PC recommendations please

manda

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Amanda Herbert
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Hi all,

My PC gives a blue screen and crashes a bizzillion times. The last time it did this was in 2012 and I took it to my lovely computer guy. Is it time to buy a new PC? Which one do you recommend? I have a D600 / lightroom 4 / CS 3.

Alternatively, should I switch to mac and buy the new cloud software. The only other windows software I use is blogstomp / curvemaster / portrait professional.

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Mandy
 
Hi Mandy,

What is the spec of the current machine?

It may just be a software issue or hardware like a graphics card.

Also what is your budget on a new machine, do you need a monitor, keyboard as well, this will help people recommend what to get.
 
Thanks for your questions - I've no idea about the spec - it's an acer and one that I bought from PC world 5 years ago.

I've recently installed colour munki (bought via talk photography) about 5 months ago, but apart from that nothing has changed. I've unplugged the latter and am still having problems.

Budget - I'd prefer to buy the best and grow into it. Monitor / key board are fine (but I do think I need a cover for the monitor to reduce glare).

All my files are on external hard drives, so the PC only drives LR / PS.

Sorry to be vague, but I'm a novice when it comes to co computers, Mandy
 
Usual spec applies, at least an i5 quad core with at least 8gb memory. Ssd if budget allows.

Lightroom will reward you for a nice fast CPU and ssd. Cs3 is pretty old now and you won't see the benefit of a faster machine, as it's only 32bit it can take much much longer to process than cs4 and above which are 64bit.

Take a look at novatech, note their system prices do not include windows unless you select it.
 
Download "who crashed" and post up here what it tells you.
 
Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.
On Sun 01/12/2013 16:40:32 GMT your computer crashed
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 01/12/2013 16:40:32 GMT your computer crashed
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 01/12/2013 08:32:05 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\120113-18766-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmdag.sys (atikmdag+0x3248FD)
Bugcheck code: 0xA (0xFFFFFA7FFFFFFCD8, 0x2, 0x1, 0xFFFFF800030B2061)
Error: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmdag.sys
product: ATI Radeon Family
company: ATI Technologies Inc.
description: ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that Microsoft Windows or a kernel-mode driver accessed paged memory at DISPATCH_LEVEL or above.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmdag.sys (ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver, ATI Technologies Inc.).
Google query: ATI Technologies Inc. IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

On Fri 29/11/2013 17:48:25 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\112913-36145-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x75BC0)
Bugcheck code: 0x3B (0xC0000005, 0xFFFFF80003205147, 0xFFFFF88009860630, 0x0)
Error: SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that an exception happened while executing a routine that transitions from non-privileged code to privileged code.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Thu 21/11/2013 19:19:48 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\112513-18579-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe (nt+0x75BC0)
Bugcheck code: 0x1A (0x41287, 0x380, 0x0, 0x0)
Error: MEMORY_MANAGEMENT
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Bug check description: This indicates that a severe memory management error occurred.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Tue 24/09/2013 16:19:24 GMT your computer crashed
Bug check description: This indicates that a problem occurred in the file system's cache manager.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Sat 21/09/2013 06:44:39 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\092113-52509-01.dmp
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Mon 16/09/2013 18:28:43 GMT your computer crashed
Bug check description: This indicates that a severe memory management error occurred.
This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Sun 01/09/2013 16:45:39 GMT your computer crashed
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem. This might be a case of memory corruption. More often memory corruption happens because of software errors in buggy drivers, not because of faulty RAM modules.
The crash took place in the Windows kernel. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver that cannot be identified at this time.

On Fri 21/06/2013 05:08:43 GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\062113-46691-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: iastor.sys (iaStor+0x527A0)
Bugcheck code: 0xD1 (0xFFFFF88004DF84C4, 0x9, 0x8, 0xFFFFF88004DF84C4)
Error: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\iastor.sys
product: Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver
company: Intel Corporation
description: Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver - x64
Bug check description: This indicates that a kernel-mode driver attempted to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that was too high.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: iastor.sys (Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver - x64, Intel Corporation).
Google query: Intel Corporation DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Summary
12 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. Only 10 are included in this report. 2 third party drivers have been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:

iastor.sys (Intel Matrix Storage Manager driver - x64, Intel Corporation)
atikmdag.sys (ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver, ATI Technologies Inc.)

If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination the errors that have been reported for these drivers and include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions from users who have been experiencing similar problems.
 
Download "who crashed" and post up here what it tells you.
WOW - really helpful advice - thank so much.

I don't really understand it, but I've bought 2 new external hard drives. Should I just back up my files and then install the new drives? Have a good weekend, Mandy

EDIT - I'm starting with intel driver update facility! I think this is what the summary recommends!
 
Last edited:
Usual spec applies, at least an i5 quad core with at least 8gb memory. Ssd if budget allows.

Lightroom will reward you for a nice fast CPU and ssd. Cs3 is pretty old now and you won't see the benefit of a faster machine, as it's only 32bit it can take much much longer to process than cs4 and above which are 64bit.

Take a look at novatech, note their system prices do not include windows unless you select it.
Love this website - thanks for the details. Would love to upgrade so I'll keep it bookmarked :)
 
The recent errors seem to be due to the graphics card. Try updating then drivers and see what happens.

Did the error start after you installed the calibration software?
 
The recent errors seem to be due to the graphics card. Try updating then drivers and see what happens.

Did the error start after you installed the calibration software?
Yes they did - LOL - I'll un-install this while I'm at it! Currently updating the drivers as we speak. Can't tell you how grateful I am that you're all helping me out! Mandy
 
Fingers crossed it gets sorted, unless you want to get a new pc.

Also make sure you backup everything to be on the safe side.
 
out of interest, when was the last time you opened up the computer case and got rid of dust etc and around the cooling fans including the CPU fan? if you havn't done so the problem could just be overheating.
 
If it was overheating you'd see a thermal shutdown rather than blue screen. The errors above suggest drivers and/or memory issues.

Once you've done the intel drivers, hop over to the ati website and download their latest driver pack.
 
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