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Picture this: It’s late at night, you’re sitting at your computer playing a game or working on a project when, suddenly, Windows freezes completely. All your work is gone, and you find a blue screen full of gibberish staring back at you. Windows is dead, Jim, at least until you reboot it. You have no choice but to sigh loudly, shake your fist at Bill Gates and angrily push the reset button. You’ve just been visited by the ghost of windows crashed: the Blue Screen of Death.
Also known as the BSoD, the Blue Screen of Death appears when Windows crashes or locks up. It’s actually a Windows “stop” screen, and is designed to do two things: tell you the reason for the error, and to calm your nerves, hence the use of the color blue (studies show it has a relaxing effect on people). Though Blue Screens are difficult to decipher, all the information you need to figure out what caused it is right there in front of you in blue and white—and that’s where we come in. We’re going to show you how to dissect the blue screen error details, so you can fix the problem that’s causing them.
There are many parts to a BSOD, but the most important is right at the top. The actual name of the error is presented in all caps with an underscore between each word. In some cases this will be all that’s needed to get to the root of the problem (thanks to the handy guide you are about to read). Most of the time, however, more information will be required.
Nearly every BSOD includes a portion of text with some basic troubleshooting advice, the first of which recommends restarting your computer. Gee, thanks for the tip Microsoft. Before you restart, copy the exact all-caps error code and hexadecimal values shown above and below this portion of generic text. The next paragraph provides sound advice, alerting the user to check to make sure their hardware is installed properly, or to undo any recent software or hardware upgrades.
Every BSOD is accompanied by a memory dump. What this means is when Windows crashes, it dumps whatever it is holding in system memory to a file, and saves the file on your hard drive for debugging purposes. If you contact Microsoft for technical assistance, they’ll want to know the contents of this file.
The “technical information” section portion contains the actual Windows stop code, in oh-so-easy-to-read hexadecimal form. Despite appearing unintelligible at first glance, this combination of numbers and letters is instrumental in determining the cause of the crash. Pay particular attention to the first set of numbers and letters. It precedes the other four, which are enclosed in parenthesis. If a specific driver is associated with the crash, it will be listed on the very next line.
Unfortunately, no. A common misconception is that blue screens don't even exist in Vista, but not only are they still there, but we're here to tell you we've seen them first hand. The good news is Microsoft put a lot of work into how Vista handles critical errors and other glitches that in previous OSes would cause a system crash. Most of the time, if a problem occurs, Vista will attempt to fix the problem without any interruption. For example, if your videocard crashes, you may see a messge saying "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered." In XP and previous OSes, this almost always would have resulted in a system crash.
In some cases, Vista will be unable recover on its own, and the result is a blue screen. By default, Vista will reboot itself after briefly flashing the blue screen. It happens so fast you might miss it, but once Windows reloads, you'll be greeted with an error message similar to the above. You can try clicking the 'Check for solution' button, just as you can try your hand playing the lotto. Neither one is likely to result in anything.
Instead, scroll down and take note of the blue screen codes. Armed with this information, you can perform your own detective work. Alternately, if you'd prefer to see the actual blue screen rather than automatically rebooting, right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, select Properties, and click on Advanced System Settings. In the System Properties window that appears, select the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery, and uncheck the box that says 'Automatically Restart.' The same steps also apply to XP.
In another nod towards streamlining the troubleshooting process, Vista's Problem Reports and Solutions wizard can save you oodles of time in PC detective work, and may even alert you to potential conflicts you weren't even aware existed. You can find this applet by name in your Control Panel, or just type Problem Reports and Solutions in Vista's search box. Once loaded, click 'Check for new solutions' in the left-hand column. If Vista finds any conflicts, it will list them in the main window, along with any potential resolutions.
