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Post your comments for Anatomy of a PC crash: 7 scenarios, and how to avoid them here

[berock212]

I like the new bsod, even though I have never had it. It is a lot less terrifying they the old bsod that looks like your computer just [censored] itself.

[Sourav8y9s]

Very nice article. As a technical support engineer all of these are common to me but not for the general people. This page will help them a lot.

[Nivek5150]

The thought of my computer being sad is terrifying. Time to apply these great tips

[KLanD]

Some good tips in this article.

[RayoLight]

I just had this same screen about a month ago even with McAfee continously running. It turned out to be a malicious rootkit that had somehow installed itself. I ran Malwarebytes (free edition) it identified and removed it. I had to perform this in safe mode as my system kept shutting itself down after only a few minutes. I uninstalled McAfee pronto and installed MS Security Essentials.

[RayoLight]

BTW, McAfee NEVER detected it, even with a full scan.

[KLanD]

RayoLight, on 22 January 2013 - 06:15 PM, said:

BTW, McAfee NEVER detected it, even with a full scan.

McAfee.. well there's your problem.

[Marc49Lewis]

The article said "First, use the software utility Memtest86+ to ensure your RAM is the problem." Memtest86+ is a fantastic tool but a little bit more description here would be helpful: The program usually comes as an .ISO file that has to be burned onto a CDRom. After creating that CDRom, you boot your computer from it (you may have to tell the computer to boot from the CD - others will do it automatically. It loads a specialised version of DOS and runs the Memtest86+ program under 32bit DOS, with no interference from anything to do with the Windows installation - no matter which version you're running. You may not understand all the technical data produced, but if you see ANYTHING in red, it's a solid indication that the memory chip being tested is BAD. Dump it and get a fresh stick, paying attention to the type it is, otherwise it either won't work or may foul the machine up badly.

[oldschoolh4ck3r]

IRQs? One should never have to worry about IRQ conflicts nowadays. This was an issue back in the early days of plug 'n pray in the '90s, but not today.

A fragmented hard drive shouldn't cause a BSOD.

In my 20+ years of PC hands-on experience, most BSODs I've encountered resulted from a misbehaving or incorrect driver (often times crashing during startup or low-power standby), 16-bit operating systems like Windows 98 (those were the pits - by design), failing power supplies (don't go cheap!), and failing motherboard capacitors (though rare nowadays with decent boards). I've only encountered a single bad memory module way back in the early '90s with a 72-pin SIMM.

Windows drivers caused most of the BSODs. Updating or replacing them fixes the issue. AHCI/IDE drivers immediately come to mind.

As for McAfee, LOL - I've seen systems run better with malware on them than McAfee Antivirus!

As for that pathetic Windows 8 blue screen... sad.

[rgeiken]

My BSODs came from a faulty external hard drive, so after that was removed the computer worked fine. Best thing to do is disconnect these first and run the computer for a while and see if it faults again. If not, then start adding them one at a time until you get the fault again and repair or replace the device. Likely it will not be the W7 O/S that is causing the problem. Most of us do not worry about the BSOD if it clears on the next boot. I got rid of my offending hard drive and now everything works fine. BSOD can be frightening, but they may turn out to be something that can easily be fixed.

[YukonCornelius]

Good article. Have to say though, I have not had a BSOD in years. Not with Vista, Win7 and Win8. Keep your drivers current, and that should eliminate most BSODs, unless you have a failing component - and that mostly happens if your computer is really old (or dirty), or you are buying cheapo hardware. And as mentioned, Antimalware software can sometimes be a problem too. They too often try to be all things, and that can result in bloated, complicated software more prone to problems. I use Windows Defender (formerly Security Essentials in Win7), and Malwarebytes for the occasional scan. Have not had an infection in years, and never have any issues with either.

[preferreduser]

Quote

BTW, McAfee NEVER detected it, even with a full scan.

McAfee is a virus uninstalled mine in DEC I run MSE and Avast
with appropriate exclusions set in each program no conflicts

[wexmary]

Give me a frigging break. Defragmenting a disk can stop BSODS???? In what alternate universe? Maybe in DOS 2.x and 3.x but you can made a strong case that especicially with Solid-state drives, defragging causes problems.

Most registry fixers CAUSE more problems. If you are going to play with stuff like that, just uninstall apps with Revo.

Hardware issues in Device Manager? Do not play with IRQs, that is DOS. PnP is almost 20 years old. If you see a non-working device in Device Manager, uninstall it, reboot and see if the reinstall by the PC corrects it.

Now if this article is aimed at a novive-mid-level, then they are not going to try cleaning their PCs, let alone reapplying thermal paste. And if they are pros, there is nothing new in this article.

[AllanPen]

Have any posters here tried the Wise Registry Cleaner? Trying to decide whether or not to install it and give it a whirl.

[BillGradwohl]

I stopped running Windows 14 years ago. I haven't had a virus infection, driver problems, registry issues, etc because I run Linux (Fedora version).

The hardware issues identified are valid, especially the section on heat.

If people were to ditch Windows they're life would be a lot simpler and a whole lot less expensive. I haven't purchased an application in 14 years as everything I use is open source. Admittedly, I write software professionally for a living and now concentrate on the Linux market, but I find that most people can get along just fine on a stock Linux distribution that contains the usual assortment of web browsers, email clients, etc.

Folks, give Linux a serious try by finding a local Linux person to get you started. In about an hour you'll feel at home on a Linux system. No kidding.

[TheBigOldDog5ydw]

"Most registry fixers CAUSE more problems"

Amen! They are modern day snake oil and down right dangerous in the hands of people w/o a good understanding of the registry and OS. Dont believe me or the other poster, google the Microsoft whitepaper authored by one of the senior engineers irrc.using them ais all risk and no reward.

In my experience 80 percent of the time a BSOD or lockup is the result of a bad driver.the other 20 percent is bad hardware - video card, hard drive, memory

[BearPup]

I'll echo the comments about bad drivers. I just spent the last 36 hours re-installing Win 7 and 60+ programs when a bad driver update caused my system to die an inglorious death. No backup or system recovery disk helped, everything had to be done from scratch.

Even the BSOD wouldn't 'load' properly, it was a blur as the screen went sideways and the system rebooted in an endless loop. Only the original system disc doing a clean install got around the problem. Very big SIGH!

Where were the gurus then? On a coffee break one presumes.SIGH and double-SIGH!!

[gaiasmith]

Quote

Have any posters here tried the Wise Registry Cleaner? Trying to decide whether or not to install it and give it a whirl.

Wise Disk Cleaner is fine, but I have used Wise Reg Clean in the past, and it scared me--too easy for a novice to screw things up. Check others here on PC World, and of course, remember to back up before screwing with your registry.

[Jeff2253]

Quote

BTW, McAfee NEVER detected it, even with a full scan. McAfee is a virus uninstalled mine in DEC I run MSE and Avast with appropriate exclusions set in each program no conflicts

McAfee is not a virus, it is a security suite. McAfee probably didn't detect it because the program does not have a very high detection rate.