Blue Screen of Death

[Nominus Experse]

I start my laptop and I receive the following message for a fraction of a second upon coming to the initial Windows page (the black screen with the loading bar 'neath the Window's logo):

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF889B523, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

So, uh... what exactly is it asking that I perform if I cannot even load Windows?


Thank you in advance.

[Momiji]

Have you tried starting Safe Mode before the loading screen shows up?

[Nominus Experse]

It enters Safe Mode, but even then, it fails to load all the drivers and whatnot, effectively leading me to the same screen.

My best guess is that it must be the HDD (as per this screen), but I'm worried about doing a swap test - for fear of corruption or any other such thing.

[Baloki]

As you're starting up keep tapping F8, this'll load a Windows Boot Selection Screen type thing and try selecting "Last Known Good Configuration"

[crono_logical]

Google says that message means Inaccessible Boot Device - did you install anything or patch anything lately? e.g. there was a buggy WoW patch a few months ago which could cause this problem You might have fun finding a restore CD or similar to edit the boot.ini file on the C: back to normal

Of course with any major Windows error these days, reinstalling Windows is usually the quickest way to get back up and running again, taking only a few hours

[Nominus Experse]

I performed a swap test, and it would seem that the issue does indeed lie in the HDD itself. So, either it's the HDD physically, or there is some bugged out sector or some such thing digitally. I'll attempt a Windows Reinstall and see if this remedies the situation.