ForceNZ

[John6656]

I have windows XP SP2 and last night I received the blue screen of death just as I was launching my ISP software. My puter rebooted automatically and normally. Then the report to Microsoft box came up. I connected to the internet, no problem this time, and clicked the box for error reporting. It said that the error was caused by a driver and suggested that I uninstall any new software that was installed prior to the error. It also said that it could not identify which driver was the problem.

The problem is that I have not installed any new software, so it seemed because it did not have the same issue on the next startup, I thought maybe the issue was a transiate one and disreguarded doing anything.

Now today, I tried to booting my puter and it hung after windows was almost loaded, but just before the login screen. The hard drive just quit spinning and hung with the light on.

So I then tried to boot up in safe mode. It booted to the point where it was loading the drivers, then it would stop there. The hard drive would spin back and fourth for awhile and then just shut off, with the light off.

When I booted again, the screen went to the recovery screen and I choosed the "Go back to the last known" good version...or whatever that says...and tired the same boots in normal mode and safe mode with the same results.

Of course, everytime you get an error and reboot, you get the check disc running. Before, I just let it run and after it finished it would continue on and then hang. The next time I tried to boot and it got to the check disc or scan disc, I decieded to cancel it and it booted!

I tried looking on the MS website for help, with no luck. I then decieded to use system restore. I went back to last week and it booted normally.

Any thoughts?

Also, I was going to try and use my recovery disc to repair windows and reinstall the drivers, but when I put it in, it says that it cannot be used because I have a newer version of windows. What that means is that the recovery disc was made before SP2 and the disc is SP1.

Does anybody know how or if you can use the recovery disc to repair windows?

Thanks!

[Hotdog]

Try booting again into safe mode, and uninstall SP2 (instructions on MS web site) then do a full spy and virus scan, and/or do a recovery.

Let us know how u get on.
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Comments by Hotdog brought to you courtesy of AlcoInline© IV drip - For when the tedious act of drinking takes too much time away from gaming.

[Hotdog]

A thought occured to me - how old is your computer. Can you possibly try another PSU (power supply unit) - because they're often a source of very unusual behaviour.

Also, in your BIOS, have you got an alarm setting for failing CMOS battery? Also check in your Windows Power settings in Control Panel - is battery failure warnings enabled? If not, enable them and see if you've possibly got an iminent failure.
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Comments by Hotdog brought to you courtesy of AlcoInline© IV drip - For when the tedious act of drinking takes too much time away from gaming.

[John6656]

Thanks for helping Hotdog...

My computer is almost new. It is less then 2 years old and I don't leave it run when I am not using it, so it doesn't have that many hours on it. I also checked it with Everest system information software http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en&pageid=1
and it didn't show any issues with the power supply.

As for the bios...I have to admit that I don't know much about it. I had an issue with my modem answering when the telephone rang. It would power on the computer. I knew that it was a bios setting issue, but when I searched the bios, I couldn't find the setting. I took it to a computer store and a cool tech set it up for free.

My point is, if you can tell me how to find the settings I am sure I can do it. I know that different bios have different terms, but if you can give me general direction, I am sure I can do it.

By the way, I hear that sometimes the battery can start failing after a couple years, so that could be an issue. It would be a good thing to make sure the warnings are on so I don't loose the bios.

Thanks Hotdog!

By the way, it seems to be working fine now, but as we know that could change. As for the AV and Spyware tests, I always scan in safe mode at least once a week. As soon as I got the machine working again, I did all the scans. There was only one issue found in the Spyware which was a tracking cookie and nothing on the AV.

[Hotdog]

Glad it seems ok - here's hoping.

But anyway... although I now doubt my suggestions were right:

To ensure that the battery warning is active in Windows, check:

Start / Settings / Control Panel / Sounds and Audio Devices Properties / Sounds - and make sure there's a sound associated with Low Battery Alarm and Critical Battery Alarm. They should be on by default.

Re battery settings in your BIOS - ignore that, as I now checked that most BIOS's don't have the feature.

But a suggestion anyway - go take a look into the BIOS just for a nosey - usually access by holding the Delete key as the pC boots.

Take a good look around just to see what's there, and don't worry about doing anything wrong, because when you've finished just select the option to exit without saving.
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Comments by Hotdog brought to you courtesy of AlcoInline© IV drip - For when the tedious act of drinking takes too much time away from gaming.

[John6656]

Will do! If you don't hear from me again.... LOL