Problems with x64

I installed x64 Pro fresh on a brand new hard drive. The installation went
smoothly and I'm using the latest nvidia x64 drivers for my video card.
However, everytime I right click on a file in windows explorer, the screen
blinks off (or goes black) for a moment and then comes back on. I haven't
been able to replicate this anywhere else.

Also, when I have multiple levels on my taskbar (which is set to show only
one level and grouping windows is turned off), I have a wierd issue where if
I'm not on a particular level (and this seems to be random) and click on the
bar more than once, it switches to this random "default" level. Say if I had
three levels, and the second level was the random default, if I was on the
first level and clicked on a window it would restore normally. Now if I
switch to another level on that first level, the task bar would switch over
to the second level as if I hit one of of the arrow buttons to do so. This
is getting really really annoying as I often do have more than one level now
in XP.

Any ideas? I had 2kPro before so I have no idea if any of these problems
would have occured in 32 bit XP with the same hardware configuration...but I
doubt it.

Rick
Mon May 16 10:51:52 CDT 2005

Start by telling us what your hardware configuration is. some of these
problems are hardware specific and the only way for anyone to evaluate
you problem is to know what your setup is.


Patrick wrote:
> I installed x64 Pro fresh on a brand new hard drive. The installation went
> smoothly and I'm using the latest nvidia x64 drivers for my video card.
> However, everytime I right click on a file in windows explorer, the screen
> blinks off (or goes black) for a moment and then comes back on. I haven't
> been able to replicate this anywhere else.
>
> Also, when I have multiple levels on my taskbar (which is set to show only
> one level and grouping windows is turned off), I have a wierd issue where if
> I'm not on a particular level (and this seems to be random) and click on the
> bar more than once, it switches to this random "default" level. Say if I had
> three levels, and the second level was the random default, if I was on the
> first level and clicked on a window it would restore normally. Now if I
> switch to another level on that first level, the task bar would switch over
> to the second level as if I hit one of of the arrow buttons to do so. This
> is getting really really annoying as I often do have more than one level now
> in XP.
>
> Any ideas? I had 2kPro before so I have no idea if any of these problems
> would have occured in 32 bit XP with the same hardware configuration...but I
> doubt it.

Patrick
Tue May 17 02:25:20 CDT 2005

Looks like the screen flicker was caused by my RAM being scaled too high.

I have a Shuttle SN95G3 with 2x512 Corsair TwinX 3200 RAM. A BFG 6600GT OC
card and a SB Live! x-Gamer 5.1 sound card as well as a pair of 7200 RPM hard
drives generating loads of heat.

When I installed the RAM under my previous OS (2k Pro), everything was fine
at the performance settings and 2-3-7-3 timings. I leave my system running
all the time so reboots are rare, maybe once every week or two. A couple
reboots ago, the system refused to start and would blank screen after BIOS.
After a few boots, I'd get to the XP did not start up properly screen and it
would crash if I tried to boot in. I was able to solve the problem by
reducing the timings to 2-3-8-3. The last reboot I did failed in the same
fashion. I was able to get it running again by reducing from performance
settings to normal. And now the flicker has gone away. Could this have been
because of heat? It was hot the last several days. Or could this be an
indication of bad RAM? I only have another week to return the RAM if this is
the case.

I don't have enough windows open to know if the task bar is still switching
however.



"Rick" wrote:

> Start by telling us what your hardware configuration is. some of these
> problems are hardware specific and the only way for anyone to evaluate
> you problem is to know what your setup is.
>
>
> Patrick wrote:
> > I installed x64 Pro fresh on a brand new hard drive. The installation went
> > smoothly and I'm using the latest nvidia x64 drivers for my video card.
> > However, everytime I right click on a file in windows explorer, the screen
> > blinks off (or goes black) for a moment and then comes back on. I haven't
> > been able to replicate this anywhere else.
> >
> > Also, when I have multiple levels on my taskbar (which is set to show only
> > one level and grouping windows is turned off), I have a wierd issue where if
> > I'm not on a particular level (and this seems to be random) and click on the
> > bar more than once, it switches to this random "default" level. Say if I had
> > three levels, and the second level was the random default, if I was on the
> > first level and clicked on a window it would restore normally. Now if I
> > switch to another level on that first level, the task bar would switch over
> > to the second level as if I hit one of of the arrow buttons to do so. This
> > is getting really really annoying as I often do have more than one level now
> > in XP.
> >
> > Any ideas? I had 2kPro before so I have no idea if any of these problems
> > would have occured in 32 bit XP with the same hardware configuration...but I
> > doubt it.
>

