Driver causing blue screen

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deanne
  • Start date Start date
D

Deanne

I'm getting random blue screens on Windows XP. The event
log indicates the culprit is the Digital DECcolorwriter
1000 17. However, this is not a printer that is installed
on this system. The installed printer is a Compaq C3-
1000, which seems to be working correctly. Yesterday, the
system seemed to be working fine, I walked away and came
back a couple hours later to a blue screen, so it doesn't
seem to be related to any specific activity that I might
be doing. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
You must have used the bad or wrong driver for your computer.
it's not fun with the blue screen, you should restart your PC and select the
last known good if this is 2000/XP, for ME it's a different technique to
rescue.

Ramboi
 
Shouldn't I be able to see the driver loaded someplace
though (It is XP)? When I look at the printer properties,
it shows the correct driver. When I look at the settings
under the control panel, I don't see any sign of the bad
driver. I booted in safe mode and didn't see it loading
there, either.

Is returning to the last known good pretty much a sure-
thing? Although I said "my" computer, this is really my
dad's computer I was trying to help with and I was
reluctant to uninstall the printer/scanner, or try
anything too risky because I was only in town for a day. I
didn't/don't want turn an inconvenience (the blue screens)
into a disaster and then take off and leave him to
struggle through it.
 
Deanne,

If you didn't install any external devices like printer, scanner etc.. then
this blue screen maybe coming from heat. This is a common problem that most
people are not aware of. You want to check the back of your computer, make
sure there is no dust on the fan, if there is then go to the store to get a
duster-spray.

The printer icon under your printer panel, should have a Check-mark, this tells
you that it is set as a default printer.

Good luck.
 
Thank you Ramboi! I'll talk to my dad about the
possibility that heat may be doing it. I doubt he has a
problem with dust build-up since the system is only a
month old, but maybe he has a vent partially blocked.

The printer device does show up and is selected as his
default printer. He only has one printer installed --
That's the first thing I checked. I was afraid he might've
installed a second printer accidently when he set his
system up, or that he might've selected the wrong print
driver to install for his printer.

If checking for air-flow blockages doesn't work, I told
him I'll try reverting to last known good the next time I
go visit (probably next spring).
 
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