Blue screen of death?

[YesterdaysNews]

HELP. It keeps showing up on my mom's lap top, I don't understand what it really means, let alone how to fix it and make it go away.
Can anyone talk me through what I should try?

[Suicune]

Well what is it your doing before the screen appears?

[DJbeggar]

I don't understand what it really means,

The Blue Screen Of Death (also known as BSoD or bluescreen ), known officially as a Stop Error or a bug check is the error screen displayed by operating systems upon encountering a critical error, of a non-recoverable nature, that causes the system to " crash ."

Since Windows can not recover from this kernel level error, a blue screen is displayed with the error details. The error details contain a STOP error code, which indicates the type of error .
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There are a lot of possible causes for blue screen errors , but most of them relate to the computer hardware. The cause of a BSOD error can be a temperature problem , a timing error , a resource conflict , hardware failure, a corrupt registry , a virus or simply a device incompatibility or driver error .

[Kaius]

How old is the laptop roughly and what were you doing when the screen appeared? Has any new hardware or anything been installed lately?

[DJbeggar]

Can anyone talk me through what I should try?

The first thing to do to analyze ablue screen error is to check the meaning of the STOP error code. You need to stop Windows from rebooting when a STOP error is encountered . Once the blue screen of death is shown, you cancheck the meaning of the STOP error code. Together with the filename of the driver or module, this will give an indication of the error cause.
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Another option to analyze the cause of the blue screen error is to look at the Windows system event log or to debug the memory dump (minidump) that Windows created when the error occurred. The event log can be viewed using the event viewer. Right-click Computer in the Start menu, and then select Manage . In the Computer Management window select Event Viewer . The information in the event log can be of great help to isolate the cause of the blue screen error.
Reading the minidump requires a bit more technical knowledge, but Microsoft has tools to read the minidump .
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So the easiest way to try and fixa blue screen error is to reinstall and update your system¡¯s device drivers . This will ensure that all driver bugs are fixed and that all hardware has the correct driver.
If you know which device caused the error, you can update or reinstall that driver first. The file name in the blue screen of death can help identify the driver. Look for a file with the .SYS extension and search for that file name.
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If you do not have the drivers forall devices, or are not comfortable updating your PC¡¯s drivers manually, you can use a driver update tool to find, download and update all device drivers for you. Such tools will accurately identify your computer hardware, including any device causing an error, and automatically install the latest drivers for it.
In most cases updating or reinstalling drivers will solve your blue screen errors. If not then let me know.

[blackmusicbox215]

Well for my high school, we need laptops, so we have them in every class with us, and there's a special room, 115..lol, where they fix the laptops. For our laptops we have to have the school fix them, and they fix it really well. Anyway, I got that twice, but knock on wood I haven't gotten it in a while. My friend got it, and she had to get her entire hard drive replaced. I'm not sure if you need your hard drive replaced, but she did.

[YesterdaysNews]

The laptop is two-three years old, and the screen usually appears when I a) turn it on randomly, b) log on after it being in sleep mode for awhile, or c) just randomly. There really isn't a pattern I can see.

And I don't understand what you've said DJbeggar :/

AND
A dialog box sometimes pops up that says something has stopped running (I can't remember what exactly, something about windows :\) and then my screen will flash and it'll go white or black then restore itself. Or sometimes the task bar will stay white, like it is at the moment :/

[Commander Thor]

The laptop is two-three years old, and the screen usually appears when I a) turn it on randomly, b) log on after it being in sleep mode for awhile, or c) just randomly. There really isn't a pattern I can see.

And I don't understand what you've said DJbeggar :/
I'M not even sure I understood what he said, and I'm the 'computer expert' around here.... :p
(Just kidding, but still, he got waaay too techincal on you. :p )

AND
A dialog box sometimes pops up that says something has stopped running (I can't remember what exactly, something about windows :\) and then my screen will flash and it'll go white or black then restore itself. Or sometimes the task bar will stay white, like it is at the moment :/

Did it say something along the lies of "A display adapter has stopped responding"? If so, then the graphics drivers may be the cause of your issue.


Also, next time the BSOD happens, pay close attention to what's displayed on screen. The one line that is usually the most helpful is the second line, as that usually describes why the blue screen happened.

