Blue screen of death

[Salsaboy]

By all that is holy I have the dreaded Blue screen of death on my laptop. It gives the error as 'Bad pool header' and googling said error points to driver problems.

I have not installed anything recently, software or hardware. I was editing a Word document when it first occurred.

Have tried a system restore several times with no success. Laptop will boot up in 'safe mode' OK but not 'full mode'.

This is the machine I store all my business records on as well as some very special personal stuff that I couldn't bear to lose. Whilst the business stuff is backed up, some of the personal stuff isn't.

I've done just about everything Google says and now I'm stuck. I can't read the minidumps as I can't download any debugging software. I am quite computer literate.

Help me please!

[dbboy]

Their are a number of IT whizards on here who can advise you on next steps.

[right-clicking]

Hello, Try these steps, Boot into safe mode and go to device manager (via control panel) and look for any yellow flags. If you have a driver missing or broken you'll have to search for a download. Stop errors are often caused by a driver issue. If it's not that then open up command prompt with admin rights. type in SFC /scannow (note the gap between SFC and /) This is a file checker and will attempt a repair. You can also open up the event viewer and under admin check for the error that caused the BSOD. (You can choose safe mode with networking if you need to go online)

Right-clicking

[JohnL]

Are you Windows 7 or Windows 8

Installed anything new recently ?

Try looking at antivirus - uninstall ??

[Salsaboy]

Running vista, had already done all that right clicking suggested. Have also already deleted anti virus. Nothing new installed lately.

[DulwichFox]

Try CHKDSK

Boot in safe mode..

Open the "Computer" window

Right-click on the drive in question

Select the "Tools" tab

In the Error-checking area, click .

Foxy

[Salsaboy]

Already done but thanks for the suggestion. In my mind it all seems to be pointing towards a driver, but which one?

[JohnL]

Can you glean anything further from the blue screen - a driver name

sometimes is shown at the bottom.

[DulwichFox]

Hi salsaboy..

If you happy working in The Registry.. Have a read here...

http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?12387-BAD_POOL_HEADER-Blue-Screen-of-Death-fix-found

Take great care..

Foxy

[Salsaboy]

Already done that Foxy. No difference. No driver name shown JohnL.

[JohnL]

If you haven't done it - MS Indexing service seems a common thread in this BSOD after a quick google

Sorry haven't used vista for a while :) so below is cut/past.

Start, Run, and type services.msc and press enter.

Once in the services window scroll down to "Indexing Service" and double-click it.

In the Index Services Properties window change the startup type to either "Disabled" or "Manual".

other than that - i used to manually remove drivers - display, network, mouse etc and go to basic ones

to see if they were the issue, which is horrible.

[right-clicking]

Have you tried testing your Ram? You can use the built in memory diagnostics tool or mentest86.

You say it is pointing towards a driver problem, therefore it will show the offending driver with a yellow flag, even if it's a hidden device or indeed unknown it will expose the culprit (click on show hidden devices in the view tab).

Also you can open system information and under the components tab there is a problem device list.

Use command prompt with admin to run chkdsk /r this command will check and repair rather than just check.

As for the minidump you can use a blue screen viewer, that will show you the contents but unless you understand strings, paths and app data and such it will not help you much,the information is not much different than what is listed in the event viewer.

Right clicked

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html Blue screen viewer

An Afterthought The ram might have loosened off or not making good contact. try reseating One stick and boot, then swap the other and try that.

[Annette Curtain]

Have you tried buying a Mac ?

That usually fixes it

[JohnL]

I want a 27" iMac - but checkout the cost :)

Any luck yet ? Usually these are solvable without losing anything.

Annette Curtain Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Have you tried buying a Mac ?

>

> That usually fixes it

[DulwichFox]

Hi salsaboy..

As you have tried almost every concievable idea...

It has occured to me that the problem may be simple..

It would seem that although relatively rare, your problem could be caused by over heating..

It might be worth checking for a clogged fan..

Bet you have already done that..

Foxy

[Salsaboy]

First thing I checked Foxy, but thanks. Now looking at complete restore from recovery partition. Only trouble is, can't do a backup as it fails every time.

[DulwichFox]

Don't do anything too drastic..

If it's a Hardware problem, then problem will still be there..

Not sure how much access you have gained to your laptop innards, but could still be something

simple like a loose cable or graphics board..

..or Power. ??

Foxy..

[nashoi]

If it will boot into safe mode why can't you download debugging software or backup your files online?

[right-clicking]

Hello do you have a vista DVD? with this you could attempt a startup repair. Rather than attempt a backup why not transfer the files you wish to keep to an external drive or USB drive? Did you try reseating the RAM? Have you checked the event viewer and if so what are the error codes for at the time when the bsod occured?

It might be worth booting a linux install disc and see if that throws any light on the matter. (do not instal just run it "live") If this runs without errors then that will tell you it's a vista problem and not the hardware.

Right-clicking

[DulwichFox]

I have an Linux Ubuntu 12.04 disk if you want to try it..

Foxy.

[????]

Pull yourself together Salsaboy....you sound like your mates over there...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22985889

[dbboy]

Have had identical problem with XP, so probably a software issue, however it has resulted in new hard disk and software re-install, waiting for machine to come back. Thought it was only me!!!!!!

[Salsaboy]

Update.

Used blue screen viewer as right clicking said. Managed to look at the minidump and in each of the dumps a .SYS file related to AVG anti virus was the common theme. Renamed it and rebooted and hooray, it worked. But now different set of problems. No more blue screens but can't do backups, can't do system restores, lost some drivers, can't download any new antivirus software.

Getting mighty stressed over this now.

[right-clicking]

Laugh out loud !! Take a deep breath, open up your services folder and look for Volume shadow service, check to see if it set to automatic. VSS is where windows stores the restore points and it also controls the backups, try creating a system restore point.

If the service is missing then as mentioned before, locate the command prompt and run as admin and enter SFC /scannow

I use microsoft security essentials on my vista laptop.

Why cannot you d/l any new anti-virus? Worth looking on the AVG site to see if there are any clean up tools to rid the registry as these can interfere with new installations......

When you do manage to locate your missing drivers, do yourself a favour and try out this great little tool.

Double driver... It backs up all of your drivers!

http://www.boozet.org/dd.htm

Right-clicking

[Salsaboy]

Arrggghhhhhhhhhh

*slumps over keyboard mumbling to himself*