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The Blue Screen of Death

brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,718
edited November 2011 in All Encompassing Trip
I'd never heard that term before. I never want to hear it again. Here's how the conversation with my local computer store owner went:

"Well, Brian, I'm sorry to say you have the Blue Screen of Death."
"Um... what's that mean?"
"It mean your hard drive has died."
"Oh, that sounds bad. Can you fix it?"
"No, I'm sorry."
"Can you replace it?"
"Sure, but for half the cost of a new computer and yours is 10 years old. I can't believe it's made it this long."
"Ok, if I get a new one can you transfer my data over?"
"No, I'm sorry, I can't, but you did back up everything you had on your hard-drive, right?"
"Ummm...ummm....ummm, well... no. Is there anyway to retrieve my files?"
"We can't. It might be possible elsewhere. There are people that do that sort of thing but is very expensive."

And she was talking BIG bucks. My photos, music, much of my writing...gone... gone.

So I'm the little voice over your should saying, "Back it up or lose it." Don't be an idiot like me and put it off. Back it up!

Excuse me, but I'm going to pour myself a drink. A very stiff drink. :( :cry:
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • conmanconman Posts: 7,493
    if i had any idea how to do that, i would :lol:
  • Who PrincessWho Princess Posts: 7,305
    Sorry to hear that.
    I don't doubt that she's being honest about your hard drive but that isn't the usual meaning of the Blue Screen of Death. It's the screen you occasionally get when your computer crashes. Usually a reboot will take care of it although there may be a problem with some hardware that's been added.

    Bummer about losing your stuff. :(
    "The stars are all connected to the brain."
  • SatansFutonSatansFuton Posts: 5,399
    Also, don't trust an external hard drive to back your shit up on. I backed all my music and photos up on an external hard drive. When my computer broke down and I got a new one, I busted out the hard drive with all my shit on it, only for it to not work. Turns out external hard drives are flakier than internal ones. I plugged this thing in once, for a few hours to copy all my shit to it, and the next time I plugged it in, shit out of luck. A buddy of mine had a similar experience, but he kept his plugged in all the time. They gave me the same line about taking it somewhere for data retrieval, but it was supposedly going to cost a few hundred bucks. Back up to discs. It takes a long time, and it's kind of a pain, but it's safer.
    "See a broad to get dat booty yak 'em, leg 'er down, a smack 'em yak 'em!"
  • Who PrincessWho Princess Posts: 7,305
    This is how it usually looks:

    Windows_9X_BSOD.png
    "The stars are all connected to the brain."
  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    If you don't trust external hard drives for backing things up they do have online storage websites you could look into

    It doesn't help you now but in the future

    :(
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    I used to work in computer repair for years and it amazes me that people don't think the back their shit up. Electronics die! They always have eventually. This is not new news. When they eventually die, so does everything on them.


    There are ways to get the data, but it takes expensive equipment and isn't so simple, hence the very high cost.

    In college I used to back my projects to three different locations, my pc hard drive, a burned disc AND a flash drive. At one point I had years of important data. There was no way I was going to fuck around.


    I had no pity on the girl who came into my work crying her eyes out with all of her college work saved onto one dead flash drive. She wasn't going to graduate law school I guess.
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    Do this.. buy an enclosure kit. Take your hard drive out and hook it up to the kit. Plug it into another PC and see if you can transfer over any of the data. You might be able to grab some of it if the hard drive doesn't always fail. The OS might just be corrupt too.
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,718
    Gob wrote:
    Do this.. buy an enclosure kit. Take your hard drive out and hook it up to the kit. Plug it into another PC and see if you can transfer over any of the data. You might be able to grab some of it if the hard drive doesn't always fail. The OS might just be corrupt too.

    Thanks, Gob. I'm not very computer savvy so what you suggested is a bit unclear to me. I would no more know how to remove my hard drive than I would know how to remove my appendix (not that I need to, they're gone :lol: ) The folks who looked at my computer have a very good reputation here in town and seem to be very knowledgeable. They told me there is little chance of getting my data retrieval for under $500 and may cost as much as $1500. I realized a few minutes ago that I also lost some forms I'd created for my business. I can make them again but Excel is such a pain in the ass.

