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Troubleshooting when reinstalling windows. problems with windows

"What does it cost us to build a house"? This is probably what many not too prudent users think when thinking about reinstalling the system. They believe that this is an easy and hassle-free business, therefore, with perseverance worthy of a better application, they step on the same rake over and over again. We assure you, competent installationWindows- the task is quite complicated and troublesome, therefore it must be solved either by employees service center or knowledgeable in IT-technology friends and colleagues. Moreover, even professionals sometimes make gross and unforgivable mistakes, but in order to preserve the “honor of the uniform”, customers are given a different version, in which the role of the main villain goes to (surprise, surprise!) Microsoft. Interested? Let's figure it out!

Installation from under the working system

Theoretically, this is indeed possible, and you will even be able to keep all stopped programs intact. Practice, however, is not so rosy, especially if the "parent" OS resembles a nuclear weapons test site. Numerous errors in the registry, traces of viruses, not completely remote programs, conflicting drivers, the ubiquitous Kaspersky antivirus (classic BSOD and klif.sys crash) ... All this mess comfortably moves to a new system and continues to annoy the user with a variety of problems.

Tip: install the OS only (!) on a pre-formatted hard disk partition!

Installing from a problematic distribution

If your installation disk is licensed, you can safely proceed to the next section. But if you "legally" downloaded Windows from one of the many trackers, get ready for surprises, and there are more than enough pitfalls here. It can be a "crooked" activator that replaces critical system files, incorrect system tweaks, missing drivers for major computer components, or protections that are disabled by default. As a result, you get a “clean” system that refuses to accept half of the usual application software and routinely issues a critical failure when trying to install an antivirus.

Tip: use only copies of the licensed disk or proven and reliable assemblies, and you will have to decide on the eligibility of such actions yourself.

Installing the wrong OS version

This often affects the owners of obsolete computers 10-15 years old, who sharply recall what is in the yard XXIcentury and it's time to try something new and modern, and not once again installWindows XP. Arguments that it is pointless to install the G8 on such ancient hardware do not work on them, as a result of which the initial download (if by some miracle the installation is completed successfully) lasts 5-10 minutes. However, sometimes the reverse situation also happens, when a gamer nostalgic for old games tries to “push” the same XP onto the latest computer with Intel haswell or even broadwell.

Good old XP just doesn't fit modern PCs anymore

Tip: the version of the system being installed and the hardware available should roughly match each other, and any excesses in this matter are fraught with big problems.

"Forgetfulness" when saving user settings

A very popular mistake. The owner of a computer, absorbed in thoughts about future dividends in the form of net and fast system, “forgets” that on drive C: he has a lot of Word documents left, part of his home photo archive and some very piquant pictures of the corresponding direction. And although everything system administrators urge users not to store work data on the system partition, usually no one listens to them. As a result, the user gets not only a clean system, but also a headache from the fact that the data will have to be restored somehow.

Tip: before installing the system, first copy all your data to another partition (or even better, an independent physical disk), and then make a backup copy of the system with Acronis or Paragon. Don't know what it is and how to enable visibility hidden files? Ask for help from a qualified friend or more knowledgeable colleagues, and let someone else stuff himself with the inevitable bumps!

Incorrect installation order of drivers and system software

A common and very common mistake, which Ilf and Petrov warned about at one time. Remember the catchphrase "money in the morning, chairs in the evening" uttered by fitter Mechnikov? So, it is most directly related to our today's topic. That is, you need to search for and prepare drivers not after installing the OS, but before! However, it is important to make sure that they are for the version of Windows that you intend to install. By the way, this is the main danger of a “software” upgrade, when new system refuses to recognize the sound controller or USB 3.0 hub (quite typical for many laptops).

If installed incorrectly, you can forget about 3.0 connectors

Tip: preparing drivers for all devices is the most important preparatory step when Windows installation. But you should not rely on the features integrated into the distribution, since they are designed only for the implementation of basic functions, and, to put it mildly, do not suffer from an excess of features.

