BSOD Reboots

Windows XP has a feature which is supposed to isolate the average user from the all-too-confusing BSOD – Blue Screen of Death. By default, when the system crashes due to a memory fault, bad driver, etc Windows will reboot. While this is fine when you have tech support staff to help you out, this does not help if you are the tech support and want to see the notoriously useful Stop 0×0000000A error (or similar).

To disable this “feature”, Right click on “My Computer” and select “Properties” (or alternatively, open the system applet in your control panel). Click on the “Advanced” Tab and click on the “Settings” button under Startup and Recovery.

This will bring up a dialog box where you can uncheck “Automatically Restart”. Save and exit and next time your system won’t reboot.