BSOD Windows XP

A couple weeks ago I started getting intermittent BSOD. Being that it was on an old computer I didn’t give it much thought. Today I decided to reformat the computer to see if it fixed it before deciding to build a new one. After completing the reformat I started installing programs, Avast being one of them. Now my computer boots up, and right when it finishes I get a BSOD and the computer restarts endlessly. The only way I can keep it from crashing is booting it in safe mode.

I’ve read some articles about fixes, but honestly I have never heard of a “dump file” and don’t really know where to begin to try and fix this other than uninstalling. I have used Avast for the past 6 or so years and love the product, but I’m not sure if it’s time to cut my losses and find a new anti-virus.

Any help would be appreciated! Thank you!

Which avast!..?? (Free/Pro/IS)

Sorry, Free version. Running Windows XP x64

First be sure that your XP is updated to SP2…!!

  1. Download avast! Free Antivirus: http://files.avast.com/iavs5x/avast_free_antivirus_setup.exe
  2. Follow instructions: http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility
  3. Reinstall avast! with the downloaded installer from point 1.
  4. Reboot.

Your symptoms could be a bad sector on the hard drive and/or possibly a bad stick of memory.

If it were me, I’d test both before going any further. Download Ultimate CD (burn ISO to CD) and run MemTest+ 4.3 (I think) for the memory and MHDD v4.6 for the hard drive. If they both pass it’s probably a software conflict during installation (driver, service etc…)

Regards,