Computer Geeks: What causes sudden BSOD? When the computer screen goes vivid cobalt blue and big white letters basically tell you "YOU ARE IN SUCH TROUBLE WITH THIS COMPUTER YOU WON'T EVEN BELIEVE IT!"? (Well, I'm paraphrasing, but I think the actual words were even more foreboding than that!)
So, I turned it off, then rebooted and all was well with the world.
Why's it do that? My computer gal says it's happened to her, too, and nothing of any consequence occurred again. She said maybe geeky hardware guys might know but "they'll probably just BS you that they know." :-)
Anybody got a real reason why that happens when it all clears up right away?
Thanks!
Z
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25 comments:
Surest fix is to switch to a Mac.
Wow, several years ago when I was using a PC I remember that happening. Back then I'd call technical support and they would reload something and it would take me days to get everything straightened out. I do miss spending days with those guys.
Generally a software failure in a deep critical subroutine.
It can often simply be a random problem.
BE SURE TO BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA ASAP. May be nothing, may be something ... do you feel lucky?
Ducky, that's what my computer gal said " Back things up" but yes, I do feel lucky!
I'm going with "may be nothing." thanks..I sure hope so.
I have had it before and so has she and nothing more happened.
Geezer...I will never go Mac, but thanks!
Z, that means you are near the end. When this happened to me I purchased Carbonite and backed everything up. Within about three weeks my computer hard rrive was ruined. I purchased a new one and had _everything_ from ten years back on Carbonite. My best advice, get bizzy. It is called the blue screen of death for good reason.
Here... let me Google that for you: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ht/stoperrors.htm
I use CCCleaner. It's free and the best I've found (and I've bought a load of paid ones!) http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download Cleaner has another free download for defragmenting your hard drive. http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download I download from the Piriform site.
I use the cleaner about 3-4 times a week and defrag about once every 2-3 weeks.
Hope your hard drive isn't about to blow; like KP says -- BACKUP!
If your computer has any age on it, you should open the case and with a can of compressed air shoot a stream on the CPU fins and clean the dust off. Could be overheating causing the CPU to dump ( rebooting- and nothing happens) ie the blue screen... make sure the fan (most are on the back of the case) is running and while you are there shoot a stream of the compressed air and clean the fan. Turn Off The Computer after you see the fan is working. Then do the cleaning. If you touch anything inside be sure to keep one hand on the metal case first (Grounding yourself to the computer).
There is a calculator battery on the mother board that has to be replaced sometime or other.
Could be multiple things:
- hardware failure
- software issue
- driver problem
- virus
I know I listed them all but with PCs it's hard to tell to be honest. MSFT is releasing more and more crappy products.
Don't go with Mac b/c when you go Mac you can't go back :D
FrogBurger
Z said...
FB, I almost emailed you for help! Thanks for answering here.
I won't go Mac because the best computer fixer I know in L.A. told me "unless you're doing lots of videos, stay with your PC"
that's that for ME! :-)
I have a laptop at work that is very stable, until I plug a particular thumb drive in a USB port. Only one.
I then made a BSOD my desktop image.
That would freak out an IT guy who saw it.
Computers keep track of what they do with "pointers".
When you change tasks or do something different, a pointer is set (like a bookmark you leave in one book when you go to read another).
If something (bad software) moves a pointer in the operating system (Windows) to a place that doesn't make sense, it may get so lost that it can't recover. BSOD.
This happens more in Windows because it isn't as tightly controlled in software or drivers that are allowed to run on it as Apple. Which is why a lot more stuff is less expensive or more available.
My pastor has an Ipad. It has no USB port and he can only get things through Itunes.
I told him he leans towards fascism.
He's willing to give up some freedom for the trains to run on time.
"As the starship slowly entered the atmosphere of the planet below and the shields began to buckle, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock both stared at the large screen glowing blue in front of them.
Spock turned to Kirk and said, "I knew we should not have used Microsoft"."
