BSOD says i need a device driver

Hi,

I have a Dell Dimension E510, running Windows XP Media/Pro OS ( not sure of sp, because I originally had sp3, but when I reinstalled OS it says sp2) My problem is since I reinstalled OS I keep getting a BSOD saying something is wrong with a device driver. Also, I am unable to perform a system restore.

I would like to know how to find the problem driver, and be able to restore.

Thanks for any and all help!!

Texasharper

 

Ok...so I went to device manager and looked for yellow triangles with a black exclamation mark inside. I didn't see any until I clicked show hidden drivers. At that time I saw two, listed under Non-Plug and Play Drivers. The two devices were Parport and Serial. I hope this helps because it certainly does not make anything clearer to me!!!

 

Don't worry about the devices listed when you used "show hidden devices". I have the same two devies listed in the 'hidden devices' list and my PC runs perfectly. You didn't really say exactly what is meant by "I reinstalled OS". Did you do a safe repair installation, or a clean install after a hard drive format?

 

Ummmm...I didn't do it. A friend of mine did. I asked for a clean install, where everything on HD is erased. I used to have MS Word on my computer, after reinstall; no. Anyway to get that back? It came with the computer.

 

If you rec'd a clean install, then NO, there is no way to get Word reinstalled unless you paid for it at some time. If you did buy it, then you should have (at the very least) a product key number. If you have this number, you can install Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc) using this number from a friends install disc. If you don't have the product key number, or an install disc, then Word is gone. Forever. But this has nothing to do with your drivers. Go to the Device Manager and look for any yellow exclamation points ! or question marks ? and let us know what is listed next to these marks. An Everest report would be helpful (more info available at this link).

 

Thank you for answering that very unrelated question. = ) There is nothing amiss in the Device Manager other than the two I mentioned earlier.

 

Ok , so I looked again and it says Sp3, so obviously I was seeing things. I really, really thought it said sp2. So, I can't find the offending driver and I can't perform a system restore (which is what MS error reporting says to do if all other solutions fail). Oh yes, I went to hardware profiles and it says I am using the current one and it only lists one, however, I am required to pick a profile upon start-up.

Thanks in advance