Windows 8 Critical Process Died - Blue Screen

[l8o7]

Hey, I was away from my computer when this happened, but when I came back I just saw a blue screen that said "Critical Process Died" - when I restarted there was a black screen at startup and two lines that said (I think) "Checking Media [Fail]", followed by another "Checking Media [Fail]"...other than that I can use the computer fine but when my computer (which is a laptop) goes into standby mode (monitor goes blank) after 15 minutes or whatever, or when I close the laptop, and try to open it up again and get it to start, nothing happens. Can anybody help?

 

[plaintuts]

set your power option to high performance, if your still able to do so.
is your laptop no longer responsive?

 

[l8o7]

I can still use it. I only notice the lack of function when the computer enters into standby mode, like when I close the laptop, or leave it idle for 15 minutes or whatever. It can still turn off and turn on and I can still use it.

Also, how do I set the PC to high performance?

 

[plaintuts]

usually theres a battery icon on the system tray, you can just right click then choose your power options. if not, go to control panel > hardware and sound > power options > then choose power plan.

it might be that your laptop is set to hibernate when you close it.

 

[l8o7]

OK, but what does "Checking media [Fail]" mean?

 

[plaintuts]

Thats a liitle to vague for me to diagnose. But that could probably one of your laptops application for media and such. Different laptops will come preinstalled with their manufacturers bloatware.
Try using a usb drive with someting on it, then before you power on your laptop, place it in a usb slot then check for any reaction.

 

[l8o7]

Ok, now I'm getting a blue screen crash with a different message: Kernel Data Inpage Error. Help?

 

[plaintuts]

please explain what happened before the blue screen.

 

[l8o7]

First, another thing: now sometimes when I restart the computer, after "Checking Media [Fail]" I get a message that says "No boot device found. Press any key to restart" but sometimes it doesn't show, so sometimes I can actually use the computer.

As for before the blue screen, it was like before, I didn't really see anything happen, the screen froze for a moment (programs not responding etc) then the programs closed, icons disappeared from desktop and I got the blue screen.

Is this a hardware or software issue?

 

[plaintuts]

ok this may sound particularly bad. but first "just to be sure" completely turn off your laptop. remove it from the plug and remove the battery for 10 seconds.

next, put the battery back in, plug your laptop to the power outlet.

then before turning it on, lift your laptop and listen carefully at the left side. if you hear a "clicking" noise. post back.

 

[l8o7]

Didn't hear a clicking

 

[plaintuts]

you didn't specify if it booted to windows... if it does open some applications, copy and paste large files to a different location then listen.

 

[l8o7]

I don't understand your instructions. Can you please explain a bit more?

 

[plaintuts]

well basically just try to get back to windows... then look for some of your files or a folder thats 1 gigabytes big or more copy that file, then create a new folder on desktop and paste in there.

what were trying to do is diagnose the stability of your hard disk, a large enough file will over work a failed HDD and produce the "clicking" noise.

 

[l8o7]

Ok, all done. I heard A noise - I don't know if I would call it a "clicking" sound.

 

[plaintuts]

well its still inconsistent.. do you have a movie file? play that movie on mute, then listen. if none do the file transfer again...

im just making sure so that we wont make wrong assumptions.

 

[l8o7]

Nope, nothing. Incidentally, before I copied the files (the first time) my computer just froze up completely. Don't know if that's relevant or not.

 

[plaintuts]

yup thats about it.. just for safety you should back up your files to an external HDD or a usb drive only the important stuff.

there are still other methods to try, which involves doing things in the bios and windows programs... but its pretty safe to say your hard drive is dying.. in a sense, because most HDD dont fail outright they just continually degrade in performance.

copying the files also means reading from the disk and pasting the files in-turns writes on the disk,

but I may still be wrong, so the only course of action is to get another hard disk, replace the old one, install windows on it then see if the problem persist. well.. if the problem did persist even by replacing the drive then that would be far worst.

if your not comfortable with replacing parts on your laptop, best to send it to a technician.

as for my diagnosis of what happened, your HDD had frequent power failure maybe due to the power options constantly turning the hard drive off to save power causing header-crash, which means the drive is spinning 5000rpms then abruptly stopping, causing damage. well its kinda hard to pinpoint what exactly is causing this, but thats the general reason behind it.

you can still try to re-install windows and check if it will solve this, but if not....