Blue Screen of Death... Crap.

[Archer]

Ok, I got an XP Disc, and tried a repair reinstall. It ran, and got to the Windows XP Logo/Loading screen. The bar scrolled across the screen twice (more than it had done before- before, it showed the Logo, then the Blue Screen). After the bar scrolled twice, it stalled halfway across, and the Blue Screen appeared again. Anticipating this, I restarted and ran a clean reinstall.
No Blue Screens this time, XP set up without any errors. When I logged in, I had to reinstall my sound card, which was no big deal. Then, I got a popup saying I had to register, or Windows would expire after 30 days. I clicked on the balloon to register, and it said I'd have to connect to the internet to register. So, trying the only way I could, I connected the Dongle again. As it tried to install, an error message appeared saying something regarding Service Pack 1, that I didn't have it or something.
So I've just updated to 7, as it didn't really seem worth the hassle to keep going with XP, as it seems to be becoming obsolete, anyway. Everything seems to be running smoothly, I got Avira AntiVirus and no problems there, I also got FireFox, again. The Broadband Dongle hasn't given any trouble. Due to two separate updates, the computer restarted twice, but successfully each time. I just turned it off there, and hope it'll turn on in the morning without any trouble (I mean, there's no reason it shouldn't I guess, but I think I'll always be wary from now on).
Thanks to everyone for the help and advice you gave, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to come back to this section with any problems, lol :)

If you used a really early XP disc, then it may not have Service Pack 1, which is vital for many programs. Service Packs are basically major updates for the OS.

It's actually possible to recover an XP issue like the one you had, but it's by no means an easy task. For future reference (ie. Google hits) you may be able to boot off a Windows PE and do a CheckDisk, which can repair corrupted Windows files. Not always a surefire fix, but it can work well.

In 7 and Vista, you can boot into recovery mode with the install disc and access restore points.

I'm happy that you fixed your problem, although, in case it wasn't just a dodgy update, I suggest that you do a diagnostic run on the HDD. Find out the brand of the HDD. If it's Western Digital (WD), use the WD diagnostic tool, otherwise, just use Seagate Seatools. You can find the ISOs on the net, so just burn them and boot from the disc. Run a long test, which will take 1~3hrs, depending on size.

That's optional, but it's always good to rule out physical errors that might be the culprit for corrupting files.

Good luck.

 

[Serene Grace]

Ok, I got an XP Disc, and tried a repair reinstall. It ran, and got to the Windows XP Logo/Loading screen. The bar scrolled across the screen twice (more than it had done before- before, it showed the Logo, then the Blue Screen). After the bar scrolled twice, it stalled halfway across, and the Blue Screen appeared again. Anticipating this, I restarted and ran a clean reinstall.
No Blue Screens this time, XP set up without any errors. When I logged in, I had to reinstall my sound card, which was no big deal. Then, I got a popup saying I had to register, or Windows would expire after 30 days. I clicked on the balloon to register, and it said I'd have to connect to the internet to register. So, trying the only way I could, I connected the Dongle again. As it tried to install, an error message appeared saying something regarding Service Pack 1, that I didn't have it or something.
So I've just updated to 7, as it didn't really seem worth the hassle to keep going with XP, as it seems to be becoming obsolete, anyway. Everything seems to be running smoothly, I got Avira AntiVirus and no problems there, I also got FireFox, again. The Broadband Dongle hasn't given any trouble. Due to two separate updates, the computer restarted twice, but successfully each time. I just turned it off there, and hope it'll turn on in the morning without any trouble (I mean, there's no reason it shouldn't I guess, but I think I'll always be wary from now on).
Thanks to everyone for the help and advice you gave, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to come back to this section with any problems, lol :)

Just a note that you don't really need to use Avira anti-virus. The Microsoft Security Essentials does the job perfectly and since it's made by Microsoft, it fits into the OS perfectly.

 

[donavannj]

Just a note that you don't really need to use Avira anti-virus. The Microsoft Security Essentials does the job perfectly and since it's made by Microsoft, it fits into the OS perfectly.

Don't forget the reduced rate of false positives and the better overall detection rate.

 

[Blaze The Hedgehog]

Antivirus software on your PC is better than no protection. Better safe than sorry.

 

[donavannj]

Antivirus software on your PC is better than no protection. Better safe than sorry.

Microsoft Security Essentials IS an antivirus suite. And the best part? It's top of the line amongst the freeware antivirus suites.

