[Zombie]

First I don't know if I should have posted this is video or Win XP OS but since it starts with video lol here goes

On occasion when I turn my computer on I receive NO video(picture) at all.
I went into the event viewer the last time it happened and this is what I
saw. I have absolutely NO idea what it means or if it means anything at all .
Is it associated with the issue I have listed , is it not ? I restart
the computer a 2nd time and I have video(picture)No Idea lol. hopefully
someone here can help.
Well now that I go back in and look today, I see the same error however I had video when I turned on the computer

Event Type: Error
Event Source: sptd
Event Category: None
Event ID: 4
Date: 12/24/2008
Time: 9:22:55 AM
User: N/A
Computer:
Description:
Driver detected an internal error in its data structures for .
For more information, see Help and Support Center at go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Data:
0000: 00 00 00 00 01 00 52 00 ......R.
0008: 00 00 00 00 04 00 04 c0 .......À
0010: b8 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ¸.......
0018: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........
0020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ........

Thank you

[coastie65]

Hi Zombie, You didn't give us any information on your graphics. Are you using a card on onboard chipset. Eitherway, the first thing to try is to uninstall and reinstall the graphics drivers and make sure they are up to date. Baring that there is no problem with the monitor ( This can be checked with a second monitor if available) and you are using a Video Card in an expansion slot, I would say there is every possibility thet your card is failing. coastie65

[Zombie]

MB: Manufacturer: MSI
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs)
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 160 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

I don't know if I am fully buying into the vid card going bad all of a sudden. It's only 6 months old but granted I know they can go. I play BF at all high settings and the card gives me no troble at all. Anytime this has happened it has always been ok on the 2nd boot.

[ARock84]

The best way to figure out your problem is to install an old graphics card something that is a PCI card that way you can see if it may be your monitor. If it works you can locate the problem easier. Your video card can go bad! I fried mine the same day I got mine, but they forgot to take the plastic off of the fan and overheated it. Which in turn fries it! LOL If you are using a PCI Exxpress 16X card see if you have another slot to install it. I have had a slot on the motherboard go bad before!!! It happens.

Try these ideas and get back to us to figure out the problem !



ARock 84

[coastie65]

Hey Zombie, If that MOBO has an onboard graphics chipset, you can revert back to that and see if the problem persists. I had an Nvidia 7600 GS that went out in about 5 mos, and I wasn't playing as intensive as what you are playing. coastie

[Zombie]

Well I tried another "working monitor" and it went blank as well. As soon as I get tiem I am going to remove the video card and resort back to the onboard. If the monitor stays on, now I guess I am down to either the pic-e slot is bad and or the vid card itself

[Zombie]

Ok I have tried the other pci-e slot and still get the same thing. This MB does not have on board video so that is out of the question.
What has me a little confused is this. I use a program called
teamspeak, which allows me to talk with my gaming friends. When I get
the no signal input and the screen goes blank, I cannot continue to
talk to my friend and I cannot hear him either. If this was solely a
video card issue wouldn't I still be able to talk and hear?

[mcbarker]

I know that everyone else is pointing to a video card problem, so I may be wrong, but... do you have any virtual drive/CD burning software installed (Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools, etc)?

An event source error in SPTD.SYS coupled with an ID: 4 error is often caused by that type of program. If so, try uninstalling the program, and see if that makes the problem go away. If it comes back again after reinstalling the program, there's something else conflicting with SPTD.SYS.

One example... Slysoft GameJackal is notorious for conflicting with CD packet burning software like Nero and Roxio.

[Zombie]

Not exactly sure what you mean by virtual drive. As per your post umm I have a few shared folders, I know I have nero on here and an external HD. Some other cd burning software which is ummmm cdburnerxp.



As far as slysoft gamejackal it's not on here as far as I know lol

[SnyperTodd]

Zombie, I'm going to have to agree with Coastie on this one. It sounds to me like a video card issue. What brand of 8800GT do you have? The early Gigabyte 8800GTs were known to have heat and memory problems. I have a failing 8500GT in my attic computer, and it does the exact same thing you're describing. I know it's the video card, because every computer I put it in freezes like that, and the one it is normally in doesn't freeze with any other video card. My point is a failing video card can take the entire system down with it.

[Zombie]

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT

[mcbarker]

I knew that the NVidia GeForce series cards from the 7900 through the 8600 series had bad GPU problems, but I thought that they had fixed that by the 8800 series. I was running two 8800GT's in SLI mode until recently, and apart from overheating a bit when pushed to the limit, I never had really had a problem with them. I still think it's a driver conflict issue, but as I said before, I may be wrong.

Zombie, you have two different CD burner programs installed. That can sometimes cause driver problems. Neither Nero, nor Roxio are very tolerant of other burning software bieng installed (kind of like have two antivirus or firewall programs active at the same time). It sometimes causes problems.

[SnyperTodd]

Zombie, nVidia makes the chipset. Another vendor builds the actual card itself using nVidia's chipset. This vendor will then market the card under it's brand name- like Gigabyte, XFX, EVGA, BFG, Asus, etc. Knowing this brand will help us to determine if your particular 8800GT is more prone to failure than another brand.

[Zombie]

Sorry, XFX makes it

[Zombie]

Well I had some other issues pop up o nthis pc. A stop error umm C0000218 I believe so since I could not get the pc back, I eneded up doing a reformat. Good news is I was able to save my files using a sata-usb adapter, woo. Bad news is, that I still am faced wit hthe original problem of not getting video on some starts. SO I am going to assume that since this is a new format that there are no problems with drivers. Also right before the reformat, only a few times though the pc would just shut off. Can a video card just make a pc shut down? or should I start leaning towards a power supply as the overall issue?



thanks

[coastie65]

Hey zombie, If the PC is shutting of it could be either a PSU issue, or more than likely overheating. You could very well have a bad video card as well. best way to check is by using another card ( be sure to completely unistall the drivers from the one in first, before installing another card. Also you weren't too clear on the c0000218 Stop message. Was there anything else in the message such as something relting to the registry? coastie

[Zombie]

Yes there was something else related to the registry I believe.

Sometimes it will just shut down after only being on for 5 minutes....Other times the pc has been on for awhile. When you say overheating do you mean the Processor? I put thermal paste on it about 2 weeks ago thinkning that might have been the problem but it wasn't

[coastie65]

Hi zombie, Did you use alcohol wipes and clean the old stuff off the processor and heat sink before reapply the fresh ? AND How much did you use ? coastie

[Zombie]

No I used a dry kleenix, and got it all off I'm sure. I covered the entire bottom of the heatsink as the directions said on the thermal paste

[coastie65]

So much for directions. With Arctic Silver 5, you need no more than an amount equivalant to a half grain of rice. and you shouldn't need much more than that with any TMC. All that stuff does is fill in the imperfections from machining on the surface of the processor and allow for better heat transfer. Too much and it acts as an insulation ( just the opposite of what you want). coastie