    So this has been yet another big life lesson (though there's a part of me thinking I'm too old for this shit). It'll all work out. WORK being the operative word. :crazy:

    I can't say it enough- back it up!!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • capthowdy1027capthowdy1027 Posts: 3,270
    Maybe try reinstalling Windows on it before giving up. A blue screen of death doesn't for sure mean hard drive failure.
    * Cincinnati, OH 8.20.2000 *
    * Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
    * Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
    * East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
    * Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    brianlux wrote:
    Gob wrote:
    Do this.. buy an enclosure kit. Take your hard drive out and hook it up to the kit. Plug it into another PC and see if you can transfer over any of the data. You might be able to grab some of it if the hard drive doesn't always fail. The OS might just be corrupt too.

    Thanks, Gob. I'm not very computer savvy so what you suggested is a bit unclear to me. I would no more know how to remove my hard drive than I would know how to remove my appendix (not that I need to, they're gone :lol: ) The folks who looked at my computer have a very good reputation here in town and seem to be very knowledgeable. They told me there is little chance of getting my data retrieval for under $500 and may cost as much as $1500. I realized a few minutes ago that I also lost some forms I'd created for my business. I can make them again but Excel is such a pain in the ass.

    So this has been yet another big life lesson (though there's a part of me thinking I'm too old for this shit). It'll all work out. WORK being the operative word. :crazy:

    I can't say it enough- back it up!!
    To to what I told you, many places will charge $500.. Google it. It's really not that hard. A few screws removed and a few cables. It's worth a shot. The enclosure kits are like $25 maybe.
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    edited November 2011
    capthowdy1027 wrote:
    Maybe try reinstalling Windows on it before giving up. A blue screen of death doesn't for sure mean hard drive failure.
    The blue screen means Windows is corrupt, but the question is why. A failing hard drive will corrupt Windows. Some times the user can accidently corrupt Windows.


    Be careful when you do a reinstall though. That can wipe everything out too if it's done wrong. If the hard drive is ok, you are better off removing the data before you reistall. Doing a full wipe and reinstall after saving the data is the best option.
    Post edited by LikeAnOcean on
  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    capthowdy1027 wrote:
    Maybe try reinstalling Windows on it before giving up. A blue screen of death doesn't for sure mean hard drive failure.


    be careful with this....that typically blows everything away

    are you 100% sure it's the HD? first thing i would do is drop your had into a diffferent computer to see if it will boot.....
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • capthowdy1027capthowdy1027 Posts: 3,270
    Gob wrote:
    capthowdy1027 wrote:
    Maybe try reinstalling Windows on it before giving up. A blue screen of death doesn't for sure mean hard drive failure.
    The blue screen means Windows is corrupt, but the question is why. A failing hard drive will corrupt Windows. Some times the user can accidently corrupt Windows.


    Be careful when you do an reinstall though. That can wipe everything out too if it's done wrong. If the hard drive is ok, you are better off removing the data before you reistall. Doing a full wipe and reinstall after saving the data is the best option.

    For sure. You're idea of getting an external enclosure is by far the best idea. It's insane how much a computer store will charge to do basically the same thing.

    Gotta get in the habit of backing your shit up though. It always takes something like this to realize how important it really is.
    * Cincinnati, OH 8.20.2000 *
    * Cincinnati, OH 6.24.2006 *
    * Columbus, OH 5.6.2010 * Noblesville, IN 5.7.2010 *
    * East Troy, MI 9.4.2011 * East Troy, MI 9.5.2011 *
    * Pittsburgh, PA 10.11.2013 *
  • faceinthecloudsfaceintheclouds Posts: 1,739
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?
    Just, not enough.
    I need more.
    Nothing seems to satisfy.
    I said, I dont want it.
    I just need it.
    To breathe, to feel, to know Im alive.
  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    faceintheclouds wrote:
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?

    sevearl ways...

    you can install a second internal hard drive

    external hd

    flash drive

    cd rom

    or put all your shit "on the cloud"
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    edited November 2011
    faceintheclouds wrote:
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?
    I have mine on an external drive. I pretty much just dropped and dragged everything I wanted.


