Blue Screen Of Death!! Help! OK. So I've been using Parallels for quite some time now, and have just recently begun receiving a BSOD about a minute after I boot into XP.. everytime, without fail. Apparently, it's a physical memory dump based on the info in the BSOD, but then again, what do I know.. I really have no idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Is there anything useful in the Windows Event Logs? The 0x0000008E STOP code is often associated with bad memory or other hardware issues, but since things were running OK for you until recently, I wouldn't view that as a likely cause. I found this in a Google search: http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50966. I sure hope that you haven't been hit by a rootkit. By definition, they're very tough to detect.
Well unfortunately, it wasn't that particular rootkit they mentioned in that thread- I dont know how to read the minidump files though, which I think will be of great assistance- any help? Im at a complete stop over here... well, it runs fine in safe mode, but normally, shuts down after about 60-90 seconds. Frustrating!
Have you installed ANY new software or hardware recently -- like USB-based devices (mice, printers, modem, etc)?
Nothing that initially caused this... as in, it was working fine for a couple of weeks since the last app that I installed on the Windows side.. and them BAM, just started choking. No new hardware, I'm running on a Macbook Pro.
No hardware ever.. Im using 3188- software, I'd say yahoo messenger? But that was weeks ago. The problem began about 6 days ago.
Glad to hear that you were able to work through the problem, and thanks for posting your solution. I'm even happier to hear that a rootkit wasn't the cause of it. Those things are tough to get rid of. Backpedalling here for the sake of completeness... No, I can't make much out of Windows core dumps. I tend to focus on the stuff at the beginning of the file and Google from there. That seems to solve a fair percentage of Windows problems. To go deeper would require detailed knowledge of Windows kernel-level debugging techniques, which I've never had much exposure to.
I'm getting exactly the same problem- It seems to happen on every other boot. Sometimes I get two of these splash screens before it boots (eventually) normally. It's a total pain. When it runs it runs on rails and seems rock solid. No new hardware, but I work for a very large and well known manufacturer of silicon in the Pacific NorthWest, and they've installed no end of patches, and security stuff. If I run the Windows repair utility, will it mess up all the above patches? Thanks, MacBook Pro 17" 2GB ram, XP SP2. Parallels build 3188
