Original Title - Blue screenWhile updating a driver from microsoft I got a blue screen error. Since the blue screen I have encountered several promblems. When I start my computer I get an error box that says unable to create an instance of game shadow.api and I have no sound either. I am running windows xp. Also I am afraid of attempting to fix anything at this point because it seems as though when I tried to to a sysytem restore, (one of the fix methods from microsoft directly related to my blue screen error) It does not work. I disabled Norton product tamper protection because again microsft suggestion was, it can cause problem with restore points. Also prior to the attempt to update my driver , in hardware manager ther was a tab for multimedia with a question mark. What was listed was unimodem half duplex audio device, now it is gone. To no fail I have spent numerous hours trying to pull this all together with no resolve. Your help would be more than appreciated.

Hi SunyDaz2u, 1. Which driver were you updating when you got the BSOD error?2. What is the exact BSOD error displayed?Part 1:You may perform a hardware clean boot and check. Use the below provided steps to perform a hardware clean boot -a. Unplug all the external Devices.b. Start the System in Safe mode. Refer to the below link to start your computer in safe mode -http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222c. Go to Device mangerOpen Device Manager by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. In Device Manager, locate the device and right clickd. In Device Manager, locate the device, and if you wish to disable then double click the device and then click the Driver tab and click on disable.Device that can be disabled for doing a Hardware clean boot are 1. Video Cards.2. Sound Card. 3. Network Card. 4. USB Devices and controller (Please don’t do this if the customer is using USBkeyboard or Mouse or Wireless Keyboard or mouse.5. CD and DVD.6. Modems.7. Ports (serial and parallel).e. After doing this if you are able to Boot in Normal Mode try to enable the deviceone by one and check out which device is causing the issue .Try to install the latest driver for that device or contact the hardware vendor.Part 2:For sound issues you may refer to the below article and check if the steps provided assist you resolve the issue -http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307918Hope this helps.Thanks,Meghmala – Microsoft SupportVisit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think