I will be quite amazed if it was merely a software issue

But anyway it appears that some progress was made. See how it tests out with your games.

Many computer techs work under the assumption that the client knows nothing about computers. Many also get annoyed if you show that you do know something. In many ways they are similar to auto mechanics or even medical doctors

The troubleshooting process is a quite basic try this then try that then so on and so forth.

I would suggest if your data is as valuable as you say that you start backing up your hard drive on a regular basis.

I won't say a new motherboard will 100% fix everything but it will give you a solid foundation on which to run/test and eliminate peripheral defective components.

So are you saying that there is a gargoyle on the loose?

I don't know. It was red and had bad cavities, a wrinkly nose, and a hygiene problem.

I've been playing for a bit now, testing KOTOR II and Battlefront II, the games that crashed the most often. Meow.

But remember, when I bought the new video card, everything worked sexcellently for the whole night. Next morning, I crashed within a minute of Battlefront II...

Meow.

Take care Jephree. Hang some onions and grab an Ethereal Crossbow to keep the Gargoyles away.

I just knew it had to happen. Computer works perfectly for a few hours one day...next day it crashes instantly. I played Driver 3 for about 2 minutes before crashing with DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL for atapi.sys. After that, I got 2 more IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSODs that were stopping XP from loading. Now I am back without a computer as it no longer turns on.

Wow. How long has it been since I turned on the computer? An hour and a half? I just turned it on and am using it. Got the Windows error reporting pop-up as well. Now I can give you a dumplog:

Opened log file 'c:\debuglog.txt'

Microsoft (R) Windows Debugger Version 6.6.0003.5
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


Loading Dump File [C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini051806-01.dmp]
Mini Kernel Dump File: Only registers and stack trace are available

Symbol search path is: SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
Executable search path is: C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS\system32 \drivers
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) UP Free x86 compatible
Product: WinNt, suite: TerminalServer SingleUserTS Personal
Built by: 2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055a420
Debug session time: Thu May 18 12:07:16.218 2006 (GMT-4)
System Uptime: 0 days 0:00:29.875
Loading Kernel Symbols
.................................................. .................................................. ........
Loading User Symbols
Loading unloaded module list
.....
************************************************** *****************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
************************************************** *****************************

Use !analyze -v to get detailed debugging information.

BugCheck 1000000A, {3f3f3f4b, ff, 0, 804d93be}

*** ERROR: Module load completed but symbols could not be loaded for avg7rsxp.sys
Probably caused by : avg7rsxp.sys ( avg7rsxp+246b )

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

kd> !analyze -v;r;kv;lmtn;.logclose;q
************************************************** *****************************
* *
* Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
************************************************** *****************************

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (a)
An attempt was made to access a pageable (or completely invalid) address at an
interrupt request level (IRQL) that is too high. This is usually
caused by drivers using improper addresses.
If a kernel debugger is available get the stack backtrace.
Arguments:
Arg1: 3f3f3f4b, memory referenced
Arg2: 000000ff, IRQL
Arg3: 00000000, value 0 = read operation, 1 = write operation
Arg4: 804d93be, address which referenced memory

Debugging Details:
------------------


READ_ADDRESS: 3f3f3f4b

CURRENT_IRQL: ff

FAULTING_IP:
nt!ExAcquireResourceSharedLite+65
804d93be 66395e0c cmp [esi+0xc],bx

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: DRIVER_FAULT

BUGCHECK_STR: 0xA

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 80563bbf to 804d93be

STACK_TEXT:
f7a86464 80563bbf 3f3f3f3f 00000001 e1762030 nt!ExAcquireResourceSharedLite+0x65
f7a86478 f745c9b1 863a1a2c 86e38008 00000000 nt!SeLockSubjectContext+0x22
f7a86544 f7498f0c 86e38008 e1751a28 00000000 Ntfs!NtfsAccessCheck+0x130
f7a866a0 f745ef64 86e38008 86bc2238 f7a866f8 Ntfs!NtfsCommonCreate+0x1036
f7a86780 804e37f7 86f7a020 86bc2238 86f6a148 Ntfs!NtfsFsdCreate+0x1ec
f7a86790 f74e2876 86bc23e4 86fcac70 00000000 nt!IopfCallDriver+0x31
f7a867dc 804e37f7 86f28768 00000001 86bc2408 sr!SrCreate+0x150
f7a867ec 805c51a7 01000000 86bc2238 86f6a178 nt!IopfCallDriver+0x31
f7a86810 f78cd46b 86f286b0 86bc2238 f7b259f0 nt!IoForwardIrpSynchronously+0x5c
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
f7a86834 f78cc71f 8628ec68 86f6a148 f7b25436 avg7rsxp+0x246b
f7a86948 8056316c 86f2ae30 00000000 86ba1a10 avg7rsxp+0x171f
f7a869d0 8056729a 00000000 f7a86a10 00000240 nt!ObpLookupObjectName+0x56a
f7a86a24 80570b73 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!ObOpenObjectByName+0xeb
f7a86aa0 80570c42 f7a86bdc 00000020 f7a86b48 nt!IopCreateFile+0x407
f7a86afc 80594a61 f7a86bdc 00000020 f7a86b48 nt!IoCreateFile+0x8e
f7a86b70 80595064 f7a86b98 00000020 f7a86bd0 nt!CcPfGetSectionObject+0x91
f7a86c04 805aeff8 f7a86d24 00000003 01a86c84 nt!CcPfPrefetchSections+0x2b7
f7a86dac 8057be15 86f86938 00000000 00000000 nt!CcPfBootWorker+0x3fc
f7a86ddc 804fa4da 805aecb5 86f86938 00000000 nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x34
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!KiThreadStartup+0x16


