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About 6 months ago I bought a new computer, all parts were new, it has 4gb ram, quad core and has been running xp pro fine since. Yesterday I noticed some apps would crash and occasionally it would bluescreen. Although it may just be a coincidence, it seems to be working fine as long as I don't plug my wireless N usb adapter back in (about 4 months old). I have not made any recent hardware changes but this has happened since the latest 3 windows updates it received on the 15th of July.

What could be wrong?

Edit solution:

The problem was ram but very hard to reproduce. It could go on for any where between a few hours to a few weeks fine before it would happen again. I removed one of the 2 RAM modules and had memtest86+ sitting in the drive ready so as soon as it happened I could instantly reboot and run the tests. This was a a painfully tedious process and it was if it had to be in normal use to reproduce but running memtest from a cold boot I found would never catch the problem. Eventually I could confirm a memory module reported errors, switched the modules and tested for a few weeks without the error showing. Crucial was very happy, with no questions asked to replace the module, and again the replacement and it has been running fine ever since.

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I don't suppose you've got some crash dumps from the bluescreens? You can usually do some basic research using windbg and the crash dump. There are a few presentations out there that show the basics, like: msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/… (On Demand Webcast) – Marc Reside Jul 16 '09 at 22:19
No updates for six months. Edit your question or flag for mod attention if otherwise. – random♦ Jan 30 '10 at 8:49
@Eight Days of Malaise - there I've added the solution for reference to others with this same problem. – Rhythmic Algorithm Jan 31 '10 at 7:57
Hopefully now you'll be able to post your answer and mark as accepted two days later. – random♦ Jan 31 '10 at 8:01
@Eight Days of Malaise - I don't know why you need to get so up tight about the most boring question posted by a user's specific random problem. In fact the diagnosis, double send item back and the extended time I wanted to use to truly verify the problem was fixed did take quite some time. With many other issues too "Must update superuser.com" has never been an urgent priority. – Rhythmic Algorithm Jan 31 '10 at 10:49
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closed as off topic by random♦, Diago Jan 30 '10 at 9:45

Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware, within the scope defined in the faq.

2 Answers

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Download MemTest86 to see if your RAM is having issues. You could also check your motherboard vendor to see if they have a BIOS update for your motherboard. Also check your Wireless N Adapter's website to see if they have updated drivers.

-JFV

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up vote 2 down vote

Sounds like a dodgy driver, try grabbing the latest driver for your wireless adapter from the manufacturers website. If that fails, try uninstalling these 3 windows updates you've just installed.

What did this BSOD you received say? If you could take a photo of it or write it down that would be a huge help in identifying what's wrong.

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No pattern BSOD has been different each time. – Rhythmic Algorithm Jul 16 '09 at 22:35
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