Blue screen crash in VISTA

Life Technology
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We have a computer here at the office which previously ran quite well on XP, but then was updated to Windows VISTA in the Fall of 2007. Since that time we have had a continuing problem with something I can only refer to as “Blue screen crashes” …

In other words, the screen goes blue and there is a message which says that the computer has encountered an error, and is being shut down to protect the computer, and whatever.

The exact wording of the first line is –
A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down in order to protect your computer.

Promptly, it does a down-count … then goes into restart, asking if you want to restart in SAFE mode, regular mode, or whatever.

The screen and the message given are very much something which brings back the early day memories of DOS … it is not an “error” screen which is being generated within Windows or anything, it is coming from the low level functioning of the computer.

Needless to say these Blue screen crashes are quite annoying, in addition to being a serious interruption to the work flow …

We had this computer in the shop for about two weeks in early June. VISTA was reinstalled, and some other adjustments were made (I presume). Yet, the problem continues. The boss/technician at the computer shop says that our memory, RAM, etc. are all proper for VISTA …

Hence, I am wondering if anyone has an insight into this problem, so that if we decide to take the computer back to the shop, we can give the technical people some further “advice” or “recommendations” … ??

P.S. We were formerly using Norton Anti-Virus 2007, but now have installed PC-cillin Internet Security 2008.

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[quote=“Hartzell”]We have a computer here at the office which previously ran quite well on XP, but then was updated to Windows VISTA in the Fall of 2007. Since that time we have had a continuing problem with something I can only refer to as “Blue screen crashes” …

In other words, the screen goes blue and there is a message which says that the computer has encountered an error, and is being shut down to protect the computer, and whatever. It does a down-count … then goes into restart, asking if you want to restart in SAFE mode, regular mode, or whatever.

The screen and the message given are very much something which brings back the early day memories of DOS … it is not an “error” screen which is being generated within Windows or anything, it is coming from the low level functioning of the computer.

Needless to say these Blue screen crashes are quite annoying, in addition to being a serious interruption to the work flow …

We had this computer in the shop for about two weeks in early June. VISTA was reinstalled, and some other adjustments were made (I presume). Yet, the problem continues. The boss/technician at the computer shop says that our memory, RAM, etc. are all proper for VISTA …

Hence, I am wondering if anyone has an insight into this problem, so that if we decide to take the computer back to the shop, we can give the technical people some further “advice” or “recommendations” … ??[/quote]No idea. I haven’t had any blue screen crashes in Vista yet, and I can’t remember the last time I had one in XP either.

What are you doing right before it crashes? Is it possibly related to any external hardware you’re using?

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Sometimes we are cruising the internet, opening a new browser window, sometimes working in Microsoft Word, editing or opening a new file, sometimes doing a copy of some files, etc.

No one in the office has been able to identify these crashes as being linked to any particular “operation” each time …

4

You could try Googling ‘vista blue screen crash’ and reading up on the various situations in which others have encountered the problem. :idunno: Apparently you’re not alone.

(Another reason not to upgrade from a stable system to an unknown one, especially if it’s from you know who)

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“Blue screen crash” is my attempt to give a name to this situation. I am unaware of what the proper technical terminology would be.

As for upgrading from something “stable” to something else, your point is well taken. However, to my knowledge XP is being phased out … so we don’t exactly have much of a choice.

P.S. According to the box, the VISTA program is made by a small software company in Redmond, Wash. USA.

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the words ‘blue screen crash’ and/or ‘blue screen of death’ will get you results in Google.

Microsoft hasn’t shown up at my doorstep trying to remove it from my computer yet. Not sure what you mean by ‘phased out’. If it works on your computer, and all your software works on it, then you just keep using it. :idunno:

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But according to what I hear this Microsoft firm is going to stop all updating services on XP by early next year. So … no one is asking you to remove it, but there is the very real chance of hardware and software glitches and incompatabilities in the future …

Hence, the boss here thought it would be a good idea to get upgraded early.

I am sorry if this seems unreasonable.

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:laughing: Not at all. I’m just one of those who’d rather not give MS money for new software when it’s taken me this long to get the previous one to work in a stable, predictable fashion.

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[quote=“Dragonbones”]You could try Googling ‘vista blue screen crash’ and reading up on the various situations in which others have encountered the problem. :idunno: Apparently you’re not alone.

(Another reason not to upgrade from a stable system to an unknown one, especially if it’s from you know who)[/quote]Yeah, because of course people NEVER get driver/compatibility problems with Linux. :unamused:

Regarding the XP/Vista choice, for organisations, it’s probably not worth going over to Vista yet (Hartzell, it sounds as if you were misinformed about XP support being discontinued). But for individuals, Vista is pretty good. Probably not worth getting for an existing system, but good on a new system with lots of RAM. There are some useful protections to stop you being able to screw things up as easily as you could in XP (though of course you can disable them if you want). And, in general, the interface is more intuitive.

