How to Fix Blue Screen Errors
Blue screen errors, or blue screen of death (BSOD) errors, are the most severe errors Windows can encounter. Since Windows can not recover from this kernel level error, a blue screen is displayed with the error details. The error details contain a STOP error code, which indicates the type of error.
There are a lot of possible causes for blue screen errors, but most of them relate to the computer hardware. The cause of a BSOD error can be a temperature problem, a timing error, a resource conflict, hardware failure, a corrupt registry, a virus or simply a device incompatibility or driver error.
How to analyze blue screen errors
The first thing to do to analyze a blue screen error is to check the meaning of the STOP error code. You need to stop Windows from rebooting when a STOP error is encountered. Once the blue screen of death is shown, you can check the meaning of the STOP error code. Together with the filename of the driver or module, this will give an indication of the error cause.
Another option to analyze the cause of the blue screen error is to look at the Windows system event log or to debug the memory dump (minidump) that Windows created when the error occurred. The event log can be viewed using the event viewer. Right-click Computer in the Start menu, and then select Manage. In the Computer Management window select Event Viewer. The information in the event log can be of great help to isolate the cause of the blue screen error.
Within the Event Viewer, use the right-hand pane to create a custom view and select a date range or specific event category to nowwor down the events relating to the blue screen error.
Windows can also be configured to create a minidump of the current state when a critical error happens. Reading the minidump requires a bit more technical knowledge, but Microsoft has tools to read the minidump. Read more about how to analyze Windows minidump files if you want to use the crash dump file to find the cause of a Windows stop error.
The most common cause of blue screen errors
In reality, the most common cause of blue screen errors is a device driver problem. Outdated, incorrect or corrupt drivers can cause the system to encounter a STOP error, resulting in the BSOD.
So the easiest way to try and fix a blue screen error is to reinstall and update your system’s device drivers. This will ensure that all driver bugs are fixed and that all hardware has the correct driver.
If you know which device caused the error, you can update or reinstall that driver first. The file name in the blue screen of death can help identify the driver. Look for a file with the .SYS extension and search for that file name.
If you do not have the drivers for all devices, or are not comfortable updating your PC’s drivers manually, you can use a driver update tool to find, download and update all device drivers for you. Such tools will accurately identify your computer hardware, including any device causing an error, and automatically install the latest drivers for it.
In most cases updating or reinstalling drivers will solve your blue screen errors.
Other causes of blue screen errors
However, if updating device drivers does not fix the blue screen error, there are a number of additional things to try:
- Load the default BIOS values – resource conflicts and timing issues can be caused by incorrect BIOS settings.
- Update the BIOS – especially after adding new hardware or installing a Windows service pack this can help fix issues.
- Update Windows – missing updates, including service packs can be a source of stop errors.
- Check your system – run a virus scan after updating your definition files.
- Run a memory test to check your computer’s RAM. Memory faults can easily cause blue screen errors, so see if your RAM is error free. Vista and later Windows versions have a built-in option to test the memory, for XP you can use a program called memtest86.
- Driver rollback – if you have recently updated a driver, you can use the driver rollback to revert back to the previous driver version.
List of STOP Errors Causing BSOD:
- Stop 0x00000003 UNSYNCHRONIZED_ACCESS
- Stop 0x0000000A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
- Stop 0x0000001E KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
- Stop 0x00000023 FAT_FILE_SYSTEM
- Stop 0x00000024 NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
- Stop 0x0000002E DATA_BUS_ERROR
- Stop 0x0000003F NO_MORE_SYSTEM_PTES
- Stop 0x00000044 MULTIPLE_IRP_COMPLETE_REQUESTS
- Stop 0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
- Stop 0x0000006B PROCESS1_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
- Stop 0x00000073 CONFIG_LIST_FAILED
- Stop 0x00000074 BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO
- Stop 0x00000076 PROCESS_HAS_LOCKED_PAGES
- Stop 0x00000077 KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR
- Stop 0x00000079 MISMATCHED_HAL
- Stop 0x0000007A KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
- Stop 0x0000007B INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
- Stop 0x0000007E SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
- Stop 0x0000007F UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
- Stop 0x0000008E KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
- Stop 0x0000009C MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION
- Stop 0x0000009F DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
- Stop 0x000000BE ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY
- Stop 0x000000C2 BAD_POOL_CALLER
- Stop 0x000000C4 DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
- Stop 0x000000CA PNP_DETECTED_FATAL_ERROR
- Stop 0x000000CB DRIVER_LEFT_LOCKED_PAGES_IN_PROCESS
- Stop 0x000000CE DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATIONS
- Stop 0x000000D1 DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
- Stop 0x000000D5 DRIVER_PAGE_FAULT_IN_FREED_SPECIAL_POOL
- Stop 0x000000D8 DRIVER_USED_EXCESSIVE_PTES
- Stop 0x000000DA SYSTEM_PTE_MISUSE
- Stop 0x000000EA THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
- Stop 0x000000ED UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
- Stop 0x000000F2 HARDWARE_INTERRUPT_STORM
- Stop 0x000000F4 CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION
- Stop 0x000000FC ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY
- Stop 0x000000FE BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER
- Stop 0xC0000218 UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR
- Stop 0xC000021A STATUS_SYSTEM_PROCESS_TERMINATED
- Stop 0xC0000221 STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
- Stop 0xC0000244 STATUS_AUDIT_FAILED
A complete list of error codes can be found on the Microsoft MSDN website.