Neglecting to install system software

If you think that the disk used by motherboard manufacturers to complete their products is a panacea for all diseases, then you are deeply mistaken. After all, for the correct operation of the majority modern games and application packages need at least three more components: DirectX, librariesMicrosoft Visual C++ and the client part of the platform.NET Framework. And they don't always come with motherboard or video card. You should also take care of the support of modern Internet technologies from Adobe (Flash, AIR and Shockwave).

Required products

Tip: do not put off installing additional software "for later." Nothing good will come of this, and the "saved" time will turn into serious problems in the very near future!

Refusal to install antivirus

Basic featuresWindows on protection against various Internet garbage are quite modest, and the thesis about the “uselessness” of antivirus is actually a harmful and very dangerous myth. Moreover, to justify one's own laziness by complexity or high price appropriate programs are not worth it. Firstly, the cost of most complex security solutions is very humane (about 1000 rubles). Secondly, even the available "free" versions of commercial programs (Avast, Avira, AVG) provide a sufficient level of counteraction to modern Internet threats. Thirdly, reputable vendors quite often hold various promotions, during which you can download an antivirus for free, for which they asked for money yesterday.

Tip: do not neglect the protection of your computer in the hope of the traditional Russian "maybe". And if you don’t believe me, take a walk through two or three sites “for adults”, and then spend a few hours on emergency disposal of the system from the next Winlock. Alas, but in modern conditions, a reliable antivirus is not a whim, but an urgent need!

Found problems with windows? Today we will tell you how to identify problems with the operating system and how to start the OS after the update.

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Using a personal computer for a long period of time, it is impossible to avoid any problems. Sometimes the equipment itself fails, in other cases, the reasons for incorrect operation are related to the operating system itself.

The most common Windows OS problems (Windows)

Activation errors.

In most cases, such a Windows malfunction occurs as a result of upgrading from the seventh or eighth version to the tenth. An incorrectly performed procedure leads to OS activation failures.

To get rid of a problem with Windows like this, first of all, you should open the start menu, where you select the “Settings” column, then click on the “Update and Security” item, and then proceed to direct activation. Here you also need to select the "Go to the store" field and see if a valid license is in the public domain. If it turns out that it is not available, then you need to purchase a new one in the Store.

Also, a similar error occurs if the computer does not have Internet access or the firewall settings do not allow the system to complete the activation process via the network.

Broken Chrome browser.

Problems with Windows caused by any malfunctions in the operation of this Internet browser also in most cases occur with the tenth version of the system. Among these failures are slow work, especially when performing fairly resource-intensive tasks, as well as watching videos. Some users managed to solve this problem by reinstalling Chrome.

Folder problem.

Many users note the appearance of such a problem with Windows as incorrect operation mail client. In the new operating system, the program does not allow you to create special subfolders to optimally organize your mail.

Unstable Wi-Fi.

If the problem with Windows that you had to face is caused by malfunctions wireless network, then the simplest action that you can try to troubleshoot is to restart the PC. But a greater effect can be achieved by disabling the wireless network sharing function, which is active in the system by default. In some cases, by disabling this option in wifi settings, it is possible to increase the stability of such a connection.

Windows problems caused by driver problems.

Usually, this problem observed on devices with Nvidia graphics cards, as well as multiple monitors.

To solve it, you need to roll back to old version drivers.

The operating system does not start.

The most common error is Disk Boot Failure, which occurs immediately after turning on the computer directly. In this case, instead of the usual system boot, a message about this failure appears.

Problems with Windows like this are due to the fact that the operating system cannot recognize the drive from which you tried to start. This can happen for a variety of reasons. For example, a drive was simply inserted into the device, and BIOS settings in turn, such that the disk or flash drive is used to start the system.

