Member Avatar for Member #119018

Does anyone know of a way to disable auto restart on system failure that does not require being in Windows? I've got a laptop that will not start Windows in ANY mode (including Safe Mode) and a blue screen flashes by so quick I can't even read it. I'm wondering if there is anyway to stop that "flash" behavior long enough to read what the BSOD error message is! Thank you.

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Dani AI

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A short, practical playbook that builds on the tips in this thread (camera trick from , offline edit idea from ) without repeating the exact registry steps already posted.

Try the fastest, non-invasive capture first

  • Record the boot with a phone or a small video capture device (use the rear camera, not front). Use the highest frame rate available (120–240 fps if the phone supports it) so you can scrub/step frames and read the STOP code. If you have an HDMI/VGA output and a capture dongle, that gives a perfect, frame-accurate grab.

If you can get a dump or want to preserve evidence for analysis

  • Boot from a recovery/PE image (modern WinPE is the supported option) and copy any crash dumps off the disk (minidumps and MEMORY.DMP) to a USB stick. Analyze those on another PC with WinDbg (open the dump and run !analyze -v) to get the stop code and module info instead of trying to read a flashing screen. (learn.microsoft.com)

If you need the machine to produce a readable, persistent crash

  • Two reliable options used by techs are: enable the keyboard crash shortcut (so a controlled key sequence forces a bugcheck and creates a dump), or run Sysinternals’ NotMyFault to generate a crash you can analyze. Both are intended for diagnostics only — do this only when you can accept data loss and you have dump space. (learn.microsoft.com)

For newer Windows versions, changing the BCD boot policy can stop some automatic recovery behaviours (use bcdedit on a working environment). If editing the offline system or forcing a dump feels risky, focus on copying the dump files and sharing them with someone who can run WinDbg. (learn.microsoft.com)

Cautions: don’t edit hives without a backup, watch available disk space for dumps, and prefer read-only methods (copying dumps) if unsure. If hardware faults are suspected, run memory and disk tests before chasing drivers.

Recommended Answers

All 22 Replies

Member Avatar for jbennet

You can toggle the setting on the menu where you can select safe mode etc...
At least on windows server you can , not sure about xp

commented: good suggestion +3
Member Avatar for Member #119018

Ah yes! I'm sorry I forgot to mention that this particular laptop does not have that option (although I have worked on several that have had it). Any other ideas?

Member Avatar for gerbil

Practice your reflexes on the Pause/Break button to see if you can capture that blue screen. Enter key to continue..

Member Avatar for jbennet

Possibly you can change the setting from the recovery console?

Member Avatar for Member #119018

I think method 2 would work.....

What do you think?

Member Avatar for gerbil

Yep... should only take 1/2hour or so... doing a fresh installation beside the old.

Member Avatar for caperjack

one time i use my digital camera in movie mode and recorded the bootup. then stopped video on blue screen ,while viewing it in windows media player ,to get the stop error message,then did chkdsk /f in recovery console and fixed the computer

Member Avatar for jbennet

theres a keyboard shortcut to pause it i think its shift + break or something?

Member Avatar for caperjack

yeah ,but you gotta be quick

Member Avatar for hotmatrixx

To disable it you go:


start-control panel (toggle into classic mode)- system-advanced
hit the advanced tab.

under the startup andbla bla there is a check box for the auto restart on system failure.

Member Avatar for jbennet

No. Read the post!

"that does not require being in Windows?"

Member Avatar for hotmatrixx

Yeah OK, I Missed it.

try this on for size:
(I hope you are running xp or you will need to find the equivelent registry entry for your OS. but everything else should be the same.


1. go here for a bit of important info on your registry:

2.Get your hands on a copy of the disk for your OS (I know XP needs at least SP1 on the disk. I have not tried this with other OS)

3. download BartPE Builder
website for info:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

for the download:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/#download


you will need to run BPE, let it add the files from the CD, create the .iso file and burn it to a CD.

boot off the CD.

BPE will prompt networking?. ok to say no.

hit go-run
type regedit
go to

localmachine-system-controlset001-control-crashcontrol -> AutoReboot (in the main pane)

double click, or modify,
set: valuedata as 1 or 0 - make it the opposite of what it is.

1 is reboot (ie 'true') and 0 is don't reboot.

also you could try in regedit
edit-find-
and type autoreboot

thats what it is for my system, anyway. XPPsp3


let me know how it turns out.

Member Avatar for jbennet

yeah bartPE is only for XP (possibly 2000). It wont run on XP 64 or Server 2003 without tweaking.

Member Avatar for hotmatrixx

If that does not work then I have another trick or two that you can try.

Lovn' the "Blue Screen Of Death"
I get it all the time...

Member Avatar for gerbil

dukane seemed interested in M$'s method #2. Which is the same as the B PE method..... and if you have the XP cd already, then... done.

Member Avatar for Member #119018

Oh that's awesome! I am familiar with BartPE. I am glad there is an option to use that. I will look into that. I have to get back in touch with the user now............

Member Avatar for hotmatrixx

Hey. I had to do it myself on a PC tonight. i FOUND THE EASY WAY>>>> YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!


when it is booting, force it into safe mode with the F8 Key.


there will be more options than the normal "...entering safe mode" screen, INCLUDING " disable auto restart on system failure"


Dude!!!

enjoy!!!!!!!

Member Avatar for jbennet

when it is booting, force it into safe mode with the F8 Key.

Yup. I said that in the fitst post, but he cant boot into safe mode at all, and the menu to select safe mode has no option to disable auto restart.

Member Avatar for hotmatrixx

Does anyone know of a way to disable auto restart on system failure that does not require being in Windows? I've got a laptop that will not start Windows in ANY mode (including Safe Mode) and a blue screen flashes by so quick I can't even read it. I'm wondering if there is anyway to stop that "flash" behavior long enough to read what the BSOD error message is! Thank you.

He didn't use the F8 key. it was just defaulting to the normal menu. the F8 will bring up more options.

If I am wrong then I owe you a rep point.

(What are those for, any way? PM me on that)

Member Avatar for caperjack

.(What are those for, any way? PM me on that)

you could win the Dani boobie prize at the end of the year .lol

Member Avatar for Member #119018

You can toggle the setting on the menu where you can select safe mode etc...
At least on windows server you can , not sure about xp

Ah yes! I'm sorry I forgot to mention that this particular laptop does not have that option (although I have worked on several that have had it). Any other ideas?

I will try manually editing the registry using the regedit plug in for BartPE. But for now I need to get back in touch with the user and see when I get them back into the office.

Thank you everyone for your assistance.

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