BSOD - Blue Screen Of Death

One of the most dreaded error messages for a Windows user is the blue screen, or the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) as it is popularly known, which suddenly pops up informing you that something is seriously wrong with Windows. What this screen essentially means is that Windows has crashed and needs to reboot to recover. Usually, you will be able to recover and continue without any problems, but it can sometimes be a hair-raising experience—like when you’re pressed for time and have to get that PowerPoint presentation ready for your boss!

Windows 9x/ME
In Windows 9x/ME this error is less serious but more common. You can usually recover from the error by simply pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Del] and restarting the computer, or by switching off the PC and switching it back on. However, the error message will contain very little information that you can use in troubleshooting.

1. Problems causing the BSOD
The BSOD is the main way for virtual device drivers to report a problem. The error description will state that Windows faced a problem (exception) at a particular memory address (a portion of the RAM) in a certain file, usually with the prefix VxD (virtual device driver), or the file name may have the DLL extension. At the minimum, it indicates that there was a problem with that particular file. Typically, this may have been caused by some action of the user that Windows does not allow—like accessing a document from a floppy and then removing the floppy before closing document. In other cases it may indicate that there is a problem with a particular software or hardware. If the BSOD repeats with the same message, then there is potentially something seriously wrong, and you should investigate further.

2. The basic approach
Use the file name in the error message to give you a clue as to what is causing the problem. Search the hard disk for the filename and look at the folder in which the file is located to give you an idea of which software program or hardware uses this file. Also search the Internet for any information on this file. Once you have identified the software or hardware associated with the filename, uninstall or remove the software or hardware. Verify that the software or hardware, as the case may be, is compatible with your version of Windows. Get updates if applicable and reinstall it.

2.1 System Restore in Windows ME and Windows XP
In addition to the above, Windows ME/XP provides the extremely useful System Restore tool. System Restore takes daily snapshots of the system state—every 10 hours the system is on and every 24 hours of real-time. The snapshot contains all the information required to restore the system to that particular point in time. To restore the system to a previous point in time do the following:
i) Go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
ii) Choose “Restore my computer to an earlier time” and click Next.
iii) On the calendar on the left, choose the last day you remember that Windows operated without problems. On the right, choose the Restore Point description; if there are multiple restore points that day, choose the one you’re most certain about or choose the latest time. Click Next.
iv) Make sure you’ve closed all open files and running programs, and click OK.
v) The system will roll back to the settings of that restore point and you can continue working normally.

2.2 Windows 2000/XP
Error reporting in Windows 2000/XP is more robust, nevertheless, when you get a BSOD, it is just as mysterious at first glance. The “Windows Stop Message”, which is the official name for the BSOD, occurs when Windows encounters a problem from which it cannot recover. At this moment Windows stops and displays the error message shown on the screen. Additionally, the contents of the system memory are dumped to a file. This memory dump file can be analysed by competent support technicians to troubleshoot the problem in depth. All the stop errors are numbered according to the circumstances that caused the error. This is a big step up from Windows 9x/ME, where the stop errors were more generalised and hence were much more difficult to troubleshoot.

3. Problems causing the BSOD
The BSODs are generally associated with five problems faced by Windows:
i) Software or device drivers may have a problem
ii) A hardware device is malfunctioning, or was removed while Windows was running, or does not fully support Windows. On older machines, outdated BIOS information can also cause errors.
iii) Hardware or hard disk errors during installation of Windows.
iv) Corrupted startup files, hardware and driver software during Windows startup can also be the cause. This type of error will always require troubleshooting before Windows can start up normally.
v) Intermittent errors that appear randomly. These can be caused by an overheating processor, a defective memory system, a dying or dead hard disk, or faulty software and device drivers.

