My laptop did the blue screen of death thing!! What should I do?

Question

HP pavilion PC/Windows 7

I was surfing the web and the BSOD appeared! Leaving me no time to view what was being displayed the CP quickly shut down. Im worried I might have a virus. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Start up in safe mode and see what happens:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

Sometimes you can actually get a sporadic fake BSOD from some virus or trojan that tries to get you to send money to buy an (also fake) antivirus program to remove a problem they put into your machine in the first place!

Answer 2

Blue Screen of Death keep popping up on your computer because of the following reasons:



1. Defective RAM or Problems with the Installation of RAM

2. Low Hard Disk Space

3. Unsupported Software/ Hardware is Installed





1) Defective RAM or Problems with the Installation of RAM:



BSOD occurs when your existing RAM is not functioning properly; or otherwise, they it is not properly installed in its slot. You have to re-plug the RAM properly in its slot, and change it if needed.



Using Windows Memory Diagnostic, scan for problems found in your RAM and replace it, if needed.



1. Click Start.

2. Type "Windows Memory Diagnostic" and press ENTER.

3. Click the option "Restart Now and Check for Problems".





2) Low Hard Disk Space:



Lack of sufficient hard disk space often results in BSOD. Delete the unnecessary files and folders which you no longer need.



1. Click Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools | Disk CleanUp.

2. Select a disk and click OK.





3) Unsupported Software/ Hardware is Installed:



If you have installed a new software or hardware which is not compatible with your computer, BSOD may occur. Remove such hardware/ software to solve the problem.



To uninstall your new software, do these steps:



1. Click Start | Control Panel.

2. Click Programs | Uninstall a Program.

3. Select the newly installed program and click "Uninstall" button.



You must see a message something like "Compatible with Microsoft Windows" or "Designed for Microsoft Windows" on the package box of your new hardware, if it is compatible with your operating system/ its version.

Answer 3

If it doesn't happen again, don't worry about it.



Blue screens (usually) aren't caused by viruses, but rather hardware and low level software problems.

Answer 4

may be ur browser crashes hard check event viewer and use good antivirus although it seems matter of crash and some ram error although without full symptoms and analyses it hard to say what specific