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 Outdated, incorrect or corrupt drivers can cause the system to encounter a STOP error, resulting in the BSOD.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.
Do you burn the zip file to the CD or extract them first and then burn the .ISO file to the CD?
Okay…I made the CD, but now I am getting a little nervous on the process to boot from the CD. What are the correct steps. Please and Thank You! Not sure if this helps but I have a HP AMD Phenom II x 4 810 Processor 8g memory. Running Windows 7 Home Premium
@Lon – Check the memtest86 website. Select Free Download in the left-hand menu and then you can download a bootable CD image (.iso file). Burn it and boot from it.
Your seemingly random errors do point to a possible RAM error indeed.
I ran the sfc /scannow after reading some of your previous posts. It found errors, but stated that it could not fix some of them. While I was reading the command prompt screen about the above listed results I got another blue screen with a MEMORY_MANAGEMENT error message this time. I have seen you post about the “memtest86” before how do you use it or access it? FYI, I also received another blue screen when I was using McAfee to scan for viruses. Thanks in advance!!
@Lon – First thing I’d try is to run a memory test to see if there is no RAM error (use memtest86 or similar). Apart from that, also try “sfc /scannow” at the command prompt (with admin rights) to check and correct your Windows 7 system files.
I have had this desktop HP less than two months running WIN7. I am getting BSOD randomly every day. With the following error message:
This was likely caused by the following module: ntoskrnl.exe
Bugcheck code: 0x50 (0xFFFFF6A000001790, 0x0, 0xFFFFF80002A93AE2, 0x5)
Error: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
Dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\122809-31574-01.dmp
file path: C:\Windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: NT Kernel & System
Any ideas on where I can start troubleshooting from?
@Bencleric – Thanks for your comments!
You can definitely have more than 2 partitions when you install XP, but it is important to keep the proper sequence during installation. The boot.ini entries in Windows are based on disk and partition numbers, so mismatches can result in a BSOD with the UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error.
The chkdsk command is always a good option to try, but there is no need for all the cd.. commands, you can simply use “chkdsk c: /f” to specify the drive. The “/f” parameter is also required for the program to actually fix bad sectors, otherwise it will only check the disk.
2nd option. if you got same problem with the death of blue screen. and you dont need to reformat anything. all you need to do is
restart your computer… after it loads the bios came out press F8
and then choose safe mode. after safe mode choose administrator
after you done those steps
go to run then type cmd
in command prompt just write cd..
cd..
cd..
you have to write it 3times
after that one write the word CHKDSK
wait until it will say completed.
chkdsk can repair the bad sector if your hard drive. and it will fix some of the hardware that was malfunction by software.
Goodluck
i had this problem before. the blue screen of death. i try to reformat one of the desktop of my friend. and the installation is running. in the middle of the installation the BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH came out. so what i did, i change the number of the partition of the main drive. coz the hard disk capacity is 160GB. the first i made is 3 partition while C is 70gb and D is 50 and E is existing number of drive. after installing in C the windows, blue screen come out. so i decided to change the partition. i made the C to 100GB and other remaining number of drive i made it D. and i install it. and everything goes perfect. the death of blue screen didnt come out anymore. perfect… everything goes smooth. and i just made a new partition in device management after i finish install the windows.
ya , i updated it from intel and hasn’t given any prob so far. thanks a lot!!
@gudd – Glad you fixed it. Happy holidays :)
@sushant – The igxprd32.dll error often comes up in combination with a display error, so the flipped screen makes sense in a way. The first thing to try is to update or reinstall your video drivers. Even try uninstalling them, let Windows install the default driver and then update them with the latest video driver from the right manufacturer (probably NVidia, ATI or Intel).
Hey Anthony , i just fixed my windows XP boot error …Thanks :)
Hi Anthony, i am having error with a file igxprd32. i am getting a BSOD due to that. also my entire screen gets flipped first and then i get a BSOD. can u help me please?
thanks
@Tracey – Try running “sfc /scannow” from a command prompt (as administrator) to check and correct your Vista system files. Also have a look at the device manager to see if there are any devices that are in error, you might need to reinstall drivers for those.
One last general tip is to run an antivirus scan (full system scan). All this can be done in safe mode.
@Ras – Did you check my reply in comment #28? That was related to the acpi.sys file, and yours seems to be related to the video card. Did you try reinstalling your ATI video drivers?
@Johan – The software you are running should not be a problem, although you need to be very careful with torrent files as they often have viruses or trojans.
What is the stop error code in your blue screen error?
Hey there, I just bought sony Vaio FW 590FEB series,
within 6 days of usage, I experienced 4 bsod.
The windows is shut down to prevent…bla…bla…bla
Bad_Caller (something2) I am not sure
But it happens when I was running VLC media player, Utorrent (2 downstream), and Google Chrome (9 tabs)….
Is it because of software or hardware problem??
thanks!!
Hi Anthony.
BSOD error 0×00000050
(0×FFFFFFE, 0×00000000, 0×8A0F4511, 0×00000000).
ati 3duag.dll address 8A0F4511 base at 8A0E0000 Datestamp 411c2ole
OS Version:6_1_7600
Service Pack:0_0
Product: 256_1
Please help me. Thanks alot.
HELP!!!
Problem event name: Bluescreen
OS version: 6.0.63002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 3081
BCCode: a
BCP1: 83DFFD40
BCP2: 00000002
BCP3: 00000001
BCP4: 828D5C98
OS version: 6_0_6002
Service pack: 2_0
Product: 768_1
I don’t have an installation disc as computer came loaded with Vista.
What can I do, I only can operate in safe mode and cannot access the internet?
HELP!!!!!
@gudd – There is no harm in trying both, but I’d suggest you run the chkdsk /r first.
@damien – Can you see the stop error code on the blue screen?
The automatic reboot is default in Windows when a blue screen error occurs.
You probably will need a Windows recovery disc or a setup disk to run a repair.
my problem is after the blue screen and reboot it will not log onto any of the options ie safe mode without rebooting again and doing the samething ?
so in your own view which do you feel would be best for me :) fixboot or chkdsk /r
@gudd – the FIXBOOT command will only rewrite a boot sector on the hard disk, while CHKDSK /R will check and repair all bad sectors on a hard disk. They are rather different but complementary. The chkdsk command basically verifies the disk sectors and marks them as bad if they are not good anymore, that way they will not be used during later ‘normal’ operation.
Hey one more thing … i wouldn’t want to mess things up so thats why i’m asking loads of questions lol.. Anyway could you please give a detailed explanation in the difference between the “fixboot” command and the “chkdsk /r” command
@michelle – Microsoft has a detailed explanation on how to recover from a corrupt registry file, but unfortunately you DO need a recovery or setup disc to boot up the computer into the recovery console.
@Sean – Did you try uninstalling AVG in Safe Mode? You might need to reinstall it. What is the stop error code you see on the blue screen?
I Formatted my PC & when I Ran AVG Anti-Virus,I Got This Blue Sreen Error & Know I cannot see My Destop & I Have to work In Safe Mode..
PLZ, Some One Help Me Get This Error..
& my pc does not have a Cd-Rom..it is Broke…
i dont Know how 2 fix this…
hi there i have a blue screen problem it is error c0000218 registry file failure
i don’t have a windows cd because i never got one it is automatic in my computer it’s a dell and that is the way i bought it already in the computer so i don’t know what to do now…can it be fixed