STACK_COMMAND: kb

FOLLOWUP_IP:
avg7rsxp+246b
f78cd46b 84c0 test al,al

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 9

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

SYMBOL_NAME: avg7rsxp+246b

MODULE_NAME: avg7rsxp

IMAGE_NAME: avg7rsxp.sys

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 43fd0485

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: 0xA_avg7rsxp+246b

BUCKET_ID: 0xA_avg7rsxp+246b

Followup: MachineOwner
---------

eax=86f274b8 ebx=00000000 ecx=86bc23c8 edx=f7a86894 esi=3f3f3f3f edi=86f274b8
eip=804d93be esp=f7a86458 ebp=f7a86464 iopl=0 nv up di pl zr na po nc
cs=0008 ss=0010 ds=0023 es=0023 fs=0030 gs=0000 efl=00010046
nt!ExAcquireResourceSharedLite+0x65:
804d93be 66395e0c cmp [esi+0xc],bx ds:0023:3f3f3f4b=????
ChildEBP RetAddr Args to Child
f7a86464 80563bbf 3f3f3f3f 00000001 e1762030 nt!ExAcquireResourceSharedLite+0x65 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86478 f745c9b1 863a1a2c 86e38008 00000000 nt!SeLockSubjectContext+0x22 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86544 f7498f0c 86e38008 e1751a28 00000000 Ntfs!NtfsAccessCheck+0x130 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a866a0 f745ef64 86e38008 86bc2238 f7a866f8 Ntfs!NtfsCommonCreate+0x1036 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86780 804e37f7 86f7a020 86bc2238 86f6a148 Ntfs!NtfsFsdCreate+0x1ec (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86790 f74e2876 86bc23e4 86fcac70 00000000 nt!IopfCallDriver+0x31 (FPO: [0,0,0])
f7a867dc 804e37f7 86f28768 00000001 86bc2408 sr!SrCreate+0x150 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a867ec 805c51a7 01000000 86bc2238 86f6a178 nt!IopfCallDriver+0x31 (FPO: [0,0,0])
f7a86810 f78cd46b 86f286b0 86bc2238 f7b259f0 nt!IoForwardIrpSynchronously+0x5c (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.
f7a86834 f78cc71f 8628ec68 86f6a148 f7b25436 avg7rsxp+0x246b
f7a86948 8056316c 86f2ae30 00000000 86ba1a10 avg7rsxp+0x171f
f7a869d0 8056729a 00000000 f7a86a10 00000240 nt!ObpLookupObjectName+0x56a (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86a24 80570b73 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!ObOpenObjectByName+0xeb (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86aa0 80570c42 f7a86bdc 00000020 f7a86b48 nt!IopCreateFile+0x407 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86afc 80594a61 f7a86bdc 00000020 f7a86b48 nt!IoCreateFile+0x8e (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86b70 80595064 f7a86b98 00000020 f7a86bd0 nt!CcPfGetSectionObject+0x91 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86c04 805aeff8 f7a86d24 00000003 01a86c84 nt!CcPfPrefetchSections+0x2b7 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86dac 8057be15 86f86938 00000000 00000000 nt!CcPfBootWorker+0x3fc (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
f7a86ddc 804fa4da 805aecb5 86f86938 00000000 nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x34 (FPO: [Non-Fpo])
00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 nt!KiThreadStartup+0x16
start end module name
804d7000 806eb100 nt ntoskrnl.exe Tue Mar 01 19:59:37 2005 (42250FF9)
806ec000 8070c380 hal halaacpi.dll Wed Aug 04 01:59:05 2004 (41107B29)
bf800000 bf9c1180 win32k win32k.sys Wed Oct 05 20:05:44 2005 (43446A58)
bf9c2000 bf9d3580 dxg dxg.sys Wed Aug 04 02:00:51 2004 (41107B93)
bf9d4000 bfd9ce00 nv4_disp nv4_disp.dll Thu Mar 09 19:31:16 2006 (4410C8D4)
f3c45000 f3c5c480 dump_atapi dump_atapi.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:41 2004 (41107B4D)
f3c5d000 f3c80000 Fastfat Fastfat.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:14:15 2004 (41107EB7)
f3fcd000 f408a600 avg7core avg7core.sys Mon Apr 24 05:53:04 2006 (444CA000)
f40b3000 f40d3f00 ipnat ipnat.sys Wed Sep 29 18:28:36 2004 (415B3714)
f40d4000 f4142400 mrxsmb mrxsmb.sys Tue Jan 18 23:26:50 2005 (41EDE18A)
f4143000 f416da00 rdbss rdbss.sys Wed Oct 27 21:13:57 2004 (418047D5)
f416e000 f418fd00 afd afd.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:13 2004 (41107EB5)
