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 Outdated, incorrect or corrupt drivers can cause the system to encounter a STOP error, resulting in the BSOD.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.
I am having blue screen problem in my dell latitude d6100.but in sage mood it works good.
it started like this:
I was having green horizontal line all over my screen. i uninstall and reinstall nvidia driver.It didnt help. then i repair windows using the xp cd.
the graphics problem gone but the blue screen problem started.
PLEASE HELP!!!!
My computer boots and get to the screen with the Windows XP logo and the loading bar underneath it once it gets past that I get a BSOD with STOP 0x000000BE. I can’t get into safe mode either. Any ideas on how to repair this?
@EricRay – Try booting in Safe Mode (F8 key during boot). That mode uses the standard VGA mode and driver, so there should not be any video issues that cause problems.
If that works, either uninstall or reinstall the movie player you were using.
Also type “dxdiag” at the Start menu to see if there are any errors reported in your DirectX configuration.
@Ryan branes – Do you know the error message or error code that shows on the blue screen?
BSOD errors after reformatting the system generally indicate a problem with the memory (RAM) or with the boot disk. One option you can immediately try is to go into the BIOS (F2 or Del key during boot in most cases), and the use the option to load the default BIOS settings. That would reset all timing for memory to the factory settings, as well as enable/disable status for all onboard devices.
When I format my pc it cannot load to partition mode or format mode there is a blue screen appear.. what can i do for this//.?thanks pls help me
my laptop got a blue screen while watching a movie, it seems my movie player was the cause. i did a reboot but nothing would get out on the screen, there’s only black screen. It would just turn itself off again in a few seconds. how can i solve this problem? it’s been five days now. thanks!
@saif – One other option to find the cause of a blue screen error is to use the debugging tools for windows to open and analyze the memory dump file (or minidump).
Needs a little skill and time though.
I have been getting blue screen errors again from the past one week but there is no name of the driver. also it comes up at any time.
please tell me how i can know which driver is causing the problem and how i can solve the blue screen problem.
today user call and after changing ram computer work fine for a week not restart, i think may be when he is using outlook it happen may be some file or spy virus there ,
HP machine give problem with the blue screen error.technician format the bc and after for awhile give error.i visit the site and change the memory but when i test the memory hare in my other computer work fine ,now still i have dough where is the problem.please advice me thanks
@Paul – Yes, you can configure Windows to not automatically restart when a BSOD happens.
In the Control Panel, go to System, and select the advanced system settings. Then click the Settings button in the ‘Startup and recovery’ section.
Now clear the checkbox that says ‘Automatically restart’ and click OK.
I have recently started getting the BSOD on a Vista insallation.
The computer will start in safe mode, but not normally.
The blue screen only stays on for a few seconds then clears so I do not get chance to read what the problem is.
Is there anyway to make it stay on the screen so that I can read it or someway to read the minidump, I have han no luck with the Microsoft program listed above.
@jmesguerra – If you get the BSOD always, even after formatting your system, the problem is most likely a hardware error. If you did a full NTFS format during the installation, then the hard disk should be good. So that leaves the RAM and the motherboard as possible causes.
RAM you can test with memtest86.
thanks 4 ur reply sir..
the blue screen always say’s
dumping physical memory. something like that..
how can i fix it…
…
@Tim – If you can’t get it to boot from the hard disk, not even with F8, you can try the CD/DVD-ROM drive. Insert a bootable Windows setup disc and make sure that the CD/DVD-ROM drive is set up for boot in the BIOS.
If you can start from that, you can try the Repair option.
If not, it could very well be that your hard disk is the problem, and you need to reformat it. In that case, first try the hard disk in another computer or in a USB casing, so you can try accessing it from a workable Windows computer and copy your data.
@Ana – Thanks for sharing your experiences. System restore can often help, and it does save time compared to a fresh install, since all relevant drivers and software is preinstalled. You’ll still go through the Windows update process though.
