Windows 7 Blue Screen of Death -- BSOD Minidump Files and How to Analyze It

My brand spanking new Dell laptop gave me a blue screen of death the other day with the usual jibberish that disappears within seconds.

At the very least, you would think Microsoft has changed this known color of death.  Looks like they kept the tradition even in Windows 7.  The first blue screen of death started with the first version of Windows and yes, OS/2.  (If you're reading this and you actually know what OS/2 is, I'm impressed.)

Using my trusty Googling skills, I found two solutions to help me debug these funky symbols on the screen.

The first solution is downloading Debugging Tools for Windows. Debugging Tools for Windows includes the following debuggers: WinDbg, A user-mode and kernel-mode debugger with a graphical interface. KD.exe, a kernel-mode debugger with a console interface. Cdb.exe, a user-mode debugger with a console interface. Ntsd.exe, a user-mode debugger with a console interface. Lots of command line options and manual tasks.

The second (preferred and easy) solution is downloading a freeware utility called BlueScreenView. It scans all your minidump files created during 'blue screen of death' crashes, and displays the information about all crashes in one table. For each crash, BlueScreenView displays the minidump filename, the date/time of the crash, the basic crash information displayed in the blue screen (Bug Check Code and 4 parameters), and the details of the driver or module that possibly caused the crash (filename, product name, file description, and file version).

While I'm still searching through what exactly I need to fix and what drivers caused the crash, I would recommend BlueScreeView to anyone that's going through the same experience.  Makes life a lot easier.

Windows 7 upgrade for less than $30!

Windows 7, Microsoft's new operating system, is available for sale for individuals that have a valid U.S. college e-mail address. This heavily discounted offer was designed for students.

Available online for download is either the Home Premium or the Professional version, 32-bit or 64-bit for $29.99. These programs if sold at retail will cost $119 for the Home Premium and $189 for the Professional.

I chose the Home Premium version and the download size is approx 2GB! For more information, you can access https://windows7.digitalriver.com.

Why would I choose to upgrade?

After eight long years, Microsoft has finally launched an operating system that actually has performed well in benchmark tests and is really really fast.

The hardware incompatibilities and the steep requirements of installing the previous operating system, Windows Vista, created an uproar among Windows users. Despite having gigs of RAM and duo-core processors, Windows Vista made your PC experience seem like you were running a Windows ME operating system on a 486 processor (yeah, you geeks out there now what I'm talking about).

I disliked the operating so much, I personally chose to run Windows XP on my PCs and netbook. I only have one laptop that has Windows Vista and it wasn't downgraded mainly because of some specialized programs that I wouldn't be able to utilize in an XP environment.

If you have Windows Vista right now and you are in that painful environment of having to wait for long boots or for your windows to actually render the graphics properly, it's time to upgrade to Windows 7...and if you are lucky, you could do it for less than $30.00.