Contributed by Jules Peters
Although the “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD) may seem like a rather dramatic title, users of Windows know the severity of this common annoyance all too well. One minute you’re working away with no problems and next, total chaos (click to enlarge):
Your original screen vanishes and is replaced by a blue one bearing some cryptic message you can barely understand. While you may be tempted to go out and buy a new PC or take the machine to a repair shop, there are ways you can try to eliminate the infamous blue screen.
What Causes the Windows XP Blue Screen of Death?
Before working on a few resolutions, let’s first talk about why the BSOD is showing up on your screen. Many times, this problem is related to hardware or device drivers the hardware needs to function properly. This could be a printer or digital camera you recently installed or even something like a graphics chip or sound card. Sometimes device drivers become outdated or corrupt and require updates or complete replacements. When this is the case, your system might become terribly unstable and inevitably lead to the dreaded Blue Screen of Death.
A BSOD error can also be the result of software conflicts. For example, if you already have a free anti-virus program on your computer and then try to install a premium product made by Symantec, your system is likely to behave erratically. Some of your applications may not function properly, your PC might run slow and eventually crash its way to a blue screen.
When your BSOD error is the result of a device driver, the recommended solution is to seek out that specific driver and either disable it, uninstall and then re-install it, or download and install a new Windows driver for it.
Click here to run a Free Registry scan
If the BSOD is due to a software conflict, you should immediately remove one of those programs. Using our example of security software, you probably want to uninstall the free virus scanner and stick with the premium solution.
Alternative Blue Screen Fix
If the Windows Blue Screen of Death still exists after addressing hardware and software issues, there is another method you can try.
Grab your original Windows operating system disc, insert it into the CD/DVD drive and restart your computer. When the machine restarts, follow the prompts on the screen to boot from the disc.
You should then see a blue background with text flashing across the screen. After a minute or so, you will be asked if you want to Repair, Continue or Quit. Select Continue and you will be presented an electronic document basically stating that you agree to perform the diagnosis.
After reading, hit the F8 key. On the next page you will be asked if you want to Install, Repair, Delete Partition or Quit. Select the partition for Windows and click Repair.
Though it may look as if the operating system is being reinstalled, the repair process is actually only replacing troublesome files that may be causing the BSOD. After the process is done, exit and restart the machine to see if the blue screen is gone.
Jules Peters is a Technical Writer at PCauthorities.com, where her mantra is ‘fix Windows errors‘ with me!
James is the owner of WindowsTalk.org and has been a Microsoft Windows Consumer MVP since 2003.
Blue Screen is always a big problem with windows system.
Good tips for me.THX.
.-= MK´s last blog ..JPG转PDF工具：JPEG to PDF =-.
i am only using free virus scanners like avast and avira but they seem to be great tools though”-*
i always use free virus scanners on the internet coz they are quite good too~::