blue screen of death

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Guest

My computer only runs for about an hour every time I turn
it on. Then, I just get the dredded blue screen, and I
have to turn it off. I had someone look at it, and they
thought that they found a virus, and told me that they
took it off, and all should be well. But, the same thing
happened again. I can't run my disk clean up for some
reason, either. Another person I spoke with said that it
could be the operating system, or hard drive has gone bad
in my laptop. I really don't know all that much about
computers. Help!!!! and thanks!!
 
First, be sure your antivirus software has the latest definitions and run a
virus scan. Without running a scan yourself, you have no way of knowing if
the virus is in fact gone.

If your system is clear of viruses, open Control Panel, open Administrative
Tools, open Event Viewer, look for errors corresponding to the crash, double
click the error, the information contained within may give a clue as to the
source of the problem.

Assuming you have an XP CD and not a recovery CD, place the XP CD in the
drive, when the setup screen appears, select "Check System Compatibility,"
the report it generates may point to problem hardware or software on your
system. If you do not have an XP CD, you can download this application
known as the Upgrade Advisor from the following site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp
Note: If you have access to a broadband connection it might be best to
download using that as this is a rather large download.

Check for the latest drivers for your hardware, especially your graphics
card and soundcard and all peripherals connected to your system. No not use
Windows Update for this, go to the device manufacturer's web sites and if
you install updated drivers, ignore the message about drivers being unsigned
by Microsoft.
 
My computer only runs for about an hour every time I turn
it on. Then, I just get the dredded blue screen, and I
have to turn it off. I had someone look at it, and they
thought that they found a virus, and told me that they
took it off, and all should be well. But, the same thing
happened again. I can't run my disk clean up for some
reason, either. Another person I spoke with said that it
could be the operating system, or hard drive has gone bad
in my laptop. I really don't know all that much about
computers. Help!!!! and thanks!!
Click to expand...

That is a classic symptom of an overheating problem.

Check inside the case for any buildup of dust or fuzz and remove it
with compressed air.

Make sure the CPU and Power Supply cooling fans are spinning freely
with no noise or vibration. Also the video card cooling fan if the
computer has one. If the computer is 3 years old or older then
replace the CPU cooling fan with a ball-bearing fan that is
specifically rated for your make, model, and speed of CPU. These fans
are not expensive and they do not last forever.

Check for any internal temperature monitoring functions or utilities.
Some motherboards have this function incorporated into the BIOS setup,
where it can be activated and alarms set to warn you if something goes
out of range. Other systems have utility programs that either come on
a CD supplied with the computer/motherboard or which can be downloaded
from the computer/motherboard manufacturer's web site. If you use one
of these make sure that it is set to be loaded automatically at
startup and that the alarms settings are activated. At least one
motherboard manufacturer (AOpen) has such a utility that installs with
the alarms turned off and you have to reconfigure it.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
This is all reasonable advice, but the original poster needs to learn
how to read a blue screen error message:

1) Note the type of error (eg, STOP) and the hex error message number
2) Note the descriptive name of the error (eg, KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR)
3) Note the hex numbers after the error type, usually four numbers
4) Note the module that experienced the failure (eg, atapi.sys)

With this information, folks here can tell you exactly what is going
wrong. Or you can look it up yourself at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prmd_stp_tnvo.asp?frame=true
 
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