The problem when Windows does not boot for a long time

If a for a long time the system does not start, then it is imperative to disconnect from system block all third-party devices and only after that you can try to turn on the PC.

Also, among the problems that arise due to the BIOS, it is necessary to highlight its incorrect configuration, namely, an incorrectly set boot sequence. It is worth emphasizing that such failures can occur at any time, which means that you need to constantly monitor the battery charge on the motherboard in order to prevent such a problem with starting the system.

Can't install Windows 7! Inexperienced users often face such a problem and, in search of a solution, climb the Internet.

And rightly so, because our material will really help you get rid of a number of possible problems.

For ease of identifying the “culprit” of installation problems, we group these objects into several generalized categories:

installation image - OS installation files;
installation image media - CD, DVD or USB FLASH disk;
an image carrier reader;
BIOS of the computer on which the OS is installed;
computer hard drive;
computer hardware;
computer peripherals.

When an error occurs, you need to check the groups one by one, narrowing the search circle for the faulty category, the cause of the fault, and the way to solve the problem.

Currently, reinstalling the operating system is more often done with using USB FLASH than from DVD.

Such an installation requires the preparation of both the carrier and special settings computer BOIS.

Preparing a flash drive consists in deploying a bootable installation image on it. Programs are useful for this: UltraISO, WinSetupFromUSB, etc.

Often errors during installation from a flash drive are associated with incorrect deployment of the image.

Case 1: If you can't install Windows 7 from a flash drive

we check the performance of the flash drive - we connect it to a working computer, I try to copy-write several files. We check the disk with regular means (right-click - Properties - Tools - Run a check);
we try to boot the computer from a USB flash drive by inserting it into the rear connectors. Long wires stretch from the front USB connectors, in which interference can occur that distort the data read from the media.
A typical symptom of the problem is that the installation is interrupted by an error at an unpredictable point during the process.
check if . By connecting the USB flash drive to the computer, we enter the interface. Its name should appear among others hard drives.
If this does not happen, then you need to use another flash drive. The flash drive is detected normally, then we try to prepare it with other programs, use other installation images.

Case 2. If you can't install windows 7 via BIOS

In this case, we act in the same sequence as in case of problems with a flash drive: is the media in good condition, is the reader working correctly, is the image deployed on the media operable.

If the problem is related to the fact that you cannot get into the BIOS settings window, then we try to set the boot device when you turn on the computer using the function keys.

As a rule, the "Select boot device" function is activated with the F8, F11, F12 or ESC button, through the selection menu.

It is important not to miss the moment and press the button immediately after turning on the computer.

This feature can also be used to check if the USB stick is detected by the system.

Case 3. If windows 7 cannot be installed - driver not found

Probable Cause - Unsupported standard means hard drive or media. The problem became especially urgent with the spread of USB 3.0.

The Windows 7 distribution does not support USB 3.0 by default.

Therefore, you need to stock up on drivers or use a non-original image for installation, in which these are already present.

You can find and download a suitable image at the request of "Windows 7 USB 3.0". When this error is detected, the system provides the opportunity to install the necessary drivers.

Important! If at the same time the installation was carried out from a flash drive, then you need to rearrange the flash drive from the USB 3.0 connector (blue core) to USB 2.0 (black core) or disable it through the BIOS interface USB support 3.0.

If the flash drive from which the operating system is being installed is in USB 3.0 format, then you need to disable the USB XHCI Controller option in the BIOS, and enable AHCI mode for hard drives.

Another reason for the missing driver error is an outdated BIOS version.

Updating the BIOS program helps to overcome the problem. The problem is that the outdated BIOS does not contain instructions for working with large media.

This means that you need an abbreviated (stripped down) installation image and media with a small amount of memory.

There have been cases where a driver search error has been associated with a minor mechanical damage optical media - DVD disc.

The problem is solved by writing the installation image to a working media.

A drive with a dead laser does not read all discs and may make a read error in a critical block of setup data.

