How to Fix Blue Screen of Death: 18 Proven Solutions for All Windows Versions

There is nothing worse than a stop error or a blue-screen death attack on your Windows computer. But just calm down, and this post collects the overall information to explain what causes the blue screen of death and 18 efficient solutions to solve the problem in details.

Summary

Almost every Windows user has been struck by a sudden Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) or a "stop error" when starting their computer.

If you are facing this issue, it is no doubt that the following questions will come to mind:

"What is the Blue Screen of Death?"

"What causes the Blue Screen of Death on Windows 11 or Windows 10?"

"How do I fix the blue screen on my Windows 11/10/7?"

Do not worry. We will solve these puzzles in the following guide. All you need to do is stay patient and read through the entire article to find the right solution for your PC.

Fix Blue Screen of Death Windows

Part 1. What Is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)

1. What is the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows

Blue screen of death (BSOD or BSoD), is the stop error appears on a Windows computer after a system crash. When this error occurs, operating system reaches a condition where it can no longer operate safely, and displays a blue screen with the process which said Recovering orphaned file.

Not only Windows 10, 8, 7, XP computer suffers from the error, but Windows 9x home desktop operating system suffers frequently.

On Windows 7 and earlier, this code will include an 8-digit blue screen code that starts with "0x", while Windows 8 and above display the error as "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE." Moreover, the error message error is a green background on Windows 10, and Windows 9x users can customize the color.

Blue screen of death on Windows

2. Why Does the Blue Screen Error Occur (Common Causes)

As for the causes of blue screen of death, it can be summarized hardware or issues with driver software generally. Sometimes, the error may be caused by low-level software running in Windows kernel.

Once the stop error or blue screen appears, Windows will crash and stop working. For kicking your Windows computer out of blue screen death, you need to remove all the elements that lead to the error.

In the second part, we will show the solutions to help you fix the issue.

Part 2. 10 General Fixes to Resolve Windows BSOD Errors

We provide the most efficient 18 solutions for you to solve this problem

Do not open your mouse.

You can fix the issue by following the common solutions, if you do not the exact causes of the problem,

You can also get a quick trouble shooting if you know the stop error exactly.

Get a quick solution view and navigate what you want exactly.

1. Boot into Safe Mode

In most case, Windows computer is configured by default to restart automatically. In this case, you will be not left enough time to read and understand the error text when the blue screen appears.

The first thing you need to do is to disable automatic restart on your computer.

Step 1.
Go to "My Computer" and right-click it > "Properties" > "Advanced system settings" > Select "Advanced" tab.
Step 2.
Under "Startup and Recovery" section and click the "Settings" button.
Step 3.
Go to the "System failure" section and uncheck "Automatic Restart" option > Click "OK" to save the settings.
Automatic Restart

Then just boot into your computer into Safe Mode.

Restart your computer, press F8 before Windows logo shows, use the arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" and "Enter" to run computer in Safe Mode.

Safe Mode

2. Run Windows Update

Like software update, getting the latest system update may fix this error you are experiencing.

Step 1.
Go to "Start" > Type "Windows Update" in the search bar to find it.
Step 2.
Click "Check for updates" to review any pending updates and click "Install updates" to update Windows system.
Update Windows system

3. Check for Hard Disk Errors

Windows has its built-in diagnosis utilities to help you identify and fix certain errors.

Check hard disk issues:

Step 1.
Right click "Computer" > "Properties" > "Tools" tab and at the "Error-checking" section click "Check now".
Step 2.
Select both "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" > "Start" to check the hard disk problems.

Check memory issues:

Go to "Control Panel" > Type "Memory" in the search box > Click "Diagnose your computer's memory problems" and follow the onscreen to restart and repair your computer memory problems.

Check Computer Memory

Thsi solution also works to deal with green screen of death on Windows 10/8/7.

4. Perform Startup Repair

If you get a recovery option preinstalled on your computer, you can run Startup Repair tool to repair disk manually.

