Tech Tip: Surviving the BSOD

Though it is not exclusive to any particular operating system, the BSOD, or Blue Screen of Death, is a term that has become synonymous with the Windows OS. It usually signifies that your PC has suffered from a critical system error and was forced to shut itself down to prevent damage. Yet, as advanced as technology has grown over the years, engineers have yet to discover a way to present error messages to us in a clear, easily understandable language. Thus, as we begin to be bombarded by these cryptic messages, we often think the situation is hopeless, and we are stuck with a very expensive paper weight. However, this is not the case, and the BSOD can be decrypted. The following instructions will help you understand what is causing your Windows XP system to crash, and from that information, you can determine how to alleviate the problem.

BSOD's are usually caused by bad device drivers or incompatible ".dll" files. One important thing to know about the all elusive Blue Screen of Death, is that when such a system crash occurs, a small file is created. This file is called a minidump or crash dump, and includes information pertaining to why the crash occurred. Not surprisingly, these minidumps are all but illegible. However, there are tools out there that help you analyze the contents and determine the culprit of your crashes. To verify that your PC is set up to save crash dumps, hit up the Control Panel>System>Advanced Tab>Start Up and Recovery>Settings, and refer to the lower third of the window. Take note of the directory location.

A good tool for performing such an analysis, without typing away at the command line, is WinDbg. You can find it as part of the Debugging Tools for Windows. When you first launch WinDbg, you will see a blank window. The first thing to do, is tell it where it can find the symbols needed to decipher the minidump. Go to File>Symbol File Path; copy and paste this path into the text box...

SRV*c:\symbols*http://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols

Select Ok. After that, hit File>Save Workspace, so that you don't have to insert that code every time you fire up WinDbg. To analyze a minidump, go to File>Open Crash Dump, and navigate to the location of your dump files, usually in c:\windows\minidump. The dump files usually contain the date of the crash in the file name, which is quite helpful. Once you have one selected, you will be asked if you want to save the base workspace information, select no. WinDbg will then work its magic and run its analysis. Once complete, the only part you care about is at the end, and should look something like this...

WinDbg will tell you what probably caused the crash. You may not be familiar with what is listed, but a quick Google search should clear up any confusion. In the example above, savonaccesscontrol.sys is listed as the cause of the system crash. A simple search will reveal that this particular file is associated with Sophos Anti-Virus. A basic uninstall and reinstall of Sophos will prevent any further crashes. Another minidump analysis on a different PC revealed that nwfs.sys caused the system to crash. This particular file is related to the Novell Client for Windows, and after searching around, I was able to find and download a Patch Kit that fixed the crashes. If it turns out that a device driver is causing your crashes, you may want to rollback to an earlier version.

Now that you possess the knowledge of how to debug a minidump, may you never lose another PC to the dreaded Blue Screen of Death!

Epic FAIL! XBOX 360 Edition

As I begin this blog post, I would like to point out that I have been a proud owner of an XBOX 360 Elite for about a year now. Other than the constant fear that the console will red ring at any moment, it has proven itself an excellent, hardcore gaming system. With that said, it is of my opinion that the XBOX 360 has been doomed since its conception, and will succumb to the increasingly superior PlayStation3. And, Microsoft has only themselves to blame.

As much as I love my XBOX 360, I can go on all day about what I dislike about the system. Not my system, but the the system in general. The first dissapointment comes in the form of the hard drive. The Premium edition ships with 20GB of storage. Do companies even manufacture 20GB hard drives any more? Could we, as consumers, even purchase a 20GB hard drive if we wanted to? What this tells us is that Microsoft is going out of their way to skimp on the hardware to save a couple bucks. Quite insulting if you ask me, considering how cheap storage has become these days. Don't get me started on the 120GB add-on for $179. I recently purchased a 750GB Western Digital MyBook for the same price. Unacceptable.

