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How to Fix the Blue Screen of Death on Windows

       A Blue Screen Error or STOP error, also known as the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), can be a frustrating experience. The error message almost never clearly states what is wrong, and they seem to strike at random. Follow this guide to diagnose and fix the errors causing the Blue Screen of Death.

1 Diagnosing the Problem

 

1 Determine if you changed anything recently.

The most common cause of the Blue Screen is a recent change in your computer’s settings or   hardware. This is often related to new drivers getting installed or updated. Drivers are software that allow your hardware to communicate with Windows. If you have a restore point, try to load it and see if it helps, it may or may not.

Because there are essentially an infinite number of hardware configurations possible, drivers can’t be tested for every possible setup. This means that sometimes a driver will be installed that causes a critical error when communicating with the hardware.

2 Check your computer’s internal hardware.

Sometimes, a poor connection inside the computer can cause a Blue Screen. Open your case and check to make sure that all the cables are firmly connected and that any cards are seated firmly in their sockets.

This is more difficult for laptops. You can check the hard drive and the RAM to make sure that they are connected properly. Remove the panels in the back that cover the hard drive and RAM with a small Phillips-head screwdriver. Press the components firmly into their connections.

3 Check your computer’s temperature.

Overheating can lead to your hardware malfunctioning. One of the most common components to overheat is the graphics card. The second most likely culprit is the CPU.
You can check temperatures in most BIOS menus, or through software in Windows.

4 Test your RAM.

A common culprit in system crashes is a bad stick of RAM. When RAM fails, it causes the system to become unstable. You can test your RAM by using a program called “memtest86”. This program is available for free online, and is run by burning it to a boot-able CD.
Reboot your computer and run the program. The memtest software will automatically begin running tests on your computer’s RAM. This may take several minutes to complete. For best results, allow several passes of the test to be completed. Memtest will run indefinitely until you stop it yourself.

 

5 Test your hard drive.

Run the “chkdsk” function on your hard drive to scan for errors and fix potential problems. A failing hard drive can cause Blue Screens due to corrupted files. To run chkdsk, open Computer/My Computer and right-click the disk that you want to scan. Select Properties.
From the Properties screen, select the Tools tab.
Click Check Now in the Error Checking section. Your computer will prompt you to restart in order to scan the disk.

6 Strip your computer down to the essentials.

One way to narrow down what is causing the problem is to remove everything that is not essential for the PC to run. This way, if the error goes away, you know that it was one of the pieces that you disconnected.

A desktop computer needs the motherboard, CPU, a hard disk, power supply, RAM, and a keyboard. Plug your monitor into your motherboard’s monitor port (if it has one) so that you can disconnect the graphics card. Everything else can be removed during the diagnostic process.

If the computer runs fine after stripping it down, add one part back at a time until the error message appears again. This will let you know which device is causing the computer to crash.

This method does not apply to laptops, as you cannot strip it down.

 

2 Analyzing the Crash Report 

1 Set your computer to stop on a Blue Screen of Death.

 Oftentimes the computer will reboot before you have a chance to examine the contents of the Blue Screen. You will need to set your computer to stop on Blue Screens so that you can copy the necessary information.

• Open your System Properties. In any version of Windows, press Windows+Pause/Break on your keyboard to open the System Properties window.
• Click Advanced System Settings. Windows XP users will already be in the Advanced System Settings.
• Click the Settings button in the Startup and Recovery section of the Advanced tab.
• Uncheck the “Automatically restart’ option under the “System failure’ section. Click Apply to save the changes. The next time the computer experiences a Blue Screen of Death, the computer will display it until you manually reboot the system.

 

2  Wait for your system to crash again. 

When the Blue Screen appears again, jot down the following information from the display.[3] Input the data into a search engine to see what hardware or program the error might be originating from:

• ”The problem seems to be caused by the following file:” Make note of the file displayed as well as the error message printed below it 
• ”STOP:” Copy the first code after the STOP message.

3 Fixing the Problem.

1 Boot into Safe Mode. 

If Windows won’t start because of Blue Screen errors, try booting into Safe Mode try fixing the problem. As the computer is booting, repeatedly hit the F8 key until the Windows boot menu appears. Select Safe Mode with Networking to boot into a stripped down version of Windows. This will allow you to access your Device Manager, the internet, and other system tools.

2 Run a virus scan. 

Sometimes viruses and malware are at the root of a Blue Screen problem. Make sure that you have the latest antivirus software installed, and perform a full system scan to find anything that could be causing problems.