Comments are closed on this article
OriginalSensible
October 24, 2011 at 1:13pm
Always recommed a RAM or HD check with the BOD. Its rarely the motherboard unless your living in a hot country when the cooling fans aren't enough, especialy for multi core systems. cannabis seed
stevenclark999
September 22, 2011 at 3:00am
Technology has made everything possible now. Before something you can not thin k of and now You can beat anything with technology. Before we used to use walk man to listen to music and now see the revolution which is IPOD, iphone, various mobiles, They change the life of us.
regards - http://www.genericpharmacyrx.net
Hermes Martinez
December 06, 2010 at 7:16pm
I got the BSOD like twice in a 24 hour period, I just notice my computer slowing down. and then it dies, but the BSOD comes out then dissapears hella fast so I have no idea what's going on!!!
lenapter
May 27, 2010 at 7:01pm
I installed Windows 7 over three months ago. MICROSOFT FINALLY GOT IT RIGHT!. I am thrilled with it!. That being said, this article says nothing about possible BSOD error messages for Windows 7(not that I might need any.)
Do any of these BSOD error messages relate to Windows 7.?
Please e-mail me, if anybody knows. lapter1@live.com
techman92
March 16, 2010 at 9:35pm
"unmountable_boot_volume" i need someone to help me lol not sure what i should do
projectcleodesigns
February 21, 2010 at 4:01pm
Now I have a problem, wondering if you guys and gals could help. My computer will start up fine, but eventually after bout 5 minutes goes to a BSOD with the error code 0x0000008E (0xC0000005 0X805A284D 0XB9812964 0X00000000 ). Any help you could give would be so greatly appreciated
Herrmann
July 22, 2009 at 11:15am
As a conclusion:
I upgraded Realtek driver for onboard
audio from Gigabyte support page
(http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_Model.aspx?ProductID=3005&ost=xp#anchor_os)
and then re-enabled onboard audio.The PC runs OK and sound is OK too.
So, for GA-MA790FXT UD5P owners
encountering BSOD at login (XP SP3), I recommend the upgrade of
Realtek driver, in the case onboard sound is enabled.Thanks for the valuable information I
found here.Other valuable information found there:
http://icrontic.com/articles/fix-the-0x0000008e-bsod-once-and-for-all
Herrmann
July 19, 2009 at 12:34pm
Thanks for this guide.
I encountered a BSOD issue on a AMD/Gigabyte newly assembled PC running XP SP3.
Not every time, but often, BSOD occurred when attempting logging in when asked to. After a RAM verification by MemTest86, and a cleaning with HighjackThis and SmitfraudFix, issue appeared fixed but some days later, BSOD was there again.
As a file was often indicated (portcls.sys), I disabled onboard sound and now, the issue seems to be fixed.
Nevertheless, I'll try to upgrade mobo sound drivers and try then to enable onboard sound again, knowing that there is a backup solution.
Mobo: GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
Proc.: Phenom II 955 x4, no oc
RAM: 2x1 Gb OCZ Platinum DDR3 12800
nick78
June 25, 2009 at 10:31am
I work in a computer repair store and we see this BSOD as often or more than all the others listed. Usually this is a result of a failing HDD or an interuption while the drive is being written to. A free utility call MHDD will scan the drive and tell you if there are slow or unreadable errors on the drive. If the scan passes, then run a chkdsk /r on the drive and usually it will fix the BSOD. If there are errors on the drive, it still may be able to be backed up depending on the amount of failed sectors. Don't use Ghost on a failing drive though, as Ghost will quit when it hits the unreadable sectors. Unstoppable Copier should be able to copy the data from that drive if its hooked up to another machine.
Ernest
June 23, 2009 at 4:34am
This is what i get....... CONFID_LIST_FAILED ** STOP: (0x00000073) (0x00000001,0xC000017D,0x00000002,0xF90C0BB8) Im getting frusturated. I got DBAN and put the cd in on start up but the DBAN menu did not come up. Did i install DBAN correctly? im not sure, please help.