f4190000 f41b7c00 netbt netbt.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:36 2004 (41107ECC)
f41b8000 f420fd80 tcpip tcpip.sys Wed May 25 15:04:00 2005 (4294CC20)
f4210000 f4222400 ipsec ipsec.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:27 2004 (41107EC3)
f6382000 f63b5200 update update.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:32 2004 (41107B08)
f63b6000 f63c6e00 psched psched.sys Wed Aug 04 02:04:16 2004 (41107C60)
f63c7000 f63dd680 ndiswan ndiswan.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:30 2004 (41107EC6)
f63fd000 f6410900 parport parport.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:04 2004 (41107B28)
f6411000 f6434800 e100b325 e100b325.sys Tue Mar 04 1425 2003 (3E6504E9)
f6435000 f645b000 ctsfm2k ctsfm2k.sys Mon Jan 10 05:15:22 2005 (41E255BA)
f645b000 f648b000 ctoss2k ctoss2k.sys Mon Jan 10 05:15:28 2005 (41E255C0)
f648b000 f64ad680 ks ks.sys Wed Aug 04 02:15:20 2004 (41107EF8)
f64ae000 f64d1980 portcls portcls.sys Wed Aug 04 02:15:47 2004 (41107F13)
f64d2000 f6625200 P17 P17.sys Thu Jul 07 04:14:18 2005 (42CCE45A)
f6626000 f6648e80 USBPORT USBPORT.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:08:34 2004 (41107D62)
f6649000 f665c780 VIDEOPRT VIDEOPRT.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:07:04 2004 (41107D08)
f665d000 f69d8340 nv4_mini nv4_mini.sys Thu Mar 09 19:40:42 2006 (4410CB0A)
f69fb000 f6a03a00 processr processr.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:14 2004 (41107B32)
f6a1b000 f6a23e40 SMBios SMBios.sys Thu Sep 11 18:20:22 2003 (3F60F526)
f6ae1000 f6ae3280 rasacd rasacd.sys Fri Aug 17 16:55:39 2001 (3B7D84CB)
f73ad000 f73b0c80 mssmbios mssmbios.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:47 2004 (41107D33)
f73b5000 f73b7580 ndistapi ndistapi.sys Fri Aug 17 16:55:29 2001 (3B7D84C1)
f73bd000 f73c0c80 serenum serenum.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:06 2004 (41107B2A)
f73f1000 f740b580 Mup Mup.sys Wed Aug 04 02:15:20 2004 (41107EF8)
f740c000 f7438a80 NDIS NDIS.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:27 2004 (41107EC3)
f7439000 f74c5480 Ntfs Ntfs.sys Wed Aug 04 02:15:06 2004 (41107EEA)
f74c6000 f74dc780 KSecDD KSecDD.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:45 2004 (41107B51)
f74dd000 f74eef00 sr sr.sys Wed Aug 04 02:06:22 2004 (41107CDE)
f74ef000 f750d780 fltmgr fltmgr.sys Wed Aug 04 02:01:17 2004 (41107BAD)
f750e000 f7525800 SCSIPORT SCSIPORT.SYS Wed Aug 04 01:59:39 2004 (41107B4B)
f7526000 f753d480 atapi atapi.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:41 2004 (41107B4D)
f753e000 f755c880 ftdisk ftdisk.sys Fri Aug 17 16:52:41 2001 (3B7D8419)
f755d000 f756da80 pci pci.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:45 2004 (41107D31)
f756e000 f7593e00 d347bus d347bus.sys Sun Aug 22 09:31:09 2004 (4128A01D)
f7594000 f75c1d80 ACPI ACPI.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:35 2004 (41107D27)
f75e3000 f75ebc00 isapnp isapnp.sys Fri Aug 17 16:58:01 2001 (3B7D8559)
f75f3000 f75fd500 MountMgr MountMgr.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:29 2004 (41107B05)
f7603000 f760fc80 VolSnap VolSnap.sys Wed Aug 04 02:00:14 2004 (41107B6E)
f7613000 f761be00 disk disk.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:53 2004 (41107B59)
f7623000 f762f200 CLASSPNP CLASSPNP.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:14:26 2004 (41107EC2)
f7633000 f763d580 agp440 agp440.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:40 2004 (41107D2C)
f7663000 f7671b80 drmk drmk.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:54 2004 (41107D3A)
f7673000 f767fe00 i8042prt i8042prt.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:36 2004 (41107ECC)
f7683000 f7692d80 serial serial.sys Wed Aug 04 02:15:51 2004 (41107F17)
f7693000 f769d380 imapi imapi.sys Wed Aug 04 02:00:12 2004 (41107B6C)
f76a3000 f76af180 cdrom cdrom.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:52 2004 (41107B58)
f76b3000 f76c1080 redbook redbook.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:34 2004 (41107B46)
