Please try to give us as much informaiton as possible when asking for assistance; it will help us get to the source of the problem much more quickly:

* Post the full and exact text of the Blue Screen error.
* Tell us the circumstances under which the error started occuring.
* Tell us if you had made any hardware or software changes at all around the time you first got the error.
* If you have tried any troubleshooting steps already, let us know what they were (and what results you got from them).
* Give us your full hardware specs/details.
* Tell us exactly which version of Windows you are running.

The text filled the entire screen, I was hoping that the error code would be enough. I was surfing the web, and then it suddenly came up. I just downloaded ewido 4.0. I wouldn't know where to begin besides virus scans, Trend Micro and Windows Defender. I'm using Windows XP Home.

Rarely; Microsoft usually lists several possible causes for the major BSOD error codes; it's the specifics in the error messages that let one narrow it down. Also- please be very careful and exact when posting error codes; the addition or ommission of a single digit in the code can change its meaning (0X000000C vs 0x0000000C, for example).

Scanning for malware is a good idea, but we don't deal with those issues in this particular forum.
Instructions for running the new version of ewido are here; if the ewido scan and/or other scans turn up malicious infections, start a new thread in our malware forum and posts the contents of the scan reports there.

If you want to pursue the possibility of non-malicious causes for the error, we can do that in this thread, but you will need to provide the details of the error message.

Sorry, now I know I'll have to get more info. Next time it happens, I'll copy down the whole screen and use that. I know how to use ewido and all, it was just the most recent thing I downloadedbefore the failure. For now, I guess I'll have to wait for my computer to fail again, then I can get all the necessary information hopefully.

In the mean time, you might very well find some clues in your System and Application log files:

Open the Event Viewer utility in your Administrative Tools control panel and look through your System and Application logs for entries flagged with "Error" or "Warning".
Double-clicking on such an entry will open a properties window with more detailed information on the error; post the details from a representative sample of some of the different error messages (please don't post duplicates of a given entry, or flood us with the entire contents of the logs).

To post the details:
In the Properties window of a given entry, click on the button with the graphic of two pieces of paper on it; the button is at the right of the window just below the up arrow/down arrow buttons. You won't see anything happen when you click the button, but it will copy all of the details to the Windows clipboard. You can then paste the details into your next post here.

I got the blue screen again. It advises me to inspect new or suspect drivers, how to get into safe mode, check for properly installed hardware or software, disable BIOS chaching and shadowing etc. Paraphrased because it's very long. the technical information was as follows:
STOP: 0x000000C5 (0X00000000, 0x00000002, 0x00000001, 0x8055aE2)

Beginning dump of physical memory
Physical Memory dump complete
Contact you system administrator or technical support group for further assistance

Yeah- that's pretty much the standard MS "canned answer" to most of their STOP errors. Basically, Microsoft is saying that they really don't know exactly what caused the error, so they advise you to just start mucking with everything until you find something that works. :eek: :mrgreen:

Now that might be helpful...

The suggested Microsoft test/fix is described here:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=291810&sd=RMVP
Give it a try and let us know the results. If it doesn't work there are other things we can try.

It's happened again, but this time with a more specific error description. I followed Microsoft's advice but couldn't work it out before this happened. It says that a faulty device driver on the kernel stack is causing the problem. I can't start windows unless it's in safe mode. the error codes were 0x000000C4 (0x00000040, 0x00000000, 0x89D587E8, 0x00000000). I tried to search for these codes on the microsoft website but had no luck.

It's difficult, because you'll rarely find your exact error code string listed in support articles. The actual error code itself is the number before the parentheses (in your case, 0x000000C4), and that is what you'll find general info on. However, the numbers inside the parentheses are usually values unique to each particular crash instance, such as the specific address (location) in memory where the conflict occured, the particular line of program code that was being processed at the time, and other such low-level technical details.

1. Have you checked for malicious infections as we talked about earlier? It's definitely worth doing.

2. You said: "I followed Microsoft's advice but couldn't work it out before this happened". How much of the advice were you able to complete before it crashed. Where exactly in the process did it crash (that is, what exact procedure were you performing)?

3. Have you looked at your Event Viewer logs as I suggested earlier? If not, do that now; post any error events that occur right around the time of the crashes.

4. Driver problems are indicated as a cause for that error. Have you installed any new devices lately or upgraded any driver software for your hardware components (video, audio, or network cards, for example)? If so, uninstall them. for drivers, go back to the previous version.