C0000135 may make me take a sledgehammer to my laptop

[JonnyGolightly]

hullo, everyone. before i start i need to point out that i have searched for and applied offered solutions to my c0000135 bluescreen problem and they do not seem to work on my laptop.

i can get to bios and reorder the startup to cd then hdd. but it still doesn't work on my laptop. the cd in the detached drive will just stop spinning (and it is not scratched). my cd drive does act up sometimes but i can't tell if it is working properly because all i can get to is the blue screen.

before i purchase new cables or a new cd drive (a new laptop is just about out of the question) i was hoping to get some solid advice.

thanks guys,

jonnygolightly

 

[raybay]

We are not familiar with previous posts. What is the brand, model, and age of your laptop. Has the optical drive had a lot of use, or merely average use.
Did anything precipitate your blue screen? ... were you doing anything differently, or attempting anything new?
If this is a model from one of the big five, HP, Dell, IBM/Lenovo, Gateway, Compaq, have you downloaded the latest BIOS, drivers, and firmware from the manufacturer's website?
We find these causes to precipitate blue screens on laptops: infestations of viruses or spyware, bad hard drive, bad cpu fan, bad cooling fans, dirt, dust, and hair in the cooling channels, bad optical drive, a bad driver for video, optical, or sound, sometimes bad memory, or other conflict resulting from a download of new software, or a failing power adapter.
Which areas have you chosen to investigate thus far?
It does appear to be a bad optical drive is a possibility. Perhaps you could copy these drivers and downloads to a flash drive to initiate a new install.
Perhaps you could borrow, temporarily, a hard drive or other component?
We suggest you make a list and begin checking off your ideas as you try them out.
Still the first order from my view would be to know the brand and model.

 

[JonnyGolightly]

more on my laptop...

...my laptop is a Dell Latitude c400 (old but before last week functional).

i was not doing anything i don't typically do (browsing the web, watching videos, etc).

I have been transferring data (video, old family photos, music) via flash drive from my old emachine pc (a sluggish beast but functional) and my creative media player and from my laptop to my media player. both my mp3 player and emachine work fine, though.

tv media, an apparent cause for similar blue screen issues was found on my emachine. i doubt this is probable but could tv media have miraculously hopped through my mp3 player from my pc and into my laptop?

spyware had been a minor problem up until now. i run webroot regularly.

the sound on my laptop recently started conking in and out but infrequently.

lastly, the usb port works fine with my mp3 player but lately not with my flash drive.

hoping this somewhat random information helps,

jonnygolightly

 

[raybay]

I have a C400. I love mine. Luckily no troubles like yours.
The Flash drive is bad, not the port. See if you can reformat it in another computer... but they are very fragile and become defective from drops of as little as 18 inches.
Optical drives are among the most fragile of components, and that computer is likely five years old, or close to it... but replacements are available on eBay... the cable also goes bad, and that is much more difficult for which to find a replacement.
That series of Latitudes was among the most rugged of laptops, though small. My wife and I carried ours all over Everest, Tibet, and Nepal without a hitch on long trips.
My guess is that a good tune-up would help. If you are still using the hard drive, it is time to upgrade it to a Seagate 80 GB or a Western Digital Momentus... I am surprised yours has not worn out already.
Take a close look at that external cable, and search for dirt and crud in you USB port... consider adding an external port... now under $30 for excellent ones with four UWB ports.
CD/DVD burners fail after about a year. Time to replace what you have... under $55 and sometimes as low as $25. Try another hard drive, clean your cpu fan with dust off.... a little rehab is usally all that wonderful Latitude needs...
Is it for sale?

 

[JonnyGolightly]

thanks for the advice. will get right on your suggestions.

no, it's not for sale. though, at some point if this problem doesn't get resolved it just might be.

thanks a bunch,

jonnygolightly