Stop the Auto Restart After a BSOD in Windows 7, Vista, and XP
When Windows encounters a serious error,the default action is to automatically restart your PC, presumably to get you back up and running quickly.
The problem with this default behavior is that it gives you less than a second to read the error message on the screen. It's nearly possible to see what caused the error in that amount of time.
The automatic restart on system failure can be disabled, which gives you time to read and write down the error so you can begin troubleshooting.
After you disable automatic restart on system failure, Windows will hang on the error screen indefinitely, meaning that you'll need to restart your computer manually to escape the message.
Disabling Automatic Restart in Windows Vista
- Click the Start button and choose Control Panel.
- Click on System and Maintenance. (If you don't see it because you are viewing in Classic View, double-click on the System icon and to go Step 4.)
- Click the System link.
- Select Advanced system settings from the panel on the left of the screen.
- In the Startup and Recovery section near the bottom of the screen, click Settings.
- In the Startup and Recovery window, uncheck the checkbox next to Automatically restart.
- Click OK in the Startup and Recovery window.
- Click OK in the System Properties window and close the System window.
hope it helped