Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Anyone here do PC tech support for $?

If you get the BSOD again, copy the Stop error message. The description (and especially the first sequence of the numeric code 0x000000??) will give you something to use to begin chasing down the problem with a Google search.

Thanks, guys. I'm sorry, I didn't write down the code. Coincidentally, it happened when I opened Chrome which had the same CNet tab open from when I downloaded that other software. After reboot and opening Chrome, Chrome warned that it was not shut down properly and that I could choose to reopen the tabs that weren't saved. I didn't.

I know, probably unrelated. Joe, can the text truly be copied and saved, or do you mean write it down?

The computer has been fine since.... I'm on it now. I took screenshots of the software list and backed up all of the files onto DVD-Rs.

Most importantly, I learned that the system backup could be useless if you can't load Windows properly in the first place.

I'll prioritize a new computer in the next few weeks and migrate to it just in case. Five years was a good run for this one and it's still useful somewhere else.

Again, thank you guys very, very much!

Off to research Win7 v. Win8 now!

Coincidentally, TechWoot has a refurbished HP that would be roughly the level I'm looking for, at half the cost.

Again, I need to do some research on Win8!

OK, there is, not surprisingly, a TON of info out there on Win8. So, I'm going to see if I can avoid spending all day researching it. By the time I do, that Woot deal will be gone.

I'm getting the jist that when Win8 first came out, it was almost universally panned. And I've always liked Win7 Pro, which is on most of my machines. But it also seems that later releases and updates of Win8 have improved things.

Is that a reasonable summation? Anyone here move to 8 and have an opinion?

I haven't had any issues running 8 having upgraded from 7 when 8 was first released. Win 8 tiles system is pretty much useless for anything other than a phone or tablet. I like the Windows store and use of skydrive etc. but for most business applications I think Win7 might be the better choice.

Thanks, Jason. By mid-afternoon I checked back on Woot and they had sold out of that particular build.

Probably just as well. The more I read on Win8, the more I think I just want to stick with Win7, and it looks like I can still get Win7 if I do a custom build from HP or Dell.... though I wouldn't be surprised if those aren't around too much longer.

Well, Dell better not. They owe us a lot of support.

LOL...I just mean that Win7 builds may not be offered much longer!

Ten minutes ago, I ordered an HP build with a $250 off Memorial Day sale:

HP Pavilion HPE h8-1360t Desktop PC
• Windows 7 Professional 64
• 3rd Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
• FREE Upgrade to 10GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
• 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
• 500GB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
• 1GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 7570 [HDMI, DVI, VGA via adapter]
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
• 600W Power supply
• Norton Internet Security(TM) 2012 - 3 year
• Wireless-N LAN card (1x1)
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 4 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top)
• No TV Tuner
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
• Beats Audio (tm) -- integrated studio quality sound
• Premium HP keyboard and optical mouse
• Adobe Premiere Elements & Photoshop Elements 10
• Roxio Secure Burn

Mark, you can do a print screen or, what I've done on occasion is take a picture of the screen with a camera. Sometimes it comes up too quickly to see what's on the error message.

Sounds like you're on the road to recovery.

Hmmmm, I assumed that a print screen wouldn't work because the computer was unresponsive with a BSOD?