Global Conflict

Late last night, I turned on my computer (running Windows Vista, ftr) and got a BSOD when it starts to boot. Happens even in safe mode, or any other mode I've tried. Is there anything I could do to try and fix this?

I know it's not a lot of information to go off of, so if you need more just ask and I'll try to provide it.

tell us the bsod number

BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death.
if thats what you're having then there should be a number, as 01001 pointed, thats related to the faulty (probably) driver.
I don't know anything really, but i think it should really not happen in safe mode, if it does, i think its triggered by faulty hardware.

Necromancer wrote:BSOD = Blue Screen Of Death.
if thats what you're having then there should be a number, as 01001 pointed, thats related to the faulty (probably) driver.
I don't know anything really, but i think it should really not happen in safe mode, if it does, i think its triggered by faulty hardware.

yes, in safe mode only a bare minimum of drivers is loaded. If BSOD happens there, something essential is wrong. Either a very important driver of indeed hardware.

A likely source of errors is sadly often the harddrive...

Check your RAM. Reset the DIMMs (sticks) and report back in. Hopefully it isn't something worse.

Well, I tried repairing the installation with my Vista disk, and it doesn't BSOD anymore. Instead it just goes to a black screen. The mouse is active, but it's hung up on something.

I think what I'll do is use a boot disc to get important files off of it, and just wipe it clean. It's about time to upgrade to Win 7 anyway. If someone has a simpler solution that would save me a lot of work, I'd appreciate it. (I'll try everyone's suggestions before I wipe).

I get the black screen with mouse all the time. It happens to me after I log in. All it requires is patience and it goes away although this can take upwards of 5 mins. I'm on win7 but I'd guess Vista is similar.

Sounds like it's time for a clean install. Good time to switch to an SSD if you can spring for one

BlackIce wrote:Well, I tried repairing the installation with my Vista disk, and it doesn't BSOD anymore. Instead it just goes to a black screen. The mouse is active, but it's hung up on something.

does it still happen on safe mode?
try repairing again.

try unplugging as many hardware as you can (sound card, all but one RAM dimms, etc...)
if you have another graphic card, try swapping with the current one.

Have you tried using an Ubuntu live disk/USB drive?

I managed to get a secondary HDD (250 GB) working, with the fecked up one (350 GB) still connected. The bios recognized the 350 HDD, but wouldn't let me access any files or do anything with it. I think the next step is trying to install Windowns 7 OS over the 350 HDD. There's a chance that it'll wipe all my data, but as long as I don't reformat the drive when I do, I might be ok.

Also, I checked the memory, and it's all good.

BlackIce wrote:I managed to get a secondary HDD (250 GB) working, with the fecked up one (350 GB) still connected. The bios recognized the 350 HDD, but wouldn't let me access any files or do anything with it. I think the next step is trying to install Windowns 7 OS over the 350 HDD. There's a chance that it'll wipe all my data, but as long as I don't reformat the drive when I do, I might be ok.

Also, I checked the memory, and it's all good.

You can't install an OS without formatting the drive..
Boot from the other HDD and run check disk on the broken one
Click start, type cmd, right click and run as admin
Type chkdsk D: (replace C with your drive letter) to check for errors.
chkdsk /f C: will fix any errors if possible (any data on the broken sectors will be lost)

Calloutman wrote:Have you tried using an Ubuntu live disk/USB drive?

This, or try Knoppix. http://www.knoppix.org/
Backup all important data (eg BF3 profile ).

TheYonderGod wrote:You can't install an OS without formatting the drive..

I did it on the 250 GB one. Perhaps I should say that I'm installing Win 7 over Win Vista. I didn't lose any data whatsoever when I installed 7 on top of Vista on my back up HDD.

I'll try your other suggestion though.