Thinkpads Forum

I hope this question isn't too dumb!

I have an ostensibly brand-new-in-box T61 running Windows XP (I guess it was downgraded). It works beautifully (it's the newest thing I've ever owned, for sure). HOWEVER, it will shut windows down claiming a software change with some regularity (I get that blue screen). It doesn't seem to be anything in particular that I installed; it just seems to like to do this. I was curious if there was anything I could do to make my computer feel better.

TIA

Trying doing a clean install of windows.

isn't there a song like this?

Maybe you got a faulty RAM module. Try testing the machine with a single dimm if it's possible.

Can't be sure this will be useful, but it will only be a few seconds to try.

See if there are any "interesting" events logged in (probably) the System log accessed via Event Viewer. (Right click on My Computer, click Manage, click Event Viewer, click System, and see what sort of red X "Error" records are present.

I'm hardly a Windows "heavy", but it would still be interesting to see what sort of errors are being associated with the failure.

Art

On a machine made to run XP with no hardware problems and with no errant software installations or problems will run for years on end with no issues. So look to hardware (follow the suggestions made) and look in add/remove programs and the event log for troublesome programs.

A "clean" install versus a Lenovo pre-install has nothing to do with reliabilty in my experience. ... JDH

jdhurst wrote:On a machine made to run XP with no hardware problems and with no errant software installations or problems will run for years on end with no issues. So look to hardware (follow the suggestions made) and look in add/remove programs and the event log for troublesome programs.

A "clean" install versus a Lenovo pre-install has nothing to do with reliabilty in my experience. ... JDH

yes it has.

An example would be that driver for the multimedia center that allows direct drag and drop files onto CD/DVD via windows explorer .. That thing used to give me BSOD about 2 times per day before, when I used another CD/DVD software

Faulty RAM would also cause BSOD, as well as bad sectors on the HDD

miro_gt wrote:

jdhurst wrote:<snip>
A "clean" install versus a Lenovo pre-install has nothing to do with reliabilty in my experience. ... JDH

yes it has.
<snip>

Fair enough. However, not in my experience across dozens and dozens of machines. I take the preload and strip out the few things I don't want and the result is a bomb-proof machine.

I am not saying do what I do, merely that what I do has proven to be utterly reliable over terms measure in years. ... JDH

but you can not get rid of all unwanted stuff .. it's always that something remains, register keys get left over, programs don't uninstall completely, etc

but hey, it's easier to do it that way

miro_gt wrote:but you can not get rid of all unwanted stuff .. it's always that something remains, register keys get left over, programs don't uninstall completely, etc

I can (and do) (hint = RFA) ... JDH

I've never had BSOD on any of my Thinkpads in the past, using a Clean install XP is really reliable. I haven't had a single BSOD on my new T61 so far.

miro_gt wrote that he had BSOD's until he changed CD/DVD writing software.

I too bought a new T61P about 10 months ago and will get a BCOD virtually every time I try to write to a CD or DVD. After hours & hours of troubleshooting, calls to Lenovo & sending it to Lenovo they tell me nothing is wrong with the machine. After many more hours and many clean installs & selective clean installs what I have found to be without any doubt is that the SONIC software when used while ZONE ALARM is loaded conflict and cause the crash.

Of course I notified both SONIC & ZONE ALARM about the problem about 6 months ago. I never received a response from either. The thing still crashes and I am ready to sell it and buy a MAC.

My question to miro_gt is: What CD/DVD software did you change to?

Just wanted to thank the kind people here for their answers to my problem. After some reading around, this seems like my best bet. So now my question becomes, how to keep it static-free? Will my stand with fan help? Could it be partially caused by the silicone skin on the keys? Or am I simply wrong about the static--since the problem seems to be of the familiar "won't wake from standby" variety (or was that static too? I've had a bad record with Thinkpads of late, and I love them so _

It's actually really humid where I live, so I'm kind of puzzled as to why static--but I guess it's dry enough inside ...

Thanks,

Christina