Argh! AKICIF

[lexin]

The situation with my desktop is getting worse. Now I have blue screens of death popping up and the big question as I see it is do I cut to the chase and reinstall Windows now, or fiddle about with it some more.

Thoughts from those who know more about computers that me - is this a lost cause or is there in any mileage in continuing to play with it?

ETA: I ran the diagnostics software which came with my PC and that indicates that it's an error on the hard drive, for which the only fix is to reinstall the OS. Botheration! I was hoping to avoid that.

Comments

[marahmarie]

In the interest of responsible advice-giving I should add that keeping yourself grounded electrically is the most important thing you can do while you work inside the case (both for your own safety and to prevent static coming off of you from destroying something), so after you pry the cover off, keep one hand on an all-metal portion of the tower as you work inside with the canned air (some tech guides recommend also wearing an anti-static wrist strap on that hand; I've never worn one and never had a problem without it, but it's probably still a good idea).

There are tutorials, instruction guides and videos galore on how to do it, so you might want to take a peek at some of those before you get started. Glad to hear your hard drive seems to be OK after all - and good luck! :)