I need a signature. -__-
Rayychh
June 05, 2009 at 5:15pm
So I have had my Webcam downloaded since the day I got my laptop. about 4 months ago. And just the other day I started to get the BSOD, every time i plug in my cam. I deleted the last thing that I downloaded to my computer. And that worked fine for about 3 hours. now its back. And when it comes up the number thing is like 0x0000008 or something.
carmody
May 29, 2009 at 7:18am
DIV P {
MARGIN: 0px
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Hi. I'm new here.... I just have an unsolvable problem wonedered if anyone would have some advice....has anyone ever had the situation where the BSOD on a laptop running windows xp does not freeze, it just flashes very briefly and then immediately tries to reboot, but it can't reboot and simply goes to that screen that gives you multiple choice start up questions like: start windows normally, use last known good confiuguration etc.
whatever I choose it still can't boot up. tried to boot from windows cd to repair installation, but won't allow it only allows new installation. Would love to not lose data. Any one have any ideas?
Thanks.
linux_dork
May 12, 2009 at 12:22pm
You made a mistake on BAD_POOL_CALLER
The solution is to remove current lifeguard, and replace with a new version.
... get it get it?
Ernest
May 10, 2009 at 8:41pm
Well hi!, im new to MaximumPC and what do ya' know, i have this problem on my other computer that has been down for almost a year and a half. This is the first thing i saw on this site and im really happy i came across this. Ive read the BSoD page briefly and learned what is it and why, but i need help getting past the BSoD so i can fix my problem..can someone help me with this? thank you :D
vvtunes
May 08, 2009 at 6:45am
This guide is an excelent starting point if you are trying to track down the origin of apparently random errors. I used to have occasional BSODs before discovering that my board's memory controller did not like certain high frequency ddr2 sticks.
philsaun
May 07, 2009 at 6:53am
How does one screen-save a BSoD?
Since there is a screen-save at the top of this article there must be a way to do it - or is it a photograph of the BSoD taken with a digital camera. Thanks, Phil
MAXPCreader07
May 02, 2009 at 10:50pm
Can I get this guide in PDF? It would be nice to have offline or even in print.
yammy24
May 03, 2009 at 5:19am
I uploaded a PDF Guide here:
http://www.filedropper.com/bluescreenofdeathsurvivalguideeveryerrorexplainedmaximumpc
Enjoy!
srhinesmith
May 02, 2009 at 8:47pm
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME is one I run into a lot as a tech... can mean bad sectors on a HDD (chkdsk if you're lucky), file system/partition/boot problems (OS config crapped out, recover data & reimage), but usually means a dead HDD.
raquelha
May 02, 2009 at 8:10pm
Thx 4 allowing me 2 vent in subject line! I now have the BSoD problem I've never had b4 thx 2 a well dick thinking with same so what I desperately need help with is MY problem! Selfish? I don't care. I receive the error msg KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR my 1st code being 0x0000007A of course I am unable to follow the advise 2 check if any new software is the cause I update my drivers and actually take good bloody care of my PC but I have no new hardware nor have I had a single problem until I left her alone with an obvious addict to porn and he exposed her to that seedy underside of PC's with a webcam then exposed himself to her as well! I've had it many yrs but bought out of box and whomever returned it made the system restore set of disks as I was unable tho created the system recovery disk. My computer no longer will go to Windows at all not even using my favorite option with F8-safe mode with command prompt. I LOVE DOS but it will NOT start at all except 2 perform the restore using that partitioned part of the hard drive I never got around 2 removing. 2 bad the system restore runs the course just 2 still not work then trying 2 start the restore again! Ive had 2 use recovery disks on HIS PC's several times 2 often but with success as it seemed 2 be as simple as when 1 has 2 fix the sndvol32.ex_ problem. But now Im clueless and unfortunately also on a very VERY low fixed income thx 2 too many surgeries on my rt shoulder so I simply do NOT have a single cent 2 spare and I have NO bils either. I do have what seems an unlimited amount of thieves who learned I am a sports fanatic somehow deciding 2 steal everything I own or die trying! Where did they come from? Someone ALMOST got my Mickey Mantle autographed baseball but did not. But 2nite some1 somehow stole every single CD I had left plus cases and damn it they also stole my vibrator! So getting another PC is not an option and I do EVERYTHING online since, well, since I invented the internet! Fine I just helped. PLEASE PLEASE help me and that is me hoping U can! Thx so much!
NAYRhyno
May 02, 2009 at 7:33pm
Great article guys. Well written and informative as usual. I'll keep this bookmarked, sure to save a lot of googling.
