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Blue screen on Windows can mean anything.
Usually it happens because of the absence of system files, absence of specific device drivers, absence of DLL files.
Though there are 2 cases of when a blue screen will appear.
1. When booting up the PC it goes instantly on a blue screen (things are serious here)
2. While working a blue screen pops up (not so serious here) as it might be a conflict between some running software.
I guess you are in the 2nd case.
Anyway, this is something that someone needs to be in front of the the computer to search and find out. What I can tell you is some basic steps to follow to be able to locate possibly where the problem is.
Try to work only on SC2 or only on Internet to isolate from where exactly the problem is.
Try to remember what software you have installed lately just before the blue screen started popping up. If you do remember what have you installed lately, uninstall it.
If the problem persists, then open your PC and swap memory modules in the memory slots. If the problem still persists, while the system boots up hit the "Del" button to get into the computer BIOS and choose "Load Fail-Safe Defaults" to have the motherboard use the safest values for the BIOS.
Then Save and Exit the BIOS and boot up your PC again to get into Windows.
***Do not interfere with the BIOS or the Hardware if you are not familiar with it.
There is one thing I was going to try before I read your reply and that was to remove a Tevion Wireless Laser Mouse I installed on Thursday.
This morning I tried to reinstall my original one which came with the keyboard and works off the same antenna as the keyboard, but I could not get the old mouse to work.
I removed the usb wireless device that came with my new mouse, but still the old mouse will not work but the keyboard is working. I think I will reinstall the old drivers for the multimedia keyboad and mouse later today. (I have work to do now!)
I should say that the blue screen does not come up initially, it is whilst the computer is working and so far it has been when I have been in Adobe Bridge and Photoshop as well as on line and probably other things running as well.
This talk about not enough memory is worrying me. I have a Gig of RAM.
Re BIOS, I have absolutely no knowedge of these.
I also read that there may be an incompatibility with the CPU and the motherboard if one or the other had subsequently been replaced, but they are both the originals - three and a half years old!
There is one thing I was going to try before I read your reply and that was to remove a Tevion Wireless Laser Mouse I installed on Thursday.
This morning I tried to reinstall my original one which came with the keyboard and works off the same antenna as the keyboard, but I could not get the old mouse to work.
I removed the usb wireless device that came with my new mouse, but still the old mouse will not work but the keyboard is working. I think I will reinstall the old drivers for the multimedia keyboad and mouse later today. (I have work to do now!)
I should say that the blue screen does not come up initially, it is whilst the computer is working and so far it has been when I have been in Adobe Bridge and Photoshop as well as on line and probably other things running as well.
This talk about not enough memory is worrying me. I have a Gig of RAM.
Re BIOS, I have absolutely no knowedge of these.
I also read that there may be an incompatibility with the CPU and the motherboard if one or the other had subsequently been replaced, but they are both the originals - three and a half years old!
I will have another go later.
Thanks very much George.
Audrey,
Forget about the incompatibility between the CPU and motherboard (which is an issue when changing components) as you have the same components 3 & 1/2 years already and they were.
As I said and from what I understand and from my experience all these years with PCs (software & hardware) the problem is narrowed down to something that you have installed lately and that conflicts with some other software or a new driver that conflicts with the hardware.
Uninsstall what you have installed lately, reinstall the old mouse and driver driver and hopefully everything will return back to normal.
I Gig of memory is plenty for Windows XP to run most of the software appropriately. More memory will be required only if you use some video transformation programs (memory consumable) running in parallel with the rest of software you already run on your system.
So if you don't use video transformation software and only in parallel with the rest of your software, there is no need for more RAM memory.
George is obviously more knowledgeable than I with computers, but I will ask you one question do you use any 3rd party clean up programs like Ccleaner or Regedit.
I have used these on my laptop and on both PC's, recently No1 PC blue screened on boot up now replaced with the Dell, No 2 boots OK and can be used before going to sleep for about 10 mins or more before its usable again, it a bit like a bus nothing happens when you click on a program then they all activate at once. Same thing with the laptop, I tried a widows repair install on the laptop but it blue screened on boot up. I formatted and reinstalled XP and it appears to be fine now. The next job it to sort No 2 out that has all work related stuff on it so careful back is essential, not that it isn't backed up anyway.