"I won't go Mac because the best computer fixer I know in L.A. told me "unless you're doing lots of videos, stay with your PC"
I think your "fixer" is full of crap and doesn't want to lose your business of fixing your PC forever. It's a pretty lucrative gig fixing always broken PC's and that deathly blue screen of death.
Maybe you ought to figure out how much you spend on your "expert" vs how much trouble you've had lately with your PC?
And get a totally objective opinion. I'd say...since you have almost zero knowledge on how to deal with your PC issues and problems...you might want a frendlier environment to work on. An Intel Mac can do every damn thing a PC can do today...( I Know, I Know...I've heard all the BS before from the snobs ) and then some.
It's al crap that Macs only do video, or Photoshop...all bull....It's just that with those kind of huge files...video and photo....a Mac won't puke and die. Like a PC will.
Here...I "rammed up my PC at a cost of $1500...everything bigger and better..Ram....Hard drives...the bestes and fastest processor...( CPU )...
I'm working on a 3250MB file...and Windows quits.....tells me..."Not enough memory" to continue.
I had 8Gigs of RAM!!! I switched to a MAC...with half that.....never farted or quit.
There is no reason not to get a Mac= now a days a Mac will run Microsoft programs or MS like programs.
There is no reason not to get a PC=unless you will be making commercials for TV or The Movies Special Effects, then you should be using a Cray-----or now a days---- a Rendering Farm.
A Rendering Farm is a whole room full of drone PC's processing Video. (Special Software and server software).
So, there is no reason for choosing anything other than what YOU want. If you choose a PC-Just make sure it is loaded with the new stuff out today, at least dual core CPU, a quad-core CPU is better. Some i5 CPU's are quad-core, either dual core or quad-core - still make sure it is at least a i5CPU. 4Gig of ram-and maybe a Video Card.
@They say...
"... a quad-core CPU is better. Some i5 CPU's are quad-core, either dual core or quad-core - still make sure it is at least a i5CPU. 4Gig of ram-and maybe a Video Card...."
LMAO...all crap to someone who has no damn idea what the hell you're talking about.
These are people who walk into a Comp USA...and buy off the shelf.
They are mostly un sophisticated people who are sold the bullshit...by a salesman.
Let me ask this...when buying a car...would you buy a 4 cylinder over a Turbo 6...cause he sold you on it?
Anonymous..he fixes Macs, too. And I've visited him once but he's hugely revered.
You sound a little hostile.
and familiar
I have 4 cylinder cars that I drive with over 300,000 miles. My 92 Mazda 626 2.0 with 355,498 miles still runs 135 MPH and blows the Mind of Mustang Drivers. I love it!
What kind of question is that?
I would have a supercharger over a turbo-----but I would never buy either. Depending on the weight of the small car or small truck I would buy a 6 NON-TURBO over a 4.
I don't think Z or others would mind me giving them info to arm themselves with when shopping at a store that has a sales person that when hit with this info; in my experience, will click on the computer info screen and the computer prints out what it is built with. CompUSA or Office Depot or Frys sales people are very helpful. When you have some info of your own.
I don't think these people are dumb---I respect these people here.
In reviewing the comments, I realized I neglected to second Marine4ever on CCcleaner.
Free download and has fixed my computer a few times.
Go here:
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
Questions? E-mail me.
Hi Z!
I continue to visit from here in Honduras and I thought I'd send my thoughts.
BSOD is a sign you're nearing the recommended 'every 6 months' reinstall of Windows. It's a pain to do but better than losing everything.
As others have said, back up your data. I use several external USB drives.
CCleaner is excellent, both as advice and as a product. I use it regularly and it's free.
Don't go unprotected. In 34 years of playing with every kind of computer, I've found only two antivirus programs I would recommend, Trend Micro and Kaspersky. Anything else is a temporary and leaky patch, and I've tried all of them.
Finally, consider a better option. Linux comes in many flavors, almost all free, more secure and efficient than Windows. Runs great even on older hardware.
