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Blue Screen of Death

L

Laudanum

Super-Earth
Joined
Jan 9, 2009
So my "trusty" laptop, affectionately named Lappy has passed on.
That is until I hand it over to someone who doesn't want to smash it into a thousand tiny pieces and they bring it back from the digital afterlife.

So, my triumpant return is no longer triumpant.

Dammit.
-L
 
D:
If you weren't impossibly far away, I'd look at it. If you want, PM me the details, or post them here. Might be able to help, might not. But I'd give it a shot
 
I'll post the details incase anyone else has ideas/suggestions/agreement to smash the awful thing.

Let's see. I was running AIM, Firefox and opening Photoshop, then my computer froze.
It does that occasionally when I try to open Photoshop, since it's pirated and a huge-ass program.
I put no stock in this freezing, and manually restarted.
It got to the "Pick a Start-Up" Thing (Safe-Mode, Last Known Good Config, etc.) and I just selected Start Up Normally or whatever.
It didn't get too far from there before I got the Blue Screen.

I've tried starting it with every single option (Safe-Mode, etc.) and now I'm trying to format it with an XP disc.
Both of these still lead to Blue Screens.

Ah, and it's an HP Pavillion lap top running Windows XP Home Edition, fyi.

So, from what I've read online, my hard-drive is royally fucked.

If there's anything else you wanna know to help diagnose, feel free to ask.

-L
 
Hmmm I've never heard of getting a BSoD (Blue Screen of Death) on a freakin reformat :v
Any chance you have the error code on the BSOD? It'd be like 0x00000000, only with letters/numbers other than the zeros, and maybe something like 'INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE'. That should be in the upper portion of the screen, in the corner.

Also, is it the same error message in safe mode/reformat?

That's sounds hella rough.
 
Yep. Inacessible_Boot_Device.
Got that.
And no, I haven't had a chance to write the number down. It's like *BSOD**GONE*
It restarts moments after Blue-Screening.
 
Sounds like Lappy had an uprotected link with another computer, and caught a virus.

Remember kids, put a helmet on.
 
If your laptop has a removable hard drive, take it out. Freeze it. Yes, in a freezer. Then try installing it and running again. If you get in, it's hard drive failure. It'll run briefly while frozen, so take the chance to back up everything you can.
 
Oooh that's a good idea. I forgot about that. Isn't there an issue with condensation? I believe sealing it in a ziplock bag prevents that, right?
 
Hmm, that'll probably help with my desktop issue, but it might be past that stage by now. The drive was making some pretty ugly noises on star up.
 
Trygon said:
If your laptop has a removable hard drive, take it out. Freeze it. Yes, in a freezer. Then try installing it and running again. If you get in, it's hard drive failure. It'll run briefly while frozen, so take the chance to back up everything you can.
Click to expand...

It's in the freezer now.
I did get a "Why is there a hard-drive in the freezer?" from my grandmother, but hopefully this'll narrow it down quite well.
Thank you.
 
Misha the ugly noises could be your fan ready to take a shit and die. Also Laud did this happen to start with your computer after getting XP Service Pack 3? there are reports of Service pack 3 giving problems with the blue screen of death shit. If that's the case then as said before, your computer is dead as it sits and it needs a doctor of epic skills to fix it. Though it would be cheaper to do what Try said and then get a new computer.
 
I checked the fans. I held my ear up to the open case as I tried to boot it up, the sound was most definitely coming from the hard drive. It would make sense to say that it got damaged during my move back to Canada.
 
Misha - STOP USING IT. NOW.

Or back it up, entirely. Those sounds mean your hard drive's remaining lifespan is clocked in MINUTES.
 
I know. I prepared for that. I was just wondering if there was a solution that didn't involve me spending 80$ on a new hard drive. It really doesn't matter that much, I've been exclusively on my laptop since I moved here anyway so I'm just thinking of chucking the hard drive and selling the rest as spare parts.
 