After updating the computer hardware, sometimes the installation of the system fails due to insufficient power supply.

The problem manifests itself in a spontaneous reboot of the system during installation or a long irreversible freeze.

The widely and infamous blue screen of death will invariably occur when trying to install windows if random access memory computer has damaged cells.

The only way to fix the problem is to replace the failed RAM module.

Peripheral devices attached to the computer can affect installation in unexpected ways.

Therefore, before starting the installation, you need to disconnect everything except the mouse and keyboard.

Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive to a computer and laptop

Can't install windows 7: how to solve basic errors

The computer is prone to various "sores". A mild ailment (for example, a driver failure) is usually treated on its own or with the support of an advanced user. Chronic "diseases" (total slowdown) are usually expelled by reinstalling Windows, although in many cases it is enough to delve into IT articles to solve them. But there are also acute "diseases" when you can not do without clean install operating system.

Reason 1: Computer upgrade

Windows installs and adjusts itself to a certain hardware. With a modest addition of RAM, a change in processor or video card, the built-in mechanisms of the OS will reconfigure Windows on their own. But with a deeper upgrade (change of platform, motherboard, several components at once), the operating system most often does not want to boot even in safe mode.

A direct analogy is a person who somehow woke up in a completely unfamiliar place. So is Windows, which "woke up" in an unknown environment. Will only help installation disk- and some sleight of hand so as not to lose old data, settings and files.

Reason 2: Switching to a different OS version

It is for another, and not just for a more recent one. The newfangled “ten” is not suitable for everyone, especially the categorically unusual “eight”. Formally operational Microsoft systems ever since Vista, they support updating on top of themselves, but not in the case of a rollback to the old version. Yes, and there is a high probability of getting its glitches with slowdowns from the old OS. Experienced users are convinced - a new version must be really new, without problems at the hereditary level. And this is only possible when installing Windows from scratch.

Reason 3: Something rare, unknown, or extremely harmful

The volume of Windows program code has been measured in gigabytes for several generations. Developers try to debug as much as possible; many problems are solved by the collective mind of billions of users all over the planet. But inevitable and rare oddities that are not amenable to any treatment. The author of this article has encountered such unrecognized Windows objects as:

complete failure of the OS to install any drivers. In that case, it reached the endless inscription "Wait, the driver is being installed" when connecting even a banal flash drive or mouse. Everything else worked perfectly, but there was little joy from this.
malware attack. The standard situation: the antivirus works, heals the infection area on its own, asks for a reboot ... and that's it. Neither connecting the hard drive to another PC, nor trying to treat it with LiveCD utilities, nor dozens of attempts to revive the suddenly dead Windows helped.

In such particularly severe cases, urgent computer help may be needed if you yourself cannot cope with the problem.

But more often than not, you don't need to reinstall Windows.
No matter how hard Microsoft programmers try to facilitate and speed up the installation of the OS, this is a troublesome and costly process. You have to re-install your favorite collection of applications, unzip files from a backup, and re-configure your familiar environment with an interface. Therefore, if you can do without reinstalling the OS, then it is better to devote your free time to deleting unnecessary items from the "Startup", delving into problematic registry keys, uninstalling unnecessary software garbage. Winda will certainly respond to such devotion by speeding up work - after all, an old friend is really better than new installations!

And when you can’t do without reinstallation - well, there is always room for change in life; the main thing is a regular backup and an installation disk at hand.

Many users, when serious failures appear in Windows XP, prefer "amputation": formatting the disk and complete reinstallation OS. However, such a simple and radical surgical method is not suitable if many important programs are installed and configured in the system, the reinstallation of which is impossible or too expensive. In this case, a deep Windows diagnostic is required.

