Hi everybody. For every computer user probably the worst thing in the world is to start your computer in the morning and boot to either a blank black screen or perhaps you might see a faint flash of the infamous “Blue Screen Of Death” just before the system decides to reboot on its own. Then you decide to try again and POOF the screen blinks its ugly blue eyes at you and reboots again.
There are many reasons for getting these types of errors and in almost every case; there is no universal fix that will work for every computer. Before you can do any fixes to the system, you will have to be able to access Windows. If you can’t boot up normally, the next best thing is to use Safe Mode. This mode allows you to boot into Windows with a minimal number of drivers and applications running. If you are running XP, you even have an option to run System Restore just after you sign in to your account in safe mode.
Here is the proper procedure for getting into safe mode. First, it is best to start from a computer that is completely off. If the computer is restarting on its own, hold in the power button for 10 – 15 seconds until the system is dark. Once the system is completely shut off, hit the power button and IMMEDIATELY start to tap the F –8 key on the top of your keyboard. Keep tapping this key until you see the Advanced Boot Options screen. Here you will see several options including one that says Safe Mode with Networking. You will have to use your up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to highlight your selection. Once you make your selection, hit the enter key. In Windows XP, you will see the safe mode drivers scrolling up the screen as they load. In Vista and Windows 7, you will see some files load and you will then see a dialog that says Please Wait. You will soon be presented with your log in screen. Log in with your usual account name. If you are using XP, you have an extra log in simply called Administrator. In most cases, you will want to use your own name and not the Administrator. Once logged in, your desktop will load. If you are using XP, a dialog box will tell you about safe mode and you will have to click Yes in order to get to your desktop.
Once you are back in your system you will notice that all your icons and such are larger then normal. In addition, you will have a solid background regardless of what picture you might have been using in regular Windows. Now you will be able to examine your system and try to find the reason your computer will not start in regular mode. This can be both a combination of some luck and a lot of skill to master the problem. The process can be both time consuming and frustrating for a novice. Blue screens are hard to diagnose and the help of an expert is often needed.
If you just installed a program prior to the crash, then removing the new program may sometimes help. We do see cases where blue screens are sometimes caused by hardware and not software. We often see the culprit as being a bad video card but many other items such as ram or even the motherboard can be at fault.
Author: Joe Zelenak, Staff Writer
Leave a Reply