I go about fixing the BIOS?

I've got Zonealarm firewall running, AVG anti-virus and Windows Defender for anti-spyware so I'm pretty protected on that front. I ran a virus scan and a spyware scan a few days ago and they both came up blank so that kinda rules that out.

I would find it strange if it was a BIOS error, or a software problem because this has happened since I made the PC in March. I got a new hard drive about 2 months ago (on the 19th August) and two days later, on the 21st August it had the problem again (I've kept a log of how often it's happened since I got the new hard drive).

It's happening more frequently now too. It's happened 4 times today (it's 3:19pm now) and 9 times now over the last 3 days. Usually it's been once every 2 - 3 days.

Anything additional ideas would be great, thanks a lot for sticking with me through this!

Marcus.

[Serunson]

So this problem occured when you originally built the PC? That would point to something that you didn't do right. I am not a pro when talking about BIOS, but i think it something that you put on a CD or a floppy disk (:D) and instal manually. Although i am unsure.