Each type of Windows XP failure has its own cause, and therefore, although quite unambiguous recipes for getting rid of the most common problems are known, it is impossible to develop some kind of universal method of “treatment” to eliminate most of the “glitches”. The configuration of each operating system, software, drivers and hardware is unique, and most often it is possible to find out the cause of a problem only by carefully dissecting the hardware and software insides of a particular computer. If the failure does not accompany the OS right from the moment it was installed, but appeared at some specific moment (after installing the next program or driver, changes Windows settings, power failure), then getting rid of it is easy, just remove the problematic application, or restore the registry or even all the contents hard drive from a backup. Not only the standard System Restore will help in this, but also more interesting programs eg Norton Ghost , Ashampoo Uninstaller , WinRescue XP . Of course, this is possible if the user did not disdain prevention and regularly used such programs, which is not at all difficult, by the way. For example, a full backup of a 10 GB NTFS system partition in Norton Ghost takes only 10 minutes (it is unreasonable to allocate the entire disk space to the OS).

If there is no way to restore the system " little blood”, or completely reinstall it, you will have to independently look for the cause of the failure. To achieve success in such an ungrateful and tedious business, it is recommended to follow this technology:

preliminary stage

Before starting diagnostics, make a backup copy of the registry, configuration files, or the entire system, so as not to get even bigger problems as a result of experiments. Be sure to remember all your further actions so that in case of problems they can be easily undone.
Delete all temporary files, clear the browser cache, Trash, History, clear the Program Files\ folder Internet Explorer\ Plugins with IE plugins (to restore them, do backups). Clear the folders from which MS-Office scripts are auto-started (such as Documents and Settings\ USER\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Excel\ Xlstart, Documents and Settings\ USER\ Application Data\ Microsoft\ Word\ Startup), delete the normal.dot template, used by MS Office. Clear the folders Windows\ Downloaded Program Files, Documents and Settings\ USER\ NetHood, Documents and Settings\ USER\ PrintHood, Documents and Settings\ USER\ Recent. Delete the autorun.inf files from all local drives.
Check the system with several fresh antiviruses and the Ad-Aware program, scan the hard drive with utilities like ScanDisk, Norton DiskDoctor (with the mandatory inclusion of write testing). Check system files using the System File Checker utility (SFC /SCANNOW command) and repair corrupted libraries from a Windows distribution or Service Pack.
Update the system: in addition to the latest service pack (if already installed, reinstall) install all the latest "patches" on the Windows Update site (windowsupdate.microsoft.com, just keep in mind that some patches themselves can be a source of problems). Update (reinstall) Internet Explorer and the Microsoft JAVA Virtual Machine. Update DirectX using the redist distribution for this (the volume is about 25-30 megabytes, and the file name contains the word "REDIST": DX90b_Redist.exe). Sometimes it turns out to be useful to first remove Internet Explorer or DirectX, and then reinstall it - you can use the XPLite utility for this.

