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 Outdated, incorrect or corrupt drivers can cause the system to encounter a STOP error, resulting in the BSOD.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.
@Nicole – You cannot boot into Safe Mode at all? Considering the history, you should really try uninstalling Active Shield, and then maybe reinstall it.
@Anthony. Thanks so much for your quick response! I tried unplugging the tower for a few minutes but that didn’t work. I can get into the BIOS menu by pressing F2 but there isn’t any option to set BIOS to default that I can see. Can this possibly be fixed in the recovery console? I’ve already tried chkdsk /r but it didn’t work. I want to avoid going into the motherboard if at all possible. I’m kind of nervous about doing that.
@gudd – A bios update can definitely have serious consequences. In general updating the bios is a good idea, but in rare cases you can run into compatibility issues with existing hardware. If you noticed the blue screen error happening after updating, it is a good idea to update the bios with the older version to see if that solves the problem.
Regarding the Recovery Console, you can type “help” to see the available commands. “fixboot” will rewrite the boot record, and you can use the “chkdsk” command to check the disk.
@Nicole – Reinstalling Active Shield might have been a better option. Anyway, you can first try unplugging the computer from the power for a few minutes and then plugging it back. Another thing to try is to go into the Bios (F2 or Del in most cases) and load the default bios settings. Removing the bios battery could help, but that basically also resets your bios.
ANTHONY SO I DID EXACTLY LIKE YOU SAID CONCERNING THE REPAIRS BUT I AM TAKING INTO THE COMMAND PROMPT , WHAT COMMANDS DO I USE THEN TO REPAIR THE OS
“@Anthony – I’d first suggest that you try to rollback your audio and video drivers to see it that helps. The try updating them to the latest version.
If the drivers do not resolve it, you should check the hard disk access configuration.”
How would i go about doing this?
@Anthony. Hello! I am having serious problems! 2 days ago, I was doing a system restore because some components were missing on my active shield. This has happened before and system restore fixed the problem. Anyway, right when the system restore was finishing, the BSOD appeared and gave the code 0x0000007E (0xC0000005, 0x805E492E, 0xF97013BC, 0x697010B8. I have tried everything to fix this and nothing works. I can’t get into windows at all. I’ve tried the recovery console and its not working. I read somewhere that going into the motherboard and removing the battery for a few seconds and putting it back in helps. I haven’t tried that yet. Please help me!! I’m desperate and out of options at this point!! Thank you! And, btw, I have a Dell Dimension 3000.
Thanks anthony … your answers are real quick .. anyway my system also ran on an A14 instead of an A16 DELL BIOS , do you think this might have also been a problem ?
@Anthony – I’d first suggest that you try to rollback your audio and video drivers to see it that helps. The try updating them to the latest version.
If the drivers do not resolve it, you should check the hard disk access configuration.
@kay – You will need a Windows recovery or Windows startup disc to boot from and then do a Repair in the setup menu. If you have a recovery partition, you can try F11 to access that, but in most cases you can only do a full factory recovery, which means you would loose everything on the disk (personal documents). Okay if you have a backup of course….
@gudd – Hard to say for sure at this moment. Once you can boot again, you should certainly run a memory test to make sure the RAM Is not faulty. Other hardware is less likely to be at fault, more often than not, blue screen errors are driver errors.
Hey Anthony thanks very much …. so its more of a software problem than a hardware problem right ?
my laptop has the Stop 0×0000000A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL stop error. my laptop cant even start up. i try to go on safe mode but it doesnt do that, it just goes straight to the blue screen. HELP PLEASE!!!!
“@Anthony – Stop error 0×00000124 is not too common, and I know of a few possible causes, depending on the Windows version. One option is a driver conflict between audio and video drivers, so try rolling back those driver or update them to see if that helps.
Another option is related to disk access, which could be due to a raid configuration or a 32 bit disk access misconfiguration.
Which OS are you running?”
I am running Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2 64-bit Operating system.
@Anthony – Stop error 0x00000124 is not too common, and I know of a few possible causes, depending on the Windows version. One option is a driver conflict between audio and video drivers, so try rolling back those driver or update them to see if that helps.
