Blue screen of death! Help if you can!!!

RHYSDAD

On startup my Dell PC just keeps showing the BSOD. It's happened rarely in the past and a simple reboot has sorted it but not today. I don't think I've added anything since Norton a month or so ago so basically I'm asking how I might get round this! I've tried rebooting it and I've started windows normally and in safe mode to no avail. Thank god for wi-fi and the iPhone otherwise I'd be well fooked! Can I have a village idiots guide please! Ta muchly.

Edit to add it's Windows XP SP3 and the error code is STOP 0x00000024 if that means anything

Figment

The BSOD should show an error code. The exact wording, including any strings of numbers/letters might help

John_Gray

Have a read through here...

RHYSDAD

Figment wrote: »

The BSOD should show an error code. The exact wording, including any strings of numbers/letters might help

It's: STOP 00000024 (0x00190203, 0x86e5c8c0, 0x0000102, 0x00000000)

There's also something about RUN CHKDSK/F to check for hard drive corruption but how do I do this?!?

waddler_8

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

robmar0se

Do you have the Dell XP OS disk? If so insert it and boot from it - use the XP Recovery Console to run chkdsk c: /r

If you can't boot ftom the CD, then go into BIOS and change the boot sequnce, so that it looks to the dvd/cd drive first -then try again.

You may need to also run FIXMBR, but try rebooting first after the chkdsk

waddler_8

robmar0se wrote: »

You may need to also run FIXMBR

Only run this if you are 100% certain that any boot problems are due to MBR corruption. It's all too often advised to run the FIXMBR command as a stab in the dark to "fix" boot problems.

Most Dell computers have a custom MBR that allows access to hidden utilities (Recovery partition, HDD utilities) - FixMBR will write standard XP boot code making these utilities inaccessible.

RHYSDAD

robmar0se wrote: »

Do you have the Dell XP OS disk? If so insert it and boot from it - use the XP Recovery Console to run chkdsk c: /r

If you can't boot ftom the CD, then go into BIOS and change the boot sequnce, so that it looks to the dvd/cd drive first -then try again.

You may need to also run FIXMBR, but try rebooting first after the chkdsk

Will I lose any of my files doi g this. I have to confess to a lax approach to backup. I have thousands of pics of my two boys I really don't want to lose.

robmar0se

waddler_8 wrote: »

Only run this if you are 100% certain that any boot problems are due to MBR corruption. It's all too often advised to run the FIXMBR command as a stab in the dark to "fix" boot problems.

Most Dell computers have a custom MBR that allows access to hidden utilities (Recovery partition, HDD utilities) - FixMBR will write standard XP boot code making these utilities inaccessible.

True on newer machines, but the older XP ones supplied with the OS CD this was not the case.

Further, I think I said "may" need to run the FIXMBR if the "chkdsk c: /r" doesn't fix it?

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Edit: You will not loose any files by running the Recovery Console - its just a way to run chkdsk when XP won't start.

zzzLazyDaisy

RHYSDAD wrote: »

Will I lose any of my files doi g this. I have to confess to a lax approach to backup. I have thousands of pics of my two boys I really don't want to lose.

You might want to delay doing anything until you can get someone to take the hard drive out and put it in a caddy, and retrieve the photos.

If they are in a d drive, you shouldn't lose them, but that depends on there being a partition and the photos being saved to the d drive.

If they are on the c drive, you stand to lose everything.

Chances are, you won't know unless you are techie (I only know because I was advised to move everything to my d drive by techies on here when my laptop started running slowly, I later got a virus that shut down my laptop, and I had to restore it to factory settings, but the d drive was left untouched).

Also, fortunately for me, I keep everything on a portable hard-drive as I swap between a laptop and a netbook, so everything is always backed up. Doesn't help you now, I know, but a thought for the future.

closed

if the external drive fails, and have no copy elsewhere, you lose the lot

OP easiest solution (assuming it isn't a hd fault) is usually, buy a usb hard disk caddy, copy data to another machine (if you can get access to one/know anyone who will help), factory restore it, copy data back