4. Possible solutions to the BSOD
When a BSOD occurs, the first step is to note down the Stop number, the ‘friendly name’ of the error and also the name of the file that is reported as the cause of the problem. The Stop number will be in hexadecimal format—something like this:

STOP : 0x0000000A (0xDB000000, 0x00000001, 0x00000002, 0xB04FB0DB)
The friendly name will be something like this: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If the error comes up very briefly, before you can note it down, and the system restarts, you will need to change a setting to tell Windows not to automatically reboot. Right-click My Computer, select the Advanced tab, and click “Startup and Recovery”, in Windows 2000, clear the “Automatically Reboot” checkbox. In Windows XP, click Settings and clear the “Automatic Restart” checkbox. This, of course, assumes that Windows has rebooted normally and you are able to change the setting. If you are not able to boot normally, restart Windows and press [F8] repeatedly during the POST cycle. This will take you to the Advanced Options menu. Choose Safe Mode. Windows will attempt to load with a minimum set of drivers. If Windows is able to boot into Safe Mode, this most likely means that the problem is with a particular software, and is not hardware-related. If Windows is not able to boot into Safe Mode, restart the computer, bring up the Advanced Options screen (by pressing [F8] during POST) and select “Last Known Good Configuration”. Windows will then attempt to load the last settings where everything worked normally. If that doesn’t work, then it most likely means you have a serious hardware or critical startup system file error. If this error has occurred after any recent hardware additions, remove the hardware and try to boot again.

If you are able to boot into Safe Mode, first perform a virus and spyware scan using a tool such as Norton AntiVirus and Spybot S&D. Uninstall any recently added software, and remove or roll back any updated device drivers. (To roll back device drivers, go to the Properties page of the device in Device Manager, select the Driver tab, and click Roll Back Driver). In XP, you can perform one additional step—running System Restore, as explained above for Windows ME. Restart the computer normally and check if the problem recurs. If it is an intermittent problem, and occurs at random, you can note down the error number the next time it occurs, since you disabled Automatic Restart after a crash. Boot into Safe Mode and see if you get the same random error. If you do, then the problem is likely hardware-related. Resolve the issue by following the hardware troubleshooting steps explained below. If the error only occurs in normal mode, then it is likely a software problem.

Look in Device Manager and troubleshoot any hardware device conflicts as explained in the Troubleshooting Hardware Device Conflicts in Windows section. You can remove or disable the device, or roll back its driver to a previous version. If the BSOD is caused by a faulty program that crashes Windows at system startup, you can disable the software from starting up by using msconfig.exe. Type Start > Run, type in “msconfig” and press [Enter]. Select the Startup tab and disable any or all software you think may be the ones causing the problem. Better still, you could disable all the software in the list, enable them one at a time, and reboot the computer to identify the offending software.

If the BSOD is caused by faulty hardware, remove any recently added hardware—after switching off the PC, of course! If the BSOD still occurs, or there are no newly added hardware, test the RAM for errors by using a memory diagnostic program such as Windows Memory Diagnostic (http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp). If the diagnostic reports errors, then you’ve found the culprit. Replace the defective RAM. If the BSOD is due to corrupt system startup files, you can repair Windows by performing a Repair Install. Boot the PC from the Windows installation CD, press [Enter] to set up Windows XP, press [F8] to accept the license agreement, and then press [R] to start the Repair Installation. Windows will reinstall all the system files and redetect all the hardware.
Note: You will have to visit the Windows Update site to reinstall any patches and Service Packs, since the repair installation will remove them.


If you are still getting BSODs, switch off the PC, open the cabinet and remove all but the essential hardware: the mouse, keyboard, hard disk, CD-ROM, display card and RAM, along with the PSU and processor of course! Now, first attempt booting into Safe Mode, and if that works, reboot normally. If you are successful, the problem is with one of the peripheral devices. Add all the peripherals back one by one till you get a BSOD again—the last added peripheral is the culprit. If you are getting BSODs during installation, then the problem could be with the RAM, hard disk, processor, or one of the peripherals. Test the RAM using a memory diagnostic tool as described above, check the hard disk for errors (most hard disk manufacturers provide software utilities that can diagnose errors), verify that the CPU is not overheating by following the instructions in the Motherboard section of this guide, and remove all peripherals and run the installation with the minimum configuration as described above. If the installation is successful, you can troubleshoot the rest of the hardware devices from within Windows.

