Ok, so heres the rundown.

This morning, I woke up, and got on the laptop like I usually do. Its an old machine, from around 05.



Ok. So, I get on, and open up a program that I house on a flash drive. The drive stays in the computer about 24/7. I got an error message saying it couldnt find the file. So, I unplugged the flash, and reinserted. I noticed the LED wasnt lit. The computer proceeded to find 'new hardware' 'usb storage device'. The drive appeared in the 'My Computer' folder. It wasnt named what I had it named as. I clicked, and got the 'Please insert disc into Drive X.' So, I just unplugged it, and went about my life. About 20 minutes later, not sure if this is associated, my comp. bluescreens. It restarted immediately, so I couldnt see any numbers, or useful info.

Anyways, Im kinda scared right now. Should I be? Is there any chance that the 2 instances were related? Is there any way to salvage what was on my flash drive?

Thanks in advance.

Ok, I don't know if you solved that problem yet or not, but since nobody else posted I'll try and answer!

The Bluescreen CAN'T be related to the flash drive, since you only saved programs there that are irrelevant to windows itself, or your hardware... (like drivers and stuff)

If you get a bluescreen again, try to read EXACTLY why it was caused...
I get bluescreens from time to time too.
Mostly you only need to update for example your graphics driver...
(I have that problem because of the hybrid graphics but that's another story...
I think your notebook doesn't have hybrid graphics.)

Possible causes for the Flash drive problem:
Usb port damaged,
Flash drive damaged.
I can't think of more...

Solutions:
Try to use your drive on other computers to make sure it still works properly...
Try to use something else on that USB port...
(No matter what)

I personally think the problem lies within the flash drive...

So... check it out and pm me about the answer, maybe it's a whole different problem.



PS: what service pack do you have installed?