How To Fix a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)?

A Blue Screen of Death, also called a STOP Error, will appear when an issue is so serious that Windows must stop completely. A Blue Screen of Death is usually hardware or driver related. Most BSODs show a STOP code that can be used to help figure out the root cause of the Blue Screen of Death.

Important: Below are general Blue Screen of Death troubleshooting steps. 

Note: Some of these steps may require you to start Windows in Safe Mode. If that's not possible then skip those steps.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: It might take you several hours to fix a Blue Screen of Death, depending on the STOP Code.

Here's How:

1. The most important Blue Screen of Death troubleshooting step you can take

    is to ask yourself what you just did. 

    Did you just install a new program or a piece of hardware, update a driver,

    install an update, etc.? If so, there's a very good chance that the change you

    made caused the BSOD. 

    Undo the change you made and test again for the STOP Error. Depending on

    what change you made, some solutions might include:

• Startup using Last Known Good Configuration to undo recent registry and driver changes.
• Use System Restore to undo recent system changes.
• Roll Back device driver to version prior to your driver update.

2. Verify that a minimum amount of free space is available on your Windows
    partition. Blue Screens of Death and other serious issues, like data
    corruption, can occur if there's not enough free space on your primary
    partition used for the Windows operating system.
    Note: Microsoft recommends that you maintain at least 100MB of free space
    but I regularly see problems with free space that low. I usually advise
    Windows users to keep at least 15% of a drive's capacity free at all times.

3. Scan your computer for viruses. Some viruses can cause a Blue Screen of
    Death, especially ones that infect the master boot record (MBR) or boot
    sector.

      Important: Make sure your virus scanning software is completely up to date
    and that it's configured to scan the MBR and boot sector.

4. Apply all available Windows service packs and other updates. Microsoft
    regularly releases patches and service packs for their operating systems that
    may contain fixes for the cause of your BSOD.

5. Update drivers for your hardware. Most Blue Screens of Death are hardware
    or driver related so updated drivers could fix the cause of the STOP error.

6. Check the System and Application logs in Event Viewer (8/ 7/ Vista / XP) for
    errors or warnings that might provide more clues on the cause of the BSOD.

7. Return hardware settings to default in Device Manager. Unless you have a
    specific reason to do so, the system resources that an individual piece of
    hardware is configured to use in Device Manager should be set to default.
    Non-default hardware settings have been known to cause a Blue Screen of
    Death.

8. Return BIOS settings to their default levels. An overclocked or misconfigured
    BIOS can cause all sorts of random issues, including BSODs. 
    Note: If you've made several customizations to your BIOS settings and don't
    wish to load the default ones then at least try returning clock speed, voltage
    settings, and BIOS memory options to their default settings and see if that
    fixes the STOP error.

9. Make sure all internal cables, cards, and other components are installed and
    seated properly. Hardware that's not firmly in place can cause a Blue Screen
    of Death so try reseating the following and then test for the STOP message 
    again:

• Reseat all internal data and power cables
• Reseat the memory modules
• Reseat any expansion cards

10. Perform diagnostic tests on all hardware you're able to test. It's highly likely
      that the root cause of any given Blue Screen of Death is a failing piece of
      hardware:

• Test your system memory
• Test your hard disk drive

          If a test fails, replace the memory or replace the hard drive as soon as
       possible.

11. Update your BIOS. In some situations, and outdated BIOS could cause a
      Blue Screen of Death due to certain incompatibilities.

12. Start your PC with essential hardware only. A useful troubleshooting step in
      many situations, including BSOD issues, is to start your computer with the
      minimum hardware necessary to run the operating system. If your
      computer starts successfully it proves that one of the removed hardware
      devices was the cause of the STOP message.

Tip: Typically, the only necessary hardware for starting your PC through to the operating system includes the motherboard, CPU, RAM, primary hard drive, keyboard, video card, and monitor.

Tips:

1. Find that hardware is the cause of your Blue Screen of Death? Try this:

• Replace the hardware.
• Update the hardware's firmware.
• Make sure the hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility List.
• Check with the manufacturer for support information.

2. Find that a software program is the cause of your Blue Screen of Death? Try  this:

• Reinstall the software.
• Check for and install any available program updates.
• Check with the developer for support information.
• Try a competing program.

If you have any queries or suggestions related to this post on 'How To Fix a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)?', you're most welcome in comments..! :)

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How To Shutdown A Computer By Using Cell Phone?

The Requirements or Tools for this Tutorial
1.  One cell phone with GPRS enabled.
2.  One Email ID
3.  Microsoft Outlook on the PC to be put to shut down.
4.  Must have internet connection on your PC.

Using this method the user can shutdown, restart, hibernate the Computer just
by sending an email from their cell phone. All you need to have is Microsoft
outlook which comes with Microsoft word. The Microsoft outlook should be
installed on the PC you wish to shut down. First you need to create a batch file
to perform shutdown, restart etc. you can write them down yourself.

Note: you can complete this trick in every operating system but, here I’m representing this tutorial in “Windows 8 Pro”.
1.  Open your notepad and type the following:
         c:\windows\system32\shutdown -s - f -t 00
     And save it as shutdown.bat (Executable file)

2.  Open your Microsoft outlook. Make sure that it is already configured for

    your email id, otherwise configured it here step by step for your email id.

    Note: you can complete this trick on Microsoft Office Outlook (any

    version like 2003, 2007, 2010). Here, I’m doing on MS Office Outlook

    2010.
(1) After opening Outlook 2010, click on File in upper side left hand corner
 

(2) Now, click on “Add Account” and Set up your account detail

(3) Now, click on “Next”. This auto account setup will configure your email server settings automatically. You can do this manually by selecting manually configure option in last step.
  

After this setup, finally click on Finish.

3. Now we will need to set Microsoft outlook in such a way that outlook checks

   you email every one minute. This can be set by going to “Send/Receive” tab->

   “Send/Receive Group” -> “Define Send/Receive Groups”. After setting this

   click on close button.

4. Now, This step is to manipulate our computer (MS-Outlook) with Email

    message as for this, we have to set up of rules and alerts on outlook. So,

    again go to-> Tools – Rules and Alerts. Click on E-mail Rules tab. In new

    window select Check messages when they arrive and click Next

5. Now in next page, check on, on this machine only and with specific words in

    the subject. After checking these two values, click on specific words

    underlined.


          

6. Search Text window will open, in the input field type the command that shuts

   down the PC. You can use any commands. For prevention of accidental

   execution I kept %shutdown% as a command. Click on Add button after you

   are done and click on OK.

7. Now click on Next. In the next window check mark on start application. In the

    lower screen, click on application link.

8. Now you’ll be welcomed to your familiar file open window. Load all files. And

    select the batch file that you’ve created to shut down your PC.
                   

9. Click on Next, again click on next (don’t choose any things in this step). And

    finally click on Finish button.

10. You’ll have %shutdown% alert shown in the E-mail Rules tab.
                         

11. Now, when you send a message from your phone to your e-mail address

     with the Subject %shutdown% your computer will trigger shutdown.bat file

     and instantly executes the command in that batch file finally leading to shut

     down the PC.

If you have any queries or suggestions related to this post, you're most welcome in comments..! :)                        

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