Blue screen crash dump after login

Hi,

My Vista PC has been working fine until yesterday when the following occurred. The PC boots ok and presents the login screen as normal. However, a few seconds after I login a blue screen appears followed almost instantly by a crash dump. Nothing has changed on the PC and I have had a go at unplugging cards and reseating them. The same happens if I try to boot in safe mode. My version of Vista (Home Premium) is an upgrade version on top of XP professional. Without being able to get to the disks, because it won't boot, I am not sure what to do next. The PC won't boot from the Vista upgrade DVD/CD. I am happy to replace the PC but just want to get to the data. I do have backups of most files but want to make certain.

The only other bit of potentially useful information I have is that the PC has been displaying odd lines across the screen for sometime. Particulary bad when looking at Vista menus and equally so when watching a movie or something similar. Other applications are fine but often have a few lines around the mouse pointer. I was suspicious that the graphics card was failing. I have thought of buying a new cheap card to test this theory but would rather not if it is going to be wasted cash.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreiciated.

Many Thanks

 

If you can't boot from the Vista medium, that's a real problem! What exactly happens when you try to boot? You get the "press any key ...", press a key -- and then what?



What happens when you try safe mode?



Some details would help.

 

Hi,

Many thanks for your help on this. I thought this might prove to be a real problem. Here is what happens. PC switches on ok and completes all BIOS checks as normal. Vista boots to the 'normal' startup screenand I then enter my password. The password is accepted and then a few seconds later (5 maximum) a completely blue screen appears. after 3 seconds or so of this it dissapears and is replaced by a crash dump screen. This is on the screen for no more than 5 seconds. I haven't yet managed to write down the details. Once this happens the PC then reboots. The only slight variation occurs when booting insafe mode in that the graphics card seems to have issues displaying asmooth image, even if just 1 colour. Other than that exactly the same process occurs. Same when booting to a command prompt or any othervariation.

Does any ofthis help at all?

Regards

 

Sorry, I didn't read your message properly. Booting from the Vista DVD - If I set the BIOS to boot from DVD/CD only it attempts to read the disc but comes back as if it hasn't found something bootable, ie. press F1 to boot or F2 to continue (can't remember exactly but the usual message if a pc doesn't an operating system). I can read the DVD in another PC so it appears ok.

 

You need to acknowledge that you want to boot from the disc, many bios's ask whether to boot to the disc even when its the only item in the boot order. They usually wait 5 or so seconds before procededing to boot from the hdd. Re-read the message and choost the appropriate response.

 

The fact that the machine comes back with a message after reading the Vista DVD indicates that it HAS found a bootable medium; otherwise, it would jump straight into attempting to boot the OS without providing any message.



As King indicated, you need to press a key when you see that message -- in order to boot from the DVD.

 

I have this exact same problem (though I do not even get to the password entry screen).



Here's what I know:



It's not the hard drive. I'm installing a brand new copy onto a brand new drive, which is formatted by the vista installer.



The blue screen flashes so quickly that I don't even get any text to copy down. It basically does a soft reboot and goes straight to the post screen again.



I had my current configuration (hardware) working in there for over a year, until this happened.



What I do not understand:



How can a fresh install of Vista post a BSOD, not let the user read it, and immediately kick out the system? As of right now, this computer is completely unusable after working fine for over a year. There is no variable that would explain this phenomenon.



Somebody please help me before I put my fist through the monitor.



Thanks.

 

In Advanced System Settings, under Startup and Recovery, there is an option to reboot upon failure. Uncheck that, and the BSOD will stay on screen rather than the PC rebooting. That's why it reboots immediately. Bad default setting on the part of MS (if you ask me).