5. Common Stop Message error codes and suggested resolutions
These are some of the most common Stop Messages along with their cause and suggested resolution:

Stop Code: STOP 0x0000000A
IRQL_NOT_LESS_EQUAL
Code Meaning : Faulty device drivers, or services from backup utilities or virus scanners
Recommended Resolution: Remove, disable or stop the offending drivers, backup utilities or anti-virus programs. Get updated software from the manufacturer.

Stop Code: STOP 0x0000001E
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Code Meaning: Some driver files may be causing a problem.
Recommended Resolution: Remove, disable or update the driverfile listed in the error message. Verify if new hardware installation is correct.

Stop Code: STOP 0x00000024
NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
Code Meaning: Usually caused by disk corruption in the NTFS file system or third-party disk defragmenters.
Recommended Resolution: Use hard disk diagnostic software to verify that the hard disk is working. Remember to always Use Microsoft-certified disk defragmenters.

Stop Code: STOP 0x0000002E
DATA_BUS_ERROR
Code Meaning: Caused by a parity error in the system memory. Almost always caused by hardware problems—a configuration issue, defective hardware, or incompatible hardware.
Recommended Resolution: If physical RAM was recently added to the system, remove it and see if the error still occurs. If the error persists, try disabling memory caching in the BIOS. Else remove, repair or reinstall the defective hardware.

Stop Code: STOP 0x00000050
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Code Meaning : Caused when requested data is not found in memory; the system checks the page file, but the missing data is identified as unable to be written to the page file.
Recommended Resolution: Remove any newly-added hardware or run diagnostic software supplied by the manufacturer to check if the component has failed. Install updated device drivers or roll back to a previous driver.

Stop Code: STOP 0x0000007B
INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
Code Meaning: Caused when Windows loses access to the system partition during the Startup process. This can be caused by: an incorrect driver for a SCSI, RAID, or UDMA IDE controller; incorrect ARC path in the Boot.ini; or a failed boot device.
Recommended Resolution: Verify that the disk storage device is installed correctly and working. Reinstall or update the device driver. Verify that the BIOS setting for the device is correct. Verify the integrity of the hard disk.

Stop Code: STOP 0x0000007F
UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
Code Meaning: Caused when the CPU generates an error that the kernel does not catch. Usually hardware related—especially RAM. Can also be caused by CPU overclocking, or defective components on the motherboard.
Recommended Resolution:
1. Run the memory diagnostic to test RAM.
2. Restore overclocked settings to previous values.
3. Repair/replace the motherboard.
4. Disable sync negotiation in SCSI BIOS; check SCSI termination.

Stop Code: STOP 0x000000D1
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Code Meaning: Occurs when the system attempts to access pageable memory at a process IRQL that is too high
Recommended Resolution: Very similar to STOP 0xA. Remove, disable or stop the offending drivers, backup utilities or anti-virus programs. Get updated software from the manufacturer.

Stop Code: STOP 0xC000021A
STATUS_SYSTEM_PROCESS_TERMINATED
Code Meaning: Caused when the user-mode subsystem (Winlogon or CSRSS) is fatally compromised and security cannot be guaranteed. The most common causes are third-party applications or mismatched system files.
Recommended Resolution:
1. Remove, disable, or roll back any newly-installed device driver.
2. Uninstall any newly-installed software.
3. Use Windows-compatible backup/restore programs.
4. Restore full control permissions to the local SECURITY account on the systemroot folder by doing a fresh parallel installation of Windows on a separate partition.

