I'm trying to repair an old model Gateway GT5056 Windows XP system. The
symptom is that intermittently it will just freeze up in its tracks or a
BSOD will appear. One of the types of BSOD says, "Machine_Check_Exception."
The other says, "Kernel_Stack_Inpage_Error." I tried updating drivers and
software, removing the DVD burner, and just using the bare minimum of
hardware, but it still was freezing up. Usually, it will happen when
watching a video. On other days, it would happen as soon as the computer
booted to the desktop. Then on some days, it wouldn't freeze-up at all.

Just to make sure the hardware was ok, I ran a RAM test which passed. I
cleaned out the CPU fan and heat sink. Then I visually inspected the
motherboard. Hmmmm. I saw about a half dozen 1,000uF 6.3V capacitors that
were bulging. In fact every capacitor of that particular value was bulging.
I checked ESR and only one was out of tolerance. It measured 6 ohms while
the others were less than 0.2 ohms. I replaced the one that was out of
tolerance thinking I'd go back and do the rest of them if it corrected the
problem but it didn't. It still freezes occasionally.

There was one particular occurrence where right before the system froze, the
CPU fan switched to a very high speed so maybe it is heat related. By the
way, the motherboard is a Foxconn C51GU01.

Thanks for your reply.
--
David Farber
Los Osos, CA