You might have an ancient virus on there too. It's called the reader tap worm. it literally makes the reader needle on your harddrive start to tap into the disc. The chances of this virus actually being on your computer are less likely than you winning the jackpot of the lottery. but it would be cool if you had that virus.
 
I know I'm new here and everything but I thought I would pitch in. I was an IT engineer for ten years before starting up on my own...

INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE can be caused by many things, least of all hardware failure. It can be a corruption of the master boot record, disk errors, corrupt operating system, a scratch on a disk platter, and only then a failure. A virus is unlikely.

To do something about it before you even have to format is to load the XP install disk and go to the rescue options. Access a DOS window and type "Chkdsk". Let the drive hammer away for a while. If that doesn't pick anything up try "chkdsk /f" which is a lower level disk check. That will take some time so go and get a coffee or something while it works. If that proves nothing move on. As you have already tried a reformat, I won't suggest it here, but it would be the next logical step.

Download a copy of Ubuntu or Mint and try to install it. It uses a completely different filing and partitioning system than Windows and will often "unstick" a hard drive. If this doesn't work then the problem is hardware.

I know it's a laptop but remove the drive and knock it gently on the side of a desk then replace it. There is a phenomenon called "stiction" where static electricity or residual voltage can cause two metals to stick together. The knocking would free it. If it still doesn't work it's easier to try a hairdryer on it than freezing it. It works on the same principle just the other way round. The heat makes the different metals within the drive expand at different rates, freeing up any "stiction." Freezing is inherent with problems, not least the condensation one. It can also cause the metals to become brittle and shatter inside the drive if you try to use it.

If it still doesn't work then replacement is needed. Before you spend your money though, remove the drive and connect it as a secondary drive to another computer. You may need an IDE adapter, but they are only a couple of $. See if the other computer can discover the drive and access the rest of the data. As a secondary drive, the MBR and the first sectors aren't needed to read it. If the problem is at the beginning of the first platter or sectors, you may still be able to access or retrieve any data left on it. It would be worth trying a full format while slave and reinserting it to make doubly sure.

After than I'm afraid it's shopping time.
 
Sevinn said:
To do something about it before you even have to format is to load the XP install disk and go to the rescue options. Access a DOS window and type "Chkdsk". Let the drive hammer away for a while. If that doesn't pick anything up try "chkdsk /f" which is a lower level disk check. That will take some time so go and get a coffee or something while it works. If that proves nothing move on. As you have already tried a reformat, I won't suggest it here, but it would be the next logical step.
Click to expand...
...?

'To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, at the command prompt, type chkdsk, and then press ENTER.'

Just 'chkdsk' alone does nothing, and what you described for 'chkdsk /f' is, I'm pretty sure, /r.

Also, CLI =/= DOS. DOS hasn't been a part of windows since ME.
 
actually Try, if you go to Start, Run, and then type "Cmd" and hit enter it will bring up a DOS window. XP uses the very basic of DOS in the back ground to run everything....or at least that's what I've been reading lately.
 
Kingschoolyou said:
actually Try, if you go to Start, Run, and then type "Cmd" and hit enter it will bring up a DOS window. XP uses the very basic of DOS in the back ground to run everything....or at least that's what I've been reading lately.
Click to expand...
DOS is an OS. That window is a CLI.

No, XP does not run DOS in the background - Every windows up until 2000 did, and then they changed kernals. The same kernal is used in XP as is used in 2000 - They're basically the same OS, except for some window dressing in XP.
 
Kingschoolyou said:
actually Try, if you go to Start, Run, and then type "Cmd" and hit enter it will bring up a DOS window. XP uses the very basic of DOS in the back ground to run everything....or at least that's what I've been reading lately.
Click to expand...


Plus the OP said he had already tried a format, so using your method wouldn't work.

I know DOS doesn't exist anymore, but old habits die hard.
 
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