Ok, so here's the latest of what I've done... I did the driver check with driveragent and it did have an X for the vid driver, so I went to ati and downloaded the most recent driver available. However, when I tried to install it, it said it required .net 2.2 framework, (which I assume is available only with service pack 2, which I haven't been able to update to due to the frequent bsod's...), so I toom a chance to update to sp 2, and behold... BSOD. So now my pc won't boot and I have to reinstall xp. The good thing about it is the pc will now be "driver free", the bad thing is I don't think I'll be able to install the lastest driver due to needing .net 2.2 framework and not being able to update to sp2... It seems I have quite the delima here...... Not sure what to do next, except the obvious reformatting I have ahead of me... Any thoughts/suggestions will be GREATLY appreciated as they have all been so far!! Thanks!

Hi -- you should get SP2 anyway-- there are so many updates since then-- I neglected to look at what you had for OS. You really need SP2-- older versions will not be supported on Windows Update at all soon. It is important for your PC's online security-- as well as many other things.
You can:
Download & burn a copy from a friends PC.
Borrow a disc from someone-- there are no restrictions on the service pack files
Order the CD from Microsoft-- you only pay for shipping -- $4.95 when I got it.

Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD


Then when you get tha CD you should keep running Windows Update until the scan says "no updates available"
There will probably be multiple updates for installed hardware too...
Some of the optional updates are up to you-- but you should get anything related to Windows itself-- there are even updates to Windows Installer in SP2-- which could affect how things install-- like video-card drivers?

NOTE: When you install SP2-- I suggest a clean boot:

How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state

Yeah, I had SP2 when the problem first started happening, I and always keep my system up to date. The thing is, when it started to bsod, I ended up doing to reformat (thinking I had some major driver conflicts that I could not get resolved). Then after the reformat, I kept getting bsod's, before I could get all updates done. That's when I started this thread, when the reformat didn't fix the problem... I was trying to get sp2 back on my system, but the bsod's wouldn't let me...

Here is the latest in my journey...

I did a full reformat/reinstall of xp pro. After reinstall, I left pc, without touching or doing anything on it and it was stable for 4 hours+, which hasn't happened in several weeks. So, I start to load drivers one at a time and wait for bsod... First is the mobo lan driver... install... wait... no problems... Next, the mobo audio driver, install... wait... fine... Then adobe reader, install... bsod. Reboot, system restore before I installed anything. Went through the same routine, LAN driver, audio driver, instead of adobe, I got online and downloaded AVG antivirus, and still ended up getting a bsod. I tried to download the most recent vid card driver also, but got bsod, the one about drvier irql not less or equal... This is really starting to get to me, I'm about ready to throw the freaking machine out the window and go buy an etch a sketch and be done with computers!!!! Any suggestions??? I don't want to drop $$ down on cpu/mobo/vid card/ram until I know what the culprit is for sure, but it's not looking like I'm going to be able to figure it out... I do have one other option I'm going to try in a little bit, I have a PCI vid card I'm going to throw in the machine and bypass the agp alltogether and see how my pc reacts. I'll post back with the results.

Thanks,
Scott

Ok, so I haven't put in the pci vid card yet. But something different did happen. After doing the system restore, I was able to use the pc for almost 2 hours!!! (although, I didn't have the nerve to change the reslolution to something different than 800x600, and was scared to install anything on the pc, update included...) But, I did eventually go to Microsoft for some updates, there were 3 that I needed to do before I could get to the rest... I downloaded and installed and restarted as the pc said to do. I got a new bsod immediately on restart as follows:

STOP: 0x09D38D68, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0xB29CE55E)

tcpip.sys - address B29CE55E base at B29C7000, datestamp 3d6de222

I didn't attach a dumpfile as I am on my "backup" pc since the main one is in question. If you need to view the dumpfile, just let me know and I'll bootup in safe mode to send it in.

Thanks

Oh, my, I need to examine this tomorrow. It's too late for this sort of conundrum.

Alright, first things first I definitely need to check out your dump file. If you're getting BSODs on a perfectly good video card as well as the original, I'm leaning a little more towards the motherboard slot. Now, the temporary replacement and the original both used the AGP slot, correct? If so, we need to test a card in different slot.

Secondly, we need to get SP2 on there. Not necessarily just to solve the problem, but also for other obvious reasons.