Microsoft shares detailed guide to fix Windows 11/10 blue screen (BSOD)

Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is something most Windows users must have experienced once in their lives. There's an interesting tale behind the origin of the BSOD which was shared by an official Microsoft veteran.

When a PC is running into having BSOD woes, the difficult thing for the affected user is to troubleshoot the root of the issue. The BSOD screen although blue, is not completely blank as it provides information related to the issue.

In a recently updated official guidance document, Microsoft has shared steps on how users will be able to troubleshoot and hopefully fix such a problem. Previously, the support article was very brief as it only mentioned Safe Mode troubleshooting and the Get Help app.

The company has divided the guide into two parts, first, we have the "basic troubleshooting steps" involving safe mode, using Device Manager, as well as Windows Update:

Basic Troubleshooting Steps for Blue Screen Errors

 

1. Remove any new hardware. If you added new hardware to your PC before the error, shut down your PC, remove the hardware, and try restarting.

    

2. Start your PC in safe mode. If you're having trouble restarting, you can start your PC in safe mode. ... . From safe mode, you can try the remaining troubleshooting steps.

    

3. Check the Device Manager. Right-click the Start button and select Device Manager. Check to see if any devices are marked with the exclamation point (!). Right-click the device and select Update driver. If updating the driver doesn’t help, try disabling or uninstalling the device.

    

4. Check for sufficient free space on the hard drive. The operating system and some applications require sufficient free space to create swap files and perform other functions. Based on the system configuration, the exact requirement varies, but it's a good idea to have 10% to 15% of free space available.

    

5. Install the latest Windows Updates. To check for updates, select Start > Settings > Windows Update , then select Check for updates.

    

6. Restore Windows. If none of these steps help, try restoring Windows using a system restore point, or one of the other options listed at Recovery options in Windows. Choose the recovery option that most closely matches your scenario.

Up next, we have the advanced steps involving Event Viewer, Memory Diagnotics tool, and are mainly for bit advanced users.

Advanced Troubleshooting Steps for Blue Screen Errors

1. Check the Event Viewer. Check the system log in Event Viewer for other error messages that might help pinpoint the device or driver that's causing the error. .. . Look for critical errors in the system log that occurred in the same time frame as the blue screen.

    

2. Run the Windows Memory Diagnostics tool. In the search box, type Memory, and then select Windows Memory Diagnostic.‌ After running the diagnostic, use the Event Viewer to view the results under the system log. Look for the MemoryDiagnostics-Results entry to view the results.

    

3. Memory dump analysis. IT professionals and developers can try performing a memory dump analysis.

You can find the support article here on Microsoft's official website.

Source

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