How to Find Out the Cause of a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Error Message - Shutdown and Reboot in Windows 2000, XP and Vista

HOW TO: Debug Memory Dumps (Figure out what is causing a BSOD)

Problem

"My newly built computer is whizzing along fine, most of the time. Most mornings I switch it on and it logs into the net but on one or two occasions it's got to the 'verifying user name' bit and stopped, the Sagem modem seems to be connected ok then I get a blue screen (BSOD) shutdown, it reboots, asks if it should start in Safe Mode or normal startup, I click normal and everything from then on works as it should. I get this error message:

Problem signature: Problem Event Name: BlueScreen OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3 Locale ID: 2057 Additional information about the problem: BCCode: c2 BCP1: 00000007 BCP2: 0000110B BCP3: 00000000 BCP4: 87715708 OS Version: 6_0_6002 Service Pack: 2_0 Product: 768_1 Files that help describe the problem: C:\Windows\Minidump\Mini080309-01.dmp C:\Users\UsersName\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-38594-0.sysdata.xml C:\Users\UsersName\AppData\Local\Ted mp\WERBEEB.tmp.version.txt."

Answer

When you get a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista, a log is left in the Minidump folder. By making use of a de-bugging tool, such as WinDbg, you can discover the exact name of the device driver or program that caused the crash. RAM Memory and other hardware issues are more difficult to diagnose. You will have to search for that Stop error message code at the Microsoft support site - http://support.microsoft.com/. The following sticky on the Major Geek's forum provides information on how to analyse crash-dump files:

HOW TO: Debug Memory Dumps (Figure out what is causing a BSOD) - http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35246

Hardware issues caused by overheating or a short circuit produce a "black screen of death" - a blank screen. I have come across computers that have been rendered inoperable by a small dust bunny or a dog hair in an open RAM memory or adapter/card slot. A thorough cleaning involves removing every adapter card and cleaning its contacts, preferably with isopropyl alcohol. A very basic cleaning includes cleaning the air intakes and exhaust outlets - of the case fan(s) and of the power supply unit (PSU). It is a good idea to remove the cooling fan/heatsink unit over the fixed over processor because they are often full of dust and hair.

The "blue screen of death" - BSOD - is almost always caused by a software issue. However, faulty RAM memory or a faulty hard disk drive often produces a BSOD error message because faulty data isproduced, which Windows cannot read.

If none of the recovery methods work, reinstalling Windows itself will not always work. Remnants of the previous installation of Windows or malware can still reside on the hard disk drive. If you have to reinstall Windows, you should first install the hard disk drive in another desktop PC and wipe it with a drive-erasing program that gets rid of everything on the drive. Just formatting a hard disk drive is not guaranteed to get rid of residual software because only the references to the files in the file system are removed, not the data. You can find free programs by entering the search term free hard drive erasers in the Google search box at the top of this page (with its web radio button enabled). If you have a laptop PC, it can only accommodate a single hard disk drive, so, in order to erase its contents, you have to buy a USB adapter that allows you to connect the hard disk drive to a USB port on another desktop or laptop computer. You can find these adapters by entering the search terms laptop usb sata hard drive adapter or laptop usb ide hard drive adapter, depending on whether an IDE (old technology) or an SATA hard disk drive is installed in the affected laptop PC. Note that the word adaptor is usually used instead of adapter in the UK. If you need to identify the make/model of the hard drive installed in a computer because it is not identified in the Windows Device Manager, you can use the free Belarc Advisor that identifies all of the software and hardware installed on a computer. If the type (IDE or SATA is not provided, enter the make/model in a Google search box. Here is a page that provides an adapter that can be used with both IDE and SATA 5.5-inch desktop hard drives and 2.5-inch laptop hard drives. - http://www.sataadapter.com/

Note that if a BSOD issue remains after Windows has been reinstalled on a clean hard disk drive and all of the Windows updates the latest device drivers for the computer's motherboard, graphics card, etc., have been installed, it is indicative of a hardware issue that will have to be investigated. Free diagnostic utilities are available for the hard disk drive from its manufacturer's website and for the RAM memory.

Note that if you are not reinstalling from a backup or master image ofthe system, reinstalling Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 from its installation CD or DVD will require having to reinstall all of your software applications, utilities, service packs and updates. If you have slipstreamed your Windows disc so that it contains the service packs, you will just have to install the updates that were issued after the latest service pack. Windows XP has three service packs and Windows Vista has two service packs. The release date of Windows 7 is 22 October 2009. Read Slipstreaming Windows XP/Vista: How to create a Windows XP/Windows Vista installation CD/DVD containing the service packs and missing drivers in this section of this website for information on slipstreaming Windows XP/Vista.

CONTENTS OF RECOVERING AND REPAIRING WINDOWS XP

Click the relevant link to go to that information

Introduction: Recovering and repairing Windows XP

Methods of recovering Windows XP

System Restore

How to create a boot (startup) CD/DVD for Windows XP

How to perform a repair installation/install of Windows XP

Recovery by reinstalling Windows XP over itself and the consequences of so doing

Using the Recovery Console and the CHKDSK Hard-disk-drive Diagnostic Tool/Utility

How to use the Recovery Console to restore a corrupt Windows XP Registry when the PC/computer won't even boot into Safe Mode

Copying files and making backups: Using the Xcopy and Robocopy commands from the Command Prompt in Windows XP and Windows Vista

Windows XP: Password problems - Password and document recovery