Christian
Tue May 17 04:26:44 CDT 2005

Patrick <Patrick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> Looks like the screen flicker was caused by my RAM being scaled too
> high.
>
> I have a Shuttle SN95G3 with 2x512 Corsair TwinX 3200 RAM. A BFG
> 6600GT OC card and a SB Live! x-Gamer 5.1 sound card as well as a
> pair of 7200 RPM hard drives generating loads of heat.
>
> When I installed the RAM under my previous OS (2k Pro), everything
> was fine at the performance settings and 2-3-7-3 timings. I leave my
> system running all the time so reboots are rare, maybe once every
> week or two. A couple reboots ago, the system refused to start and
> would blank screen after BIOS. After a few boots, I'd get to the XP
> did not start up properly screen and it would crash if I tried to
> boot in. I was able to solve the problem by reducing the timings to
> 2-3-8-3. The last reboot I did failed in the same fashion. I was
> able to get it running again by reducing from performance settings to
> normal. And now the flicker has gone away. Could this have been
> because of heat? It was hot the last several days. Or could this be
> an indication of bad RAM? I only have another week to return the RAM
> if this is the case.
>
> I don't have enough windows open to know if the task bar is still
> switching however.
>
>

Hi Patrick

The best thing is to test your memory. It's a long process but then you're
sure all is ok.
One good soft to test your memory is memtest86 (
http://www.memtest.org/#downiso)
You can boot your pc from a diskette or a USB Key. Do it before going to bed
because it takes a while :)

Cheers



--
Christian Hougardy (MS XP MVP)
Johannesburg - South Africa
http://msmvps.com/xpditif

wallas
Tue May 17 16:01:02 CDT 2005

Patrick

I'm not convinced that you've got problems with your memory timings, as
suggested above.

I had exactly the same problem under WinXP Pro (32 bit) with my GeForce
4000MX, which I only started to notice after I had been messing around with
monitor and video drivers after plugging in an LCD flat panel.

The only success I had was to completely remove the nvidia video drivers and
the (dell) monitor drivers, then reinstall the latest version from nvidia. I
never found out what was causing the screen to go black, but now it's stopped
so I'm happy.

I've got my copy of x64 now so once I've found the time to install it I'll
be waiting to see if it behaves...

I can't comment on the taskbar/levels problem I'm afraid.

"Patrick" wrote:

> I installed x64 Pro fresh on a brand new hard drive. The installation went
> smoothly and I'm using the latest nvidia x64 drivers for my video card.
> However, everytime I right click on a file in windows explorer, the screen
> blinks off (or goes black) for a moment and then comes back on. I haven't
> been able to replicate this anywhere else.
>
> Also, when I have multiple levels on my taskbar (which is set to show only
> one level and grouping windows is turned off), I have a wierd issue where if
> I'm not on a particular level (and this seems to be random) and click on the
> bar more than once, it switches to this random "default" level. Say if I had
> three levels, and the second level was the random default, if I was on the
> first level and clicked on a window it would restore normally. Now if I
> switch to another level on that first level, the task bar would switch over
> to the second level as if I hit one of of the arrow buttons to do so. This
> is getting really really annoying as I often do have more than one level now
> in XP.
>
> Any ideas? I had 2kPro before so I have no idea if any of these problems
> would have occured in 32 bit XP with the same hardware configuration...but I
> doubt it.

Patrick
Tue May 17 21:52:02 CDT 2005

There shouldn't be anything wrong with the memory timings since they are in
line with Corsair's specs (I'm not over clocking) however nothing else seems
to explain the fact that Windows won't even attempt to boot when the timings
are at spec.

"wallas" wrote:

> Patrick
>
> I'm not convinced that you've got problems with your memory timings, as
> suggested above.
>
> I had exactly the same problem under WinXP Pro (32 bit) with my GeForce
> 4000MX, which I only started to notice after I had been messing around with
> monitor and video drivers after plugging in an LCD flat panel.
>
> The only success I had was to completely remove the nvidia video drivers and
> the (dell) monitor drivers, then reinstall the latest version from nvidia. I
> never found out what was causing the screen to go black, but now it's stopped
> so I'm happy.
>
> I've got my copy of x64 now so once I've found the time to install it I'll
> be waiting to see if it behaves...
>
> I can't comment on the taskbar/levels problem I'm afraid.
>
> "Patrick" wrote:
>
> > I installed x64 Pro fresh on a brand new hard drive. The installation went
> > smoothly and I'm using the latest nvidia x64 drivers for my video card.
> > However, everytime I right click on a file in windows explorer, the screen
> > blinks off (or goes black) for a moment and then comes back on. I haven't
> > been able to replicate this anywhere else.
> >
> > Also, when I have multiple levels on my taskbar (which is set to show only
> > one level and grouping windows is turned off), I have a wierd issue where if
> > I'm not on a particular level (and this seems to be random) and click on the
> > bar more than once, it switches to this random "default" level. Say if I had
> > three levels, and the second level was the random default, if I was on the
> > first level and clicked on a window it would restore normally. Now if I
> > switch to another level on that first level, the task bar would switch over
> > to the second level as if I hit one of of the arrow buttons to do so. This
> > is getting really really annoying as I often do have more than one level now
> > in XP.
> >
> > Any ideas? I had 2kPro before so I have no idea if any of these problems
> > would have occured in 32 bit XP with the same hardware configuration...but I
> > doubt it.