What does the Blue Screen of Death mean?
The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) means your system is encountered with a fatal due to a system hardware failure or software failure and is not able to recover on its own. In such cases to avoid serious back fall, the BSOD forces the system to shut down.
Error Codes and Messages
Once a blue screen error occurs there is no turning back but to restart and troubleshoot in safe mode. Luckily every stop code or error code includes a hexadecimal-based STOP code that can be used to research a fix for the blue screen of death.
The error appears at the bottom of the blue screen. There are about 270 stop codes/error codes. But most of them are rare.
Here are a few common error codes and their meanings that could be useful for users while troubleshooting.
0x0000001E KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED: It is an error in the kernel process related to incompatibility or equipment malfunction.
0x00000024 NTFS_FILE_SYSYEM: This is a drive error caused during read or write operations, it mainly occurs due to data integrity on disk or in memory.
0x0000002E DATA_BUS_ERROR: This error is caused due to incompatible or defective memory sticks which may result in RAM errors.
0x0000000A IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL is an error that occurs due to a malfunction of the drivers, system services, or incompatible software.
0x00000050 PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA is an error related to the swap file during the operation of file systems or failure of a service or software.
0x00000133 DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION It is an error that comes when a device’s driver is expired or incompatible with the system. Also adding that some files could be corrupted.
Steps to troubleshoot and resolve BSOD
It is often possible to resolve the BSOD incident through proper troubleshooting and the steps are as follows.
- When a BSOD appears, the users should make sure to document the error code.
- Windows will attempt to determine the problem and fix it while rebooting the system. Luckily in rare circumstances that will be enough to address the problem.
- If the problem persists even after rebooting, the users must track back to what they did or check the occurrence of any recent system changes before the BSOD occurred. Was there any installation or update of drivers, or any app was updated or installed, or a new program was installed that caused the BSOD?
- Run System File Checker, as corrupt system files are a common cause of a BSOD.
- Boot into safe mode to uninstall recent updates or drivers that might have caused the issue.
- Test system hardware like RAM, monitor system temperatures and verify power supply integrity.
- If the error persists after a user installs a new program/hardware, updates a driver, or installs a Windows update, consider a system rollback using System Restore.
- Scan for malware by restarting their computers in safe mode by hitting F5 at boot for the menu option and then running their antivirus software. An even better option is to have a USB drive with a preinstalled antivirus to boot from rather than the computer.
- Use the Blue Screen Troubleshooter. After rebooting in safe mode, type “Troubleshoot BSOD error” in the Get Help app and then follow the guided process to help troubleshoot BSOD issues.
- As a last-resort option, users can reset Windows or perform a clean install. However, users should back up all important data to an external hard drive before reinstalling Windows and start over with a clean install.