Another option is related to disk access, which could be due to a raid configuration or a 32 bit disk access misconfiguration.
Which OS are you running?
@rathi – Stop error 0x00000024 is related to the NTFS file system. First thing to do (assuming you can start Windows) is to run a disk check (CHKDSK /F in a command prompt). Also try updating or rolling back your disk controller drivers, which could be IDE/ATA or SCSI drivers.
@sid/gudd – I thought it was the same person :)
If you can not boot into safe mode, you will need to use a recovey disc or a Windows setup CD/DVD. Boot from it and start the Repair option.
i posted the new message as SID …. Thats still me gudd / sid
Antoni … thanks for your quick reply , I tried to get into safe mode and i still couldn’t get in because of the blue screen popped up again
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.
DISABLE OR UNINSTALL ANY ANTI-VIRUS, DISK DEFRAGMENTATION OR BACKUP UTILITIES. CHECK YOUR HARD DRIVE CONFIGURATION, AND CHECK FOR ANY UPDATED DRIVERS. RUN CHK DSK/F TO CHECK FOR HARD DRIVE CORRUPTION, AND THEN RESTART YOUR COMPUTER.
*** STOP: 0x 00000024 (OX00190203, OX867BB568, OXC0000102, OX00000000 ).
could you please to help me, to find error?
Thank you very much.
RATHI
Hey Anthony, i am having BSOD errors that i could not find on your list, could you tell me what they mean and how to fix them? The “Technical information” It listed when it BSOD’d was “Stop: 0x00000124 (0x0000000000000000, 0xFFFFFA8008BAF030, 0x00000000B2000040, 0x0000000000000800)” Get back to me!
Thank you!
@gudd – Windows will by default indeed restart automatically on a blue screen error. You can change that, but you first need to boot your system again.
Try pressing F8 during boot and in the start menu, select Safe Mode.
If that works, you can change the automatic booting (Control Panel->System). You can also check the event manager for error events and the device manager for device errors.
Once you have an idea about the cause, you can try and fix it (depends on the stop error code).
hey antoni , This is what my blue screen is like , I have a dell latitude d600 and it has a problem . Whenever i put it on as soon as it boots completely and gets to the welcome page of windows xp , a blue screen with some number codes pops up and it restarts the system .
Anthoni, i have free download for vistabootpro from this link..
http://en.kioskea.net/telecharger/download-126-vista-boot-pro
thanks
@Anthony, Usually we install a newer version in the first and the second old version will there is a problem with boot manager but i have read the tutorial from this link http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/8057-dual-boot-installation-windows-7-xp.html
btw thank you for your replied
@Paul – Stop error 0x00000024 is a NTFS file system error, which basically means there is a problem with the disk. I guess you can not start it in Safe Mode as well, right? If so, you can do a “chkdsk /r” at the command prompt. If not, you will need to use a recovery or installation CD/DVD to start from and them run the repair option.
@kenji – Just to point out, if you want t dual boot system like that, make sure you install XP first and then Windows 7, otherwise you will have boot manager problems.
Stop error 0x0000007B does indicate you have a problem with your boot device. Normally you might be able to repair it with VistaBootPro. Unfortunately it is not free anymore, I think it used to be earlier.
Anthony, thank you for quick reply, I have notebook with OEM windows 7 and I have error 0×00000713… after tried installed dual boot in the second partition with windows xp deluxe edition , just now I repaired with cd system repair disc, and back to windows 7.
The first time I tried installed with boot from CD windows xp professional sp3 to second partition , when start up disc, the display got error 0×000007B
any solution for this case?
Thank you
I reset all my BIOS settings, and that did not work:
Technical information:
0x00000024 (0x00190203, 0x86D6C460, 0X00000000)
I get a BSOD everytime I try and start up my laptop. I cannot start it any any other mode either……..any hope?
@kenji99 – I have never seen any report on stop error 0x00000719…
Is this the first time you ever see it? And does it happen every time you start Windows? Lastly what Windows version is this?
Normally the first steps are to undo what you did just before the blue screen, so uninstall any software if you just installed any, unplug any device if you plugged any new (USB) device, or roll back the (driver) update.
If you did not change anything before the BSOD, try running a memory test first.