How do I get rid of the "Blue Screen" (of death)

Is there a Tech Person out there who can help me get rid of a Blue Screen on my laptop?

It happened a couple of weeks ago, my Son had just installed an update for Vista which was an Automatic download thru' Microsoft, and after the installation a Blue Screen appeared saying "Windows has found a problem and has shut down so as not to cause further problems (or words to that affect).

Anyway my Son Joe (he has built a few Desktop computers and knows how to do that pretty good) but he can't fix this Blue Screen problem other than to replace the Hard Drive and reinstall the Operating software - (which he has done) and he was/is going to try to get my Files and Data off of the old Hard Drive by useing another computer (his) and a different operating system.

My Question is: Does anyone know how to get rid of this Blue Screen any other way??

Thank's, John.