MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION

[rd]

Help fellow footy fans & IT experts.

My Windows XP has in recent weeks been crashing intermittenly with a blue screen labelled MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x80546E70, 0xB2000000, 0x00070F0F).

The text on the blue screen tells me to restart - however pressing the restart button simply causes everything to freeze up. Through trial/error I have discovered that I have to turn off power supply at the wall and leave the thing alone for at least 20 minutes. Upon restarting Xp, I often get a message from Windows Live OneCare that it fixed a problem but it won't tell me what the problem is. Googling this error has seen me get advised I have either an unknown hardware fault or an unknown software fault - narrowed it down nicely for me!

Any ideas or advice out there?

[Wedgie]

A quick google brought this up mate, looks like no easy answers.

A Machine Check Exception (MCE) is a type of computer hardware error that occurs when a computer's central processing unit detects an unrecoverable hardware problem.

Microsoft Windows displays the error using the blue screen of death containing the error message.

The error usually occurs due to failure or overstressing of hardware components where the error cannot be more specifically identified with a different error message. Diagnosing the error message can be difficult, although Intel Pentium processors do generate more specific codes which can be decoded by contacting the manufacturer.

MCEs require a restart of the system before users can continue normal operation: they often indicate a long-term problem of a general nature.

[Dog_ger]

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t17514.html

[Psyber]

My first thought was either something getting too hot, or inadequate power supply.
Dog_ger's reference sums it up.

[rd]

Thanks for your help everyone - I have followed Dog_ger's link and followed some steps from there - let's see what happens !!