Many of us have faced the blue screen of death or BSOD which remains to be an unwelcome sight. It appears when Windows run into a critical error from which it can’t recover, and this requires the computer to be rebooted and also result in loss of work in few cases.
The BSOD remains to be the worst type of error any computer can experience. It is different from an application crash which doesn’t result into the whole system going down. This BSOD happens due to low-level software crashing or because of faulty hardware.
Causes of the Blue Screens of Death
Most of the time BSOD occurs because of some issues related to computer’s hardware or hardware driver software.
Blue screens are usually caused by issues with computer’s hardware or problems with driver software of hardware. Most of the standard software shouldn’t result in blue screens – in case any application crashes, then it will do so without even taking the OS out with it. These blue screens are generally caused by problems in hardware with low-level software executing in the Windows kernel.
The blue screen generally occurs whenever the Windows runs into a “STOP Error”. These particular critical failure results in Windows to crash and then stop working. The single most thing Windows can perform is to stop the computer and then restart it. This issue can lead to data loss as programs don’t get any change to save data- ideally, these programs should save the data in a continuous fashion such that blue screen of death doesn’t lead to data loss.
Whenever the blue screen happens, Windows creates a “minidump” file which contains information regarding the crash also saves it on your disk. You can easily look any information about minidumps to identify the reason behind the blue screen.
Windows Restarts When a BSOD Appears
In the default setting, Windows restarts the computer automatically in case it runs into a blue screen of death. If your computer keeps restarting for no reason at all, it may probably be because of blue-screening.
Analyzing BSOD Information
The free BlueScreenView application from NirSoft provides an easy method to see the blue-screen related information. It can scan all of the minidump files which are created during BSODs and also display crash related information.
This particular information can be observed in the Windows Event Viewer, where the messages related to blue screen are quite scattered among the application crashes and different system related log messages.
Troubleshooting BSODs
In the case of Windows 7 and higher versions of Windows, blue-screen information is presented in the Action Center. In case you have a blue screen, then you can easily open the Action Center and then check for different solutions. Windows will then analyze the BSODs and different types of errors your computer may have experienced before providing you any information it contains regarding fixing the problem.
Tips to Deal with BSODs
BSODs happen due to different reasons but mentioned below are few of the tips which you can use whenever you have to deal with blue screens.
1. Using System Restore
In case your system starts with blue screen, then you should use System Restore to roll your system software to the previous state. In case this doesn’t work, then you will definitely know that it is a problem related to software.
- Scanning for Malware
Malware can dig deeper into Windows and gets a hold into the Windows kernel at a low level which can result in system instability. You should then scan your computer for malware to maintain the state where any malicious software doesn’t cause crash.
- Install Updated Drivers
In many cases, wrongly installed drivers can also lead to system crash. You should download the latest drivers for system’s hardware from the manufacturers of the computer hardware from their website and then install them – this may solve the blue screen problem happening due to driver related problems.
- Booting into Safe Mode
In case your computer shows blue screen every time when you start your computer, then try to boot the computer into safe mode. The Windows will then only load important drivers. If any driver which is installed on the computer results in blue screen, it won’t be able to do so in safe mode. After this, you can start working on solving the problem from safe mode.
- Check for Hardware Problems
Blue screens may also result due to faulty hardware which is present in your computer. In this case, you should try testing system’s memory for different errors and also check the temperature, in case it is overheating.
- Reinstall Windows
The last resort is reinstalling windows. It will remove all the system software that exists and then replace them with fresh Windows system. Even then your computer shows a blue screen, then it will definitely be a hardware problem.
Most of the systems which keep working, shouldn’t lead to blue screen at any time. However, no software or hardware is perfect. Even a good functioning computer may run into blue screens on rare instances for no clear reason – most probably due to rare bugs of drivers or any issue related to hardware.
So, if you run into Blue Screen of Death, then don’t panic. Just try these tips and information to recover your system. If you find this article quite helpful then do let us know by mentioning your views or suggestions in the comment section below.