No Power

1. The power doesn’t come on
1. No power from the wall socket: Use a live power outlet. In rare cases, the power cable may be defective and may require replacement. Check the power cable on another working PC. Plug in a lamp or any other electric device to see if you have a live outlet.
2. Incorrect voltage setting on the PSU: Select the proper voltage setting (220-240V) on the back of the PSU. WARNING: If you have switched on the PC with the voltage set to 110-120V and with a mains supply of 240V you may have blown your PSU beyond repair at worst or blown a fuse at best. Be careful!
3. The front panel power switch’s connector to the motherboard is not fixed correctly or has come off or is defective: Check the motherboard manual and fix the lead (wires) from the front panel switch to the motherboard correctly. If there is still no power, try a different lead.
4. The front panel power switch is defective: Replace the switch. In case you do not want to get a replacement, one option is to use the reset button. The only problem with this is that to cut the power to the system in case of system hangs etc., you will have to switch off the power from the mains wall outlet rather than from the front panel.
5. The power supply connections to the motherboard are not correct: Check the power connections from the PSU to the motherboard. Refer to the motherboard manual and identify the correct connection points.
6. Not identified; non-PSU related problem: After attempting all the above, if the system still doesn’t power up, it is time to look elsewhere. Disconnect all the drives and see if it is powering up. (Note: Pull out the power cord when removing or disconnecting something.) If the system is powering up, then start reconnecting the drives one by one to identify which is defective drive. If the system is not powering with all drives disconnected, remove the other adaptors one at a time and checking to see if it is powering up. Leave the video adaptor for the last. If you are able to isolate the problem to one of the adaptor cards, verify that the slot and the adaptor cards are compatible. Then try plugging it into a different slot and see if the system powers up before discarding it and going for a new one. If the system is still not powering up, then you either have a defective PSU or a defective motherboard. If there is a burnt smell, then most probably either one of them has been fried. Look for burn marks on the motherboard. Sometimes the PSU and motherboard may be incompatible. If the motherboard looks fine, replace the PSU, since it’s cheaper!

2. The PC powers on after the second or third try
The mostly likely problem is that the power_ok (or power_good) signal is sent before the power supply has stabilised. Get a better quality PSU. In modern PCs, the power switch is a logic device that tells the PSU to supply full power to the motherboard. The power_ok signal tells the motherboard that the power supply is available and stable. If the signal is sent too soon the motherboard does not recognize it and stays off to protect itself. This can happen in lowerquality PSUs. Booting more than once is not recommended, and you will be better off getting a better PSU.

3. The PC powers on but nothing happens after that (no beep)
1. This may be due to the addition of new hardware that is overtaxing the power supply. Remove the last hardware component installed and check again.
2. A defective hard disk or one that is not plugged in correctly: Check the power cable to the hard disk. Sometimes it may not be fully plugged in. Check the hard disk on another system.

4. The PC powers on, beeps and stops. No Power On Self Test (POST) messages.
This may be a motherboard problem and not related to the PSU. Check the motherboard section of this guide.

5. The PC powers on and runs POST but there is no display
This may be a display card problem and not related to the PSU. Check the display section of this guide.

6. There is a squealing/whistling/whining noise when the PC starts
This could indicate either a problem with the fan, which has accumulated dirt over time, or one of the internal components of the PSU. Switch on the PC and listen carefully to confirm that it’s the PSU fan and not the CPU fan or the hard disk. Usually, the noise will stop once the fan picks up speed, and you can ignore it temporarily. It’s a good idea, however, to clean out the dirt around the PSU fan using a PC vacuum. This will increase the working life of the PSU fan as well as the PSU itself. If the fan stops working, the PSU will generate heat and cause more trouble. So a little prevention will save you a lot of headaches later. If the sound is not from the fan but from within the PSU itself, then you may be able to service it. A PSU has no ‘user-serviceable’ parts, and it’s best left to a competent technician, although in most cases of component failure, you will have to replace the PSU.

