After installing a new DVD writer on my Windows XP computer whenever the computer boots the blue screen of death appears and the computer immediately restarts. This is completely preventing me from using the computer. I have tried unplugging the DVD writer but the problem continues.

As the blue screen of death (BSOD) only occurred after installing the DVD writer it would be a fair assumption that the DVD writer caused the problem. However, the problem continues even with the DVD writer unplugged. Normally such hardware conflicts should be resolved by unplugging the device causing the problem, but seemingly not in this case. As such, we need to double-check to ensure that the BSOD is not being caused by another device connected to your computer. Unplug all devices which are externally connected into your computer, such as printers, USB hubs, external hard drives, etc. You will need to leave your monitor, keyboard and mouse connected to the computer. Also, do not disconnect internal elements of the computer (such as hard drives or other optical devices on your computer) as that is unnecessary – those should not be causing any problems, externally connectable devices are usually the problematic and suspect devices.

Should the problem stop after disconnecting the external devices then obviously one of those devices is the root cause of the problem and the connection of the DVD writer may have just been a coincidence or a catalyst for causing the other device to start misbehaving. In any case, we need to determine which of the devices is causing the problem. The easiest method is a process of elimination. Reconnect the devices one at a time, each time booting the computer to check whether the BSOD appears. Once the BSOD reappears, you know the device causing the problem. In this situation, you should (in the short term) leave the device disconnected so that you are able to use the computer. However, no doubt you would like a longer-term solution so that you can use both the computer and the troublesome device. In the first instance, you should try connecting that device to a different computer. This will allow you to determine whether the device itself is faulty, or whether there is something askew with the interface between the device and your computer. Assuming the device works perfectly fine on another computer, it seems that your computer does not particularly like the device. In this situation, ensure that you have the latest drivers for the device installed in Windows (as the device drivers are often loaded during Windows startup) and you may even like to try connecting the device once Windows has started, to check whether the device works correctly once Windows has booted.

Because the previous situation is one of the less likely you would probably encounter we will not investigate that any further, but if you do find yourself stuck in that situation then please contact me again for further advice. We will now move onto the situation where disconnecting all the external devices on the computer did not resolve the problem. Before proceeding any further, make sure that you reconnect all the devices. The next troubleshooting step involves writing down the error message that is being displayed on the BSOD. As you have noticed, the computer automatically restarts when the BSOD appears, so you may not have time to write down the exact error message. Therefore, we need to see whether we can disable that automatic restart function. Since you cannot boot into Windows through the normal method we will try accessing Windows through Safe Mode, a special diagnostic mode of Windows which only loads the essential system components. This allows us to do emergency maintenance in Windows if we cannot boot the operating system through normal methods. Reboot the computer and just before the Windows XP splash screen appears (after the computer has completed the power on self test) start tapping the F8 key. The Windows boot menu should appear. In this boot menu, select “Safe Mode” and press the ENTER key. Hopefully you should find that Windows loads, in a cut-down fashion. Don’t be alarmed at the low resolution graphics and colour depth – that is normal, as Windows is not loading anything but the essentials (which means luxuries such as the proper graphics and display drivers are not being loaded). Once you are in Windows we need to disable Windows from automatically restarting on the BSOD. Go to the “Start” menu and right-click on “My Computer” then select “Properties”. In the window that appears, click the “Advanced” tab and under the “Startup and Recovery” heading click the “Settings” button. In the next window untick “Automatically restart”. Click OK in all the windows to save and close. Restart your computer. Windows should attempt to boot normally and the BSOD message should appear. However, the computer should not restart allowing you time to write down the message.

Once you have the error message in the BSOD then you need to determine what could be causing that message, as that is the best clue as to the root cause of the problem. I suggest that you find another computer with internet access and try researching the error message on Google or other search engines. If the problem is common enough, then it is likely other users have experienced a similar issue and may know how to fix the problem. Of course, if this search does not yield any useful results then please contact me with the exact error message and I will also try to complete some research to see whether any further light can be shed on the issue.

Should you find no useful information about the error message on the internet, and want to try some other procedures for an immediate result, then you could try completing a repair installation of Windows XP. This will overwrite all Windows system files with known good copies from the original Windows CD, in theory leaving your personal data intact. However, things have been known to go wrong with such a procedure so I strongly suggest that you have a full backup of all your data before you undertake such a procedure. Even in Safe Mode you should still be able to connect a USB drive to your computer (assuming your motherboard supports USB devices, most of which do unless you have a very old computer) so booting into Safe Mode and connecting a USB drive gives you the opportunity to transfer data off the computer. Once you have a backup of all data you wish to keep then you can proceed with the repair installation. The procedure is fairly in-depth, so I suggest that you follow the excellent instructions available at michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm (with a printable PDF version available at michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm). I suggest that you print off these instructions from another computer and then try the procedure on your machine.

If the repair installation does not work, and the problem still occurs, you could always try a clean reinstallation of Windows. This is a destructive process and will wipe all data from your computer. Therefore, be certain that you have backed-up all data you wish to keep before embarking on this procedure.

Addressing the last possible situation, where you cannot even access the computer through Safe Mode, one of your only options is to complete a repair installation or clean reinstallation of Windows. However, the problem is that you cannot access Windows in order to backup your data. Obviously this is not perfect, since you could potentially lose your data during the repair installation and you would definitely lose the data during a clean reinstallation. In this situation I would recommend that you take the computer to a shop for repair, as they should be able to remove the hard drive and extract the data, even if your computer is not booting, thus saving your data before attempting a reinstallation.