Hey, my techie friends. I've been getting a really, really annoying blue screen of death on my home laptop lately. When it reboots-- and it's always an adventure to see if it gets that far-- I send an error report and Microsoft tells me that it's an unknown driver-related problem causing the crash.
How can I fix this? Any ideas? I tried an earlier system restore point, but that didn't work.....
Is this on a Sony?
Toshiba Satellite. Happened ever since I ran an .exe to install a picture tube for Paintshop pro 9. Damn Christmas cards.
ahhh, ok. I just had to send my Sony in for repair (through my best buy service plan) because the ATI display driver caused a huge problem and I got the blue screen. :'(
I get the blue screen whenever I go to sportsline.com. The main page loads just fine and I can click on articles, etc without any problems. But if I try to follow a game on the net or when I go to the fantasy page and check the live scoring for one of my fantasy teams then the blue screen pops up.
That's the only time it happens and I have absolutely no idea why. ???
Booting up in safe mode (F8 or whatever it is) and undoing the last thing you did usually works...
Wouldn't the system restore do the same thing?
Probably. Laptops are screwy though...
Does the bluescreen seem to coincide with a specific action or running a certain program?
If not, I'd suggest trying each of these in order to see if they detect/solve your problem:
1) Uninstall Paintshop Pro and/or the utility that you were trying to use.
2) Download the CD image from here (http://www.memtest86.com/) and run the memory test over night. If there are any faults, you will need to replace your RAM.
3) Start/Run and type "chkdsk /f" and then "y". This will scan your disk for errors on reboot. If there are a lot of errors you may need to replace your hard drive
4) Back up all your data and re-install Windows using your system restore CD. Cerevant's first law of Windows: Every piece of software you install irreversibly reduces the stability of Windows.
That's the trick-- I'm trying to get the system stable enough to back everything up. Once I do that, I'll wipe it and start fresh. But I want the thing to hang in there long enough to get my stuff on DVD before going that route.
I did a chkdsk and the drive is okay. Hope the memory is. The biggest problem is, once the computer craps out, I have a really hard time firing it back up. I have to take out the power cord and disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes, or nothing happens.
Such a pain in the ass.
Quote from: BigEd76 on December 12, 2005, 10:07:17 AM
Booting up in safe mode (F8 or whatever it is) and undoing the last thing you did usually works...
I don't know if you were responding to me, Zanshin or both. In the case of the former and/or the latter, I've rebooted in safe mode a gazillion times and it still does it. :-\
Well, you reboot in safe mode...but then you have to fix what ails 'ya. That's the tricky part.
Quote from: Zanshin on December 12, 2005, 12:57:28 PM
The biggest problem is, once the computer craps out, I have a really hard time firing it back up. I have to take out the power cord and disconnect the battery for a couple of minutes, or nothing happens.
Such a pain in the ass.
This sounds like a hardware problem. Are you comfortable with computer guts? Do you have access to a second PC? I'd recommend getting a notebook HD adapter, stick it in the PC and back it up there.
Here's something else you can try - Start/Run, msconfig. On the general tab, pick "diagnostic startup". Maybe that will get you stable enough to do a backup. If not, you could try disabling stuff in the startup tab, but leave anything that is running from the windows directory. You could do the same with services, but that gets a little more dicy...
Think it's the memory?
Quote from: Zanshin on December 12, 2005, 03:25:12 PM
Think it's the memory?
That's the most common cause of the recurring blue screen.
How does that work? Is it a matter of swapping it out? Is it all of it, or some of it? Does it just "go"? The laptop is a little over a year old, if that matters.
Quote from: FFatPatt on December 12, 2005, 03:30:06 PM
Quote from: Zanshin on December 12, 2005, 03:25:12 PM
Think it's the memory?
That's the most common cause of the recurring blue screen.
I'd agree - especially if the crashes are random. What worries me is that it isn't booting up after a crash. When it won't boot, how far does it get? Do you see any of the boot up text?
The last few times, it'll load regularly....then shortly into using it, I'll get the blue screen. When I shut it down and restart it, the power comes on, but nothing at all happens. I just hear the fans....but no HD activity, and nothing on the monitor.
Then I unplug it, and take out the battery...and it'll restart. Sometimes it'll say that it had a serious error, othertimes, it acts like nothing happened.
Quote from: Zanshin on December 12, 2005, 03:40:32 PM
Then I unplug it, and take out the battery...and it'll restart. Sometimes it'll say that it had a serious error, othertimes, it acts like nothing happened.
that sounds a lot like my wife.
have you given it flowers and poured some red wine into it?
haha
Quote from: Zanshin on December 12, 2005, 03:40:32 PM
The last few times, it'll load regularly....then shortly into using it, I'll get the blue screen. When I shut it down and restart it, the power comes on, but nothing at all happens. I just hear the fans....but no HD activity, and nothing on the monitor.
Then I unplug it, and take out the battery...and it'll restart. Sometimes it'll say that it had a serious error, othertimes, it acts like nothing happened.
Unfortunately, your problem could be caused by almost any piece of hardware in your machine. I had a laptop acting similarly because of a modem in it that was going schitzo. It took me forever to figure out the problem, because I'd literally used the modem 2-3 times total.
Drop kick it. Worked for me.
Nothing wrong with your computer that one of these babies couldn't handle:
(http://mfinley.com/gif/sledgehammer.jpg)
That fiberglass handle comes in handy when smashing live electrical gear!
Okay, looks like it's hardware-related. I tried to wipe it and start fresh, but it's still blue-screen farged. Of course, the warranty ran out last month. I'm going to fight with them today to extend it...but assuming they don't give a rat's ass, where do you guys go for repairs? What kind of place?
Thanks.
Quote from: Zanshin on December 15, 2005, 08:40:19 AM
Okay, looks like it's hardware-related. I tried to wipe it and start fresh, but it's still blue-screen farged. Of course, the warranty ran out last month. I'm going to fight with them today to extend it...but assuming they don't give a rat's ass, where do you guys go for repairs? What kind of place?
Thanks.
Depends on what is broken. Sounds like your HD was OK, any luck with the memory test? If you aren't up to fixing it yourself (I'd start ripping out hardware until it started working again) I'd just go ahead and pick up a new unit at a holiday sale. You are going to pay a lot more to have it fixed professionally, and are just asking for something else to go wrong...
You think it'll be biggish money, eh? That sucks. Well, in that case, I have a friend who does a decent job of fixing laptops. Maybe I'll let him look at it first. This is all such a waste of time.
I'm on the phone with them now...trying to get them to extend the warranty.
Heh...I won. They extended the warranty.