i''m seriously about ready to chuck it in the trash heap. get this: i was programming a simple manipulator for my resource file format (add/delete files from, etc) in mfc. i use mfc at work and am fairly proficient in it. so i add a single line of code and try to compile. i get a blue screen "fatal exception in __VxD__" or something. then whole system crashes (usually). one time, i actually didn''t get the blue screen, but the "vcspawn" app that msvc runs the compiler and linker with had locked up while trying to "making help file...". i "end task" and then my app continues to compile, link, and run properly, with the effect of the added code. so it''s not my code. i thought it was vc, but it had been working all day previous to that point and i changed nothing else. then, i thought maybe display drivers were a problem. nope, reinstalled standard driver, didn''t work. tried both w and w/o sp3 installed. ran all virus checks, updated virus sw, and did it again...no viruses. ran as many diagnostic tools as i can find, no problems. ANY IDEAS? this stuff is happening AFTER i FORMATTED MY HARD DISK AND REINSTALLED win98 se, office 2000, and vs6 w/sp3 (and winzip 8.0 and the new winamp) the reason i wiped everything out is because i was getting a similar problem, only with the standard "Access violation" dialog box instead of blue screen. is anyone familiar enough with vs6 and win98 to know why the help compiler (or whatnot) is failing and crashing everything? thanks a million, crazy166 some people think i'm crazy, some people know it

Didn''t read it but send it to me nes8bit@hotmail.com

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Captured Reality.

Before you throw your computer out the window...

I''ve been having a lot of trouble with my machine lately... it fatals, it throws weird error screens, it crashes applications. After doing a complete format, using every diagnostic tool I could find, and swapping out hardware, I realized that the problem was not software.... my machine was overheating! Not enough to set off the CPU alarms, but enough to screw up my Voodoo card and AMD CPU.

All I had to do to fix it was put a room fan next to my open case and turn it on, and I haven''t had a single problem since. So, if you have hardware that is notorious for running hot (AMD, Voodoo cards, the like) then you might just want to try adding a little extra cooling for these hot summer months.

-fel

I used to get "Access violation"
With win95 and a crappy CD Rom, It sounds dodgy hard ware but with this information it could be any thing!

What else do you need; besides a miricle.
Money. Lots of Money. or I''ll never do a sequel!

it might sound wierd, but it might be virus I kept getting the same type of error screens for a long , and when I used my anti-virus program most of the files on my computer were infected. Some viruses can even infect your bios chip.
Just give it a check, even if you don''t think its this.

//end

thanks for suggestions. overheating may be a problem, i have a geforce-based graphics card (not overclocked, since i was worried about overheating).
i guess i should think about a call to gateway tech support, everything is oem except my ethernet card.
does anyone think it could be my ethernet card i recently installed? i was having some problems before it and the card seems to work properly so i don''t know.
or does anyone know how to keep the help compiler from compiling? i''m not making a help file anyways, it''s just compiling the AppWizard generated one now. i have a feeling stopping that would fix THIS problem, but i know there''s some other underlying problem going on.

i think it must be hardware (or BIOS) related since a complete format and reinstall should fix most problems.
formatting the drive erases the mbr right? in case a virus got in there.
thanks again all,

crazy166
some people think i'm crazy, some people know it

Felisandria is right. Whenever my computer heats up to a certian point, it restarts, freezes, or even shuts down. (My old computer) It was a K6 and I could really, seriously, boil an egg on the chip. I just needed a pan or something. Well, I had to use a real fan for a while. Then I bought a cpu fan and a new motherboard months later.

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Captured Reality.

Fellisandra is probably right, especially if you overclock. Get a better or another fan, or perhaps just work in your refrigerator.

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A wise man once said "A person with half a clue is more dangerous than a person with or without one."

You might want to go as far as underclocking your CPU. It might actually run faster. I''ve never done it myself, but it sort of makes sense. My theory is that the computer wastes less cycles correcting errors of the previous cycles. {?}

I''m pretty sure that computers don''t do error correction (not proccesors, at least, although I think there is some memory that does). So I doubt that underclocking your CPU would make it go faster.

--TheGoop