Finding a turnkey solution

Carefully study the documentation for the failed program or expansion board, perhaps there are some special instructions in it. Also visit the website of the developer of the failed program or device - perhaps the manufacturer's technical support service knows about the problem and offers to download some kind of patch.
If the failure is accompanied by error messages (for example, STOP errors on a blue screen), then write down their exact contents and go to the Microsoft support site. Based on the error message, it is necessary to formulate a request for search engine(for maximum search efficiency, try to formulate a query with several different ways). Find solution in Microsoft database - the most fast way troubleshooting. If there is no information about your failure in the Microsoft database, then run a specialized Internet search utility, such as Copernic or Search Plus, and also try to search the Web and UseNet technical conferences for materials on similar problems. Or use Russian and foreign search engines such as Yandex, Yahoo or Google.
Please note that if your system has the automatic reboot on failure, the message " blue screen death" will not be displayed. Therefore, in the Control Panel - System - Startup and Recovery - Settings menu, clear the Automatically restart flag in advance.
For more information about the failure that has occurred, also refer to system log errors - Event Log (Computer Management - Event Viewer, "Computer Management" - "Event Viewer"). Documentation for most Event IDs is available at the Microsoft Events and Errors Message Center and www.eventid.net. Something can be squeezed out of the Dr.Watson system debugger, which can be called from the System Information program window.
Enable error reporting to Microsoft in Windows XP: Control Panel → System → Advanced → Error reporting → Enable Error Reporting (Control Panel → System → Advanced → Error Reporting → Enable Error Reporting). You will laugh, but there have been cases when, after sending information to the developers about the crash, the user received a response with a specific solution to the problem.
Check out Windows nationwide troubleshooting sites such as www.techadvice.com , www.jsiinc.com/reghack.htm , www.mdgx.com , www.aumha.org , labmice.techtarget.com/troubleshooting/generalguides .htm - they will provide links to articles on troubleshooting many common crashes.
Attend popular web and UseNet conferences dedicated to operating systems, software and computer equipment. After describing the failure of your system in great detail (and not forgetting to indicate its version!), Specifying the exact content of the error message and describing the configuration of your system, try asking other users for help - perhaps someone has already encountered a similar problem and knows its solution, or may suggest the direction of further searches.

Checking the settings

In the Control Panel, check all system and hardware settings - set all parameters to the "Default" position. In particular, remove the swap file size limits, check if there is enough disk space, and temporarily set the environment variables to a shorter path to the TEMP folder (for example, C:\TEMP). Even in the keyboard settings, set the default English language. Also check all settings in the options of the applications used.
Restore the settings in the registry and in the configuration files user.ini, system.ini made using the tweaker utilities to their original state. Check the settings in autoexec.nt, config.nt, _default.pif files. Run a search in the registry for the word "Policies" and delete all settings in the sections found (except for the PowerCfg sections responsible for power policies, as well as the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Internet Settings\ TemplatePolicies section, which contains IE security policy templates) - perhaps the failure is just a consequence of the restriction of user rights. Carefully check the current security policy settings in the Editor group policies Group Policy Editor (GPEDIT.MSC).
Return to the original - Default - the state of the setting in the BIOS, experiment with different options CMOS Setup, for example, turn off DMA mode for disks, change memory timings, turn off all integrated devices, turn on the “hole” in the 15 MB memory area. Disable everything related to power management in CMOS Setup, including ACPI. Or vice versa - enable all these options if they are disabled. Experiment with PnP OS Installed and USB Legacy Support in the same way. Update the BIOS. And give up overclocking: overclocking is the main enemy of Windows XP!

