Hi, Av8or.
In your case, Av8or, since it is a new Dell computer, you probably should
contact Dell Tech Support for specific instructions.
To get time to read that blue screen (We call it the BSOD, "Blue Screen of
Death!"), you need to change a default setting for Vista (same as Win2K and
WinXP). Most computer users learn early that many computer problems are
momentary glitches and can be cleared by simply turning the computer off and
back on. So, Microsoft has set the default action for "what to do when
there is a system error" to "Automatically restart". That's fine for
newbies and does solve many problems. But when the problem persists, we are
left with no clue as to what is causing it - unless we learn how to read the
Error Log.
The standard fix is easy - after you find the place to do it. Click Start |
Control Panel | System | Advanced system settings. Then, on the Advanced
tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. Here is the screen we've
been looking for. Under System failure, there is a line that says
"Automatically restart" and it probably has a checkmark in it. Remove the
checkmark and OK all the way out.
The next time your computer fails, it will still shutdown and display the
BSOD. But it will halt there and wait for you to press the Reset button on
your computer hardware. This will give you all the time you need to copy
down the Stop Code and other pertinent information, which you can then post
(verbatim) here, and some guru (probably not me!) will be able to interpret
those codes and point you in the right direction.
I'm glad that you did finally get the Stop 7E information. Here is one good
place to start to find the solution:
http://aumha.org/a/stop.htm
Here is a short excerpt from that site:
0x0000007E: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
(Click to consult the online MSDN article.)
A system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not
catch. There are numerous individual causes for this problem, including
hardware incompatibility, a faulty device driver or system service, or some
software issues. Check Event Viewer (EventVwr.msc) for additional
information.
Good luck. Post back if you need further guidance.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta in Vista Ultimate x64)