Needless to say Ccleaner & Regedit are no no's for me now.
George is obviously more knowledgeable than I with computers, but I will ask you one question do you use any 3rd party clean up programs like Ccleaner or Regedit.
I have used these on my laptop and on both PC's, recently No1 PC blue screened on boot up now replaced with the Dell, No 2 boots OK and can be used before going to sleep for about 10 mins or more before its usable again, it a bit like a bus nothing happens when you click on a program then they all activate at once. Same thing with the laptop, I tried a widows repair install on the laptop but it blue screened on boot up. I formatted and reinstalled XP and it appears to be fine now. The next job it to sort No 2 out that has all work related stuff on it so careful back is essential, not that it isn't backed up anyway.
Needless to say Ccleaner & Regedit are no no's for me now.
Patrick
Patrick,
I have used and tested most of these types of cleaning software.
CCleaner is totaly safe to use and have it installed in my pc for the last 2 years almost. Though someone shouldn't experiment with the advanced section if he/she is not so familiar with it. But even if it messes up with that part in CCleaner the result is never a blue screen as the program never interferes with system files.
About Regedit and other related registry software things get more serious as these software can pick-up lots of registry entries that need user interaction at the end to choose what to check for deletion. Some of them even in automatic mode might pick-up valid registry entries like "empty keys", that while these keys are recognized as "empty" their existence is created by Windows for future use of installed software.
Anyway, there are really very few safe Registry Cleaning software for those that are not familiar in interfering with the registry, but personally I wouldn't suggest any to anyone who is not familiar with the registry sport, just to be completely on the safe side.
Blue screens on Windows happen generally for the following reasons:
1. Deleted or corrupted system files (including Dynamic Linked Libraries) and drivers.
2. Drivers that conflicting with each other.
3. System files and drivers replaced by same name system files and drivers but of different version, usually on software installation.
4. Programs that share or try to share same memory addresses.
5. DeadLocks that happens when 4 conditions are occur at the same time (Exclusive Access, Hold & Wait, No pre-emption, Circular Wait Chain).
The most common situations are the first 4 conditions.
I have used and tested most of these types of cleaning software.
CCleaner is totaly safe to use and have it installed in my pc for the last 2 years almost. Though someone shouldn't experiment with the advanced section if he/she is not so familiar with it. But even if it messes up with that part in CCleaner the result is never a blue screen as the program never interferes with system files.
About Regedit and other related registry software things get more serious as these software can pick-up lots of registry entries that need user interaction at the end to choose what to check for deletion. Some of them even in automatic mode might pick-up valid registry entries like "empty keys", that while these keys are recognized as "empty" their existence is created by Windows for future use of installed software.
Anyway, there are really very few safe Registry Cleaning software for those that are not familiar in interfering with the registry, but personally I wouldn't suggest any to anyone who is not familiar with the registry sport, just to be completely on the safe side.
Blue screens on Windows happen generally for the following reasons:
1. Deleted or corrupted system files (including Dynamic Linked Libraries) and drivers.
2. Drivers that conflicting with each other.
3. System files and drivers replaced by same name system files and drivers but of different version, usually on software installation.
4. Programs that share or try to share same memory addresses.
5. DeadLocks that happens when 4 conditions are occur at the same time (Exclusive Access, Hold & Wait, No pre-emption, Circular Wait Chain).
The most common situations are the first 4 conditions.
George
Hi George
What you are saying its safe to use Ccleaner but leave Regedit alone.
What do you think is happening to my computer that works after booting for a few minutes the hangs for 10 or more minutes then works fine until I shut down? Even if I put it into Hibernate and start up again.
If you can point at the problem, what is the cure if any without reinstalling?
What you are saying its safe to use Ccleaner but leave Regedit alone.
What do you think is happening to my computer that works after booting for a few minutes the hangs for 10 or more minutes then works fine until I shut down? Even if I put it into Hibernate and start up again.