System and programs

Run the msconfig.exe utility and disable all startup programs. Try experimenting with the Selective Startup mode as well - perhaps an incorrect entry lurks in system.ini or win.ini, another rudimentary configuration file. Using msconfig, it is also convenient to check system services, for example, by comparing the list running services with another PC that does not experience such a failure. good description See www.blackviper.com for information on setting up Windows XP services for their initial and recommended status on different versions of Windows. Try disabling unnecessary services, such as WEB Client, and also check service dependencies using the Services snap-in.
Try to remember what actions caused the failure. Uninstall a few programs and drivers that were installed most recently - one of them may be causing a system crash or conflicting with other programs and hardware, causing them to crash. Uninstall any programs that were created more than two years ago and haven't been updated since. Remove antiviruses and other software that closely integrates with the system. Be sure to use a specialized uninstaller such as Ashampoo Uninstaller, both when installing and removing programs - this is the only way to completely clean the system of all traces of the program or driver being removed! In addition, the analysis of the uninstaller log allows you to find out which files on the disk and which parameters in the registry were changed during the installation of the program - often, to fix a failure, it is enough to change an incorrectly changed parameter in the registry. When reinstalling programs and drivers, try not only the latest version (note that patch updates are regularly released for some programs), but also an older one - often it turns out to be more stable. Try reinstalling the failed application to a different directory with a shorter name.
For outdated programs try setting the special compatibility mode. To do this, create a shortcut to the program, enter its properties and on the tab "Compatibility" (Compatibility) in the item "Run the program in compatibility mode" (Run in emulation mode) select the compatibility mode with another type of Windows. Also, make use of the Application Compatibility Toolkit, which is designed to greatly expand the capabilities and manual setting this mode.
Try running the offending application under an administrator account. If the program works only under it, then under the Administrator account, find the section with settings in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE registry branch desired program and right click on it. Select "Permissions" from the menu that appears and set full access to this registry key for the user or group of users who are allowed to work with it. Also find the section corresponding to the failed program in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER branch and export it to a REG file. Log in now as ordinary user and import this .reg file back into the registry. Sometimes you can get rid of such a failure if you delete your account(and the entire user profile) and then re-create it.
Try to find and fix registry errors with a program like Norton WinDoctor. Found errors should be corrected only in manual mode analyzing each of them. To do this, you need to try to find out which program or system setting the erroneous entry in the registry belongs to by looking in RegEdit for the branch that WinDoctor signals - it is easy to install the application that generated the error by file names, parameters or prescribed paths. Try to use other diagnostic utilities, such as the DirectX Diagnostic Tool from Windows, it will check DirectX files, drivers, settings of some devices. Some simple failures are eliminated by the Tweak UI program, for this it provides a “Repair” tab.
Some Windows XP issues are resolved by restoring the main boot record hard disk (MBR) with the “fdisk /mbr” command after starting the PC from a Windows 98 floppy disk (this is necessary for subsequent overwriting of the disk identifier), or using the “fixboot” and “fixmbr” recovery console commands. Boot the PC from a Windows 98/Me floppy disk with NTFS support (to do this, use the program NTFS for DOS Pro) or the ERD Commander disk and delete the PAGEFILE.SYS file. ERD Commander is, generally speaking, an excellent program, which is a kind of LiveCD for Windows XP. It allows you to fix many problems and access OS settings, even if Windows itself does not boot into failsafe mode. Check for errors in boot.ini and the current file and folder permissions: the user group "System" and "Administrators" must have full rights root directory access system disk and to file virtual memory PAGEFILE.SYS.
Monitor various system events, queries, and registry accesses at the time of the failure using special programs monitoring. Analyzing calls to the registry, you can, for example, determine which parameters from the registry are requested by the program immediately at the time of the failure - perhaps some of them are missing or have an incorrect value. And with the help of file access analysis, it is easy to understand which files contain the settings of a failed program, and which files it needs are missing. Utilities from SysInternals will help with this: Registry Monitor - analysis of registry accesses, File Monitor - monitoring of file accesses, DllView - information about libraries used by current processes, OpenList - information about all open files, PortMon - access to ports, TCPView - information about TCP connections. Display information about all running programs the TaskInfo program is the best. It will also show how much CPU resources each application consumes. And to find out the cause of the congestion that occurs during boot, you can use the well-known diagnostic utility BootVis (however, Microsoft no longer distributes it, so use the search). Also check the system with a comprehensive diagnostic and information package SiSoft Sandra or AIDA32.
Remove unnecessary fonts, disable all performance counters, make sure that there are no folders and files on the disk with very long names or extensions (220 characters or more), do not use very long parameters in programs command line(220 characters or more).