Step 1.
Remove any CDs, DVDs or USBs from system and restart your computer.
Step 2.
Press and hold F8 as before the Windows 7 logo appears.
Step 3.
At the "Advanced Boot Options" screen, use the arrow keys to select "Repair your computer" and hit "Enter".
Startup Repair

5. Inspect Hardware Components

Sometimes, the overheating parts may lead to a BSoD. As such, it is necessary to check hardware components.

  • • Remove external hardware, like printers, USB storage drivers, gamepads, etc.
  • • Remove and reattach device, motherboard and data interface cable.
  • • Reseat any expansion cards.
  • • Disengage memory retaining clips.

6. Run a Full Virus/Malware Scan

Some viruses may cause a blue screen of death.

Just make sure your virus scanning software is the latest, and use it to scan your computer to see if there is something wrong with some apps.

7. Repair MBR/GPT Boot Records

The Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) contains essential information for your computer to identify and load the operating system. If these boot records are corrupted, your system will fail to start and trigger a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).

Follow these steps to repair the boot configuration:

Step 1.
Insert your Windows installation USB or disc and boot your computer from it.
Step 2.
Select your language and region, then click Next. Click "Repair your computer" in the bottom-left corner.
Step 3.
Navigate to “Troubleshoot” > “Advanced options” > “Command Prompt”.
Step 4.
In the Command Prompt window, type the following commands one by one and press Enter after each.

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /scanos

bootrec /rebuildbcd

For modern GPT/UEFI systems, if the commands above don't fully resolve the issue, the rebuildbcd step is the most critical for restoring the boot path.

Step 5.
Close the Command Prompt, restart your computer, and check if the BSOD error is resolved.

8. Reset BIOS/CMOS Settings to Default

For removing the boot error, you can also reset BIOS/CMOS to its default settings.

Step 1.
Restart your computer, press "F12" or other keys (Esc/Del/F2/F8) to enter BIOS/CMOS. (You can notice the key on different computer at the first screen.)
Enter BIOS
Step 2.
Find the option to reset the BIOS settings.

The option is usually named as any of "Load Default, Load Fail-Safe Defaults, Load BIOS Defaults, Load Default Settings, Load Setup Default or Get Default Values".

Reset BIOS
Step 3.
Save the changes and exit BIOS/CMOS.

9. Perform a System Restore

System restore will drag your computer to the previous point, where your computer is good-working and blue screen of death can be removed in this way.

10. Reinstall Windows System

Resetting Windows to perform a clean installation is the nuclear option.

Surely, it will wipe the system and replace it with a fresh Windows system.

If your blue screen of death still exists, you had better go to the repair store to check your hardware of your computer.

Part 3. 8 Specific Solutions for Common Stop Error Codes

1. Uninstall Apps (Fix 0x0000008E)

Like mentioned above, the outdated programs is likely the cause of the blue screen of death.

To solve it, you just need to uninstall the unnecessary apps or newly installed apps on your computer.

Go to "Control Panel" > "Programs" > "Uninstall a program" > Navigate the application > Right click it to select "Uninstall", and follow the onscreen instructions to uninstall the apps.

Uninstall Apps

2. Update Drivers (Fix 0x000000EA)

An incorrect installation or outdated driver might lead to BSoD.

The solution is easy, and just go to your computer's manufacture to check the driver's latest version.

3. Remove New Hardware/Drivers/Apps

This solution works great when you receive the error code: 0x000000D1, 0x00000050, 0x0000008E, 0x0000007E and 0x00000024.

The sudden blue-screen of death may be caused by the new installation of hardware, driver or apps.

You need to navigate the newly installed programs, and disable or remove them to see if the problem is resolved.

4. Use DISM & SFC Scans

System file corruption is a primary cause of the Blue Screen of Death. Windows provides two powerful built-in tools - SFC and DISM - to repair your system image and replace corrupted files automatically.

Step 1.
Type cmd in the Windows search bar, right-click Command Prompt, and select "Run as administrator".
Step 2.
In the window, type the following command and press Enter:

sfc /scannow

Step 3.
To fix deeper system image issues, type this command and press Enter:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Step 4.
Once the process is complete, restart your computer. This should resolve BSOD issues caused by damaged system components.