    Really you should have three back ups to be 100% safe. The third on an offsite location, incase your house gets robbed or burned down.. or you are just very unlucky and both back ups fail at the same time. you'd probably have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than losing three back-ups. 8-)
    Post edited by LikeAnOcean on
  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    faceintheclouds wrote:
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?

    If you buy an external hard drive you connect it to your current PC through the USB connection or you can burn files to a disk if you have a burner.

    I can't think of the software right now but there is a nice program for transferring files to the external hard drive. Makes it really easy.
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    Phantom Pain wrote:
    I can't think of the software right now but there is a nice program for transferring files to the external hard drive. Makes it really easy.


    windows explorer :lol:
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    Phantom Pain wrote:
    faceintheclouds wrote:
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?

    If you buy an external hard drive you connect it to your current PC through the USB connection or you can burn files to a disk if you have a burner.

    I can't think of the software right now but there is a nice program for transferring files to the external hard drive. Makes it really easy.
    Blank discs are the least reliable. I've had some that have lasted for years, but they do degrade over time, especially if stored in bad conditions. Experts say you should get 2 to 5 years out of them. I know people who have had burned discs fine for 15+ years, but they are chancing it.



    Really, your data will not last forever. Sorry! You probably won't be showing your grandchildren your digital photos, unless you have them stored in a vacuum or something.
  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    Gob wrote:
    discs are the least reliable. I've had some that have lasted for years, but they do degrade over time, especially if stored in bad conditions. Experts say you should get 2 to 5 years out of them. I know people who have had burned discs fine for 15+ years, but they are chancing it.



    Really, your data will not last forever. Sorry! You probably won't be showing your grandchildren your digital photos, unless you have them stored in a vacuum or something.

    Have you tried any of the online storage websites ? I assume its guaranteed to back everything up

    I'm only using an external hard drive currently :o
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    81 wrote:
    Phantom Pain wrote:
    I can't think of the software right now but there is a nice program for transferring files to the external hard drive. Makes it really easy.


    windows explorer :lol:

    is there a middle finger emoticon ?

    :x
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    Phantom Pain wrote:
    Gob wrote:
    discs are the least reliable. I've had some that have lasted for years, but they do degrade over time, especially if stored in bad conditions. Experts say you should get 2 to 5 years out of them. I know people who have had burned discs fine for 15+ years, but they are chancing it.



    Really, your data will not last forever. Sorry! You probably won't be showing your grandchildren your digital photos, unless you have them stored in a vacuum or something.

    Have you tried any of the online storage websites ? I assume its guaranteed to back everything up

    I'm only using an external hard drive currently :o
    Thats probably your best bet as far as security.. just hope a natural disaster doesn't hit the site. 8-)
  • 8181 Posts: 58,276
    smiley-flip-bird.gif

    :lol:
    81 is now off the air

    Off_Air.jpg
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,718
    faceintheclouds wrote:
    Stupid question, but how do you go about backing your files up. Cause I'd have the exact same conversation. Like do yOu back them up on another pc or an external hard drive or sumpin?

    One computer geek friend told me to back things up with an online back up service. Another told me, no use an external drive. And another semi-computer geek friend said just use a thumb drive. Yet another said put it on a disc. Talk about confusing! I think I'll probably print out a hard copy of things I really want saved (like my writing) on the blank back side of used paper and put them in my fireproof safe. A good way to recycle and have a sure fire back up.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Phantom PainPhantom Pain Posts: 9,876
    81 wrote:
    smiley-flip-bird.gif

    :lol:

    :lol:
    My drinking team has a hockey problem

    The ONLY thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill



    A protuberance of flesh above the waistband of a tight pair of trousers
  • __ Posts: 6,651
    brianlux wrote:
    Gob wrote:
    Do this.. buy an enclosure kit. Take your hard drive out and hook it up to the kit. Plug it into another PC and see if you can transfer over any of the data. You might be able to grab some of it if the hard drive doesn't always fail. The OS might just be corrupt too.

