Fixing Blue Screens Of Death

A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is displayed by Windows when the kernel or a driver running in kernel mode encounters an unrecoverable error.

Because the error occurs at such a low level, the only safe thing Windows can do is reboot. A BSOD can also occur at boot, usually with the error code 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE) - this occurs when Windows cannot access the boot partition, and is not covered in this article.

There are various causes of BSODs - following the below procedure can resolve most problems without running time consuming tests.

A good first step is to write down the error message and error code and then research them.

The relevant details in the below screenshot are the message IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL and the error code 0x000000A.

If your computer always restarts before you can record the above details, please follow these steps:

1. Right click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click the Advanced tab
4. Click Start-up and recovery settings
5. Uncheck the Automatically restart checkbox

A good list of error codes and messages can be found at this website - alternately, Google can find much information and many examples other people’s problems and solutions involving your error.

The error code may be specific enough for you to resolve your problem at this point, or you may need to proceed onwards.

When a BSOD occurs, Windows will create a dump file of your system stack and registers. This can be analysed in a debugger to determine exactly what caused the crash. This way, if a malfunctioning driver is causing the crash, you can find out precisely which one it is, and take steps to remedy.

You’ll need to locate your most recent minidump file. Navigate to c:\windows\minidump and organise the files by date - you’ll want the latest.

How you proceed from here depends on where your interests lie.

There are several forum members who are happy to analyse your minidump file for you, so just follow the below process.

1. Compress the most recent minidump file into a ZIP archive.
2. Create a new thread in the forums, please make sure you follow these rules when creating it.
3. Attach the zip file to your post.

Please check your thread at regular intervals and be patient - some people at work can only help you with software on their home computers or vice versa. You may be asked to upload more of your minidumps, please be prepared to do so.

1. Install and configure Windbg as shown here.
2. Run Windbg
3. Select the File menu
4. Select Open Crash Dump
5. Browse to and select the crash dump you want to view
6. Give the debugger some time to analyse the dump and download any symbols needed.
7. If you want further information, use the command !analyze -v to get a more detailed breakdown of the dump.

If you experience errors running Windbg, make a thread about in the Hardware and Tech Help forums.

At this point, if you haven’t made a thread in the forums, now might be the time to do so.

If you’re experiencing failures across a wide variety of drivers and/or low level kernel functions, testing your RAM with Memtest86 is a good idea. Follow the process laid out in the Memtest86 guide.