Speaking of skimping on hardware to save a couple bucks, how much does a 802.11g chip cost? I guess it doesn't matter, because Microsoft is more than happy to sell you an adapter for $100. It is a shame that they are allowed to get away with overcharging for a feature that should naturally be built in. Even the Nintendo Wii has an internal wireless networking card! Also on the topic, how crummy is it that Microsoft is using a proprietary RF technology for their controllers? Way to crush innovation and not let any third party developers create their own game pads without having to pay outrageous royalties. Heaven forbid the consumers should be allowed a choice. The XBOX 360 has built-in Bluetooth, so that means that we can pair up our Bluetooth keyboards and headsets right? Of course not. You are, however, more than welcome to use a Microsoft branded peripheral; as long as it was developed for the 360.

How about the XBOX 360's redeeming quality, the online aspect? Sure the online gaming experience is better implemented and nicely polished on the 360, but the Sony engineers are not sitting around twiddling their thumbs. Multiplayer gaming will only get better on the PS3, and if Sony ever goes live with their PS Home online network, it's a wrap. Sure, you can purchase a wide selection movies and TV shows on the 360, but the interface clearly pales in comparison to what Apple offers with iTunes and the AppleTV. I won't even get into the whole HD DVD fiasco...

I don't know about you, but I absolutely refuse to purchase anything that requires points. We already have a currency system, let's not make it more complicated than it needs to be. Microsoft is clearly resorting to a method similar to when you buy tickets at a carnival. The concept is designed to always leave you with a leftover balance, so that you are tempted to purchase more points, or take a loss. It also creates a sense of confusion for the consumer, since it is difficult to calculate the dollars-to-points ratio. Why exactly do we tolerate this?

It is pretty clear that the only reason the XBOX 360 is even considered relevant in the gaming world is because of the year head start that Microsoft had over Sony and Nintendo. That year long head start also comes with it's own consequences. The system was admittingly rushed out to consumers, leading to a faulty product that crashes if you look at it funny. Microsoft has since been playing catch up, and has to spend a lot of time and money being reactive, instead of proactive. When this happens, innovation tends to get stifled, and the consumers are the ones that suffer. Thankfully, Microsoft is not a monopoly when it comes to the gaming industry, and they will not be invulnerable to defeat.

The Dawn of a Digital Millennium

Unfortunately, due to my heavy workload, I haven't had much opportunity to post any blogs lately. Well, I'm always willing to take a few minutes out of the day to discuss my favorite tech gadget and living room centerpiece, the AppleTV! The short and stout device has been on the receiving end of a bit of attention lately, as movie studio support looks to be getting stronger. The first sign of such, came when Apple made a press release stating that they will begin providing digital downloads of new movies from a slew of major studios, on the same day as their DVD release. This is obviously good news for Apple, whose iTunes store has had scarce offerings from their movie section, typically consisting of flicks from Disney and Paramount. This is also good news for us consumers, because it shows that the movie studios are finally seeing the light and embracing digital formats as a serious form of content distribution.

Where the AppleTV comes in the equation, is that movies are now available for purchase right from the set-top box. Now that you can rent and purchase movies, as well as television shows, from the comfort of your living rooms, will this change the game for traditional retail stores? Are the end of days for brick-and-mortar stores coming sooner than later? One could imagine that Walmart is taking notice, seeing as how Apple has already begun to eat their lunch in the music side of the business. I wouldn't put it past Walmart if they started focusing more attention on digital downloads. Expect other big retailers, such as Target and Best Buy to do the same.

Alright, confession time! I wasn't aware that you couldn't previously buy movies from the AppleTV, seeing as how I have never attempted to acquire one. Despite the major influx of studio support, consumers (such as I) may still be discouraged by the included DRM and high prices that match their physical counterparts. Why pay 15 dollars for a heavily restricted digital download, when for a couple bucks more, you can own the easily cracked physical copy that includes special features? We can only hope that studios begin realizing that DRM only hurts the honest consumers, and too much of it encourages us to seek our inner-pirates. Be it baby steps that the studios are taking, they at least seem to be moving in the right direction. I look forward to the day where I never have to see another shiny disc again.