Fix: "Blue screen of death" after Windows boot screen

Time Required: 1 Minute, 5 Minutes, 10 Minutes, 15 Minutes

Symptoms: Computer will turn on and start booting. Windows XP startup screen shows up. Instead of the log in screen showing up, the BSOD (blue screen of death) comes up. Also, this error started happening at a random point in time. The computer was working fine one day, and then starting giving the error.

Notes: If you find that this solution works for you, please post the actual error code on the forums. That will help other people identify this problem.

Warnings: This is dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. I do not take responsibility for anything that you do to your computer that harms it or any files on it in any way.

Written By: Max Feinstein

Solution:

• Put your Windows XP disk into the computer.
• Restart your computer, making sure that the the CD-ROM drive boots before the hard drive. (You can setup the boot sequence in your system BIOS. If you don't know what this is, please ask in the forums.)
• Boot to the Windows XP CD.
• From the available options at the menu (after it loads all of the drivers), choose "repair" (press R).
• Once you reach the command prompt, type in "chkdsk c:" and press enter. If your hard-disk with Windows on it is not C:/, replace c: with the letter of your hard disk (IE if your Windows hard-disk is X:/, type "chkdsk x:" and press enter).
• It will take a different amount of time for every different computer. When I did this, it took about five minutes.
• Note: When I tried this, it "froze" at 52%. I found that my computer worked from there though.
• After the process completes, you should be able to boot normally (take out the Windows XP disk...)
• If you have a success story, please share it with us on the forums. If you still can't get your computer to work, I suggest that you head over to the friendly people at www.PCQandA.com.