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I recently started getting BSODs on my windows 8 loaded pc. I thought this may be due to a hardware issue, so I replaced everything except the HDD and wireless card.

I kept having issues, it now blue screens during every start and won't load. A fresh installation of windows 8 installs then lasts about 2 minutes before it degenerates into this as well.

So, as I've replaced the memory sticks, I feel like this would be unlikely to be the case, so is it possible that the HDD could be the issue, it is quite old, or could it just be driver related to windows 8, even when I haven't installed any secondary applications or drivers yet?

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    What diagnostics (eg. memtest) have you run?
    – Richard
    Jan 17, 2013 at 0:57
  • Do you have the STOP error messages as they would possibly provide more detail as to the potential origin. If you start it in Safe Mode does it start up properly and remain stable? Try disabling/removing the wireless card and see if it will start up without issue. As per Richard's suggestion have you run memtest or other diagnostics (hard disk diagnostic etc) and confirmed that the RAM is fully compatible with your mainboard - I had BSOD's with 2 sticks that weren't quite compatible with my mainboard.
    – Enigman
    Jan 17, 2013 at 1:53
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    safe mode or boot the comp with a linux live cd, if its stable then its not a physical hw problem, but probably a win driver: livecdlist.com
    – Logman
    Jan 17, 2013 at 3:18
  • You shouldn't even try to install an OS on a machine until you verify that a minimal hardware set (CPU, motherboard, power supply, RAM, boot device, and video card if needed) runs reliably.
    – David Schwartz
    Jul 29, 2014 at 21:48

2 Answers 2

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More inromation would be useful. But you mentioned that you left you haven't changed your wireless card. Well, yank your wireless card and run your PC. If you still have a BSOD after 2 mintues it's not your wireless card.

I have never used Windows 8 but I would scan your HDD. Regardless you will have errors after a BSOD so do this even if you don't think it is your HDD.

Open a CMD window, search for app "CMD" and run it.

Type in the line below and hit enter.

CHKDSK /r

Make sure you use the "/" that is a switch the r says scan all sectors and automatically fix errors. If you have a larger hard drive this will take some time.

You should get a message saying something like you can't scan yoru hard drive now and it will ask if you want to scan after a reboot.

Type "Y" hit enter.

Then you need to restart your computer. I have no idea how to do this on Windows 8. but if you want you can type the line below into the command window and it should restart.

shutdown /f /r /t 1

The /f means force (do it now), /r means restart, /t 1 means wait 1 second.

You should be able to do that with in 2 seconds then sit back and wait for the scan to finish, since it will scan all sectors it will take a while.

Try your wifi card first it is likely that there is a driver issue with it.

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  • Used another SSD today, installed Windows 8 again, it ran fine until I went to install motherboard drivers, which happened the last time. So I think it may be possible that this is the issue, otherwise it may just be due to the similar timescale. I'm reinstalling, and only putting on vital drivers, just so I can see if it lasts longer this time. Wireless card is now yanked also. Connected via ethernet.
    – Jobe Fletcher
    Jan 17, 2013 at 8:21
  • Solved it, It was due to a faulty sata driver being installed with the motherboard. Thank you all for trying to help, and your quick replies.
    – Jobe Fletcher
    Jan 17, 2013 at 14:13
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Your Hard Drive may well have failed and you're getting a ton of read errors that prevent Windows from loading and Voila, BSOD.

This seems the most likely case as you're getting it before you try to run anything. The other option is drivers for your hardware. If Windows has a serious issue with one of your components because it's got an incorrect driver then it can throw up a BSOD.

Try to simplify the system (ie take out any additional components that aren't vital, such as your wireless card, graphics card, or any additional hard drives) and run it in a basic state.

If you still have no luck, refer back to the hard drive problem and try another, preferably new one or at least one you know to be working. If the drive you have has failed then it could still be under warranty, in which case you can usually get it replaced by the manufacturer.

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