Windows 10 Fix Blue Screen of Death
Windows 10 too has the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) or Stop Error screens that appears when you are in middle of something, upgrading the operating system, when booting or simply working on your PC. While some are facing Black Screen problem, a few are facing BSOD problems. We take each scenario and explain what to do in each case.
Blue Screens in Windows 10 are simple and do not display Stop Error information. You may have to force Windows to display Stop Error details. The old-style blue screen of death may have changed to something more elegant in recent years, but seeing one appear on your PC is never a good thing. Here’s how to fix blue screen crashes in Windows 10, and what might be causing them.
Windows 10 Stop Error Information on Blue Screen
If you have been unlucky (or should I say lucky) enough to see a Blue Screen on your Windows 10 computer, you may have noticed that they now appear to be more user-friendly, simpler and easier on the eyes. The message usually is simple and to the point. You have a sad emoticon and a simple message stating:
Your PC ran into a problem that it couldn’t handle and now it needs to restart. You can search for the error online.
The system does not display the detailed Stop error information. However, if you do get a BSOD in Windows 10, you would want to perform some troubleshooting to fix it. In this scenario, the sad emoticon is not helpful at all. Keeping this in mind, Microsoft made the classic BSOD available in Windows 10.
- Open the Registry editor (type regedit in search box).
- Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl
- Create a new DWORD value named DisplayParameters and set to 1.
That’s it. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect. The next time a serious error occurs, you will see the good old, detailed stop information instead of the useless sad emotion on the Blue Screen of Death.
Windows 10 Blue Screen of Death
Windows 10 is software just like its predecessors, so from time to time you will still find a few things going wrong. This is not unexpected for such a complex piece of software, so we’ve put together this short guide to help you get back up and running if you ever see the infamous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in Windows 10. There’s no magic bullet solution that fixes all ills, but if you work through the following guidelines you should be able to diagnose, and hopefully fix, your particular issue.
Blue Screen of Death while Booting Windows 10
There are two scenarios when booting Windows 10. In the first scenario, you can access the desktop while in the second, the Blue Screen of Death won’t even let you reach the desktop and you are stuck within a loop of computer restarts.
The main reasons why BSOD appears are:
- Some Windows driver causing conflict.
- Some Windows Update gone wrong.
If you experience a blue screen error when upgrading to Windows 10, setup will automatically go back to your previous version of Windows. If the Windows Update is the reason, you have to remove and block the update that caused Blue Screen of Update.
If you can access the desktop, go to Settings and then Windows Updates. Click on Advanced and then on View Installed Updates. See the date of the updates and remove the ones installed on the date after which, the BSOD is appearing. If removing the updates fixes the problem, block the update from reinstalling itself.
If problem is a driver update, you need to see if any drivers were installed lately. The process is same as above. You will see driver updates in Installed Updates. But after removing the update, I suggest you block automatic driver updates from Microsoft. Using a third party tool that allows you to select the driver version is better. That way you will be playing it safer.
BSOD reboot loop prevents access to Desktop
If you are stuck in a Blue Screen of Death reboot loop, Windows 10 will automatically go into the Repair mode after a while. From there, use the System Restore facility to fix the issue. Click on System Restore and select a date/point prior to when you started getting BSOD. System Restore will restore your computer to a prior time, removing any changes made to your computer by Windows Update. It will not affect your files.
Blue Screen of Death while working on Windows 10
The causes can again be a Windows Update, a device driver update or a recently installed hardware. To make sure the updates are the reason, use the method explained above to isolate problem update and then block it.
If you installed any hardware recently, shut down your computer and remove the hardware. Then boot and go to Device Manager (WinKey+Break). If the hardware is still listed there, uninstall it. Reboot to see if the issue is fixed.
How to fix Windows 10 blue screen of Death
Make a backup. We store many important files on our computers - from family pictures and videos, to important business documents - and all of this can be lost very easily if you don’t create regular backups. While you should be doing this all the time anyway, if you’re beginning to experience problems with your PC then creating a backup needs to become an immediate priority. It’s tremendously frustrating to lose precious data needlessly, and the whole process can be completed in a very short time.
Recreating the Problem
It can be incredibly helpful to make a note of what you were doing and which programs were running when you experienced the blue screen. If you’re able to recreate the process and end up with the crash, then there’s a good chance that one of the pieces of software you are using could be causing the problem.
In any case, knowing that the crashes are not random, but instead caused by certain actions, can narrow down the suspects. For example, if you notice that whenever you connect a printer via USB and try to print from Word you get a BSoD, but if you print to PDF you don’t, then it’s reasonable to assume the printer is involved.
Checking the BSOD Code
With a BSOD there will sometimes be an error code displayed at the bottom of the message. Write this down, then search for it on Google to see what the code represents. Knowing what you’re looking for will certainly make things a little clearer when it comes to diagnosing the problem.
Update Drivers
We’ve seen several cases in the past where dodgy graphics card drivers have wreaked havoc on a PC. If you’ve upgraded yours recently, and since experienced crashes, then it might be worth going back to the previous version, or at least heading to the forums on the manufacturer’s site to see if there are known problems with the update.
To uninstall a program or driver you’ll need to click on the search area in the taskbar then type view installed updates and select the option that appears with that name. Now you’ll be taken to the Control Panel where you can check the dates of the drivers and uninstall the ones that might be causing the problem.
What did you Change?
One of the first things to investigate is whether you made any changes to your system. Usually this will be a new piece of software that was installed or possibly running upgrades for existing programs. If the BSOD happens while you’re using a program, or loading one up, then it might be worth uninstalling the software and then reinstalling it again. You could also try using Google to see if there are others having issues with that version of the software, and what solutions they’ve discovered.
Check your Hardware
If you’re on a desktop machine, then it could well be worth opening up your machine and ensuring that the hardware is all seated correctly. If a card isn’t fully pushed into its slot then there is the outside chance that it might cause a BSOD. Of course if you’ve replaced a graphics card, or maybe your RAM, recently then this would again be a thing to investigate, as the new hardware could be causing the problem.