Another computer issue

Stan in Oly, WA

Well-known Member
Our current desktop computer, a Dell which was pretty full featured when we bought it about 3 or 4 years ago, has presented a blue screen warning more times than I'm proud to admit (at least 6). Every time it happens, my wife and I tell each other we have to deal with it this time, but then we don't.

When we bought this computer, we decided to pay our way out of the problem of transferring the data from the previous computer by having a local independent computer service/repair shop do it. There were lots of problems, and we ended up not having much faith in them.

What should we do about the blue screen situation, and what is the best way to find someone reliable to do it?

Stan
 
Dell has an event logger that you should be able to access to see what the issue is. My guess is that it's a driver of some sort.

It would be helpful to know what operating system you are running and if the updates are up to date.

I quit buying factory brand computers about 7 years ago and started building my own. I have never had an issue with one of the home built models because they only have the software on them that I actually need.
 
I have in some situations, maybe most, have had great luck, by looking up the error message on the internet and researching about solutions, one of the simpler ones was an error message for a faulty RAM stick.

Its nice to have an alternate means to access the web, ie;, smartphone, another computer, laptop or whatever works. Problem with PC, I use the smartphone.

Its been 4 years since the last one literally crapped out, some sectors in the drive went bad, even had capacitors that were expanded, done.

In that case I had to take it to an IT guy at the local computer store. He was able to repair the sectors, retrieve my info, all of which I thought was backed up on a stand alone drive, but I still lost some photos for some reason, I still have those drives and the connection cables to power them up and access them, would love to find a way to see if those photos that were lost, could still be retrieved, all the other information was backed up and the same when I compared files, I was not too sure how that happened, don't know much about the repair of sectors or when they faulty if that's the correct term.

In any case,look up the error message, sometimes its very helpful, I'm no IT guy, but do have the aptitude for some of it, all depends on whats wrong, hopefully you have all your info backed up!
 
If it is a hardware problem like a RAM Module or Hard Drive, run self test or diagnostics on your pc to see if they pass or fail. Location of Diagnostics is dependent on your pc brand and OS, on Control Panel, look for System Performance and ..... to find diagnostics.

if your pc passes all diagnostics, I would run Malware, McAfee Stinger and your Anti-Virus with the latest updates/definition to see what is found.

Thirdly, get a USB 3.0 hard drive and transfer all of your data to it using Windows Easy Transfer and then reload your System Image and then reload your data.

If none of this works, cheaper to buy a new desktop.
 
If your operating system is Windows 7 - try this
Type Windows Memory Diagnostic in the Search window above the start button. Click and run the windows memory diagnostic program. It will tell you if your RAM is ok or has a problem.
 
Hello Stan in Oly, WA

Remove ram clean contacts with alcohol, reinstall.
You may get lucky!

Guido.
 
Another quick and free thing to try is clean all the fans and heat sinks. Make sure they all spin when the computer is turned on. Overheating will cause all kinds of problems.

As Guido suggested, pull out and reinsert all the boards and memory chips that are plugged into the main board. They work at very low voltages and it doesn't take much to cause a bad connection.
 
The BSOD used to be a daily occurrence back in the days of Windows 95. Back then, it was almost always a software bug. But from Windows XP on, the operating system is stable enough that you'll rarely see a BSOD, and when you do it's probably a hardware issue.

I would start by opening up the case and vacuuming out all the dust bunnies, particularly the CPU heat sink. Make sure all the fans are functioning.

If you think your hard drive might be failing, there are are freeware utilities which can read the hard disks built-in SMART statistics. This will tell you the actual error rate, something Windows does not track.
 
Hello Stan in Oly,WA,

You can try to boot the computer on safe mode.
Hit F8 before the blue screen of death. The boot strap is probably damaged, but may be some drivers are missing. By booting in the save mode they ( THE DRIVERS) will load. Hopefully that is all you need. It sounds more like the hard rive went south! Good Luck............

Guido.
 
(quoted from post at 17:42:40 08/18/14) Another quick and free thing to try is clean all the fans and heat sinks. Make sure they all spin when the computer is turned on. Overheating will cause all kinds of problems.

As Guido suggested, pull out and reinsert all the boards and memory chips that are plugged into the main board. They work at very low voltages and it doesn't take much to cause a bad connection.

Yep blow out the cooling fins under the fans with canned air or somesuch. Amazing what a little cleaning maintenance can do.
 

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