So I was working on a laptop that was giving a BSOD after installation of WXP SP2. I could install SP1 just fine, and everything worked correctly, but I would always get that BSOD after SP2 was installed. I replicated this problem 3 different times after reformatting and installing again.

So I thought I would check out the Dell Technical Support chatroom. I figured that maybe there was maybe a driver they provided that was incompatible, and they could tell me that. Nope... I was really surprised at the ineptness that the tech showed. He tried about 10 different things, some of which I knew had nothing at all to do with the problem. He ended up telling me the hard drive was bad and I needed a new one, and was oh-so-eager to give me the link to the Dell store where I could buy a new one.

Well, I didn't think that was the problem as the drive passed a few drive fitness tests. But I decided to try it anyway... so I went to the local Best Buy and bought a cheap one on sale, which I figured I could return if it didn't work.

Well, it didn't work. Same problem. I entered the support chat again, and this time the tech told me that "maybe I wanted to stay away from SP2" because of the problems it was causing. I told him I thought it had something to do with the display adapter drivers, and he disagreed. I ended the conversation with him and booted into safe mode, disabled the display adapter, and rebooted. Bingo.

It's always nice to waste a few hours talking to tech support just to figure out the problem myself...