I saw my first BSoD

[TheKosanianMethod]

I use a 4-year-old laptop. I just closed KSP. I proceeded to check my email. I walked away, and it started to rain and thunder. So, being the smart laptop user, I unplugged the computer so any power surges wouldn't screw anything up. I came back about an hour later,  and the screen was all black, but the power light was on, and the ring of light around the mousepad was still lit, so the computer was still on. I figured that the battery was low, so I plugged the cord back in. Nothing. I restarted the computer. About a minute later, it happened - the Blue Screen of Death. I thought, "Oh s#!t, my computer is screwed!" Then I did what any person would do - turn it off and on. I rebooted fine. I'm going to have it checked by the people at Best Buy. But that was the first BSoD I'd ever seen in person. I'd had the laptop for four years. I'd used computers in the labs at school, and even though they were state-of-the-art at the time, they were still Windows XP and 98. I have an old HP Windows 95 in the basement that still runs - never seen it bluescreen. But somehow my laptop running Windows 7 did.

 

Questions: When did you see your first BSoD?

[0111narwhalz]

I'm not sure, but probably when my desktop started acting up. Around...six years ago? I was using a Dell machine at the time, probably with XP or something. There was a lot of problems leading up to that, however. Mostly involved with leaving it outside while renovations took place in my room, probably.
Lately, my desktop has been plagued with various errors every time it boots back up after a power failure. It seems to run through every error it knows how to throw before finally calming down and running. If you shut it down on its own terms, however, it seems to be fine. That one suggests a mainboard issue.

Also, I don't know how I did it, but I bluescreened an iPad.  Yes, that's right, an Apple device. It was running iOS, as is proper, but it definitely crashed and the screen definitely turned blue.

[SinBad]

1994, windows for work groups 3.11 on a 486dx66. Was playing wing commander when it all came crashing down.

[Tex Mechs Robot]

I wouldn't even bother getting it checked unless the BSoD is recurring.

[LordFerret]

3 hours ago, SinBad said:

1994, windows for work groups 3.11 on a 486dx66. Was playing wing commander when it all came crashing down.

I was going to say about that time, maybe a little earlier, I think about the time NT came out. As I recall BSODs back then were more related to driver issues than anything else. While Win's BSOD was far more informative than a DOS halt/crash, the data supplied meant absolutely nothing to 99.99999% of the population which viewed it... and at that, apparently, to equally as many at Microsoft itself.

[PB666]

4 minutes ago, LordFerret said:

I was going to say about that time, maybe a little earlier, I think about the time NT came out. As I recall BSODs back then were more related to driver issues than anything else. While Win's BSOD was far more informative than a DOS halt/crash, the data supplied meant absolutely nothing to 99.99999% of the population which viewed it... and at that, apparently, to equally as many at Microsoft itself.

The old core dump. True blue was NT4. 

[LordFerret]

According to Wiki (and other history sources) it was NT3.1, which is why I said I thought it was a little earlier.

A lot of memories go with that one. The desire for a new mnemonic 'HCF' (halt/catch fire), and trials and tribulations of corporate life and PC's freezing and secretaries in high-heels strutting across carpeting while wearing cotton panties beneath silk stockings... can you say 'delicate diplomacy troubleshooting methods'?

[Matuchkin]

I had at least a few hundred BSoDs with this computer. They did not affect anything, and my stuff is still fine.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Matuchkin

[KerbalOmmex]

The first BSOD I saw was in 2013. My dad's 2 year old laptop suffered from overheating. Then my 6 year old one had 2-3 BSODs a few months ago. I'm surprised my dad's one conked off before mine.

Also the BSOD of Windows 1.0 was something that no-one could understand.

[Fluburtur]

On my old computer I got a BSOD while playing portal 2 in coop, then I got 4 in the following years. The latest one streaming ksp in fact.

It must have been the ram, I have a new computer and no problem so far.

[p1t1o]

I havent seen a BSOD for aaaaaages. My computer likes to crash by freezing and emitting terrifying, ear-piercing machine-shrieks now. So thats nice.

 

[Camacha]

On 24/05/2016 at 9:51 PM, TheKosanianMethod said:

About a minute later, it happened - the Blue Screen of Death. I thought, "Oh s#!t, my computer is screwed!" Then I did what any person would do - turn it off and on. I rebooted fine. I'm going to have it checked by the people at Best Buy. But that was the first BSoD I'd ever seen in person.

Well, one swallow does not make a summer. Do not go overboard right away, as you might very well be throwing money away. The important bit is what the blue screen said and whether it is recurrent.

[pxi]

In my day we had the Guru Meditation.

[razark]

On 5/24/2016 at 2:51 PM, TheKosanianMethod said:

When did you see your first BSoD?

Early '90s?  When was the BSOD invented?

The last time was a few years ago when I tracked it down to overheating.  Moving the computer out from under the desk was enough to resolve it.

[awfulhumanbeing]

0 BSoDs, but thousands of kernel panics. Great.

Also, I had the infamous Ring of Death on my Xbox and somewhy it works. Really.

[TheKosanianMethod]

On 5/25/2016 at 6:17 PM, Camacha said:

Well, one swallow does not make a summer. Do not go overboard right away, as you might very well be throwing money away. The important bit is what the blue screen said and whether it is recurrent.

I haven't seen another bluescreen since that one, and my computer is fine for now...

[Slam_Jones]

Can't say for certain when I saw my first one, but my older brothers have been quite skilled at messing up computers for the past 27 years, so I'm quite familiar with em at this point

[Columbia]

Not really sure, I've encountered numerous BSODs in the past but I recently saw one that scared the crap out of me.

I mean, your computer freezes and if you're playing speakers, they whine with repeating the ssound thst you're playing -- and trust me, it sounds damn horrifying.

The screens shut down for a moment.. and you see it. The blue screen.

I mean, Jesus, it's much scarier than say, the PS3's yellow light of death or the Mac beachball.

[SelectHalfling0]

My 3 year old laptop has bsod'd twice, no issues afterward. I guess they aren't as bad as they are thought to be.

[Randox]

The last ones I remember were while installing Windows 10. I suspect it was drivers that were the issue. Bad things happen if you let Windows reach an accumulated run time of probably around 2.5 years, and you are using a clone of a a hard drive that was suffering physical failure (this wasn't me being a dunce, this was me having no way to reinstall an OEM version of Windows on a new hard drive).

 

Someday, god willing, I'll have enough sense and disposable income to buy extra disks and run a RAID 1 setup so that I don't have to put up with that again. In the meantime, at least now know that if Windows starts loosing the hibersys file again, it's not a quirk, it's a sign of a very serious problem.