7. The PC freezes or reboots suddenly
1. This could indicate a failing PSU that is not supplying power correctly to the motherboard. You may be able to get the PSU serviced but in most cases you will be better off getting a new power supply.
2. This could be due to overheating of the PSU or CPU: If the PSU is overheating, the metal cabinet may be hot to touch or you might get a shock. Shut off immediately. Check if the PSU fan is working, clean or replace the fan if not working or spinning very slowly. If it’s a faulty PSU you may be able to service it. If the PSU seems normal it might be due to an overheating CPU.

Freeze PC

The PC freezes or reboots suddenly
1. This could indicate a failing PSU that is not supplying power correctly to the motherboard. You may be able to get the PSU serviced but in most cases you will be better off getting a new
power supply.
2. This could be due to overheating of the PSU or CPU: If the PSU is overheating, the metal cabinet may be hot to touch or you might get a shock. Shut off immediately. Check if the PSU fan is working, clean or replace the fan if not working or spinning very slowly. If it’s a faulty PSU you may be able to service it.

If the PSU seems normal it might be due to an overheating CPU.

The PC runs POST and then freezes

1. This may be a problem with the RAM modules or other add-on cards. In case of RAM module problems, you will usually be alerted by beeps from the BIOS. Strip the PC down to the ‘barebones’, that is, just the power supply, motherboard (with CPU & heat sink), minimum RAM and display card. Switch the RAM module to another slot. Verify that the RAM modules are as per the specs defined by motherboard manufacturer. Use matched RAM modules from the same manufacturer. Try a different RAM. If everything is working you should boot up and see the message ‘No boot device’ or something similar. Power off, connect the hard disk and reboot. If the problem still occurs, this points to something wrong with the hard disk or the basic boot up of the operating system. Check the storage section and the Windows troubleshooting section of this guide. If the OS boots normally, then power off and start adding each add-on card one by one, powering up after adding each card until you isolate the culprit. Check the relevant sections for troubleshooting hints for those components.

2. It may be a BIOS problem.

The PC freezes suddenly

1. This could be due to overheating of the CPU caused by poor contact between the heat sink and the CPU Remove the heat sink and fan (make sure the fan is working). On the exposed CPU die surface apply some thermal grease or thermal tape. This is to fill in the microscopic gaps that may exist between the CPU and the heat sink. Don’t use too much grease and don’t try to substitute with something else, use approved thermal media only. Also, don’t get impatient and try to force the heat sink on the die to try and make it fit. You may break the heat sink or worse still damage the CPU. If the fan is not working, verify the power connections. If the connections are correct and the fan still does not work you can try replacing the fan but the best option is to get a new heat sink unit (heat sink + fan). Note: The problem with a failed heat sink is the likelihood that you have already cooked your CPU. Most modern CPUs overheat very quickly and require cooling right from power on.

Device Conflict Symptoms

A hardware conflict may occur when you add a new device to your system. In some instances, this conflict will not cause any problem, and depending on the operating system you may not even be aware that such a conflict exists. Typical symptoms of hardware conflicts include:

The operating system may freeze frequently

The new device may suffer performance problems

An existing device that is conflicting with the new device may suffer performance problems

Windows starts in Safe Mode

The system crashes and you get a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)

The sound card stops working or stutters

The screen jumps and shows garbled images

The mouse stops working

Modem/network card doesn’t respond

CD/DVD drive doesn’t respond or crashes the system

The PC works fine for a few hours and then freezes

Cause: This symptom is typical of overheating. Overheating processors are a major source of PC freezes and crashes. Other than the main processor, the graphics processor can also overheat and bring the entire PC to a grinding halt. Like the CPU, the graphics processor has its own heat sink and fan. An overheating graphics processor would point to some problem with the cooling system.