Also2.0, if you can, pull up your Event Viewer(Start>Run "eventvwr.msc"), and check to see if a blue screen event was logged, that should also give some detailed information as to why the computer blue screened.

[TheMatrix]

these blue screens go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back to windows3.1
quite old, no?

anyways..........
i think that windows is at fault.
i always reccomend switching to linux - perhaps ubuntu(for less-technical people, mostly.)
i, and many others, could then instantly figure out your problem.

but if you must use windows.......i can't help you :(

[Azunite]

DONT ERASE / REMOVE ANYTHING FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Solution : I dont know where is this option in English ones, but there is an option that will take back your options one week back. It wont delete any files but if there are viruses or any malfunction in your options it will fix it
I"ll be home in 2 days so I"ll see where this option is and post here

[DJbeggar]

And I don't understand what you've said DJbeggar :/ :/
im really so sorry... :/
and i would give the same suggestion what xbox360922 has given...

Did it say something along the lies of "A display adapter has stopped responding"? If so, then the graphics drivers may be the cause of your issue.


Also, next time the BSOD happens, pay close attention to what's displayed on screen. The one line that is usually the most helpful is the second line, as that usually describes why the blue screen happened.

Also2.0, if you can, pull up your Event Viewer(Start>Run "eventvwr.msc"), and check to see if a blue screen event was logged, that should also give some detailed information as to why the computer blue screened.

Took the words right out of my mouth

[Commander Thor]

these blue screens go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back to windows3.1
quite old, no?And this has to do with...... What exactly?

anyways..........
i think that windows is at fault.
In a BSOD event, Windows is almost never at fault.
It's badly programed, 3rd party drivers that usually cause the instability.

i always reccomend switching to linux - perhaps ubuntu(for less-technical people, mostly.)
i, and many others, could then instantly figure out your problem.
For the more technically inclined people, like you or I, switching OSs is perfectly ok.
But, you have to understand, not everyone is like us. The general public won't understand what Linux even is, let alone try and use it. They're also not going to understand why this program or that program won't just work.
I understand that you support Linux and whatnot, I got that from your avatar & signature, but injecting yourself into every Windows-related thread, saying that you don't have this issue, or that issue, or saying it's easier to do this or that on Linux needs to stop man.

but if you must use windows.......i can't help you :(
Then why post at all?
The role of tech support is NOT to get the end-user to change what they have, but it's to work around what they have.
When you roll into an auto shop, you expect them to fix your car, not say "Well if you had a Ford we could help...".

DONT ERASE / REMOVE ANYTHING FROM YOUR COMPUTER
Solution : I dont know where is this option in English ones, but there is an option that will take back your options one week back. It wont delete any files but if there are viruses or any malfunction in your options it will fix it
I"ll be home in 2 days so I"ll see where this option is and post here

You're thinking of System Restore. Ordinarily this would be a good option, but who knows when the unstable element first surfaced. It could be present in every single restore point.
It's better to /actually/ fix the issue, not just go back in time. ;)

[AutoPlay]

And this has to do with...... What exactly?


In a BSOD event, Windows is almost never at fault.
It's badly programed, 3rd party drivers that usually cause the instability.


For the more technically inclined people, like you or I, switching OSs is perfectly ok.
But, you have to understand, not everyone is like us. The general public won't understand what Linux even is, let alone try and use it. They're also not going to understand why this program or that program won't just work.
I understand that you support Linux and whatnot, I got that from your avatar & signature, but injecting yourself into every Windows-related thread, saying that you don't have this issue, or that issue, or saying it's easier to do this or that on Linux needs to stop man.


Then why post at all?
The role of tech support is NOT to get the end-user to change what they have, but it's to work around what they have.
When you roll into an auto shop, you expect them to fix your car, not say "Well if you had a Ford we could help...".



You're thinking of System Restore. Ordinarily this would be a good option, but who knows when the unstable element first surfaced. It could be present in every single restore point.
It's better to /actually/ fix the issue, not just go back in time. ;)

i love you haha,

everytime you have a small rant i HAVE to read it through properly. they make me laugh so much :D

but yes, OT: follow xbox's advice

[YesterdaysNews]

The dialog box says "Host process for windows services has stopped working"

I haven't seen the screen again since I posted this, but I'll pay attention next time it happens. Thanks everyone :P