A few weeks ago, I turned on my PC and was met with a black screen that forced me to do a hard reset. Now, every time I try to boot up, I get the SrtTrail.txt error message. I'm not very tech-savvy and have already exhausted several tutorials and forum recommendations without success. Unfortunately, I can't afford to take it to a technician right now, so I'm hoping someone here can give me some suggestions. I've tried running the sfc scan and the DISM commands, but I'm still faced with a blue screen at startup.
2 Answers
If the above doesn’t work, consider reinstalling Windows. You can follow a guide for that online. Before you do, if you have files on your system disk that you want to save, use Hiren's Boot CD. It’s a live OS that runs from a USB drive, so your files will remain safe during the reinstall. Just make sure you have an 8GB or larger USB drive and access to another computer to set that up. That should help recover your system!
Just a heads up, the guide says I’ll need an internet connection? Mine has been acting up, so I’m a bit worried about that.
To troubleshoot those pesky blue screens, it’s crucial to get your dump files. They’re basically logs of what happens when your PC crashes. Try booting into Windows normally or through Safe Mode if you can. Then, check the folder at C:WindowsMinidump for any dump files. If you find some, copy that folder to your desktop and zip it up. You can upload it to a file sharing site like catbox.moe or mediafire.com. It's better to have multiple dump files for a clearer analysis. If you don’t have any dump files, make sure your system is set to create them in case of crashes by following a guide on how to configure Windows for small memory dumps.
I’ll give that a go! I tried something earlier and it mentioned winload.efi, which sounds problematic—thanks for the tip!