My laptop keeps giving me a blue screen"memory dump", help?

[ilikesneezes2000]

Hey guys, my laptop keeps crashing on me. I keep getting a blue screen and it says it's doing a "memory dump". This is really freaking me out because I haven't downloaded anything weird or done anything wrong with it (I've only had it since May! =/)

I did a Google search but I couldn't really find a good answer, I think it'd be better if I got some first-hand responses.

Has anyone delt with this? I REALLY need help, I don't wanna spend another $1300 to get another laptop, not to mention lose all the stuff I have saved on it.

[Jorm]

If you've only had the computer since May it's probably still under warranty and if worse comes to worst and you need a new computer shouldn't have to fork out another $1300 for it. What kind of computer and operating system are you using? It sounds like you're probably experiencing and physical memory dump error (aka the blue screen of death) which likely has to do with corrupted files and/or the windows registry that contains all the information needed to run the software and drivers on your computer. If that's the case you need to do a clean up of registry errors either by taking the computer to a professional or with clean up software at home.

Does the error show up when you're doing anything specific? Or is it random? If it always occurs when you're running the same program that could be a good place to start and finding out what file or files are the problem.

[Blah!?]

If you really don't know what happened to your computer, it's still possible that you have a virus or fifty floating around in there. Those can sneak up on you sometimes, and a lot of people never notice until it's too late. Even if you really don't think you've done anything that could cause your computer to get a virus, there's always a chance you didn't notice one.

There's an excellent, not to mention free anti-malware program that I use called Malwarebites. Most antivirus software really isn't that good, and the most many of them will be able to do is tell you you have a thousand viruses without actually being able to remove any of them. However, I've found Malwarebites to be significantly more effective, which is to say it actually works. You can download a free version from their website.

http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Install it and run a scan. Chances are it will find something if you do in fact have a virus.

If you don't, it could be corrupted data or a hardware issue. In those cases, there's not much I can really do to help, so you may want to seek out someone you know in person who has computer experience.

[ilikesneezes2000]

Thanks for the reply. It just started happening randomly last friday, it would shut off a couple of times when I restarted and then come back on and it'd be somewhat ok.

But now it's not even letting me log on. I'd send it in, but I'm afraid everything on my hard drive will be lost, and I've got a lot of stuff on my harddrive that can't be found anymore

[Blah!?]

Can you boot it up in safe mode? You might have to do that for now.

And if it's really so new, this is probably a hardware issue. Bad factory install or something like that. It's gotta still be under warranty.

[Jorm]

Thanks for the reply. It just started happening randomly last friday, it would shut off a couple of times when I restarted and then come back on and it'd be somewhat ok.

But now it's not even letting me log on. I'd send it in, but I'm afraid everything on my hard drive will be lost, and I've got a lot of stuff on my harddrive that can't be found anymore

Well, if you don't send it in and it won't even let you log on chances are you won't be able to recover anything yourself I'm afraid. I recently learned the very important lesson of always backing up your data before you don't have the ability to anymore. So believe me, I sympathize. I would getting in touch with wherever you purchased the computer and seeing what they say about the chances of recovering your files. And Blah-San is right that a virus scan is a good idea. Viruses are indeed sneaky little bastards that can get in much more easily than you might think.

[Lynne]

Lemme guess, you're running Vista? Happens on the odd occasion to my laptop for no apparent reason.

[Blah!?]

Lemme guess, you're running Vista? Happens on the odd occasion to my laptop for no apparent reason.

xD

Yes, that could be it too. But, this sounds like it could be new enough to have 7, which doesn't have anywhere near as many problems as Vista did.

[haeeshoo]

Can you boot it up in safe mode? You might have to do that for now.

First of all check for viruses, if that doesn't find any problems, boot in safe mode.

If the problem never happens in safe mode you most likely have a software problem (like a buggy driver - try to disable hardware one by one until you identify the problematic hardware device,

then look for an updated driver on the manufacturer's website).

If it keeps happening in safe mode, you most likely have a hardware problem (typically bad RAM chips or something that overheats - maybe a broken fan?

or maybe you put your laptop on some underground that blocks the warmth from escaping the case).

This is not a fool-proof diagnostic method, but I think it accounts for the majority of blue screen of death problems.

[RoyalFlush]

AHHHHHHHH - OMG...this has been happening to me. It started ike last weel. It cut off so badly that it killed some of my stories...GAHHH

I found that it only happend when I tried to open the computer back up after going into hibernation. (Shut the lid)

I'm an avide virus hunting freak...I won't let a thing touch my computer. I've used Malwarebytes...and I'm thinking of using Combofix...but maybe not.

Anyway, I've actively had Norton on my computer for like...8 months...so I'm pretty confident a virus is not the problem..I'm being to think its an actually physical harware issue.

I think my motherboard might have a busted fuse or something, I don't know...I'm a bit of a tech freak but no to the extent which allows me to be useful.

Anyway, I have an few external hardrives sitting around, that I peridocially dump all my memory onto, just in case my computers go down...I've had several go down on my in the last few years...and well... now I have like...3 different hardrives. LOL...a cupple of terabytes here and there. LOL

Anyway, the best thing to do is to get your memory off of it, and then take it somewhere to get it fixed. That's what I'm gonna do. Memory is the most important thing though. (I actually might get a new laptop...this one is getting on my nerves.)

[The Dude]

I was having the same problem on my laptop. Then I switched to Google Chrome, and it pretty much disappeared. *finds closest wooden object to knock on* So it might be worth a try.

Granted, Google Chrome sucks on so many other levels, but at least faulty code is not one of them.