Error Screens of the Future

What does the future hold for the BSoD? We’ve talked about some possible near future developments, such as Microsoft doing away with the Blue Screen of Death in favor or a more traditional black screen with white lettering, but is that ideal? What would be the best way to tell us when our computer is in trouble?

Today’s Error Screen

I think most people agree that a screen that clearly displayed the nature of the problem would be ideal. Right now the Blue Screen of Death features a bunch of hexadecimal codes displayed across the screen for a few seconds, and it comes off as so much gibberish. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know how to read some of those codes and how to freeze that screen, but it’s not exactly user friendly.

Error Screens of the Future

Computers are becoming more and more user friendly, and hopefully error screens in the future will be, too. In addition to screens that tell you exactly what’s wrong, how about a screen that tells you how to fix the problem? Or one that automatically contacts technical support online?

In the Meantime

Those super error screens haven’t arrived yet, so in the meantime, we’ll just have to keep doing our best to avoid the BSoD with proper computer care and regular anti virus screening.

Avoiding the Blue Screen of Death: All It’s Cracked up to Be?

This blog is dedicated to understanding the Blue Screen of Death and avoiding it if possible. But is avoiding the BSoD all its cracked up to be? The answer is yes and no.

Positives to Avoiding the Blue Screen of Death

We don’t need to spend too much time on this one. It’s clear that avoiding the Blue Screen of Death means less anxiety and a functioning computer. We would all be happy if we never saw that tell tale blue screen on our computer again. But…

Downsides to Avoiding the Blue Screen of Death

It’s a mistake to think that if you get no blue screen, your computer is working fine. Your computer can be slow and even crash without you ever getting a BSoD. When this happens, it’s harder to know what the problem is because you don’t get the information that the BSoD provides. In some ways, a slow down or crash without a BSoD can be even more frustrating.

Avoiding Slowdowns and Crashes

Instead of worrying about avoiding the BSoD, it may be better to just think about avoiding crashes and slowdowns. One of the best ways to do this is by running a reliable anti virus program and Registry cleaner. If you don’t have one or both of these, you can get started at CyberDefender.com.

Last Word on Data Backup and the BSoD

All month we’ve been talking about backing up your data in the event of a catastrophic Blue Screen of Death incident and with good reason. Your data is about the most important part of your computer. You can always get a new computer, but certain data are irreplaceable.  However, just because you have your data backed up, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry about the BSoD at all. Replacing a computer is expensive, and not always necessary.

When you get a BSoD, even if you have your data backed up, don’t be in a hurry to reformat your drive. Remember to take the steps we have discussed. Run your Anti virus and anti spyware software. Activate your Registry Cleaner. Uninstall and reinstall any recent device drivers or software to try to isolate the problem. Stay tuned to this blog and other BSoD news to be aware of the latest Blue Screen of Death related threats to your computer.

Having good, reliable data backup is great, but as they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and taking steps to make sure you get the BSoD as rarely as possible and can fix it in many cases when you do get it is the best approach of all.

More Thoughts on Data Backup and the BSoD

Last time, we finished talking about data storage options. Many times, your BSoD will be correctable, or at the very least, you’ll be able to retrieve your data while dealing with the BSoD. However, sometimes, the only solution will be to reformat the hard drive, and any data you haven’t saved will be lost. One of the options we talked about was using Flash drives, which can definitely be a useful and easy option.

However, there are some cases, which we’ve even talked about on this blog, where a Flash drive may have caused a Blue Screen of Death. For this reason, it’s very important that you do your research before buying Flash drives, so you know you’re getting one that is safe. Even once you’re satisfied, you should consider getting drives from two different companies, and using one as the backup to your backup, just in case there are any problems.

You can decide to forgo Flash drives and use one of the other options we’ve talked about on this blog, but if you practice this sort of redundancy and do your due diligence, you should have no problem using Flash drives as your primary method of data backup and storage.

Protect Yourself from BSoD with Data Backup: Conclusion

Over the last few posts, we’ve been looking at three main ways to protect your data from those horrible moments when the BSoD will not go away, and your hard drive needs to be purged.  The three main options seem to be online data storage, external hard drive and Flash Drive. Which one is right for you? Let’s see.

Online Data Storage:

If you are constantly forgetting to backup your files, and don’t mind paying a subscription fee for the peace of mind of knowing your data is always going to be there, this may be your option. If you don’t trust not having the backup data someplace physical where you can see it, don’t think the extra expense is justified, or are concerned about having sensitive files transmitted over the internet, consider one of the other options.

External Hard Drive:

A very popular choice. If you have a lot of data to store, don’t mind paying a bit more than for a Flash drive in order to have all your data in one place, and are pretty good at remembering to backup your data, this one is for you. If you don’t have that much data to store or money to spend on backups, consider a Flash drive.

Flash Drive:

If you like simplicity when it comes to backing up files, and you don’t have all that much that needs to be backed up, consider Flash drives. You’ll probably have to get more than one, at the very least as a backup in case the first one breaks, but they’re very easy to use and store. If you want a cheap, easy solution to data storage, get yourself some Flash drives for defense against the Blue Screen of Death.