___________________________
Game-Central.org
leenyx
May 02, 2009 at 3:02pm
But there is definitely something far worse than linux and mac whiners...I tell you what:
A pc whiner posting in a website talking about how to fix windows BSOD...
Please have a look at the windows website and then look at mac os x website, you will be able to tell which one was done in a PC. Apple's website show the users how to use their system and what cool things they can do with it. The windows website suggest you buy and antivirus for your system.
Now troll me if you want, I will be playing games in Mac and probably I won't answer.
BTW Apple OS X have a dictionary and a spell/grammar checking tool integrated in the OS so you could type safe in a website (Firefox also has a spelling plug-in but that's another story), trolls!!
gibsurfer84
May 02, 2009 at 7:33am
Great article! I fancy the program called WhoCrashed. It does all the work for me in looking up codes and what app or dll or driver was the issue. It isn't a end all, but it gets me to right google search faster I think...
GrimResistance
May 02, 2009 at 12:42am
I've been getting the UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP (0x0000007F) error when my computer wakes from sleep mode. Any Ideas?
DBsantos77
May 01, 2009 at 11:49am
Funny thing is that after reading this guide my computer got *TWO* BSoD. the irq_not_equal one and the non_paged_area, respectively. BOO
B. Tetreault
May 01, 2009 at 11:44am
Excellent resource to have on hand. I can think of several people I can give this too.
- still there, but we're here to tell
On page 1, paragraph 7; should be "still there, we're here to tell".
- the most overclocked, but they can
On page 3, paragraph 2; pretty sure it should be "overlooked" not overclocked.
- you have a space cable lying around
Also on page 3, paragraph 2; pretty sure it should be "spare" not space.
- then look for an mark any bad sectors
On page 3, paragraph 3; should be "and".
- hard drives are connect to, so you'll
On page 3, paragraph 4; should be "connected"
- This utility stressed your rig's CPU
On page 3, paragraph 6; should be "stresses"
shutout5591
May 01, 2009 at 1:58pm
OK grammer police
I found this a great article for me personally, as well as my friends who are also into computers.
spammeifyoumust
May 02, 2009 at 2:21pm
Grammar? Sure looked like he was correcting spelling errors (that happened to slip by the spell checker AND EDITOR).
Considering how poorly most web posters write, I think we need as many articles with proper grammar, spelling and syntax, as possible. Frankly, if people who write for a living can't get it write [sic] and the editor misses it as well, then maybe the publication needs a new editor and writer.
Raptor007
May 01, 2009 at 11:12am
Good guide, but it's missing a few common scenarios:
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL can also be caused by memory errors. This is especially common if you've overclocked the RAM or tightened the timings too far.
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA will almost certainly come up if you turn off all swap files. Sadly, some programs and drivers just can't handle it if there's no swap file.
RTTECH82
May 01, 2009 at 9:58am
I bet that book is about as thick as a NY phone book! LOL
RT
www.anonymity.ru.tc
MeTo
May 01, 2009 at 7:14am
This is just another reason I enjoy Linux. You should "NOT" have to go through all this crap!
spammeifyoumust
May 02, 2009 at 2:26pm
I've just watched 1 very smart person waste the better part of a week getting Linux wireless to work on our network (never mind the peripheral players who spent hours of their time trying to help him).
In the end, he got it working, but he's not sure why it now works.
Until linux is truly plug and play, it's only for IT types, and as this week illustrated, even then it's not easy to set up....and several of those involved run Linux at home.
methuselah
May 01, 2009 at 8:15am
hmmmm let's see, 4 weeks of tweaking my system and pouring over Linux forums to get my system up and running only to be limited to running a handful of software - "Hey look at that cool new game I'm gonna go buy it and.... OH!, nm it won't run on Linux". Sure you can run X-Windows, but then, you're back to running Windows and put into the same possibiility of troubleshooting a BSOD. Besides, why run an emulator and suck up unnecessry resources in an emulator? Might as well just run Windows. Go troll elsewhere dude.....