In respect to the printer service, good to know it helped in your case. In itself it is very possible that device services like the printer service cause blue screen problems, since drivers also run as services.
Thanks again.
After dealing with BSODs since a few months after getting my computer (Dell Mini 1012) and after 2 years of coming up with no way to stop them, I had no option but to do a factory restore (not a system restore). After researching I found that over time Windows becomes corrupted and there’s really no solution but to do a factory restore. I saved all my data to an external hard drive and did the factory restore. It’s a different precedure for different brands, so you have to research how to do it on your computer. It worked like a charm but was a headache reinstalling all the programs that didn’t come with the laptop, though much easier than reformatting the hard drive and reinstalling Windows and updating all the drivers – that would take days. Within an hour I was back in business. That was good for about a year, then the BSODs started again.
I found that for some reason print and fax were causing me to have BSODs. So I disabled them at – Start>Run> services.msc. Again, I was good for several months but on starting my computer the other day I received the BSOD even before my computer fully booted. I simply turned it off, then turned it back on and I haven’t seen that message again. Now I have to figure out what program in the start folder is causing it. Hopefully, I’ll find the solution soon but for some reason I think this is going to be a problem with the life of the computer running a Windows OS. Anyway, I hope some of my solutions helped.
My HP Pavillion Elite has given me 2 years of solid service. In the middle of a project it started slowing down so I figured I was ready for a reboot. With no warning it won’t reboot. Tried booting to safe mode but won’t get past the blue screen with the cursor. Tried F8 and ALL of the options. One time I did get the dreaded DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error.
If I could just get to a System Restore I would be happy but can’t get that far. HELP!!!!
thnx for the reply. i dont think there is a name for the driver. i didnt get the blue screen recently so i dont remember much about it. still i will check if there is any driver name or something in the blue screen if it comes.
@Willem de Jong – Windows Updates have causes blue screen errors in the past as well, either as a generic update or specifically in combination with certain hardware.
But I would still recommend you install the updates one-by-one to find out which one is causing the BSOD, so you can skip that one and install the other updates as they might be important.
@jmesguerra – If your system does not boot even after formatting it, it is most likely that you indeed have a hardware problem. Did you do a full format (not quick)?
Also run a memory (RAM) test, for example with memtest86 (you can create a bootable CD for that).
sir i can’t go to safe mode… the blue screen always shown whenever i reformat my PC. is my hard disk is the problem ??
After installing an SSD drive and a new Windows 7 home premium OS everything was fine. Till a got the message 72 Windows updates are waiting for download and install. After that I experienced blue screens of death. The one after the other. So I removed all of the newly installed updates and the bleu screens of death were gone.
@saif – The bsod errors you are getting are normally the result of a bad driver or driver conflict. A driver version update could cause it, updating a different driver, or hardware changes.
Does the BSOD screen mention the driver name (.SYS)?
If so, please post it, as it will tell us which driver you need to look at. If required, configure Windows not to automatically boot on system errors, so you can see the BSOD screen as long as you need.
i get any one of two blue screen of death errors and that also a anytime when i am using my laptop, the first one is the ‘process_has_locked_pages’error and the other one is ‘driver_left_locked_pages_in_process’. i dont know what to do about it please help me.
@cameron – First try and start in Safe Mode (F8 key during boot) and see if that still works. That uses the administor account, so if you can start in Safe Mode and it works, you can try creating a new user account, reboot and log in using the new account.
If that works, there is a corruption in the user accounts. Best advice I know about that is to simply copy the user data to a new user, and then delete the user account. The only limitation is that you might not be able to use exactly the same user account name.
If the new user results in the same problem, it is more likely a system or hard disk problem. If Safe Mode works, you can run “chkdsk /f C:” at the command prompt (change C: if you use a different boot drive).
If Safe Mode does not work, you will need a Windows installation CD or recovery CD to boot from and then run the repair option.
every time me and my bro go on our accounts is a bluescreen right away. but in my moms you have to do this werid scan and as soon your about to finish the blue screen pops up idk what to do