Random Crashes?

[netnomad312]

I was wondering if anyone here ever had this problem, since it seems somehow to tie into the Doom-related files on my computer...

I have two computers, a standard-size one with Win98 and a laptop with Win2000 Pro. The laptop is the one I use more often, because it's where I work on my wads... even though I rarely ever go online with it (extra setup and all).

I got the thing in June of this year. Win2000 pro has a login screen that I don't really need, being the only user of that machine, but oh well. Sometimes, every 1 in 3 times I guess, it does something screwy there. The login screen appears for about 2 seconds. Then I get a blue screen. Not the same one as the imfamous "blue screen of death" as some call it... just a blue screen with a white-text error message (at the top of the screen). The message is different sometimes; it sometimes cites some memory location and a file name (and although it tends to be different every time, it's usually some sort of system file; today it was "fastfat.sys." ¬_¬). But every time, the end of the message says "BAD POOL CALLER," then, "beginning dump of physical memory." It does this, then it says something about the "system administrator." Heh. That would be me, considering no one uses the thing but me. I wish I could recreate the entire message, but it only stays up for about 3 seconds, then the computer restarts.

Sometimes on this second boot I've had it lock up before, and it wouldn't turn off (if you've seen this kind of thing before, it's not much fun, actually taking out the battery to cut its power... but anyway). Most of the time that doesn't happen, though. Every time, it does try to check the disk. Every time it does that, it always turns up 6 or 7 MB of lost file fragments. Usually on the second boot, it won't screw up again at the login screen.

The weirdest part is this: I looked at some of the many MB of file fragments I have saved. Many of the files are duplicates of each other, each with a distinct size. But the weird thing? Many of these files are data having to do with Doom and/or my wad. For instance, one 8 KB file (of which there are 30 or 40 copies that were saved) is an exact copy of my MAPINFO lump. Some of the files are just gibberish. Other files are sort of a blend. The largest files in there were 2.39 MB. When I opened them I got all sorts of programming lingo mixed in with gibberish characters, as well as some stuff that looked like it's from some sort of help file. But at the bottom of that file was a list of some textures and flats from Doom, in a row (unformatted).

However, every time I pull up my wad (which is roughly 5MB at the moment), it's all intact.

I'm currently taking a class on operating systems this semester, and I asked this to the teacher there. All he could suggest was uninstalling the Doom editor(s). Great choice. I have all of these Doom-related programs on it:

Doom2.exe itself
Doom95
ZDoom (various versions at different times)
Legacy
WadAuthor
Wintex
XWE
Dehacked
BSP and glBSP
That program that edits the ENDOOM lump (I forget what it's called)
Doom Connector
Doom Builder
And one or two which I probably forgot. ¬_¬

None of these programs were ever put in startup or anything like that.

My questions:
1. Wtf could cause this blue-screen error thing?
2. Should I delete these recovered files?
3. Most of those programs are also on the Win98 machine, but it's never had problems like this... could one of those programs just be incompatible with the NT codebase?

[DEMOn]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=windows+2000+crash+on+blue+screen+at+startup
sounds like DOOM something starts at boot-time and might have something to do with the crash. you could check the dump to find out what is running when the crash occurs... gl.

[Dark Fox]

If all you have on that machine is doom applications, then it most likely is NOT a problem with the pgrms.. Since they are really not sharing anything but a master wad..

Sound like crap ram or a dying PS.

[Lobo]

I've found that the best thing to do when windows starts getting this unstable is to format and reinstall.

Trust me, it'll be quicker in the long run :)

[DEMOn]

yeah, I didn't mean to infer that any of the programs (outside the core OS programs) were causing the failure.
crashes are either hardware failures(like power), memory address problems, or corrupt initialization files.
if your system works sometimes, then I'd think the programs are fine. probably a hardware(RAM/CPU) problem or your registry is causing a conflict.
hard to say... and 2000 isn't my expertise anyway...
Lobo's advice, if you're willing to go to that trouble, is a good idea.
gl.

[netnomad312]

I WOULD do that, but this laptop came equipped with Win2000 and no disc. So I can't exactly reinstall. Actually, I really have TWO laptops, but one of them has a broken screen. I once asked about screen repair here, but what I found from the suggestions I got ended up being a couple hundred more than I was hoping for. So I just bought a new laptop (which has Win98 for some reason), switched their hard drives, and everything works. The problem DID happen before I switched the hard drives though, so that's not it.

I keep thinking it's more of a memory problem; after, all it keeps citing a few things that look like memory addresses (in my limited knowledge of memory). I don't know much about the actual memory CARDS, except they can be added, removed, etc. (right?) Do you think I should get new RAM?

EDIT: How exactly do I "check" the dump? It says that for about 3 seconds then the machine restarts...

[fodders]

Most of the "bad pool caller" errors are due to video card drivers. Something is not initializing properly.
Windows 2000 contains many built-in features that enhance the pool allocation process. A number of new stop codes have been added that help you locate drivers that do not function correctly. Because of these additional features, you may be able to find the root cause of the driver's malfunction by simple debugging.

The following procedure describes how to debug a OxC2 stop.

First, check the stop documentation. For example:
To save long post, follow on here

[netnomad312]

Hmm, well... the machine is a Thinkpad T20 with... I think a 14.1 inch screen. I would ASSUME all the stupid drivers should come installed... >:-/

Where would I go about getting them, the IBM site? I'm not sure if they offer drivers for download... *sigh*