Endless stop code, critical process died

[chrischung]

Whenever I turn computer on, there's a blue screen that says stop code, and then critical process died. I tried restarting with safe mode, but it leads to the same thing. I tried it all, except for recovery media, which I have to order online.

I'm not sure if I should get the recovery media. The problem is, my computer used to be Windows 8, until I ungraded it to Win 10. But the recovery media that I'm thinking of ordering is for Windows 8, but not Win 10. Will the Windows 8 recovery kit still work on my Win 10 upgraded desktop?

[DavidPK]

Hi,

As the machine has been previously upgraded to 10, a hardware profile ( Digital Entitlement ) will have been recorded by the activation servers.

As long as the previous installation of Windows 10 had activated Ok after the upgrade from 8.1, you can just create your own installation media and perform a clean installation as detailed in the guide on the following link.  Note: At the activation screen, select 'I don't have a Product key' - Windows will activate automatically once the installation has completed.

http://www.howtogeek.com/224342/how-to-clean-install-windows-10/

Regards,

DP-K

[chrischung]

Thanks.

I got the Windows 10 media tool, then mounted on CD. I plan to use that on a new hard drive, because I did a system tune up, and it says that my Hard Disk Long DST failed.

Do I have to get a new Microsoft license? And could I just buy any SATA hard drive?

[DavidPK · Accepted solution]

Hi,

You can still use the method detailed in my previous post to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 on a new drive - small hardware changes such as replacing the HDD will not affect your license - At the activation screen, still select 'I don't have a Product key' - Windows will activate automatically once the installation has completed.

An example of the sort of drive you require is on the following link.

500Gb Hard Drive.

Or if you want a bit more storage:

1Tb Hard Drive.

If needed, an overview of replacing the HDD can be found on the link below.

http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-p2-Desktop-PC-series/5295976/model/5296905/document/c03046074...

Regards,

DP-K