 

[DanTheMan12345]

Well, I got the Blue Screen of Death a few times when I put a certain DVD into my laptop. The first time, I got it immediately after I put it in. The rest, I got them at a random time. About Antiviruses, my dad recommends McAfee. He installed it onto all of our computers.

 

[giradialkia]

Um... Okay, rather than start a new thread, I'll post here- I haven't been having any problems with 7 on my computer, and the Broadband's been fine. A few minutes ago I was just online on Youtube and Serebii, and the computer literally just shut off, just like that, and restarted. I got a message saying something like Windows didn't shut down properly, or it recovered from an error or something. This is what happened before, but Windows continued to load, and after selecting to "start Windows normally", everything was fine.
When I logged in, I got a prompt saying Windows recovered from an error, and I clicked "see details of the error", which were as follows:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    BlueScreen
  OS Version:    6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
  Locale ID:    2057

Additional information about the problem:
  BCCode:    124
  BCP1:    00000000
  BCP2:    84BFA8FC
  BCP3:    00000000
  BCP4:    00000000
  OS Version:    6_1_7600
  Service Pack:    0_0
  Product:    256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
  C:\Windows\Minidump\070910-20375-01.dmp
  C:\Users\[b][my name here][/b]\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-48359-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

I definately did NOT see a blue screen anywhere this time, the computer just instantly restarted. I checked the connections to all the plugs, and I'm almost positive they didn't slip out slightly or anything. The computer seems fine, so... should I be worried? I didn't get notified of any updates that required a restart to take effect, it was purely a random restart. Any opinions?

 

[mr. ck]

By default the Bluescreens just restart your computer.

You have to disable it that if you want to see the BSOD.

EDIT:
Control Panel
System and Security
System
Advanced System Settings
Startup and Recovery Settings
Uncheck the restart option

If this happens again, try working on the computer without the dongle for a few days... If the problems stop happening, you'll be sure it's the dongle. Also, usually the internet companies have different models for the USB modems.
From my experience, mobile internet is everything that they do not promise, so... I'd find a better ISP.

 

[kasabian_]

This happened with my mum's laptop this morning.
I didn'y know about this until she came home from shopping and my dad mentioned to her.I said I used it the latest and she blamed it on me :/.

My mum is SO pissed now because she is a teacher, and that was the laptop she does everything on.

 

[twocows]

Um... Okay, rather than start a new thread, I'll post here- I haven't been having any problems with 7 on my computer, and the Broadband's been fine. A few minutes ago I was just online on Youtube and Serebii, and the computer literally just shut off, just like that, and restarted. I got a message saying something like Windows didn't shut down properly, or it recovered from an error or something. This is what happened before, but Windows continued to load, and after selecting to "start Windows normally", everything was fine.
When I logged in, I got a prompt saying Windows recovered from an error, and I clicked "see details of the error", which were as follows:

Problem signature:
  Problem Event Name:    BlueScreen
  OS Version:    6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
  Locale ID:    2057

Additional information about the problem:
  BCCode:    124
  BCP1:    00000000
  BCP2:    84BFA8FC
  BCP3:    00000000
  BCP4:    00000000
  OS Version:    6_1_7600
  Service Pack:    0_0
  Product:    256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
  C:\Windows\Minidump\070910-20375-01.dmp
  C:\Users\[my name here]\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-48359-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
  https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=104288&clcid=0x0409

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
  C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

I definately did NOT see a blue screen anywhere this time, the computer just instantly restarted. I checked the connections to all the plugs, and I'm almost positive they didn't slip out slightly or anything. The computer seems fine, so... should I be worried? I didn't get notified of any updates that required a restart to take effect, it was purely a random restart. Any opinions?

It's possible it might be a hardware problem. If it happens often, there's probably something wrong with your hardware. If not, it was probably just a one time thing.

Make sure your computer is in a well-ventilated area; sometimes overheating can cause these problems.

 

[mr. ck]

My advice is:
Get a computer guy to look at it. XD

If the screen comes up when you restart saying:
"start windows normally" somewhere, I'm sure it's not supposed to do that.

Mine used to do that all the time. It just means you didn't press shut down and went through the process, you used the "emergency" shut-down thingie.

Eh, I don't know!

Problem with most Tech Support people is that, their only solution to your problem is... "Re-install Windows"
Unless you talk about sending it back to the company, if it's within the warranty and you are ready to shed the money, you can do that.

And he's getting the "Start windows normally" thing because of the BSOD. He can't really shut it down properly in that case.