5. Check RAM with Memory Diagnostic

Faulty or dying memory (RAM) is a major cause of errors 0x0000008E and 0x0000007E. Windows has a built-in tool to test your hardware for defects.

Step 1.
Press Win + R, type “mdsched.exe”, and hit “Enter”.
Step 2.
Select "Restart now and check for problems (recommended)".
Step 3.
Your computer will restart and start the memory test automatically.
Step 4.
Once finished, Windows will reboot and show you the results. If errors are found, you may need to replace your RAM sticks.

6. Run CHKDSK (Fix 0x00000024)

When you get the BSoD error because of file system corruption, you should run chkdsk to help you check and repair the problem.

Step 1.
Insert your Windows installation DVD disk and power up your PC.
Step 2.
Press any key when you see "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD…"
Step 3.
Click "Repair your computer" and choose your operating system and "Next" to choose "Command Prompt".
Step 4.
Type the line:
"chkdsk /f *:"

represents the drive letter where you are doing operations when your computer shuts down.

Hit "Enter" to start to repair your computer automatically.

When it is done, type "exit" and hit "Enter" to finish the process.

Fix Micro SD Card

7. Check Hard Disk Space (Fix 0x0000007E)

The blue screen of death may be caused by the non-enough hard disk storage.

So you need to check your hard disk space and free up enough storage if it s not enough.

Right click "Computer" > "Manage" > "Disk Management" under "Storage" to get an overall storage information of your computer hard disk.

If the free space is not enough, just delete some unnecessary data on your computer.

Storage

8. Rebuild BCD (Fix 0x0000007B)

When computer blue screen is led by data corruption on the hard drive, you can try BCD rebuilding.

BCD, short for Boot Configuration Data, contains boot configurations options of Windows.

Step 1.
Insert and boot from the installation disk > Press any key to boot from the disk > Choose "Repair your computer" > Select the matching operating system of your own computer.
Step 2.
Click "Next" > "Command Prompt" > Type the line:
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Step 3.
Press "Enter" to start to rebuild BCD.

Part 4. Bottom Line – Recover Data from Windows PC

The 18 solutions above should be enough to help you fix the Blue Screen of Death. However, if you accidentally lose important files during the repair process, you can use Aiseesoft Data Recovery to restore them.

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Step 1.
Download, install, and launch the software on your computer.
Step 2.
On the main interface, select the hard drive you want to scan. Click "Start Scan" to start a quick search.
Data Recovery Homepage
Step 3.
Once the scan is complete, you can use the “Filter” feature to quickly locate and select the files you need. Click "Recover All" to save the lost data safely back to your computer.
Choose Files

You can also check this video tutorial to get data recovery from your computer easily:

Recover Lost Data from Hard Drive play-button

Part 5. FAQs About Fixing Windows Blue Screen of Death

Can I ignore a BSOD if my computer restarts normally?

It is not recommended. While a one-time error might be a glitch, repeated blue screens can lead to data loss or system instability. It is best to run SFC or DISM scans to ensure your system files are intact.

Will fixing a blue screen delete my files?

Most solutions like updating drivers or running scans will not affect your data. However, advanced steps like System Restore or Windows Reinstallation may remove recent apps or files. Always use Aiseesoft Data Recovery if you find files missing.

Why does my PC blue screen after a Windows update?

This is often due to an incompatible driver or an incomplete update installation. You can resolve this by booting into Safe Mode and uninstalling the latest update or updating your hardware drivers.

Conclusion

We have covered the 18 best solutions to help you fix the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows.

If you aren't sure what caused the crash, start with the 10 general fixes to troubleshoot your system. If you have a specific error code, jump directly to our targeted solutions for a faster recovery. Most importantly, if any data is misplaced during the repair process, don't hesitate to use data recovery tools to get your files back.

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We hope this guide helps you bring your computer back to normal. If you have any suggestions or better solutions, feel free to leave a comment and help us improve this page for everyone!

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