Please share your own experiences with blue screen of death errors, including possible solutions. New insights can help others, or maybe we can help you with specific STOP errors.
Dear Anthony,
I realy need help I don’t know how fix this BSOD problem like this;
A PROBLEM HAS BEEN DETECTED AND WINDOWS HAS BEEN SHUTDOWN TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER
IF THIS IS THE FIRST FIND YOU’VE SEEN THIS STOP ERROR SCREEN
RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. IF THIS SCREEN APPEARS AGAIN FOLLOW THESE STEPS.
CHECK FOR VIRUSES YOUR COMPUTER. REMOVE ANY NEWLY INSTALLED HARD DRIVE OR DRIVE CONTROLLERS.
CHECK YOUR HARD DRIVE RUN CHKDSK/F TO CHECK HARD FOR HARD DRIVE CORRUPTION AND RESTART AGAIN COMPUTER.
*** STOP: 0x 000000713 (OXF7802524,0XC00000034, 000000,000000 ).
could you please to help me, to find error?
Thank you very much.
@James – Most likely it is a Vista system, because this is a know error (see Microsoft KB946084). They have a hotfix for it as can be seen in the KB article.
But a better and simpler method is to use a Windows 7 install disc since that will fix the problem on your hard disk automatically. For details on that, see Microsoft KB970101.
Basically it means boot from the Windows 7 install disc, and then simply cancel out the setup process.
Hope this helps!
Hello I realy need help I don’t know how all this works but i got a blue screen and don’t know how to fix it I tryed almost everything I could I got a dell laptop don’t know if it vista or xpand everytime I try to do safe mode it brings me back to blue screen but my stop code says this: 0x0000c1f5 (0xFFFFFFFFc01a000a, 0xFFFFFa8004006000, 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000) and any help is great thanks
@moonstone – You will need a boot CD in that case. Either a recovery disc or a Windows installation disk.
You could try going into the bios and load the default settings, but that might not help.
i cannot even start it in safe mode so how can i fix it. After pressing F8 and trying all options, it just keeps returning to blue screen of death. any advice?
@Calvin – If you had a floppy drive, you could still try to download the setup disks from Microsoft.
Depending on your laptop make and model, there could also be a recovery partition on the hard disk. In that case you need to follow the instructions in the laptop manual on how to recover from that (in most cases some function key during boot).
So there’s no hope for my laptop? :\
@Calvin – There are multiple possible causes, so specific steps are not possible until we know the cause. Did anything specific happen before you got the error, or did you install any new software or hardware?
In any case, make sure you have no USB devices plugged and remove any discs in the CD/DVD drive. Then check the BIOS (Del or F2 key during startup) and make sure the hard disk is recognized as a bootable device.
After that you can try the F8 key during boot to get in the boot menu, but I fear you are going to need a Windows recovery or installation CD.
And I can’t find my recovery discs,so reformatting is out. : /
Sorry,but I don’t really understand the steps.(really sorry..) Is there something … like specific steps I should take to fix this problem? : /
@Calvin – Please have a look at my comment #43, which pertains stop error 0x0000007B. Also make sure you do not have an external hard disk plugged during boot, that can also cause problems if the disk is not bootable.
Hey,my Windows XP laptop has this blue screen error.
Stop 0×0000007B
Please tell me how to fix this as soon as possible!
@Anthony: I lol’d when you said that ;_D
Thanks and take it east Anthony
@John – Stop error 0x0000007E is mostly related to driver problems. Do you see any .SYS file name in the BSOD screen?
@william – Let’s hope it was a one time error then…
@Shouldube & Joris – What I have seen that in most cases stop error 0X00000124 relates to disk errors. Check your HDD setup and controller configuration for things like DMA access and SATA modes. Can be a bios selection or even a motherboard jumper/switch. Go with the lower modes to verify.
