Their are far more software related BSOD issues these days than Hardware. (in my experience)
Generally the first thing I would do is see if you are able to boot into windows safe mode with networking.
To do this do the following
- Start/restart your comuter. If this is a brand named comptuer you are looking for their splash screen. If you are on a home built, generally it will be the bios/chipset splash screen. (ie. Dell laptop, Dell logo on the splash screen)
- Once you see this image begin tapping the "F8" key. You will want to press this about 5 to 6 times.
- This will bring up the "Windows Adavanced Boot Menu".
- You will want to use you up and down arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" or "Safe Mode with Networking" if you would like an internet connection. Once Selected press the enter key.
- Some system may require you to select an operating system. Just leave it default and once again press the enter key.
- You will then see all the default windows drivers and services required to load for the operating system to function. No bells and wistles. Just the bare bones software.
Once into windows you will want to check your "Event Logs" for any reported Failures. To do this you will need to do the following.
- Click Start
- Gotto "Control Panel"
- Then you will need to make sure you are in "Classic View" or "Small Icon" view in order to see "Administrative tools.
- Once in "Administrative tools" you will then locate "Event Viewer".
- Once in event Viewer you will want to selec "Windows Logs"
- Once you are in windows logs you can filter your events by "Critical, Error, and Warning". These will be the main indicators of a problem.
If you computer is unable to make it this far, I recommend using another computer and finding software called EuroSoft PC Tools. (Their are several variations of this program by several different developers.) This software is a bootable environment for testing the hardware of your computer. It will test every component for failures and problems. You can also launch targeted tests for say your Hard Drive etc...
You will boot to this software and it will give you all the available testing options.
If your Event Log shows any NTFS or Disk errors, I recommend google'ing DFT or Drive Fitness Tests. I believe Hitatchi makes one thats almost 95% cross compatible.
A lot of times you can run into BSOD issues after a recent windows or anti-virus update. Sometimes you can simply run windows update again to obtain a patch to fix the issue. Sometimes in rare cases a system restore to a previous point in time is required. I do not recommend restoring the computer for any reason unless all other options have been exhausted.
Please do not confuse "System Restore" and "System Recovery".
System Recovery will basically write over your existing data with a stock copy of your systems operating system. Brining the computer back to factory defaults. This means that all of your data is gone. Before doing any kind of system restore, or recovery it is always my recommendation to backup importing data to external storage devices.
There are a few fake anti-virus malware infections going about social media sites and email. This is in fact the most common infection to date. These are generally very simple to remove, however the longer the infection remains the worse it can become over time.
Here are a few tools you can use to detect some of the more common trojan/rootkits/MBR infection's as of the time of this post.
[ EDIT ] sorry had to remove URLS due to account restrictions on the forum please google the following names [ EDIT ]
tdsskiller.exe - This is a tool by kaspersky
Tdss Removal tool - This is made by Symantec (Google Norton tdss removal tool)
AVG Kaspersky - Another very great tool for locating and removing baddies
MSE or Microsoft Security Essentials - the scoop on MSE: As you all have probably seen the advertisements for MAC computers. Microsoft is more popular with computer users. Because of this reason, malware developers go where the market is. Microsoft's answer in my opinion is MSE. They are offering a free security system that is actually doing a good job at some of the newer infections I have run into.
HiJackThis or Trend HJT - Trend micro develops a version of this software used to check startup
UnhackMe - never used this software personally, but my friends from across the pond swear by it. Worth a look im sure.
There are LOADS of other scanning tools and rootkit removal tools etc out there and I could spend hours linking them.... but the above tools are free and can remove most of the common infections you find in todays computers.
Just to point a few things out. Virus scanners and internet security system can not make up for stupidity. If you allow a file to download and execute, there is nothing your protection software can do. Most often times than not the infection will modify dns settings and host file to disallow updating of windows and anti-virus components. An older technology has been perfected over the years "Polymorphism" (sorry if that is not the correct term). The software is designed in such a way that it stealths itself through driver level rootkits or MBR infections, or even Restore Point Hijacking.
Anyway Ive gone on long enough. I do not claim to know everything about malware. I can only share my experiences. Hopefully this will help you, and maybe some others.
As always, PM me if you need more assistance.