Member Avatar for troverman

I have a Dell Inspiron 8200 desktop machine, built in 2001. User upgraded to Vista SP2 some time ago. The machine is a Pentium 4 running at 2.4ghz; 1GB RAM.

Problem is, when it starts up normally, it will load the desktop and run for about 1 minute...then I get a blue screen of death and it reboots. It does this absolutely every time...yet if I start up in safe mode, it will run all day. I have removed all add-ons and tried it that way; it won't stay running even with no sound card, no NIC, and I swapped the video card. I have reseated every cable on the board, and reseated the RAM.

BSOD code is as follows: STOP: 0x0000007F (0x00000008, 0x8013D000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I'm thinking this might indicate memory, but I ran the Vista built in memory diag and it found nothing. I ran a complete disk check, that came up clean. The fact that it works fine in safe mode makes me think its not hardware. I don't have any of the weird RDRAM, and the Dell won't start with just one 512MB stick in...it requires the slots to have something in them to start apparently.

Only thing with this computer is that it had two fan problems that the user brought to my attention. Initially, the CPU fan was running slow and letting the system get hot. I have changed it, but the fan I replaced the factory fan with does not have the temp sensor built in, so the new fan runs at a steady, high speed. Also, I noticed the power supply fan wasn't spinning at all...I replaced that fan as well. Is it possible the lack of CPU cooling cooked the CPU?

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A short, practical summary and follow-up for future readers:

The symptom here — Vista runs in Safe Mode but bluescreens in normal boot with STOP 0x0000007F (first parameter 0x08) — points to an UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP where the CPU raised a trap the kernel couldn’t handle (0x08 commonly means a double-fault). That situation can be caused by failing or mismatched RAM, a bad PSU/motherboard, or a kernel-mode driver/service that only loads in normal mode. ’s eventual clean reinstall fixed the problem for this PC, which strongly suggests the immediate cause was corrupted system files or a driver rather than a literally “cooked” CPU. (learn.microsoft.com)

Practical diagnostics to apply when you see this again (in order of least to most invasive):

  • Enable small memory dumps, reproduce the crash, then analyze the dump with a lightweight tool (BlueScreenView) or with WinDbg for deeper analysis to see the offending module.
  • Run a bootable memory tester (Memtest86/ memtest86+) for multiple passes — Windows’ built-in memory test can miss intermittent DIMM failures. Test one DIMM at a time if errors appear.
  • Perform a clean boot (disable non-Microsoft services and startup items) to isolate drivers/services. Run sfc /scannow and check Event Viewer for related driver errors.
  • Check PSU voltages with a multimeter or PSU tester and reseat/replace suspect cards. (memtest.org)

Notes and cautions:

  • Old, rubbery thermal paste is worth redoing, and a nonworking PSU fan should be fixed — but overheating usually causes instability even in Safe Mode, so it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Don’t run heavy stress tests (Prime95, etc.) if cooling is uncertain. BIOS/chipset/graphics driver updates can help too. Thanks to for the PSU suggestion and for the CPU/BIOS angle; and credit to for posting the final reinstall result.

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Member Avatar for Rik_

It might be worth testing the PSU with a dugital volt meter to see if all the outputs are correct!

Member Avatar for troverman

I did read the MS Knowledge base article. I pulled out the CPU and noticed all the thermal grease was along the edges and rubbery, like the CPU got pretty hot. But how can it be ruined? It runs fine in safe mode all day. And even starting normally, it consistently makes it all the way to the desktop, runs for a minute, and dies. I do have another Pentium 4, but it is a newer, HT processor without the pins attached to the processor. I don't have a swap. Any other way to test CPU?

Member Avatar for troverman

Formatted the disk and reinstalled Vista. Machine is working fine now.

Member Avatar for lolafuertes

Yeah. That's it. :)

Glad to knw the problem is solved.

Thanks for your feedback.

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