So my PC BSoD on me this morning, and thankfully I caught the code this time: f4. I won't be able to start googling for answers until later, but if someone has a suggestion on what to do it would be appreciated.

Unless that suggestion is more time consuming and stressful than just reinstalling Windows 7, or installing Windows 10.

 

I may be wrong but I believe the f4 code is something to do with a hard drive failure/error. Check the cables that connect your HDD to the motherboard; unplug them and then put them back in. If you built the PC yourself you should have some spare cables so I'd suggest using new cables just to make sure. Reinstall your drivers in case the problem is software based and if that doesn't work you should consult the more experienced people on the internet.

My limited knowledge here comes from when I had recurring BSoDs on an old laptop.

 

Check your cables and boot to bios to make sure everything is detected properly. F4 seems to indicate a storage device, so it could be anything from a misplaced cable or a weird permission error to HD failure.

 

Don't freak out too much unless it happens too often. Computers run into errors all the time. As said above, it was probably just a permission error or some misappropriated code.

 

Thanks. I've got a list of things to do on the weekend that should cover all my bases. Worst comes to worst, I'll have to spend money to fix the problem (oh noes...).

 

I suggest you actually look up what F4 means in your motherboard manual. My own motherboard has F4 as "recovery firmware image is loaded" so they are not standardised across different boards.

 

You really should look at your dump file after the BSOD.

First, turn on dump file creation in Win 7: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/174459-dump-files-configure-windows-create-bsod.html

Go with the Small Memory Dump. A Complete MD will be the size of your RAM and a Kernal MD will be about 1/3 of that. A Small MD is less than 1MB and it usually has the information you need.

As soon as Windows creates a memory dump after a BSOD, follow these instructions about posting it on the SevenForums: http://www.sevenforums.com/bsod-help-support/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

Hopefully they can narrow down the cause for you.

 

That's the BIOS/UEFI codes, and they don't have anything to do with a Windows BSOD.