How to Fix Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Error

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

Have you ever experienced Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death error while starting your PC? laptop frequently restart with different BSOD errors, After recent windows 10 update or installing a new Hardware device/driver? Or sometimes you may experience while working with heavy applications like (Photoshop, 3D Max, Autocad) system suddenly Restart with BSOD like “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you.” 

A Blue Screen of Death is usually a hardware or driver-related problem, Mostly occurs When Windows detects a malfunction in the system memory or drivers, it crashes itself and displays this BSOD error message. This indicates that Windows has a serious issue that needs to be addressed immediately. 

What is the Blue Screen of Death?

The windows STOP error BSOD, better known as the Blue Screen of Death, is an error screen that appears when Microsoft Windows encounters a fatal system error from which it cannot recover. There is a system crash and the operating system attains a state where it can no longer operate safely.

This is generally the outcome of low-level software (or drivers) crashing or faulty hardware. Outdated, Incompatible Driver (especially the Display/graphics driver), Corrupted system files, Driver conflict after installing new hardware,  damaged video card. Bad memory Module, Old BIOS etc are some common reasons behind most Windows 10 Blue Screen errors.

2. Disconnect non-essential hardware

Before You Begin :

Sometimes after simple restart windows start normally (perform solutions below to avoid this error in the feature), But for some others, the blue Screen occurs frequently at startup. That causes you to need to Boot Windows into safe mode. Where windows start with minimum system requirements and allow you to perform troubleshooting steps.

• First of all remove all external devices connected to your computer including secondary monitors, printers, phones, external hard drives, and other USB devices (you only need your mouse, keyboard, and main monitor) and try to start windows normally check If there is no more BSOD error Then one of your devices causing the issue. Find out the problematic device by attaching them one by one and checking the same with another computer.

3. Perform Startup repair (if unable to boot into safe mode)

If you are getting a Blue screen error Frequently at startup and didn’t allow to start windows into safe mode also that cause first you need to perform startup repair which diagnostic and fix if any startup program causing the issue to windows start normally or Safe mode. So we recommend performing Startup repair first if windows fail to start into safe mode.

1. Boot your system from Windows 10 installation media,
   
   
2. Access BIOS setup by pressing the Del key.
   
   
3. Now move to the boot tab and change the first boot of your installation media (CD/DVD or Removable Device).
   
   

1. Press F10 to save this will Restart windows press any key to boot from installation media.
   
   
2. First Set the language preference, click next and click on the Repair Computer option.
   
   

1. On the next screen, Select Troubleshoot ->  Advanced options and click on Startup Repair.

This will analyze the various settings, configuration options, and system files Especially look for :

• Missing/corrupt/incompatible drivers
• Missing/corrupt system files
• Missing/corrupt boot configuration settings
• Corrupt registry settings
• Corrupt disk metadata (master boot record, partition table, or boot sector)
• Problematic update installation

After complete the repair process windows will Restart and start normally.

4. Start Windows 10 safe mode

If the repair process results in startup repair couldn’t repair your PC or automatic repair couldn’t repair your PC     

        

1. Then click on Advanced options -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced options -> Startup Settings -> Click on Restart -> Then press F4 To access safe mode and F5 To access safe mode with networking.
   
   

1. Now on safe mode perform the below troubleshooting steps.

5. Revert Recent Changes

Now I am sure you are successfully login into windows 10 (safe mode/normal). The first thing you have to do is If you’ve added new hardware or software to your system recently, remove them to see if the problem is fixed because the newly installed programs or hardware could be incompatible with your operating system, or conflict with your original programs.

If you recently installed new software on your computer, try uninstalling it.

1. Open Control Panel
   
   
2. Select the program(s) recently added click Uninstall.

6. Disable Fast Startup Feature

A number of Windows users report on Microsoft forum / Reddit Disable Fast Startup Feature Fix Most of the Blue Screen Error For them. Fast Startup (hybrid Shutdown Feature) Reduces startup time and makes Windows start faster. But Some Times fast Startup features Cause different Problems. So We recommend just disabling The Fast startup Feature to prevent feature BSOD error on windows 10.

1. Open Control panel
   \
2. Search for and select power options.
   
   
3. Next click on Choose What the Power Buttons Do
   
   
4. Click on Change Settings that are Currently Unavailable.
   
   
5. Here uncheck the Turn on Fast Startup option (recommended)
   
   
6. Click save and ok to disable Fast Startup Feature.

7. Check for Virus/Malware infection

One of the causes of BSOD showing upon your Windows 10 PC is data corruption. Other than regular scenarios, the data on your computer might get corrupt due to some malware.