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This discussion reminds me of the following error I encountered the other day:

Mind you, that was on my laptop running Windows XP. :laughing:

@Hartzell, try a complete re-install of Vista but make sure you backup all data beforehand.

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Hartzell, you seem rather unhappy with the answers being given. I know not why. [don’t answer that it’s rhetorical]

The bottom line is that it blue screens of death occur for many reasons, mostly down to compatibility problems between the new OS and existing apps and hardware. It can take a while for these to be resolved. This is true of every version of Windows since 3.0.

To fix the problems i would go back to Xp it has a few good years left in it yet, at least according to this page

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx

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[quote=“StuartCa”]To fix the problems I would go back to Xp it has a few good years left in it yet, at least according to this page

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/lifecycle/default.mspx[/quote]Yeah, probably the best bet. Extended support for XP (including security fixes) will run to 2014.

I think quite a few companies are going to skip Vista altogether and wait for Windows 7. I just wanted to point out that Vista doesn’t quite deserve all the flak it gets. For individual users, on a suitable machine, it’s really quite good.

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Windows Vista = Windows ME :rainbow:

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Well, as I said, the computer was in the shop for about ten days. The technical people there re-installed VISTA and did all sorts of other checking. (We have not paid their bill yet.)

After looking at the URLs of the webpages offered in this thread it is clear that the problem is beyond the expertise of me or anyone here in the office. Hence, what we are wanting to do is to get someone to FIX THE PROBLEM.

That being said … maybe I should be asking for formosa.com introductions to RELIABLE COMPUTER REPAIR in the Neihu area, hopefully with pick-up and delivery service.

Any suggestions???

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[quote=“Hartzell”]Hence, what we are wanting to do is to get someone to FIX THE PROBLEM.

That being said … maybe I should be asking for formosa.com introductions to RELIABLE COMPUTER REPAIR in the Neihu area, hopefully with pick-up and delivery service.

Any suggestions???[/quote]Well, a lot of people recommend a Canadian guy called Nam, at Nationwide.com.tw. I’m not sure where he’s based, but he does do pick-up and delivery. He’s a friendly, helpful guy, and he built a nice desktop computer for me last year.

Whichever repair service you choose, however, you’ll get best results if you’re very clear about your needs and expectations. Just saying “Please fix this!” will not be enough. You should explain carefully the uses of the computer and the external hardware that will be attached to it. And as people are often busy you should check carefully to see whether your service needs can be met punctually. Ask whether the service work is guaranteed, and find out how quickly any necessary follow-up work can be done.

And I think Stuart’s suggestion to go back to XP is a good one. Specifically, XP Pro (32 bit edition) is probably what you had before and what would still suit you best. (There is an XP 64 bit edition which Nam is quite keen on, but which isn’t compatible with some hardware.)

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Why upgrade? I enjoy browsing the web using Lynx and typing my documents in TeX and troff. My 5 1/4" disks stores all of my documents.

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[quote=“sjcma”]Why upgrade? I enjoy browsing the web using Lynx and typing my documents in TeX and troff. My 5 1/4" disks stores all of my documents.[/quote]5 1/4" disk? Newfangled nonsense. I’m still getting on fine with my ZX Spectrum Microdrive.

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I have gotten free, step-by-step help from the people here that solved a tricky problem. I’d try posting your problem there.

d-a-l.com/help/windows-vista-help/

there are a lot of similar boards, there used to be a good list of links on the website for “hijackthis,” a malware identifier, but it seems to have been taken over by trend micro and i can’t find it anymore.

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I was only forced to upgrade to the 5 1/4" because IBM no longer sold replacement parts for my IBM 40 tape controlled punch card machine. I must say, used punch cards make wonderful wallpaper.

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[quote=“joesax”][quote=“Hartzell”]Hence, what we are wanting to do is to get someone to FIX THE PROBLEM.

That being said … maybe I should be asking for formosa.com introductions to RELIABLE COMPUTER REPAIR in the Neihu area, hopefully with pick-up and delivery service.

Any suggestions???[/quote]Well, a lot of people recommend a Canadian guy called Nam, at Nationwide.com.tw. I’m not sure where he’s based, but he does do pick-up and delivery. He’s a friendly, helpful guy, and he built a nice desktop computer for me last year.[/quote]

Nam’s Nationwide computer services (0926 763 664) is based right next to Neihu, so he might be just the guy. (See THIS thread for various recommendations.) If you’re unhappy with the service you’re getting, you may want to give him a try. He does pick-up and delivery too. He has been very good about solving any problems I’ve had, even when my requests were a bit more than some service providers would comply with (ok, I can be a difficult client :smiley:) and I’m happy with the service I got, so I recommend him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he suggests you switch to 64-bit XP.