    Thanks, Gob. I'm not very computer savvy so what you suggested is a bit unclear to me. I would no more know how to remove my hard drive than I would know how to remove my appendix (not that I need to, they're gone :lol: ) The folks who looked at my computer have a very good reputation here in town and seem to be very knowledgeable. They told me there is little chance of getting my data retrieval for under $500 and may cost as much as $1500. I realized a few minutes ago that I also lost some forms I'd created for my business. I can make them again but Excel is such a pain in the ass.

    So this has been yet another big life lesson (though there's a part of me thinking I'm too old for this shit). It'll all work out. WORK being the operative word. :crazy:

    I can't say it enough- back it up!!

    Man, that really sucks! I feel your pain. But I would encourage you to not give up yet. I don't think the computer folks you spoke with were bullshitting you or anything, but sometimes a good computer geek friend can help you out for much cheaper, as many here have already said. When I had the same problem, my sister was able to retrieve much of my data for me by doing something like what Gob suggested above.
  • __ Posts: 6,651
    These error message haikus helped me through my mourning period after my hard drive died:

    Windows NT crashed.
    I am the Blue Screen of Death.
    No one hears your screams.

    - Peter Rothman

    Three things are certain:
    Death, taxes, and lost data.
    Guess which has occurred.

    - David Dixon

    ABORTED effort:
    Close all that you have.
    You ask far too much.

    - Mike Hagler

    A crash reduces
    your expensive computer
    to a simple stone.

    - James Lopez

    Yesterday it worked.
    Today it is not working
    Windows is like that.

    - Margaret Segall

    Seeing my great fault
    Through darkening blue windows
    I begin again

    - Chris Walsh

    The code was willing,
    It considered your request,
    But the chips were weak.

    - Barry L. Brumitt

    To have no errors
    Would be life without meaning
    No struggle, no joy

    - Brian M. Porter

    Login incorrect.
    Only perfect spellers may
    enter this system.

    - Jason Axley

    Sorrow in my heart,
    Bad sectors on your hard drive,
    Dead leaves on the ground.

    - Cheryl Walker

    Spring will come again,
    But it will not bring with it
    Any of your files.

    - Cheryl Walker

    The blue screen of death,
    Fatal to OS; take the time
    to gaze at blue sky.

    - Cheryl Walker
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 41,718
    _ wrote:
    These error message haikus helped me through my mourning period after my hard drive died:

    Windows NT crashed.
    I am the Blue Screen of Death.
    No one hears your screams.

    - Peter Rothman

    Three things are certain:
    Death, taxes, and lost data.
    Guess which has occurred.

    - David Dixon

    ABORTED effort:
    Close all that you have.
    You ask far too much.

    - Mike Hagler

    A crash reduces
    your expensive computer
    to a simple stone.

    - James Lopez

    Yesterday it worked.
    Today it is not working
    Windows is like that.

    - Margaret Segall

    Seeing my great fault
    Through darkening blue windows
    I begin again

    - Chris Walsh

    The code was willing,
    It considered your request,
    But the chips were weak.

    - Barry L. Brumitt

    To have no errors
    Would be life without meaning
    No struggle, no joy

    - Brian M. Porter

    Login incorrect.
    Only perfect spellers may
    enter this system.

    - Jason Axley

    Sorrow in my heart,
    Bad sectors on your hard drive,
    Dead leaves on the ground.

    - Cheryl Walker

    Spring will come again,
    But it will not bring with it
    Any of your files.

    - Cheryl Walker

    The blue screen of death,
    Fatal to OS; take the time
    to gaze at blue sky.

    - Cheryl Walker

    These are excellent. Thanks! :D
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • JennytreeJennytree Posts: 5,340
    brianlux wrote:
    They told me there is little chance of getting my data retrieval for under $500 and may cost as much as $1500.

    :shock: WHAT?! Fuckin' hell, I'm in the wrong job! There are free tools you can use to try and get data off of a FUBAR'd drive. Do you know anyone who works in IT support who would do it for free? If you were my friend, I would :D
    This is me:
    http://www.facebook.com/jennytree

    SMELL YER MA!
  • DissidentmanDissidentman Posts: 15,378
    capthowdy1027 wrote:
    Maybe try reinstalling Windows on it before giving up. A blue screen of death doesn't for sure mean hard drive failure.

    This

    Just don't format. REPAIR
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