If you can point at the problem, what is the cure if any without reinstalling?
Patrick
Patrick, no doubt what George has advised is good. I also had a similar problem some time back which turned out to be the processor fan not running at full speed. This was due to a buildup of dust on the fan blades. Computers have temperature monitors and will shut down if it reaches the danger mark. Have a look in your bios to see if you have the option to monitor the temp. If you have you may find as I did that things are getting too hot. Worth having a look at your fan anyway and giving it a clean. They do need this from time to time. Hope you find a cure.
George is obviously more knowledgeable than I with computers, but I will ask you one question do you use any 3rd party clean up programs like Ccleaner or Regedit.
Patrick
Erm, Yes, I have used both, but I have used them before without a problem.
I have used them since I had the blue screen also.
Once you have used the program, if something goes wrong, you can "Undo" the changes but I have never done that.
I am reading what you all say about these programs in order to make a decision as to whether I should use them again.
Patrick, no doubt what George has advised is good. I also had a similar problem some time back which turned out to be the processor fan not running at full speed. This was due to a buildup of dust on the fan blades. Computers have temperature monitors and will shut down if it reaches the danger mark. Have a look in your bios to see if you have the option to monitor the temp. If you have you may find as I did that things are getting too hot. Worth having a look at your fan anyway and giving it a clean. They do need this from time to time. Hope you find a cure.
I know what you are talking about, but I'm sure its not that for one things the hanging happens when the computer has been on for only a few minutes and when its starts to work again its fine.
Also I have software that tells me the CPU temp and it running well within limits.
The Reason I suspect Ccleaner & Regedit is the fact I had 3 computer running these programs and they have all had problems recently a Blue Screen that appeared terminal on number 1 now replaced with a Dell, and the hanging on both Number 2 and Laptop.
A friend of mine also runs Ccleaner and a different Registry program and he has also suffered not dissimilar problems cumulating in computer failure.
As I said and from what I understand and from my experience all these years with PCs (software & hardware) the problem is narrowed down to something that you have installed lately and that conflicts with some other software or a new driver that conflicts with the hardware.
Uninsstall what you have installed lately, reinstall the old mouse and driver driver and hopefully everything will return back to normal.George.
So if you don't use video transformation software and only in parallel with the rest of your software, there is no need for more RAM memory.
George
I hope you are right George. The fact is, even before I installed the software for the new laser mouse, it worked with my old software, but I still installed the new software, so perhaps there was a conflict.
I had to use the disk to uninstall the new mouse's software.
I also used the disk to uninstall my old keyboard and mouse's software. I then reinstalled both and my old keyboard and mouse are now working (after changing my batteries and resignalling it).
One good thing that has come out of this business is that my keyboard buttons have started working again.
I will have to see what happens and whether I get the blue screen again.
I have plugged the USB device into my husband's USB hub and the mouse started immediately - I haven't put the new software in. I thought I would just try it (see if he gets the Big Blue Screen)
One thing that did happen, or didn't as the case may be, is that all the function buttons on the new mouse don't work on my husband's computer - perhaps this is because I didn't install the relevant software (I don't know ).
In conclusion, as the new mouse is no faster than my old one, and as the only USB socket I have free is situated at the front of my computer behind a slide-down door, which wont now close because the wireless device sticks out too far; I am not too worried about relinquishing it to my husband.
IF ... ... my husband's does not crash. I will uninstall his old browser mouse's software and install the software for the new mouse, when perhaps all the function buttons might work.
=======
No George, I don't use video transformation software.
I use PC Tools Registry Mechanic and it's very easy to use, even for non-techies. You can download a free version that has some features disabled and the commercial version is very reasonably priced at $30. PC Pro magazine gave it a very high rating last year. It's never caused me any problems, though I can't honestly say it has rescued me from a serious situation like the one being discussed - basically because I haven't had such a problem
I am just assuming that you are using Windows XP SP2, if you are on Vista it's a different kettle of fish.
