blue screen

[TOMCAT21]

I logged on to my dell desktop the other day and I got the infamous blue screen. It said Windows had to shutdown and well it is not coming up. It is 5 years old. I am not a computer guy by any stretch. Is it a motherboard issue ? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[The Fugitive]

LOL!!! that's like calling a garage and saying "my car won't start, is it an engine issue?". The more info you can give the better... do any of the lights light, do the fans run? anything else you can spot can help.

[Denholm]

You only get a blue screen when Windows experiences an issue. Since Windows can only experience an issue while it's starting up, running, or shutting down, we know the system manages to run. What we need to find out is which error code you're receiving. In addition, have you recently added software (programs, utilities, anti-virus, etc...) or hardware (sound card, video card, networking card, etc...)?

[cattb]

goto my computer and click properties then goto advanced tab and click on it then go to start up and recovery  and click settings button and uncheck auto restart. Then the next time your PC BSOD you will be able to read the code otherwise I think by default this is checked and will automatically restart.

[TOMCAT21]

the fan runs. On my blue screen it says: A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen happens again, follow these steps:

Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk fragmentation or backup utilities.Check your hard drive configuration and check for any updated drivers. Run CHKDSK/F to check fir hard drive corruption and the restart computer.

Technical information: *** STOP: 0x00000024(0x00190203,0x86F817C8,0xC0000102,0x00000000)



That is all I get when it starts up. I wish it was a car, then I could fix it...

[TC31st]

Tomcat- 

yep, the ol BSOD..pretty irritating little surprise when it jumps out from seemingly nowhere..anyway, it can be just about anything and sometimes you get lucky and can figure it out right away and sometimes even microsoft tech dont have a clue.  That stop error may (or may not) help you figure it out.  If you can get online with another computer you can go to microsoft.com and do a search for that stop error code, if its something that pretty common you will get an explanation article which usually has a fix or at least will give you an indication of what could be causing it..again, if you're lucky this will at least give you an idea of where the problem could be or at the very best be exactly what the problem is in your case and a step by step on how to fix it.

If that approach is not possible or unsuccessful, then the only thing you can do is try to figure it out yourself... usually its something you did the last time you were using the machine...you installed something or added some new hardware or something was changed/added without your knowledge and its not playing nice with your windows installation.  If you remember what it was you added or changed then great, as long as you can get windows started in "safe mode" usually by pressing F8 during startup - you can go in and remove whatever it was and restart.

If you can't remember or did not change anything, then it gets a little more sticky..and it could be just about anything...some driver got corrupted, some program is missing something and hanging, etc, etc.   Things get more complicated from here and usually involve a systematic process of elimination to find the culprit.  There are "cookbook" articles on "how to recover from the blue screen of death" online that explain in detail what to do and how to narrow down the possible culprits untill you figure it out - sometimes a real p.i.t.a.  but  otherwise its the old bring it in for service an pay through the butt.

Good luck and hey, its a challenge, right.. who's gonna win  you or that stupid machine??!

[Getback]

Can you start it in safe mode?

[TOMCAT21]

No it doesnt restart in safe mode .

[BaldEagl]

Amazing how well Google works:  http://www.geekswhoknow.com/articles/stop-0x00000024-0x0000024-0x24-ntfs-file-sys-error-code.htm

[TC31st]

oh, oohh..starting to look like 'windows re-install-time', not good, not good..."corrupt ntfs file system" --usually means ur screwed, but mebbe not, mebbe if ya could just get to the command prompt and run chkdsk/r maybe you could get a repair.  Can you get ANY of the safe modes to start??  Besides, you're not even sure it is the file system...did you ever make a windows startup/rescue disk?  know anyone that has one? got your original windows disk?   You just gotta get this machine booted so's you can run chkdsk and see if your file system is porked and if its repairable or not, or throw in the towel and reinstall windows.

[gyrene81]

goto my computer and click properties then goto advanced tab and click on it then go to start up and recovery  and click settings button and uncheck auto restart. Then the next time your PC BSOD you will be able to read the code otherwise I think by default this is checked and will automatically restart.

ROFLMAO...I'd like to see who can do that with a BSOD before Windows login.


Tomcat, if you have the Windows install disk you can try a system recovery...but I doubt that will work...the fact that you get the BSOD trying to use safe mode shows the Windows file system to be corrupted...it could be a defective spot on the hard drive...it could be a defective memory chip on one of your RAM modules...it could be any number of unknown variables...the one thing that is for sure is that you are going to have to reload Windows. Trying to do "fix" the issue without reloading is going to be a massive waste of time.

[Chilli]

Tomcat,

Do you know which keys to press to enable the safe mode selection screen?  You know that when your machine is trying to start, by holding down a certain key or combination of keys, the selection screen is accessed.

If you aren't sure, then google to find out from another computer and hopefully that is helpful.  I have seen that famous blue screen a few times, and only once have I needed do a complete re install (that was because, I got stupid and disabled my firewall..... and for no good reason..... and picked up a virus).

I am not going against what others are saying here, I am just dialing it back a notch, thinking maybe there is a simpler problem that should be addressed first.  To use the garage analogy, it would be like telling a mechanic my car won't start, and he asks you, how much gas is in the tank.

[TOMCAT21]

yeah, i've tried all the options and it always goes back to the bluescreen.

[cattb]

I am not sure what OS your running. I could have missed it in the previous post. If it is XP and you have a disk insert and start machine. If the PC does not start with your disk ( or from your disk) you may need to go into the BIOS and change the boot up sequence, so your cd boots first. ( as your computer starts try the delete key that sometimes takes you into the bios or look for the splash screen there should be the commands there)

Once started from your disk goto the repair mode and use chkdsk or chkdsk /p make sure there is a space after the chkdsk.
If you get to the repair section you can use the help command i believe to show the commands.

Windows 7 I havn't used to much but I know it has  repair feature.

[cattb]

ROFLMAO...I'd like to see who can do that with a BSOD before Windows login.


Tomcat, if you have the Windows install disk you can try a system recovery...but I doubt that will work...the fact that you get the BSOD trying to use safe mode shows the Windows file system to be corrupted...it could be a defective spot on the hard drive...it could be a defective memory chip on one of your RAM modules...it could be any number of unknown variables...the one thing that is for sure is that you are going to have to reload Windows. Trying to do "fix" the issue without reloading is going to be a massive waste of time.

yes if its a constant BSOD will never make it that far.....not all BSOD are always constant