The blue screen of death!

[sarahthesinger]

Oh dear.

So, the blue "you're knackered" screen came up when I tried to switch on today. I've tried to start in "safe mode with command prompt" so I can run the CHKDSK/F it's telling me to do, but this takes me straight back to the blue screen.

I've got no cash to either get it looked at or replace it, but given it's at least 8 years old I guess it's time to retire it anyway.

Is there an android app for this forum? I used the browser on my phone to get on, but an app might be better. Although if it's anything like the Facebook app I won't bother!

Yours desperately, StS

[OneDay]

Sarah you need the Proboards app for the forum. It costs about £1.85 but is very good

[skyjay]

I got the black screen.... same thing knackered.... mine was only 4 years old

[sarahthesinger]

Been told by a friend on FB that my hard drive has died. Boooo! :-[

Will see if my housemate has any ideas when he comes back tomorrow. I've got pictures on there that I'd rather not lose.

Gonna make Internet shopping more difficult if I've only got my phone. That might actually be a good thing!!!

[totaleliquidtony]

Nov 17, 2012 15:12:58 GMT sarahthesinger said:

Been told by a friend on FB that my hard drive has died. Boooo! :-[

Will see if my housemate has any ideas when he comes back tomorrow. I've got pictures on there that I'd rather not lose.

Gonna make Internet shopping more difficult if I've only got my phone. That might actually be a good thing!!!

Also check the RAM, I had a similar thing happen to my laptop, turned out I had a faulty stick of RAM.

If it is RAM it's a cheap fix too as it's seriously cheap these days, and as you have an old machine it will be very cheap to replace as it will probably be 256mb sticks.

I wouldn't trust someone on FB saying that the hard drive has died without them actually seeing it and running a few checks on it first.

[andy01424]

bsod can mean a few things bad driver or basic knackered ,you could try putting windows disc in then repair windows, as for losing pics you maybe lucky,when you have new had installed keep other one connected just make sure the new hd is set as first on boot up[need to get into bios to that ],this bit makes it easier to find ,on bottom bar[ where clock and start key is] right click on empty space and uncheck lock the task bar,then right click again ,same place,select Toolbars,now opens a window,click where it says computer now click ok,now you will a few rows of dotted line,left click on those and drag it along task bar about half way release,all your drives appear,now right click on task bar and recheck lock taskbar:
you will now see C:[main drive with window logo] D:local disc [is your old drive] Dvd Rw Drive[cd/dvd drive]
now on D: right click select open,your contents if drive still readable will appear.look for folder Users open that,you will see name you used open that all your document folders appear-pic-music etc inc downloads,you will also see desktop anything you had save to desktop is in there

now on main screen right click make a newfolder and drag and drop from old folders into there and now there on your new hd
you can also when done ,right click on old drive and select properties and run check disc through that
after you have done that if you want you can format that drive and use it as a back up:

to check ram- if you have more than one stick its good as min are 256mb ddr2[windows will start on min],just pull one out then start windows,shut down change over sticks and repeat,

[andy01424]

ps unplug and press power button to discharge any stored power,and before sticking fingers in touch chassis to ground any static,before you remove a stick of ram,static arc to cpu cooler or any anything on motherboard will render pc unrepairable!

[sarahthesinger]

Thanks for the tips. I don't understand most of it, but at least it sounds like it's not a complete disaster. Will be a while before I can afford to do anything about it though. In the meantime if anyone needs me I'll be back in the dark ages!

[Mev]

it would be easier to help if you post the codes on the bluescreen, better still take a pic of it. The codes usually relate to the problem as a blue screen could be anything from a corrupt driver to hardware failure.

[sarahthesinger]

My housemate's gonna have a go tomorrow - he's got a boot-up disc he can use to get to the bios prompt & take a look from there.

Thanks for the offer of help. Will keep you all in mind if I'm still stuck after tomorrow!

StS

[Deleted]

if you can boot to safe mode go to accesories / system tools / system restore and select a restore point from about a week ago