The first thing that you should do Audrey, is go into your BIOS during the boot, as you have not told us your computer model, or more importantly your mobo model, I can't tell you exactly how to do this but it usually involves hitting the 'delete' key or F2 during the boot procedure but before the OS boots. I know it sounds dangerous, but nothing will be harmed or altered until you change something in the BIOS.
When the BIOS screen appears all the instructions will be on the screen to enable you to proceed - Don't worry!
Scroll through the various windows, I think that you will have one called 'Power' and on this screen you will find something like 'Restore (or Reboot)after AC power loss' and you should disable this to prevent the machine restarting automatically, all the warnings and info will then remain on the blue screen after a BSOD. This is essential for the fault finding process.
Have you checked your Hardware Device Manager for yellow exclamation marks?
Another good step towards finding the problem is the Event Viewer. To see this, go to the 'Run' box, type "eventvwr.msc" (Without the quotation marks) and hit 'OK'. When the event viewer opens you can expand the various columns ie System, Applications, etc, and any problems should be reported there with an ID code.
What you are saying its safe to use Ccleaner but leave Regedit alone.
What do you think is happening to my computer that works after booting for a few minutes the hangs for 10 or more minutes then works fine until I shut down? Even if I put it into Hibernate and start up again.
If you can point at the problem, what is the cure if any without reinstalling?
Patrick
Patrick,
There a lot of things can happen into a computer.
The reason for that is that there exist all kinds of hardware combinations, drivers, software, operating systems and so forth.
I really cannot say precisely what might be the problem with your PC if I don't have the machine in front of me to examine it myself.
I hold a Computer Engineering Degree and I must be careful to what I say or suggest to other people and I don't want to suggest things based on the impression I get from other peoples' stories.
Though a basic approach to any incident has as follows:
When a problem arises can be from any kind of possible cause. The way to procceed always in faults (and not only related to computers) is to try to isolate the problem, to narrow the search down to as fewer things as possible.
Now, from what you have said, I see that you refered to similar problems to some other computers you own. In this case I would say that there is a software installed in all of your computers that conflicts generally with the operating system.
To me it looks that your computer is freezing for 10 minutes as something eats up all the power from the processor. It can be anything but mostly:
1. Atomatic Updates
2. Software trying to automatically access the Web through a firewall
3. Antivirus Automatic Search Scheduling or Updating
4. Downloading software such as eMule or other related trying to establish a initial connection or a lost connection through a reconnection.
5. Software that checks for other bugs and worms
6. Dialers (a serious one) software installed on the computer without the user being aware of and tries to establish an automatic connection.
and of course...
7. Automatic Defragmenters
Whatever it is, it sounds to me that it is something that eats up all the processor power and when it is done it releases the power back to the processor.
My first advice is to do this when it happens:
Hit ALT + CTRL + DEL to enter the task manager and see which process takes up all your CPU power. This is the first thing to start from. Once you do that you might be able to locate the problem, trace the software that does it and uninstall it.
Also observe if that freezing occurs always around 10 minutes as you said.
Observe your HD light in front of your tower case. Maybe there is a defragmenter working that takes around 10 minutes to defrag the disk.
Personally I have disabled all Windows Automatic Updates, Defragmenters, Antivirus Automatic Disk Scanning and Bug & Worm Scanning in all of my computers and they run rock stable without even a single crash or freeze up for years.
Also avoid to buy ready desktops even from known companies. If you are familiar with hardware or have a friend knowing about these things it is a much better choice to build a computer yourself, choosing much better components that can accept a wider range of other product variations and the final computer will cost you at least half the money of a ready system.
I say that from experience all these years. I've seen known firm computers left far behind in everything by custom build computers from people who know and are willing to do a good job.
The truth is that companies sell actually more of a 'package" including insurancies to tie buyers for some years, than a good component computer.
I've seen that everywhere in all countries I happen to live or be on bussiness trips for a while.
In laptops, there is really nothing you can do about that and you have to go for a ready system.
P.S. Also remember that the worst enemy of a computer is dust. Actually dust is the worst enemy of curcuit boards inside a computer.
I personally do a basic cleaning in all of my PCs at least twice per year.
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