So, if you experience the blue screen in Windows 10 more than what you can call usual, you should use the best antivirus software to do a full scan of your system. Windows Defender, the default antivirus in Windows 10 can also be a good option to scan your system and repair blue screen.

8. Re-install Device Drivers

An inaccurately installed or defective driver can lead to system crashes. Download the latest drivers from your PC manufacturer’s website and install them – this may solve BSODs caused by driver issues.

Also If you notice after a recent driver update the problem started then you can perform the rollback driver option to revert the current driver to the previous version.

To Update display driver

1. Press keyboard shortcut Windows + x and select Device Manager.
   
   
2. Expend display adapter,
   
   
3. Right-click on installed display/Graphics driver and select update
   
   
4. Follow on-screen instructions to let windows search and install the latest driver on your computer. (if you are in safe mode you may be not connected to the internet, where windows is unable to do download the latest driver from the update database).

Reinstall Driver

That cause simply visits the device manufacturer website on the different computer and download the latest available driver for your problematic PC. Now move to problematic PC open device manager expend display adapter, Right-click on display driver, and select uninstall. Click ok to confirm and restart windows. On the next start install the latest driver you downloaded from the manufacturer's website.

Roll Back driver

If you notice the problem started after a recent driver update, that causes you can roll back the driver following the steps below.

1. Open device manager,
   
   
2. Expand the display adapter and double-click on the installed graphics driver.
   
   
3. On properties move to the Driver tab,
   
   
4. Click on the Rollback driver option and follow on-screen instructions.
   
   
5. This will revert the current driver to the previous version.
   
   
6. Restart windows and check there is no more Blue Screen error at startup.

9. Repair Windows System Files (Run SFC Utility)

Windows have an SFC utility specially designed to scan and detect various problems caused by corrupted, missing system files. While running this tool if found any system file corruption the SFC utility restore and fix them for you. So We recommend running the System file checker utility to make sure corrupted, missing system files do not cause Blue screen errors on Windows 10 PC.

1. Open the command prompt as administrator,
   
   
2. Now type command sfc /scannow and hit the enter key to execute the same,

The SFC utility will start scanning for missing corrupted system files and If found any the SFC utility restores them from a special folder located on %WinDir%\System32\dllcache. Wait until 100% complete the scanning process after that restart windows.

10. Run DISM command

If SFC scan results windows resource protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them. Then Run the DISM command, which repairs the system image and allows SFC to do its job. To do this type below command on administrative command prompt. wait for 100% complete the process and Again Run SFC / scannow command. Restart windows and check There are no more BSOD errors.

• dism/online/cleanup-image/restorehealth

11. Check Disk Drive Errors

A problematic HDD Drive like Bed Sector or Disk error may Cause Different Blue Screen Errors including DPC Watchdog Violation Blue Screen Error. We recommend running the CHKDSK command By adding some extra parameters to force CHKDSK to fix the drive Errors.

1. Open the command prompt as administrator,
   
   
2. Then type command CHKDSK C: /F /R /X and hit the enter key.
   
   
3. Press Y key to schedule to run the chkdsk command on the next start
   .

1. 
   
   
2. Here CHKDSK command for Check Disk Driver. C: Letter is your Windows Installed drive letter. /F parameter Fixes errors on the disk. /R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information and /X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary. 
3.  
4. Now close the command prompt and Restart windows this will start the scanning and repairing process for Disk Drive Errors and problems. Wait until 100% complete the scanning process, after that windows restart itself and start normally.

12. Run Memory Diagnostic Tool

Windows have a memory Diagnostic Tool Which Checks Memory Errors. We recommend running the memory diagnostic tool to make sure memory-related problems do not cause the Blue Screen Error.

Sometimes some antiviruses like AVG, Avast are responsible for BSOD errors. We recommend temporally, removing the installed antivirus/Anti-malware application and checking the problem is fixed. 

These are some most effective solutions to fix almost every Blue Screen of death Error (BSOD) on Windows 10 computers. If it’s not some hardware-related issue.

Avoiding the Blue Screen of Death

• Always keep your windows updated and Make Sure your installed drivers are up to date.
  
  
• Turn off your computer properly, And Don’t force your PC to shut down.
  
  
• Avoid installing pirated Software like Cracks, Activators,
  Nulled games etc.
  
  
• Always use the latest version of the Intel management engine interface and keep it up to date.
  
  
• Use disk defragment and disk cleanup regularly, you can use third-party software like Ccleaner to optimize windows and repair corrupted registry entries.

• Did the above solutions help fix Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Error? If not