Solution: Troubleshooting this is similar to troubleshooting an overheating CPU. However, you should eliminate all the other heat generating culprits first: check the power supply, the CPU heat sink, and fan. Once you have eliminated these possibilities, turn your attention to the graphics processor: check the heat sink and fan, it may be that the fan is not working or the heat sink is not fitted snugly on the graphics processor. Check the power connections for the fan and reseat the heat sink to fit it tightly with the processor. Use thermal paste if necessary. Such graphics cards should have a temperature sensor that can be viewed from within the operating system. This would give you a good indication of whether the card is overheating. Unless you are stressing out the system with high-end 3D applications for hours on end, it is unlikely that the graphics card is your source of trouble. In most cases it would be the power supply. But the sudden freeze and shutdown is typical of overheating, so look at the CPU and PSU again if you have ruled out the graphics card as the source of the problem.

C++ program

#include

int main()
{
float dist, time, speed;

cout<<"enter the distance : ";
cin>>dist;

cout<<"/n";
cout<<"enter the speed : ";
cin>>speed;

cout<<"/n";
time = dist / speed;
cout<<"The time is : ";
//similar to the above cout command, output the variable time, i cannot do it here


return 0;
}

There is some irregular discoloration along the edges of the screen

Cause: This is caused by the magnetisation of the metallic elements on the surface of the CRT. The magnetization happens because of EMI or due to sudden knocks to the body.
Solution: Cycle through the display controls and select the Degauss option. Degaussing is the process of demagnetizing the CRT.

Upgrading from 98 to windows XP

If you are currently running Windows 98/ME and are thinking of upgrading to Windows XP, this section will provide you with the know-how. Upgrading from Windows 98/ME is not without its dangers. You will need to prepare for it to avoid running into problems and damaging your existing Windows installation. Actually, calling it an upgrade is a bit of a misnomer; what happens is that Windows XP examines your system, moves all the personalised settings to a backup location, installs a fresh copy of Windows XP and copies back all the personalised settings to new locations. Also, it makes a backup of the previous version of Windows so you can uninstall XP and go back if anything goes wrong.

The activities that need to be carried out can be classified into the following stages:

1. Pre upgrade

2. Upgrade

3. Post Upgrade

Let’s look at the steps involved look at each stage.

1. The pre-upgrade stage

1. Verify the minimum requirements for the hardware and system configuration.

While Microsoft’s official recommendation is for a 300 MHz Pentium processor with 128 MB of RAM, experts and practical experience suggest you should at least have a Pentium III 500 MHz processor with at least 256 MB of RAM. Otherwise, Windows XP will be sluggish. In addition, you should have at least 1 or 2 GB of free hard disk space on your primary partition (the C: drive in most cases), an SVGA monitor that can support a screen resolution of 800 x 600 or higher, a display card, a sound card, a modem, and a CD or DVD drive. The sound card and modem are not essential, but you will want to connect to the Internet and update XP with all the latest patches once installation is complete, so a modem is required sooner or later. The sound card is preferable for your audio feedback (XP Setup sounds and music) at different stages of the setup process.

2. Which file system?

During setup, XP will ask you if you want to convert to NTFS from FAT/FAT32. FAT or FAT32 is the file system on which Windows 98/ME runs. NTFS is a newer, more robust file system used by both Windows 2000 and XP. Be warned, however, that this is a one-way street. If you convert to NTFS, you cannot convert back to FAT, and if you want to make your system a dual-boot, i.e. you want to be able to boot into either XP or Windows 98/ME, you will not be able to log into Windows 98/ME. The same goes if you want to uninstall XP and revert to your previous Windows version after converting to NTFS. During setup, it is best to leave it as FAT32, and later, after you have stopped relying on Windows 98/ME completely, you can convert from FAT32 to NTFS. In Windows XP, open a command prompt and type in “convert/?” to get details of the FAT32 to NTFS conversion process.

3. Hard disk clean-up

Run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter. This will clean up the hard disk for the installation.

4. Run Upgrade Advisor

The Upgrade Advisor is an excellent tool that will test your system’s hardware and software compatibility with Windows XP. It is the same tool that runs during the XP Setup, but since you are running it independently, it will give you a report that will help you prepare for the upgrade. It is nearly 32 MB, in size and can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/advisor.asp.

