What are the Main Causes of the Blue Screen of Death

Odds are that if you have used PCs for any length of time, you’ve seen the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). It’s what happens when it all goes wrong in one universally recognized sign: your screen turns solid blue, and it shows you nothing but error information. Whether the reaction is shock, fear or disgust, it’s not a pretty picture.

What we want to give you here is the crib-sheet for what to do when your PC suffers a critical error.  Get the steps needed to let you quickly and calmly troubleshoot problems and sniff out the major glitches that cause freeze-ups, lock-ups and blue screens.

First Step: Don't Panic

First off, write down all relevant information when you see a BSOD flash on to the screen. This includes the error number and name of the stop error, and any file names specified in the driver information section. Want a sense of what's happening?  Check out Microsoft's dedicated list of system errors to get a better grasp on what's going on with your computer.

If you don’t have time to do that, don’t feel bad. Try to restart Windows normally. If the BSOD occurred while your system was booting Windows, you may be taken to a troubleshooting menu and will have to select “Attempt to Start Windows Normally.”

If your system starts normally, and seems to be operating normally, thank your lucky stars and continue using it. Sometimes it is just a transient errors and you won’t see it again. If it happens again within a few days or a week, it’s time to do a little more error code writing down and digging.

Second Step: Advanced Options

If it doesn’t start up correctly or you get the BSOD again, turn off your system and give it a few minutes before you turn it back on. When the memory testing (Power On Self-Test or POST) starts, press F8 repeatedly. This should bring you to the Windows Advanced Options menu.

In the Advanced Options menu choose “Safe Mode” to attempt to boot into Windows Safe mode. This loads only the basic drivers and no auto-loading software and helps to diagnose problems. If bad software or drivers are causing the BSOD, safe mode should load correctly. If it does, then you need to try removing or rolling back the latest hardware you have loaded (see below).

But, you say, I haven’t loaded or updated any drivers lately. What am I doing wrong? Try to restart your system normally again. If it boots up ok, then hopefully the error has gone away.

Third Step: System Restore

If it does not boot into safe mode or you get the Blue Screen Of Death again, you can try to “Restore Last Known Good Configuration” in the Advanced Options menu. Restart your PC again, pressing F8 again to get to the Advanced Options menu and select “Last Known Good Configuration” which is your most recent settings that actually worked well. This uses the system restore utility to restore the most recent save point, which hopefully is the last time you had reason to install any drivers or software. If your PC boots up normally after this, smile broadly–your problem has apparently been fixed.

For more information on using system restore, check out these articles.

• Fix Boot Errors on Startup
• Windows XP System Restore
• Windows Vista System Restore

Step Four: Get Help

After you have gone through all of this, if you still get the BSOD or if system restore is disabled on your computer, it’s time to talk to someone who knows what they’re doing or a professional PC tech. There are people who will tell you how to walk through 20-something steps of trouble-shooting and driver fiddling, but unless you’re really savvy, it’s safer and faster to take it to a pro.

If you own a PC, the odds are you’ve experienced the dreaded PC freeze first-hand. Your programs will be chugging along just fine and then suddenly operations come to a screeching halt. There’s no response from your mouse, your keyboard, or your forced quit commands and the only thing that seems to help is turning your PC off and then back on a few minutes later.

What are the Main Causes of Computer Freeze-up?

There are a variety of reasons your computer might freeze including hardware or software issues, driver problems, etc. Maybe it’s just a one-time glitch, but if your PC keeps locking up on you it’s probably time to attempt some troubleshooting.

1. A SYSTEM ERROR: If the freeze occurs with an error message, copy down the message and do a search for it online (after you restart your computer of course). Most searches will be able to tell you what the error means and some may give you a clean file to upload to replace any corrupted one.

2. MALWARE: If there is no error message, try running a virus scan to clean up any malware that could be causing your PC to lock up. It goes without saying that everyone needs to have up-to-date security features in place.  Click here to get a run-down of security surfaces of weaknesses and the essential maintenance needed to protect them. 

3. HARDWARE / SOFTWARE ERROR: Have you installed any new software or hardware lately? There may have been a problem with the installation. Corrupt files or driver errors are pretty common causes for a computer freeze. Try uninstalling things you don't need and/or re-installing programs that you've installed recently.  Click here to get step by step info on cleaning out software and system resource hogs. 

4. VENTILATION: Is your computer overheating?  Running hot will often cause a freeze in performance.  Make sure your computer is ventilated correctly and free of heavy dust.  This is one of those things that a lot of people shrug off.  After all, a computer seems like a sealed system and for the most part, if it's off the shelf, it's likely been put together to just run.  A lot of people underestimate how important it is for a computer to be cool.  If the image on the screen freezes, an overheating video processor is likely a candidate.  In these cases, the solution is to clean your PC.

5. MEMORY DRAIN: Check to see how much free hard drive space you have. If you are running out of space, that alone can cause your computer to freeze.

What about Virtual Memory?

Alternatively, you may be low on VIRTUAL MEMORY.  This is the memory your computer designates for actively running programs, often called RAM.  In regards to computer-freeze ups, it's important to see whether or not too many programs are running and thereby eating up all of the available memory.

Check your Task Manager by clicking CTRL+SHIFT+ESC.  In the Task Manager, click on the tab that says APPLICATIONS.  Here you can view the programs that are actively running.  Are any of them programs you don't recognize or don't want to be running?  If so, end them by selecting them and clicking "END TASK."  Freeing up the memory that your system has to work with can often improve overall performance and stability drastically.

Bringing it All Together

So, the game-plan for critical errors; it's not so hard.  The key is to figure out what's happening and why.  Writing down errors and doing follow up is essential, but most of us aren't tech-wizards, so the essential resource becomes those common-sense things that Windows will do for us, namely, providing system restore features.

If you know how to

1. Use F8 to enter safe mode

2. Stop unwanted programs from running and uninstall them if they aren't needed

3. Re-install programs that might be causing errors

4. Clean your computer

5. Use system restore

. . . then you're well on your way to transforming your computer from a source of bugs to the functional tool that it's supposed to be.