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    Instant BSOD - windows XP system

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by p51mustang23, Mar 7, 2010.

  1. p51mustang23

    p51mustang23 Notebook Evangelist

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    My friends Dell system stopped working a few weeks ago. I'll list all of the info I have, but I don't have the system in front of me right now.

    It is able to post after being turned on, and i can press f12 to enter the BIOS settings. Bios recognizes all of the hardware.

    Immediatly after the POST screen, and after NOT hittign f12, it goes to windows BSOD!

    My personal guesses are corrupt RAM or hard-drive. Just looking for everyone elses thoughts / solutions. (I told him to look for his windows XP CD this week so we can try a reinstall next week).
     
    p51mustang23, Mar 7, 2010
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  2. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    all bsods have a STOP error number

    what is it?
     
    gerryf19, Mar 7, 2010
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  3. p51mustang23

    p51mustang23 Notebook Evangelist

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    I didn't write it down because his screen was misaligned so I couldnt read the whole number >.< I guess I'll have to get that this week before we can do much more.
     
    p51mustang23, Mar 7, 2010
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  4. Shyster1

    Shyster1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Does the system issue any beep codes during POST? If it doesn't, then it's probably not an issue with bad RAM (not 100% proof, but more likely than not). That would leave it as a corrupted system file, either because of a hard drive failure (bad sectors more likely than not - that happened to me several times on my old .Sony, which had a bad habit of eating hard drives), or some other issue, such as malware or somebody tinkering around with system files.
     
    Shyster1, Mar 8, 2010
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