Recording - June 2015 - 41

Me Pick From A List, you'll choose 1394
OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy).
If your PC's motherboard has a
FireWire connection built in, try disabling
it in the BIOS and installing a dedicated
FireWire expansion card-after checking
with the manufacturer of your interface to
learn which are the "known good"
chipsets recommended for use with their
hardware (I know Texas Instruments is
often mentioned). A controller card with a
known good chipset won't be expensive,
and will be worth it if it fixes your BSOD!
5. Check your CPU temperature.
You can find your CPU's operating temperature by booting into the BIOS. Determine
(from the manufacturer's website) your CPU's
normal operating temperature, which could
be anywhere from 50 to 80 degrees Celsius.
If your CPU is running hot, check your internal fans for proper operation, and if need be,
install an extra fan or a CPU cooler.
6. Test your memory.
Bad RAM will cause blue screen issues.
In the Control Panel type "Memory" into
the search box, and then click Diagnose
Your Computer's Memory Problems.
7. Check for problems on your drives.
In Windows Explorer, right-click the
drive to be checked. Click Properties, click
the Tools tab, and click the Check Now
button. In the Check Disk window, select
Automatically Fix File System Errors. When

checking your system drive (usually the C:
drive) you'll need to schedule the check for
the next time you restart the computer.
8. Scan for viruses and other malware.
This one's self-explanatory, especially if
you connect your DAW PC to the Internet.
Moving on...
9. Make sure you're current on Windows
Service Packs and updates.
It's possible your DAW is behind in
Service Packs and updates. Maybe, like
me, you don't have your recording computer connected to the internet. Or maybe
your system's been working fine up until
now, and you chose not to update and
mess with a perfectly good setup! Now's
the time. Maybe your software or hardware needs these updates in place.
10. Reseat your internals.
Take off the computer cover, and then
unplug and reinsert anything and everything! Do this with your RAM, video card,
power cables, data cables-any connection can be reseated. The connectors on
the RAM, and expansion cards installed in
slots, can be cleaned with a pencil eraser.
Tools
There are a few helpful tools you can use
in your trouble shooting. I found a free
download called "Who Crashed". This program will find available crash dump files
and can possibly show you which driver is

taking down your system. There is also the
Windows Event Viewer, which shows information pertinent to important events on your
computer and is useful for troubleshooting
errors. It's found in Control Panel >
Administrative Tools > Event Viewer.
Final Thoughts
Fortunately, software and hardware
coexist much more nicely today than in
the old days of computing; the BSOD is
not as common these days. So why did I
have to become an expert?
In my case, I had moved to a new house
and built a new studio (see Recording's
September 2014 issue), and installed new
hardware, software, and updated Windows.
I was sure the problem was somewhere in
there and tried everything on the above list...
and at the end, my BSOD problem went
away after I reseated everything! My computer had been jostled while moving it, and
something had simply come loose. Your
mileage may vary, but reseating may be your
best starting point!
When not custom songwriting for the
educational market, Michael Nickolas
(nickolas@recordingmag.com) creates
content for music libraries. Recent placements include this past holiday season's
"Great Christmas Light Fight" aired on
ABC.

Recording - June 2015

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