Network Doctor - Windows reboot on bugcheck

Often this happens when a program starts or stops, but also if I leave the computer alone.

I updated my virus scanner and checked the computer for viruses and trojans, but have found nothing.

I've also tried a complete reinstall after formatting the drive, but I still have no luck. After each reboot, the event log says, "The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x0000007f".

For the time being I've returned to Windows 98, where I don't get any trouble.

Errors of this type are usually caused by faulty hardware, although software can do the same thing; antivirus products are often the cause.

To check if it's a software problem, perform a clean install, but before installing any software leave the system running. If you don't get the error, it would suggest a software fault.

Try reinstalling your applications one by one. After each install leave the system running for a while. That way, if the machine crashes, you will know which piece of software to blame.

However, it's much more likely that hardware is playing up. Have you overclocked your processor? If so, try dropping the speed back to see if this solves the problem.

If this doesn't change anything, the problem is likely to be with either the memory or the motherboard. Windows 2000 uses more memory than Windows 98, so this could explain why you didn't have any trouble with the old system.

Again this is going to have to be a case of trial and error. If you can, swap the memory in your machine with RAM from another. If the problems stop on your machine but start on the other, you've got your culprit.

Using a process of elimination it shouldn't take long to track the problem down to a stick of memory. Fortunately, memory is dirt-cheap at the moment, so it's not an expensive problem to fix.

Finally, Microsoft has written a good guide to this problem. You can find it on the website at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q137539.