How to investigate endless BSOD loops?

S

Shohreh

Member
Hello

Even though I told a friend to leave her Vista laptop running to install long-standing updates (she never updated since she got that laptop), she still turned her computer off in the middle of an update.

Predictably, the computer is now hosed: It's in an endless boot/BSOD loop.

I read the sticky "Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Posting Instructions", but can't download and run the EXE since the computer crashes before getting to Windows.

I asked her to provide any information she might have, especially any error number that might be displayed.

Until then, I was wondering what is the right way to cure a computer that is in that state of affairs: Will hitting F8 -> "Last good known configuration" solve the issue? If not, should she try booting off the DVD (in case it was provided by Toshiba and she can find it...) and choosing Repair?

Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

Welcome
If you give us the make and model of the computer, we can try a restoration to factory settings.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Thanks for the help.

It's a Toshiba Satellite L350.

I was trying to avoid this, as this means having to spend time extracting all her data, reinstalling Vista, reinstalling her apps, and reinstalling her data :-/
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP-Pavilion m9280.uk-a
    CPU
    2.30 gigahertz AMD Phenom 9600 Quad-Core
    Motherboard
    ASUSTek Computer INC. NARRA3 3.02
    Memory
    3582 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory (4 Gig)
    Graphics card(s)
    ASUS NVIDIA Geforce GTS450
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition 7.1 Audio (HP drivers)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2408 24.0" (Dual monitor)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1200, 1920 * 1200
    Hard Drives
    3*500 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity Plus 2x USB (160Gig each) external HDD BluRay & DVD Weiters HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L SCSI CdRom (Bluray RW) Device AlViDrv BDDVDROM SCSI CdRom (Blueray) Device TSSTcorp CDDVDW TS-H653N SCSI CdRom
    Internet Speed
    40 Meg

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
Thanks for the idea. I'm actually working on a recovery USB keydrive to sell for this very purpose :-)

Getting back to a fully working PC as it was before the crash is still quite a bit of work. No wonder people use web-based apps as much as possible.
 

My Computer

System One

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    Memory
    6 gig
    Graphics card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD3650 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Intergrated 7.1 Channel Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell SP2009W 20 inch Flat Panel w Webcam
    Hard Drives
    640 gb
    Cooling
    Fan
    Mouse
    Dell USB 4 button optical
    Keyboard
    Dell USB
    Other Info
    DSL provided by ATT
richc46 said:
It would not have been difficult, if you used the free Macrium, for a back up.
Click to expand...

Yes, but users who don't run Windows Update are even less likely to bother cloning their partition every week so they can be back up and running in a few minutes.

Incidently, is there a reliable way to check an NTFS partition for...
1. executables
2. last time they were ran

... so that I could get a list of applications they most often use, so that I know which applications might need to have their data (user data + configuration data) recovered by booting with a CD/USB?

Currently, I have to rely on them to remember which applications they use and google for where the data might be saved. Last time, it didn't go well for Thunderbird (the folder I saved didn't help).
 

My Computer

System One

I'll go at her place tomorrow with a Vista Home Edition Premium, and, in case F8 + Last Good Known Configuration doesn't do it, I'll see if the Repair option on the DVD solves the issue.

Hopefully it will, and I won't have to reinstall the whole thing with the rescue DVD provided by Toshiba :-/
 

My Computer

System One

More news: Vista does boot, but just stalls at the "Please wait..." message. We waited over half an hour, nothing happens. I tried booting with the Vista DVD > "Repair", but it says there's nothing to repair.

I also tried F8 > "Last good known configuration", same result.

Has someone seen this and knows what I could try?

Thank you.
 

My Computer

System One

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