Computer Keeps Crashing To Bsod

[MichaelZZ]

(This message is sent from a friend's computer!)

My PC has recently started shutting down to Blue Screen either during reboot or after a very short time after booting in Safe Mode.

I have disabled Autorestart so at least I am able to read all the stuff on the blue screens.
I get a number of different Stop Codes and it doesn't seem to matter whether I am attempting to start Normally, in Safe Mode or in Safe Mode with Networking.
Sometimes I can get into Safe Mode and then I can actually access files. Occasionally, I can get onto the Internet when in Safe Mode with Networking and very occasionally i can get in to the Internet with a Normal start.
However none of these situations lasts very long before I get a BSOD with one of half a dozen Stop Codes.
My PC is just 4 years old, running Vista Home Premium and has a lot of free disc space. All my photos are backed up to an external HD; some of my documents are not.
Someone has suggested I need a new motherboard, someone else has suggested it's a hard drive issue. I don't particularly want to reinstal Windows if I don't have to and similarly, I don't want to install a new motherboard if I don't have to. (Although I do feel competent to do either of these things.)
I have not installed any new hardware or programs and to the best of my knowledge I am up to date with Windows updates.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what I can do, please.

Could it be a driver problem and how can I make sure my drivers are current?

Many thanks in advance.

[rojash]

"I have disabled Autorestart so at least I am able to read all the stuff on the blue screens."

Unfortunately, the fact that you can read the stuff is not much help to us, unless you are willing to share it.

[daffy654]

I would say hard drive failure. If the PC is 4 years old it may be time to just bite the bullet and invest in a new one rather than trying to keep the old one alive.

[Old_Geezer]

Boot off a bootable CD/DVD and see if the issue still occurs. If it does then it is probably more drastic than a hard drive issue. If the PC stays up try running a disk check application on your hard drive.

[pinkyboyid]

As OG says, try booting with another system.

In-line with that advice you could try creating a Boot-able Vista Recovery CD that has some diagnostics checks available to run on your system, including memory checking which could be a potential cause of the problem. Info on how to go about downloading and creating a Vista Recovery CD can be found here:
http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/26/no-vista-installation-cd-you-can-still-download-a-vista-recover/

[MichaelZZ]

Sorry Rojash.
The Stop Codes that I see include (last few characters only): 00A, 050, 0C5,
024, 01E, 0D1, 07F, and error messages include "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" sometimes with the word "DRIVER" in front, and "Run the driver verifier against any new or suspect drivers. Try enabling special pool"
As I said originally, this problem occurred suddenly last week. The PC is only 4 years old and I would very much like to be able to get it going again rather than splash out a lot of money for a new one.
I would be very grateful foe any help you can offer.