Blue Screen -> Reformat

Ok, basically had the blue screen of death come onto my girlfriend's PC 2 nights ago and she was freaking out because she was unable to log on through safe mode or ANYTHING. It would load up the blue screen give us the error and reboot... Over and Over.

I basically got a restore disc and just reinstalled windows on the same partition so I was able to save all the pictures she wanted from her PC. I then went on and reformatted her whole PC. At which I got to this point:

I can get on the computer, but everything is at 800x600 or possibly worse and it's at I believe 16 bit. I was searching around and it seems that computer doesn't recognize her monitor now and I can't fix the resolution of it. I then checked her hardware drivers and theres about 6 that are marked with a !/? [forget which one] and I can't update them because I have to be connected to the internet and that is out of the question even though I have the DSL directly connected to it. I also checked to see if the PC recognizes her graphics card or sound drivers but when going to 'dxdiag' in Run, it doesn't read that it even has a graphics card.

I THINK that the Hard Drive may have fried or something, but I may be wrong so I am asking for some HELP from the Geeks[no offence, was intended as a joke ] here at MajorGeeks!

 

Yeah, amigo, sounds like you need drivers. I would expect you can't get online because her network card doesn't have drivers installed. I would expect your resolution is low because her video card doesn't have drivers installed. This isn't a big deal, and is a common problem after a fresh install.

Questions:

1. What operating system is she using?
2. Is it a pre-built machine? (if not, we'll need to know the make and model of all the devices that don't have drivers - if she doesn't have CDs for them)

 

Windows XP SP2

Dell Dimension 3000

I seem to not be able to locate the drivers CD

 

You will be able to find all the drivers for your machine at this link. (assuming that you haven't added your own hardware) Simply enter your service tag number, or system model into the fields at the left.

 

Ok, but I would have to access that from a diffrent PC and then transferring that data onto a CD or Memory Drive. Is all the updates for the drives able to fit onto one CD? and is it going to be a pain in the rear end?

 

No sir! You will need some medium to transfer the files, but they should be relatively small, and to install them, it should be a simple as this:

1. Right-click My Computer
2. Select 'Manage'
3. Select 'Device Manager'
4. For each device with the yellow exclamation mark:
- Right click
- Select 'Properties'
- Press the 'Reinstall Driver' button

This should take you to a wizard. Through this process, simply point them to the media containing your drivers.

 

What do you mean by a medium, can you give me some examples. I am so sorry for putting you through any trouble and asking so many questions.

 

A medium could be a CD, a floppy disc, memory drive, etc. Much like an artist's medium (painters use canvas, sculptors use stone)

 

Yea I know what a medium is, but would one CD hold all that information? Or would I probably have to use more then one CD. Or possibly use a memory device.

 

Should fit on one CD, but there's only one way to find out for sure!

 

Thank you for all your help Mada. I am currently at work so when I head home this afternoon, I will give it a try and keep you posted on what happens. Hopefully the Heat game doesn't take me over and I end up not finishing fixing the computer.