f76c3000 f76cf880 rasl2tp rasl2tp.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:21 2004 (41107EBD)
f76d3000 f76dd200 raspppoe raspppoe.sys Wed Aug 04 02:05:06 2004 (41107C92)
f76e3000 f76eed00 raspptp raspptp.sys Wed Aug 04 02:14:26 2004 (41107EC2)
f76f3000 f76fb900 msgpc msgpc.sys Wed Aug 04 02:04:11 2004 (41107C5B)
f7703000 f770cf00 termdd termdd.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:52 2004 (41107B1C)
f7713000 f771c480 NDProxy NDProxy.SYS Fri Aug 17 16:55:30 2001 (3B7D84C2)
f7723000 f7731100 usbhub usbhub.sys Wed Aug 04 02:08:40 2004 (41107D68)
f7743000 f774b700 netbios netbios.sys Wed Aug 04 02:03:19 2004 (41107C27)
f7763000 f776b880 Fips Fips.SYS Fri Aug 17 21:31:49 2001 (3B7DC585)
f7773000 f777b700 wanarp wanarp.sys Wed Aug 04 02:04:57 2004 (41107C89)
f7783000 f778bd80 HIDCLASS HIDCLASS.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:08:18 2004 (41107D52)
f7823000 f7832900 Cdfs Cdfs.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:14:09 2004 (41107EB1)
f7863000 f7869200 PCIIDEX PCIIDEX.SYS Wed Aug 04 01:59:40 2004 (41107B4C)
f786b000 f786f900 PartMgr PartMgr.sys Fri Aug 17 21:32:23 2001 (3B7DC5A7)
f78a3000 f78a7a80 Msfs Msfs.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:00:37 2004 (41107B85)
f78ab000 f78b2880 Npfs Npfs.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:00:38 2004 (41107B86)
f78cb000 f78d1c80 avg7rsxp avg7rsxp.sys Wed Feb 22 19:40:37 2006 (43FD0485)
f793b000 f793f500 watchdog watchdog.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:32 2004 (41107D24)
f798b000 f7990000 usbuhci usbuhci.sys Wed Aug 04 02:08:34 2004 (41107D62)
f7993000 f7999800 usbehci usbehci.sys Wed Aug 04 02:08:34 2004 (41107D62)
f799b000 f79a1000 kbdclass kbdclass.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:32 2004 (41107B08)
f79a3000 f79a4000 fdc fdc.sys unavailable (00000000)
f79ab000 f79b2000 GEARAspiWDM GEARAspiWDM.sys Wed Feb 02 00:19:49 2005 (420062F5)
f79b3000 f79b7880 TDI TDI.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:07:47 2004 (41107D33)
f79bb000 f79bf580 ptilink ptilink.sys Fri Aug 17 16:49:53 2001 (3B7D8371)
f79c3000 f79c7080 raspti raspti.sys Fri Aug 17 16:55:32 2001 (3B7D84C4)
f79cb000 f79d0a00 mouclass mouclass.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:32 2004 (41107B08)
f79d3000 f79d8000 flpydisk flpydisk.sys Wed Aug 04 01:59:24 2004 (41107B3C)
f79e3000 f79e9180 HIDPARSE HIDPARSE.SYS Wed Aug 04 02:08:15 2004 (41107D4F)
f79eb000 f79f0200 vga vga.sys Wed Aug 04 02:07:06 2004 (41107D0A)
f79f3000 f79f6000 BOOTVID BOOTVID.dll Fri Aug 17 16:49:09 2001 (3B7D8345)
f7aa3000 f7aa5580 hidusb hidusb.sys Fri Aug 17 17:02:16 2001 (3B7D8658)
f7aa7000 f7aa9f80 mouhid mouhid.sys Fri Aug 17 16:47:57 2001 (3B7D82FD)
f7aab000 f7aadb80 IPFilter IPFilter.sys Thu Apr 11 14:47:22 2002 (3CB5DA3A)
f7ad7000 f7ad9900 Dxapi Dxapi.sys Fri Aug 17 16:53:19 2001 (3B7D843F)
f7ae3000 f7ae4b80 kdcom kdcom.dll Fri Aug 17 16:49:10 2001 (3B7D8346)
f7ae5000 f7ae6100 WMILIB WMILIB.SYS Fri Aug 17 17:07:23 2001 (3B7D878B)
f7ae7000 f7ae8480 d347prt d347prt.sys Sun Aug 22 09:31:48 2004 (4128A044)
f7b15000 f7b16100 swenum swenum.sys Wed Aug 04 01:58:41 2004 (41107B11)
f7b19000 f7b1a280 USBD USBD.SYS Fri Aug 17 17:02:58 2001 (3B7D8682)
f7b1b000 f7b1cf00 Fs_Rec Fs_Rec.SYS Fri Aug 17 16:49:37 2001 (3B7D8361)
f7b1d000 f7b1e080 Beep Beep.SYS Fri Aug 17 16:47:33 2001 (3B7D82E5)
f7b1f000 f7b20080 mnmdd mnmdd.SYS Fri Aug 17 16:57:28 2001 (3B7D8538)
f7b21000 f7b22080 RDPCDD RDPCDD.sys Fri Aug 17 16:46:56 2001 (3B7D82C0)
f7b25000 f7b260c0 avg7rsw avg7rsw.sys Sun Sep 18 20:09:31 2005 (432E01BB)
f7b33000 f7b34100 dump_WMILIB dump_WMILIB.SYS Fri Aug 17 17:07:23 2001 (3B7D878B)
f7bab000 f7babd00 pciide pciide.sys Fri Aug 17 16:51:49 2001 (3B7D83E5)
f7c76000 f7c76c00 audstub audstub.sys Fri Aug 17 16:59:40 2001 (3B7D85BC)
f7cc1000 f7cc1b80 Null Null.SYS Fri Aug 17 16:47:39 2001 (3B7D82EB)
f7cda000 f7cdab80 mbmiodrvr mbmiodrvr.sys Sat Apr 10 10:42:35 2004 (407807DB)
f7cf7000 f7cf7d00 dxgthk dxgthk.sys Fri Aug 17 16:53:12 2001 (3B7D8438)

