Computer Meets The Blue Screen

Category: Geeks r Us

Post 1 by purple penguin (Don't you hate it when someone answers their own questions? I do.) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2009 18:00:04

When I turn onb my laptop, I first get a black screen whith a bunch of writing on it. Then the windows logo appears for a bit. After that I get the blue screen. I'm afraid I might have to reformat whenever I can find the Windows CD. I just moved so have a lot of boxes to sort through. If I reformat, i'm going to lose Jaws completely. I don't have any more authorizations left. So, any ideas?

Post 2 by Brooke (I just keep on posting!) on Thursday, 11-Jun-2009 19:39:29

If you do reformat and lose Jaws, you should be able to call Freedom Scientific and get more authorizations.

Post 3 by blindndangerous (the blind and dangerous one) on Friday, 12-Jun-2009 6:21:07

Do you know what could've caused it? Did you try safe mode? It sounds like your computer is trying to do something but can't. I'd say if all else fails, go for the reformat.

Post 4 by purple penguin (Don't you hate it when someone answers their own questions? I do.) on Friday, 12-Jun-2009 12:11:19

thanks guys. I could try safe mode but my mom does not know as much about computers as i do. Dell is sending a new hard drive. Are the renewed authorizations for jaws expensive? Sorry for any typos. Typing on a phone can take forever.

Post 5 by b3n (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Friday, 12-Jun-2009 20:17:48

Post the very long number at the bottom of the blue screen exactly as its displayed.
Formatting would be the last resort, you should try to do a repare install first so that all your applications are intact.
Why are dell sending a new harddrive? What makes you think that its the harddrive thats faulty - when it arrives, will you be able to fit it?

Post 6 by CallMeAl (Veteran Zoner) on Saturday, 13-Jun-2009 18:45:58

Have you tried Booting to the last known good configuration? When you first start your machine, at the point where you see writing on the screen, start repeatedly pressing f8. You should get a boot menu. one of the options in that menu is boot to last known good configuration. This basically tries to restore your computer to the state it was in the last time it successfully booted.

If that doesn't work and you do need to reformat, are you going to use a Del factory restore disk, or will you do a fresh install of Windows? There are a lot of advantages to doing your own install; However, the main disadvantage is that you may not get all the drivers you need out of the box, such as sound and video, which means you wouldn't be able to reinstall Jaws until you rectified that.


Also on another note, Jaws authorization resets are absolutely free. Assuming you have a valid jaws serial number, call them and just have the install count reset.

HTH,

Al

Post 7 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Sunday, 14-Jun-2009 17:09:00

Yeah Jaws authorization resets are absoulutely free..just explain that you had to reformat one of your computers. I would also recommend a program called spinrite for this issue. Though its $89 But if you want to read more about it go to www.spinrite.info or www.grc.com and follow the links to the spinrite page. Last Known Good configuration has never worked for me but give it a try. Repair installs usually work well enough to get back in and back up your stuff and usually leads to me just reinstalling anyways cuz things seem to go a little funky after the repair. Just my experiences/opinions.

Post 8 by TylerK (This site is so "educational") on Monday, 15-Jun-2009 19:58:27

No need to call long-distance for resetting the JFW reinstall count. Go to www.fsactivate.com, click Continue, then click the appropriate link.

Post 9 by purple penguin (Don't you hate it when someone answers their own questions? I do.) on Wednesday, 17-Jun-2009 22:58:13

I got the new hard drive because I don't have the XP CD's. I tried authorizing Jaws, but it says I have to have the lock in number, (which is easy to find), and the 20 digit number found on the CD. Again, no CD due to moving. Looks like I'm in trouble.

Post 10 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Thursday, 18-Jun-2009 14:50:24

then call them up that way you can give them your personal info and they should be able to pull up your account and get your serial number for you.. there is also a way to get jaws to display it i believe .. check the options unnder the help menu .. somethinglike about jaws or register jaws should show it.