win2k question

My win2k system has been remarkably stable for the last 2 years, but suddenly I am having problems.

I need to figure out whether it is a hardware or a software problem. I have been running the windows supplied backup program monthly for a couple of years and then storing the Backup.bkf file on an external USB2 hard drive.

Started my monthly routine yesterday and just after responding to the question about whether or not to overwrite the old data (probably 4-5 seconds into backup) screen goes darb and I get a "No Sync" error message on dark screen - followed by a reboot.

It sticks in the back of my mind that win2k tracks what interrupt causes the reboot somewhere, but I can't seem to find anything about it. I need to know if it is a hardware or software problem.

Question - does win2k track and log this stuff? If so, how can I check it out?

I suspect a new software package called Folder Lock. I contacted their tech support, but nothing yet. (Folder Lock applies security to individual folders).
They have a special process to unlock all folders prior to backup - which I have used.

Am I right about win2k leaving footprints somewhere - or did I imagine that?

Tom

Take a look in event viewer (eventvwr.msc) but you will need to be lucky, exceptions that kill the system rarely leave a trace. It can be tracked from the memory dump if you got the blue screen and if your system is configured to make a full dump but that isn't an option unless you are a programmer.

I did not get a blue screen - and my system is configured to give a mini dump - I think I will uninstall Folder Lock and See what that does. If that doesn't work I will drag out the old original Dell Diags and run the system diags to see what happens.

Tom

Uninstall the program is a good idea, good luck.

I uninstalled Folder Lock - Same failure as before - I dug out old Dell stand alone diagnostics.

Ran approx 3 hours of dianostics - biggest part of time was diagnostics on C:
Ran all except telecom / cable modem diags. Not a single error.

Only thing left is the Microsoft Backup package. It ran last month successfully - not now fails consistently - only thing peculiar is timing is not consistent to failure point - I would have expected program to fail at the same point.

Going to wait thru next round of Microsoft updates and see if that changes anything

Tom

Finally got reply from Folder Lock people -

"
Load your computer in Safe Mode or in Dos Mode (this can be done by loading your computer with the help of a bootable disk, floppy or a bootable CD) and
then delete the file called 'windrvNT.sys' from your Windows system folder, which is Windows\System or Windows\System32.

Once you've deleted this file, boot the computer normally and you can use the computer without any problem with all your files recovered.
"
2 questions - how do I boot into "Safe Mode" and will the file they mention deleting - rebuild itself?

OBTW I used the event viewer and it specified "Bug Check" which I assume is a program exception.

Tom

Got another message from Folder Lock - apparently it is their problem and not a Win2k problem

"
Sir "windvrNT.sys" is related to Folder Lock only.

Please let me know if I can do anything for you,

Have a great day!
Mike Frank,
Newsoftwares.net, USA,
http://www.newsoftwares.net
Email: [email protected]

Thanks to all for the help

Tom

Bug Check runs on startup after an exception. the file he is talking about is a driver which must be the method used to lock your folders - it must become part of the file access system during Windows operation, it does not load in SAFE MODE because third party drivers and services do not load in SAFE MODE boots. Follow their advice - they wrote the software so they must know how it works.

To boot into safe mode keep tapping the F5 key at the start of the boot process.