Happy storing!

Protect Yourself from BSoD with Data Backup Part 3

This month, we’ve been looking at ways to protect your computer’s data from a terminal BSoD using various data storage and backup methods. One we have yet to talk about is the old reliable Flash drive. The Flash drive was a quantum leap in data storage technology. Before Flash drives, people needed external disk drives and multiple hard disks to protect their data, and even those couldn’t do much unless you purchased a bulkier Zip drive that had some actual memory. Then along came the Flash drive: compact, easy to use, and possessing a massive amount of memory.

Flash Drive:

The big advantage to the Flash drive is that they are small and easy to use. They are so small that you can even leave one plugged into your computer, so that you can back up regularly as you go with just a few clicks of the mouse. The main downside is that they usually only hold at most 16 Gigs of memory. 16 Gigs is actually a lot though, and you can always buy several, since they are not that expensive. You may want to get some backup Flash drives, actually, so if one breaks your data is still secure. Because they’re so small, you can store a bunch of them easily.

Next week, we’ll conclude this series by looking at the three options presented and figuring out which one is right to protect your data from the Blue Screen of Death.

Protect Yourself from BSoD with Data Backup Part 2

In our last post, we talked about how we can use online data backup services to protect our files for when the worst happens and the Blue Screen of Death requires a reformatting of the hard drive. However, there are definitely options other than online data storage services. Let’s consider another one: The external hard drive.

External Hard Drive

The external hard drive is sort of like the external disk drives of the early computer age, except that it is self contained, you don’t have to put a disk inside of it, and it storage a massively greater amount of memory, usually 500 gigabytes or more. Although they do cost some money to purchase, it’s only a one time charge, as opposed to the subscription cost of an online data storage service. Once you’ve downloaded your files onto the external hard drive, you can store the drive somewhere safe and know you have your data backed up and secure. You can even buy two drives for extra security. The only big downside is that you have to remember to back up your data regularly. If you get a BSoD and it’s been a few months since you’ve backed up the data, that’s months of data lost.

Next time we’ll talk about yet another data backup option, the trusty Flash Drive.

Protecting Yourself from BSoD with Data Backup : Part One

Hopefully a Blue Screen of Death issue will not cost you the information on your computer’s hard drive, but if it does, you want to be prepared. You’re aware that there are a number of ways to protect your data, but which one is the best? That depends on you and your personal data storage needs. My next couple of blogs will address what your options are and the pros and cons.

Online Data Storage:

Companies like Carbonite offer to automatically backup your data online. At predetermined intervals, the service will simply copy all of your computers’ files to their data storage facility, for your retrieval at any time. The big advantage of this is that you never have to worry about remembering to back up your data. As long as you connect to the internet, your data should be safe. The down side is that this is a subscription service, so it’s costlier than other data storage methods. Also, you don’t have your data physically with you, so you can’t be entirely sure where it’s ending up and even if the backup is complete. For those of you who are constantly forgetting to back up your files, though, this can be a great option.

Next time we’ll look at some more physical data storage options to thwart the BSoD.

Traffic Ticket Virus

Have you recently got what appears to be a traffic ticket over email? Don’t open it, or you could end up with a Blue Screen of Death.

Traffic Ticket Email Virus

The latest email hoax virus comes in the form of an email that claims to have a speeding ticket attached. It instructs you to download the attached file to fill out the ticket for the court, but in doing so you will be unwittingly downloading a virus.

Yahoo Mail Users Targeted

It seems to be Yahoo accounts that have been targeted, so if you use Yahoo mail and get such an email, delete it without opening it. The real tip-off is that the email comes from the New York police, so if you’re not from New York or you’ve never been to New York, you can be pretty sure that the ticket is not legit.

Protect Yourself

If you do accidentally download this or any other virus, be sure to run your anti virus software right away. You’ll also want to make sure that your anti virus software is up to date and is programmed to identify, block and quarantine the latest viruses that may be attacking your system.

BSoD Alerts

How will you know where the Blue Screen of Death will strike next? You can’t. Or can you? Hopefully, your computer won’t fall victim to the dreaded BSoD, or you’ll easily be able to figure out why if it does. But wouldn’t it be nice to get a heads up to potential Blue Screen of Death issues?

Email Alerts

Actually you can, and it’s quite easy. If you know how to use Google, you can have an early warning system for the BSoD. Just set your Google to create email alerts for you for the Blue Screen of Death. Whenever there’s relevant Blue Screen of Death info that’s caught by Google’s engine, they’ll send you an email. It might not all pertain to you, but you can bet that if there’s a new driver or piece of software that’s causing BSoDs, or if there’s a new patch out that you need to protect your operating system from Blue Screens, you’ll find out first.

BSoD Prevention

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Email alerts are a little thing you can do to get out in front of Blue Screen of Death issues and maybe stay BSoD free for a little while longer.