TECH Laptop and the dreaded BSoD

[Menso]

Friend has a laptop that constantly gets the BSoD after it does the initial Windows XP loading screen. I plan on using a Windows XP disc to see if the "repair" option works, but I highly doubt that will work. What methods can I use to get out of this clusterfuck if the "repair" option doesn't work?

 

[Hate Crime]

put a new hard drive in.

Edit: there is a good chance a repair will work, but only temporarily. if the hard drive is going wacko, it will fail soon again.

 

[Menso]

We're most probably going to replace the HD either way for something bigger, but if the "repair" option doesn't pull through, what can we do to recover the data on the HD?

 

[cmsurfer]

Hit F8 on startup and disable automatic reboot on system failure and post up or google the error code...

If it's not a hard drive related issue, I've had good luck with the repair option.

 

[StevesVR4]

Have you checked for other potential problems with the laptop besides the hard drive? My new laptop had constant BSOD problems and reinstalling Windows did not fix it. I ran a memory test on my laptop and discovered I actually had defective RAM in my system. Called the support line, they sent me replacement RAM, and now everything is great. I haven't had any problems with crashing since then.

 

[Menso]

Hit F8 on startup and disable automatic reboot on system failure and post up or google the error code...

Thanks, I never thought about this but I'll give this a shot as well.

Have you checked for other potential problems with the laptop besides the hard drive? My new laptop had constant BSOD problems and reinstalling Windows did not fix it. I ran a memory test on my laptop and discovered I actually had defective RAM in my system. Called the support line, they sent me replacement RAM, and now everything is great. I haven't had any problems with crashing since then.

Well, the laptop is a good 1 or 2 years old so I assume what warranty she had on it is done. It's been babied pretty well as well, so I'm hoping this is software related and not hardware. I'll be coming back to this thread with more pleas for help as they appear, thanks guys.