Equipment

Update all drivers for all devices (or uninstall and reinstall the drivers for the problematic device, as well as the driver for the device it is connected to), especially the chipset drivers: Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility and Intel Application Accelerator or VIA-4-in-1 ( plus other drivers and patches from VIA such as VIA IRQ Routing Miniport Driver, VIA IDE Miniport driver and others, depending on system configuration). Check for special patches and updates on the websites of equipment manufacturers, and most importantly - the motherboard.
Check the health of the equipment, the correct setting of jumpers on it, test it using utilities such as Memory Test, CPU Stability Test and the like. Check everything, right down to the battery, the voltage of the power supply and the quality of the motherboard mounting - there should not be any spontaneous short circuits or unreliable contacts anywhere!
Temporarily replace all memory modules - this is the device that fails most often. If this is not possible, then try to limit its size, for example, to the first 64 megabytes. In Windows XP, it is convenient to use the MSCONFIG.EXE utility for this: the MAXMEM parameter in the boot.ini file. Try more powerful block power supply, oddly enough, the lack of power is very often the cause of Windows crashes.
Check the temperature and performance of the cooling devices of all system components, even the chipset (you can even install a special fan on the chipset heatsink). Ground the PC, install a surge protector or an uninterruptible power supply. Check the quality of the telephone cable, network cable, electrical wiring.
Delete everything additional devices from a PC (except for the hard drive and video card, although sometimes replacing the video card helps), even the internal tweeter speaker, after which, in failsafe mode, using the "System Properties" dialog, remove their drivers and look - did the crash go away? If it disappeared, then install the devices back in turn, each time repeating the procedure, which usually leads to an error message - perhaps there is some kind of hardware conflict and in this way you will either identify its source, or the system will redistribute resources and eliminate it itself .
Install the problematic device in another PCI slot, in the system properties and the System Information utility (Program Files\ Common Files\ Microsoft Shared\ MSInfo\ msinfo32.exe) check for conflicts. The SiSoftware Sandra program is very good for getting information about the system. If ACPI is disabled, try manually remapping conflicting interrupts (or other resources such as DMA channels or I/O ranges). Try replacing the problem device with exactly the same one, or with a device of a different brand - perhaps the defective copy is simply to blame or changing the manufacturer of the expansion board will eliminate the conflict. For drives, try a different cable, instead of an 80-wire cable, try a 40-wire cable and vice versa, check that the Master / Slave jumpers are set correctly, move the disk to another cable, set it to auto-detect mode in CMOS Setup, or set its parameters explicitly, or set it to "NONE". Do not connect other devices to the same cable with the problem disk.
Take a look at the properties of the problematic device - perhaps there are settings there, the use of which will fix the failure, for example, disable or enable DMA mode for the disk. If the computer does not boot, then try to access these menus from the Safe Mode.
In case of problems with drivers, boot your PC in failsafe mode, delete the problematic device in the Device Manager (as well as all printers and devices that do not exist in reality, even joysticks) and after loading the OS in normal mode, install the latest driver. However, sometimes more old driver turns out to be more stable, try different versions. Note that instead of rebooting, turning off the PC completely and then turning it back on after a few minutes of no power is sometimes helpful in eliminating the failure. If the failure has something to do with the network, then in the Network properties, delete all network components and, after rebooting, install everything you need again. Remove all printers if there are problems with them, and also reinstall their drivers after the reboot. Remove all drivers not certified for Windows XP, verify signatures system files the File Signature Verification utility, called from the System Information program window, will help. If the driver was installed unsuccessfully, then either use the Last Known Good Configuration (called in the Windows boot menu), or in the system properties, roll back to the previous version of the driver.

Things are bad

Reinstall Windows over a previous installation, all files will be restored to their original versions, but the main settings in the registry are preserved, so if the failure is due to incorrect registry settings, then such a reinstallation may not fix anything. In some cases, just before installation, you can remove all hardware from the fail-safe mode in the System Properties dialog so that Windows reinstalls all drivers. Try also different disks with the OS distribution kit - the original disk may be damaged.
After completely erasing the Windows, Program Files, System Volume Information and Recycler folders (or repartitioning and formatting the disk), install Windows "naked". Windows 2000 or Windows 98 may be more efficient. Sometimes you need to format a drive special utility from the manufacturer of the hard drive to completely reset it. In some cases, for example, after incorrect operation of programs such as Partition Magic, to fix the failure, it is necessary to partition the disk again using the standard Fdisk.