How to Fix the Blue Screen of Death on Windows
Determine if you changed anything recently., Check your computer’s internal hardware., Check your computer’s temperature., Test your RAM., Test your hard drive., Strip your computer down to the essentials.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 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. -
Step 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. , 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. , 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 bootable 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. , 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. , 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. -
Step 3: Check your computer’s temperature.
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Step 4: Test your RAM.
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Step 5: Test your hard drive.
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Step 6: Strip your computer down to the essentials.
Detailed Guide
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.
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. , 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. , 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 bootable 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. , 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. , 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.
About the Author
Jerry Walker
Committed to making pet care accessible and understandable for everyone.
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