Windows 11/10 also has the blue screen of death (BSOD) or Stop error screen which appears when you are in the middle of something, upgrading the operating system while booting or just working on your PC. While some are facing the black screen issue, a few are facing BSOD issues. We take each scenario and explain what to do in each case.
Windows 10/8 blue screens are simple and do not show Stop error information. You may need to force Windows to show Stop error details.
What is the first step to resolve a Blue Screen of Death error
BSODs or Stop errors in Windows 11/10 seem to be better and friendlier and easier on the eyes. But they don’t give many details. You need to force your operating system to show Stop error information in Windows.
Common troubleshooting steps to fix blue screen errors in Windows 11/10 to follow are:
- See if a System Restore can fix this problem.
- Run your anti-virus and anti-spyware as well as your PC Junk/Registry Cleaner.
- Run the Windows Check Disk utility.
- Check if you have made any software or hardware changes or modifications.
- In most cases, software is the victim and not the cause of BSODs. So don’t rule out hardware issues. It could be damaged hard drives, faulty physical RAM, overheating CPU chips, or anything else!
- Check if you can see a driver’s name in the error details. If you can, simply disabling, removing, or rolling back this driver to an earlier version may help resolve this issue. Network interface cards, disk controllers and video adapters are the most common culprits.
- Check your memory. Use the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool. Go to Control Panel and type “memory” in the search box. Under Administrative Tools, click Diagnose your computer’s memory problems. In the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, shown here, select one of the options.
- Check your system BIOS carefully Is an update available from the system or motherboard manufacturer? Check the BIOS documentation carefully; sometimes resetting all BIOS options to their defaults can fix a problem caused by over-adjustment.
- Check if you are running out of system resources? Sometimes a critical shortage of disk space or RAM can cause BSODs.
- Check if a system file has been damaged?
- Work in Safe Mode, as only major drivers and services are enabled. If your system boots in safe mode but not normally, you most likely have a driver problem. Try running Device Manager in Safe Mode and uninstall the most likely suspect. Or run System Restore in Safe Mode.
Here are some basic tips to help you fix blue screen of death in Windows 10 in different scenarios. This guide will help you understand, analyze and troubleshoot Windows Blue Screen of Death, Stop Errors, Error Codes, Bug Check Errors, System Crash Errors, System Crashes , kernel error crashes in Windows 10/8/7.
If you need a walkthrough, see if the online Windows 10 blue screen troubleshooter will help you.
REMARK: If you can connect normally, so much the better; otherwise, you will need to boot into safe mode, access the advanced boot options screen, or use the installation media to boot in order to perform these instructions.
Blue Screen of Death when upgrading to Windows 11/10
While upgrading to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, or to Windows 11 from Windows 10, you may encounter BSOD. Normally this would happen due to BIOS settings. In some cases, the error may be caused by a corrupt installer download.
If you get the blue screen of death during the upgrade, the installer will roll you back to the original operating system. From there, you need to run the upgrade installer again. You won’t be stuck with a half-installed Windows 11/10. But the installation files will be there on your C: drive which you will need to clean up before running the upgrade again. You will need to remove all files from the Software Distribution folder under the Windows folder. You will also need to delete the Windows ~BT folder from the C drive.
After deleting these files, go to BIOS (press DEL while booting) and enable UEFI boot before trying to upgrade again. It would be better to use the installation media provided by Microsoft to perform the upgrade. The in-place upgrade takes too long and can again cause a problem. Just go to your original operating system. Then run Setup.exe from the installation media you created. This should help you bypass BSOD when upgrading to Windows 11/10.
Blue screen of death when starting Windows 11/10
There are two scenarios while booting Windows 10. In the first scenario, you can access the desktop while in the second, the blue screen of death does not even allow you to reach the desktop and you are stuck in a loop of computer restarts.
The main reasons why BSOD appears are:
- Some Windows drivers cause conflicts or
- Some Windows updates have gone wrong. If the latter is the reason, you should remove and block the update that caused the blue update screen.
If you can get to the desktop, go to Settings, then Windows Updates. Click Advanced and then View Installed Updates. See the date of updates and remove those installed on the date after which the BSOD appears. If removing updates solves the problem, prevent the update from reinstalling.
If the problem is a driver update, you need to see if any drivers have been installed recently. The process is the 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 preferable. This way you will play more carefully.
Lis: How to find which driver is causing the blue screen on Windows?
BSOD reboot loop prevents desktop access
If you get stuck in a blue screen of death reboot loop, Windows 11/10 will automatically enter repair mode after a while. From there, use the System Restore function to fix the problem. Click on System Restore and select a date/point before you start getting BSOD. System Restore will restore your computer to an earlier time, removing all changes made to your computer by Windows Update. It will not affect your files.
Blue Screen of Death while working on Windows 11/10
The causes can again be a Windows update, device driver update, or recently installed hardware. To make sure updates are the cause, use the method explained above to isolate the problematic update and then block it.
If you recently installed hardware, shut down your computer and remove the hardware. Then start and go to Device Manager (WinKey + Break). If the hardware is still listed there, uninstall it. Reboot to see if the issue is resolved.
Useful resource: List of bug check or Windows shutdown error codes.
Lis: Purple, Brown, Yellow, Red, Green Screen of Death explained.