(I am assuming you checked and updated all the device drivers already).
I have Vista
@Anthony
I’ve checked my Ram with windows memorytest and no errors were found.
I’ve checked the overheating with Hot CPU Tester Pro(Lite Edition) 4.4.1
and these were the results:
Test Started at: 00:01:34
Test Duration: 06:00:04
Physical Processors Available: 2
Logical Processors Available: 2
Multi-Processors System(SMP): Available
Hyper-Threading Technology: Not Available
CPU Name String: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
Speed: 2911MHz
Logical Processors Tested: CPU 0, CPU 1
Average CPU(s) Performance: 100.0%
Modules Results:
Complex Matrix: Finished without error
Calculating Pi: Finished without error
Sorting Algorithms: Finished without error
Prime Test: Finished without error
Fast Fourier Transforms:
Chipset:
L1 Cache:
L2 Cache:
Memory: Finished without error
HD: File Exception error:SHARE.EXE was not loaded, or a shared region was locked:CPU 0: A sharing violation occurred while accessing an unnamed file.
MMX: Finished without error
SSE:
SSE2/SSE3:
3DNow!:
No errors except fore the file exception error. (but i don’t think that’s the cause)
I’ve read also on the web that you should disable C1E in your BIOS, but i don’t find that in mine (I have a Gigabyte GA-M52L-S3).
With the STOP 0x00000124 there are also 4 other codes between () The firs and the last are always the same (i think) but the midlle two are always different. Last time it was:
STOP 0x00000124 (0x00000000 / 0x86165028 / 0xF6404000 / 0x00000135)
I really need your help, i don’t have a clue what’s wrong with it.
Please can someone help me…i have a SONY VAIO VGN-FE41Z….which
works ok on battery..but if you connect power supply it will start giving fault (blue screen ) there is no time limit has it could happen at anytime……Thanks
STOP>>0X00000124 (0X00000000,0X8588B024,0XB2000040,0X00000800)
COLLECTING DATA FOR CRASH DUMP…
INITIALIZING DISK FOR CRASH DUMP…
BEGINNING DUMP OF PHYICAL MEMORY.
DUMPING PHYSICAL MEMORY TO DISK..100
PHYSICAL MEMORY DUMP COMPLETE..
@Anthony: Like an average user I’m running Windows XP~ SP3. I hope my pc isn’t on it’s death bed :(
It hasn’t run into any errors since (Involving that blank blue screen). Maybe it was just a hardware malfunction, just not within the written stop conditions?
I’m having a blue screen issue that I cant seem to find a reason for :
STOP: 0X0000007E (0XC0000005, 0X8A91DBCB, 0XF78D26A4, OXF78D23A0)
Thanks in advance for the help
@Joris – What is your Windows version?
One cause I know of is a HDD configuration problem, typically occurring after bios updates. Check your Bios settings to make sure everything is as it should be.
The fact that it occurs after some time also indicates a possible heating problem, so if you are overclocking, try disabling that (again in the Bios), and make sure you have enough ventilation around your PC.
An older cause is a audio/video driver conflict, but if you already tried updating and reinstalling all drivers, that should not be it, although games do use the video and audio intensively.
Hello,
I’m dealing with a blue screen STOP 0x00000124 and i can’t find the problem.
I’ve already updated everything but it didn’t helped.
The stop occurs while playing games, and most of the time after an hour or more.
What can i do?
@William – What Windows version are you running? The BSOD screen should show some information as to the type of error…
@Jai – Are you certain the AV software is a valid anti-virus software? Stop error 0×0000006F is often related to wrong device drivers, but in many cases this is actually due to invalid, malicious device driver files. Good AV software should be able to identify and fix the virus or trojan files. What is the AV software your school suggested and did you download it or get it on a CD?
anthony,
i have a 2month old laptop running windows vista, and after i installed an anti-virus tht my school suggestd i download i started getting the BSOD with error:
0x0000006F
SESSION3_INITIALIZATION_FAILED
can you help me please?
-Jai
Just now My computer stroked out in a BSOD, but there were no error codes! Luckily I was able to resuscitate my terminal with some defibrillators. Can anyone help me find out about this BSOD with no stop codes or even text for that matter and how to prevent it!??! (It’s possible that I have faulty ram and that my hardware ran into some temperature issues) PS~ My RAM are about Eight years old…
@David – You can format the disk in a different PC, but after that you need to insert it into the original PC and then install Windows from CD. That way the Windows configuration (drivers) will match the original PC’s configuration.
They way you did it (if I understand right), the Windows configuration is based on the motherboard, chipset and bios of the other PC, will will definitely not work in the original PC.