Need help with my nephew's PC

Hi all

My nephew rang me last night and he has a problem with his pc. He's 12 and doesn't have a full grasp of the problem but the basic gist is that every time he goes to log on to the internet he gets a blue screen with the following message.

A problem has been detected and windows has shut down to protect your computer. The problem has probably been caused by the following file - IntelC52.sys. Age fault in non paged area.

I appreciate that this is a very general description and I have no further information to hand at the moment.

Does anyone know what might be at fault...?

What, if anything, changed on the PC between it working fine and this problem arising? Anything useful ?

He's had this problem for a few weeks now and only rang me last night. As far as I know the only new software added recently is a Cretive Zen Vision M, but I think he's been able to connect since then.

I do know his anti virus software is out of date...he uses McAfee. He ran a virus scan and it was clean, but as it's out of date it's of only limited value.

If the problem lies with a potential virus, and he can't connect to the internet how do I get the anti virus software updated....?

As regards the link you provided, thanks for that. I've printed it off and can get him to do a check this evening for that file. I note that someone made a comment on that link that it's the file that relates to the dialup modem....he is on dialup and the problem arises roughly a few seconds after his modem starts to dial up.

The Pool Boy said:

If the problem lies with a potential virus, and he can't connect to the internet how do I get the anti virus software updated....?

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I would take the disk out, put it in another clean machine and scan it there. But that's not necessariyl practical for everybody.

As regards the link you provided, thanks for that. I've printed it off and can get him to do a check this evening for that file. I note that someone made a comment on that link that it's the file that relates to the dialup modem....he is on dialup and the problem arises roughly a few seconds after his modem starts to dial up.

Click to expand...

One thing that might be worth checking (as ever) is to open the PC (while disconnected from the mains and left off for a while and while properly grounded to avoid static problems) and just make sure (gently!) that all cards and memory parts are properly seated. Sometimes weird problems can occur when components have come a bit loose. If he or anybody else there would not be comfortable doing this then they need to get somebody with a little technical expertise who would be.

Hi PoolBoy,
More than likely this is a problem with a corrupted modem driver. I would uninstall the modem driver and re-install with either the driver from the recovery CD or downlaod the latest driver from the PC's website, for example the Dell website if it's a Dell PC.

Hope this helps. good luck

Where exactly will I find the modem driver to uninstall it, and by what name will it go by.

And yes it is a Dell machine.

I am a very un-knowledgable person as regards the computer but on a few occasions when I had a problem I got on to a site called geeks.com and they fixed it for me. It might take a few days to do, as like this forum, not everybody is looking at the same time. You have to register also but it is free and worth it.
L.

You need to find out what specific make/model of modem it is. This is not always easy but hopefully it is in this case. Try Start -> My Computer -> right click -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager and see what information is listed under the modems node in the tree. Alternatively run something like [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] free edition to query the hardware. Once you know what it is then you can try the manufacturer's website for the latest drivers. In some cases this is not always possible and you have to revert to maybe getting the generic drivers from the modem chipset manufacturer but this is not always ideal or effective.

it looks like you have an intel modem, these guys were having the same problem and downloaded the latest version of the driver from the Dell site and it seemed to fix it.

http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_modem&message.id=30562

you should be able to select the driver that suits your needs here.
[broken link removed]

Thanks for the responses guys.

With him not being able to connect to the internet he can't download any new drivers.

He's not living near to me so it's a problem that may take a while to fix. Can I download the file to my usb key and bring that to him next time I see him...?

The Pool Boy said:

He's not living near to me so it's a problem that may take a while to fix. Can I download the file to my usb key and bring that to him next time I see him...?

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Yes - but can he not use somebody else's PC or maybe an internet café just to get the stuff that he needs maybe?

Thanks - USB will have to do...he lives in a rural area.