Once you’ve verified and are satisfied about the compatibility of your hardware and software, you can start the upgrade.

2. Upgrading to Windows XP

1. Insert the CD-ROM and select “Install Windows XP.”

2. Close all running applications such as virus scanners, spyware scanners, etc.

3. Choose an installation type. You can either upgrade or do a clean install. The clean install will either overwrite the existing OS or create a dual-boot system where you can select to either log in to XP or your previous Windows version at system startup. If you’re opting for a dual-boot, don’t forget to retain your FAT/FAT32 file system. We assume you’re opting for an in-place upgrade, so choose “Upgrade (Recommended)” and click next.

4. Accept the license agreement and enter the product key in the next screen.

5. This step duplicates the Upgrade Advisor and verifies the hardware and software compatibility. Review the report and proceed if you are satisfied, else cancel the installation and rectify the problems identified by the Upgrade Advisor.

Running The Upgrade Advisor

The first screen is basic information about the Advisor.

In this screen, you are asked if you want to connect to the Internet and get the latest compatibility updates

More information on compatibility Even more information on compatibility, informing you about the report categories

Upgrade Advisor connects to the Internet and downloads the latest compatibility information updates

The advisor examines the system against the latest compatibility list

6. If you are connected to the Internet, Setup will ask you if it can get updated setup files over the Internet. It is strongly recommended to accept this, as you will get all the latest critical updates and driver updates.

7. Windows XP Setup will be updated. It will copy some files to the hard disk and reboot. On reboot, if you see a message to press any key to boot from the CD-ROM, ignore it. Setup has configured itself to run from the hard disk.

8. Setup will copy more files and reboot again. Ignore the message to press any key to boot from the CD.

9. Setup installs devices and the network, and then copies files and configures the rest of the files needed to install XP.

10. Finally, program and system settings are upgraded, temporary files are removed, and the system reboots again.

11. The first time XP boots, you are presented with the option of connecting to the Internet, activating Windows and optionally registering. You are then presented with the XP desktop.

The upgrade report lists all the software and hardware with problems and requiring either replacement or XP-compatible updates.

Save this report and review it to determine which hardware and software requires replacement or upgrades You can also visit the Windows Catalog Web site to get a list of hardware and software that will work with Windows

3. Post-Upgrade Tasks

1. Testing Installed Software

Check all your software programs to see if they are working. If any are not, try reinstalling the application or visit the software vendor’s Web site to get XP updates for the program. If they still don’t work, go to “Fixing a problem” in the “Help and Support Center” to get help in solving application and software problems.

2. Testing Installed Hardware

Check if all the hardware is working. Right-click on My Computer, and go to Properties > Hardware, and click on Device Manager. See if there are any problematic devices; double-click to see the properties page and the error code. See the Troubleshooting Hardware Device Conflicts in Windows section of this guide to understand what the Device Manager error codes mean, and their possible resolution. Update the drivers as applicable by right-clicking on the problematic device and selecting Update Driver. Leave the XP setup CD in the drive and try the option “Install the software automatically (Recommended)”. If that doesn’t work, get the updated Windows XP driver from the manufacturer. If that fails, go to “Fixing a problem” in the “Help and Support Center” to get help in solving application and software problems.

3. Run Windows Update

Update your installation of Windows XP with all the patches, other updates, and service packs by connecting to the Windows Update site.

4. Defragment your hard disk

The upgrade would have made your system files heavily fragmented. Open My Computer, right-click the installation drive (usually C:), select Properties, click on the Tools tab, and select “Defragment Now”.

5. Customise

Further customise the system—wallpapers, screensavers, etc. You are now ready to use Windows XP! Use Windows XP for a few weeks to verify that everything is working correctly. Once this is confirmed, go to Add or Remove Programs. Remove the option to revert to your old system. This will save on disk space, but be warned that there is no going back to your previous OS once you remove it.