Unloaded modules:
f7833000 f783f000 ATITool.sys
Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Checksum: 00000000
f7753000 f775c000 intelppm.sys
Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Checksum: 00000000
f6ae5000 f6ae9000 kbdhid.sys
Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Checksum: 00000000
f79db000 f79e0000 Cdaudio.SYS
Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Checksum: 00000000
f6ae9000 f6aec000 Sfloppy.SYS
Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Checksum: 00000000
Closing open log file c:\debuglog.txt

BTW, this is not the atapi.sys dump, a dump doesn't exist for that one. This is from one of the BSODs that kept appearing - the ones that were stopping Windows from loading. This one is pointing to my AVG A/V again.

I called the technician and he told me he wants to work on the computer. He said he didn't do any recovery or anything. Now it seems like when my computer stops working, it can be turned on after an hour or so. What can that mean? Power supply? CPU? Mobo?

Hoping I can take it in this evening...

Hard from here to pin-point but I'm still guessing HEAT

The Gargoyle got in the machine


sorry about that

silly me.


If it is going back I would ask them to test out the hardware bit by bit.

My first try would be the CPU.

I called him today and he said he's fixed it. He said the problem was video drivers which makes absolutely no sense to me. If that's the case, then why did the computer crash with the ATI card as well?

*ominous music*

Plus it's going to cost $40, I'll be mighty pissed if he lied, in which case he'll have to repair it for free. Nyah!

I'm going to pick it up right now. He said he ran some games all day without a crash. Remember my "sexcellent evening, crash next day" theory? Gargoyle...

Seems strange to me as well that drivers caused all the varied issues but may the luck be with you!

Let us know if we've escaped these midday evil times