Besides this article is long winded. Want to know how to REALLY troubleshoot a BSOD? Type the Hex code into Google, you'll have your answer and beging to be able to repair the problem from there.
AchilleTalon
May 01, 2009 at 3:13pm
Well, your comment is pretty clear about the fact you don't know a bit what you are talking about.
First of all, X-Window (notice, no s) isn't having anything to do with Windows. Just take a look at Wikipedia.
X-Window came to like in 1983 from the Carnegie-Mellon Andrew project while Windows 3.1 came to life in 1985, two years later. X-Window is built from start as a client-server graphical system on top of an OS, while Windows is an OS and not client-server at all.
Second, gaming is not all in life, most useful usage of a graphical system and a computer is not gaming, so, saying Linux is a piece of shit because your favorite game doesn't run natively on it is a very narrow biased evaluation of an OS as a whole.
--------
Achille Talon
nekollx
May 01, 2009 at 3:29pm
BUT gaming is relevent. And Linux is not very game friendly, a person has every right to dig a os because it is missing 20% of the equasion weart its gaming, interface, networking, etc...
MvanA
May 01, 2009 at 9:25am
The only people MORE annoying than Mac Fanboys are Linux Fanboys. You would think that by now people would realize that free is great, but it's not necessarily better. M$ has a lot of issues, but I'll take a half ass informative BSoD in Windows over a zero informative screen/computer freeze in Linux any day. Linux might be free, and yes it's come a long way over the years, but it's no better than Windows.
MeTo
May 01, 2009 at 10:52am
In your opinion. My opinion is Linux is better. I have run Windows since DOS,Win 3.1 till vista,Mac OSx. I still duel boot Vista/Linux mint and Linux mint doe's not crash on me and my CPU/HDD do not constantly run in the background. I'll keep Linux mint over Vista. I duel boot so my Kid can use Vista.
Linux Mint,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
MeTo
May 01, 2009 at 8:40am
kinda hard to type in google from a BSoD you are not on the internet you computer is basicly dead. Do a reboot and it "Might" startup normaly might not. Nvidia is the biggest reason for crashes in Vista proven fact.
Linux Mint,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
MeTo
May 01, 2009 at 8:32am
Games are for Kids. By the way you can play games with linux if you do your research and have Linux friendley hardware. Everything does not revolve around Microsoft.
Linux Mint,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
spammeifyoumust
May 02, 2009 at 2:33pm
1. Games are not for kids. Most PC gamers are in their 30's or older.
2. They want to play a game, not spend hours on research and configuration of an emulator.
Why do fanboys (of all the various OSs) seem to feel that EVERYONE should use their OS. I like windows, but if you're developing for *nix servers, *nix is probably a better OS to work with.
If you're doing music or video production, Macs are probably your best choice, in most cases.
If you're a general user who likes to play games, Windows is hands down the best platform. It makes no sense to use a Mac or Linux and Wine to play games.
Hammer for a nail and screwdriver for a screw.
For god's sake, it's an OS....a platform to run the things you actually bought the computer for.
MvanA
May 01, 2009 at 7:59am
Because Linux freezing without giving you ANY information or giving you a black screen with a Kernel Fault error is SOOO much more helpful? BSoD's may be the most annoying part of Windows, but at least they can help you get to the root of most serious problems.
MeTo
May 01, 2009 at 8:16am
It's Great becuse you computer "DON'T" crash in the first place. Also I know of nobody (average person) that knows what the hell the BSoD is telling them.
Linux Mint,AMD Athlon+ x2 5600,3 Gig ram,500 Gig HDD,ATI 1300 Video.
spammeifyoumust
May 02, 2009 at 2:43pm
I've seen Ubuntu crash more than once, so quit acting like it's this invincible OS that doesn't crash. Likewise, I rarely see windows crash. Which crashes more? Hard to say, because I'm on windows far more than Linux, so I'd expect to see windows crash more....the reality is that I might see windows become unstable once or 2x/year on my machines. I've seen linux (Ubuntu) crash once (maybe 2x) in the past year.
They're both good operating systems that serve very different markets and very different purposes.