Keep it going Z. I'm encouraged by your blog. I'm amused by the trolls. You must be doing something right to attract that many idiots! ;-)
Will, Still in Honduras
The trouble with BSOD is that the warning can mean anything from a non-essential file being corrupted to the incipient failure of a hard drive and an unrecoverable system failure.
Be sure to back up.
Re-Install Windows every 6 months!?!
First I've heard.
My desktop PC has run night and day, 24 hours, for over three years, maybe four without a glitch.
And this was a used machine (Dell) I bought and wiped.
Ed Bonderenka -- "Re-Install Windows every 6 months!?! First I've heard."
Me too, Ed. I've got a Toshiba laptop loaded to the gills 'cause I use a lot of graphics/video editing software (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, onOne, Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere -- and more) and I've been using it like you for about four years.
I had one or two hiccups (sorta like the BSOD) and could trace it back to some dumb ass program I had downloaded. I uninstalled, ran CC and I'm good to go. I've had computers that had to be really worked on, maybe three or four times out of about 15 years. Most of the time, if you'll just retrace your steps, you can undo what you've doo-dooed.
Just as a side note: I started out as a die hard Mac user. Had the first Mac SE. Laughed and threw rocks at PC. Was a prepress manager for the largest printing company between Houston and Dallas, Texas. Had NOTHING but Macs in our department.
Several (as in SEVERAL) years ago, I was visiting with a prepress manager at another printing plant and noticed he had switched to PCs for prepress work and had one lonely Mac sitting in the back.
I asked him, "What's the deal?!" He was a staunch Mac man, too.
He said, "Every file we get through here is PC (just like at my shop) and I'm tired of converting to Mac to get it to the press and then have trouble because of the conversion process. I got tired of fighting it and it's been the best thing I've ever done!"
This guy was good and it made sense to me.
Not long after that, I became very ill. When I was able to, I started doing a little work from home. Problem was, I didn't have anything but my wife's PC. After installing software that I would need, I MADE myself use the PC -- I had no other choice. Years before, trying to do Mac work on a PC was like trying to make a garbage disposal do the work of a dishwasher. This time it was working, though!
After a couple of days, I wondered why I hadn't been doing this all along. True, during the early years there was no way you could do things on a PC that you could on a Mac. There was a saying that 9/10's of the graphics you saw on a PC was done on a Mac. The Mac was a godsend for the graphic designer; the PC was great for spreadsheets.
Six years later, I'm still on a PC and wouldn't look back (not counting the money saved by going PC.) I run Kaspersky for anti-virus and CCCleaner. Sailing along.
I know what I've said about the Mac is blasphemy... but if it works, don't fix it.
Oh yeah... I use Western Digital external hard drives (My Passport) for continuous backups. You can set the number of versions you want to save so you can go back and retrieve an older version of a file. I don't mess with DVDs anymore... too time consuming and take up too much room.
Marine4Ever: Hilarious.
I previously commented:
"My pastor has an Ipad. It has no USB port and he can only get things through Itunes.
I told him he leans towards fascism.
He's willing to give up some freedom for the trains to run on time."
His day job is a prepress automator writing scripts for handling prepress.
he's an Apple freak.
I've never had a BSD. Could be anything though. I'm leaning toward flaky hardware about to go to the big case in the sky.
Image backup is the way to go. I do 2 external drives, one is always unplugged while the other is in and they get toggled every week or so. I will never had to go back more than 7 days or re-install software. Unless it all gets stolen.
Each drive has multiple copies of everything.
Carbonite or Mosey is a good way to do the remote backup of your personal stuff. Amazon may have something now too with their cloud.
"unless you're doing lots of videos, stay with your PC"
The guy lives in the 90s to be honest. If a guy was telling me that I would change shop.
Mrs FrogBurger has had a Mac for years that has never had any issues. Well worth the 900 dollars for web browsing, email and other things.
FrogBurger
"unless you're doing lots of videos, stay with your PC"
The guy lives in the 90s to be honest. If a guy was telling me that I would change shop.
Mrs FrogBurger has had a Mac for years that has never had any issues. Well worth the 900 dollars for web browsing, email and other things.
FrogBurger
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