What Is The Blue Screen Of Death?
Have you ever been in a situation where your Windows just won’t function and instead you come across a blue screen with some codes on it?
This error screen is termed informally as the Blue Screen of Death by computer professionals. The blue screen error is displayed when the operating system encounters a serious system error and shuts down to avert further damage.
Most people panic when they encounter a blue screen error. Fortunately, it can be fixed. When you get a blue screen error you can try rebooting your system. Many times when the computer restarts, it functions normally and the blue screen doesn’t appear. However, sometimes even when you reboot the pc, the blue screen doesn’t go away. This means that perhaps the problem is more critical than you envisaged and requires troubleshooting. It’s always better to note down the error code in case you need to consult a computer technician.
But what actually causes the Blue Screen of Death?
Well, blue screen errors can be caused by defectively written device drivers, bad memory, a corrupt registry or incompatible DLL’s. All the Windows operating systems since inception have been victims of blue screen errors. However the two common causes of blue screen errors are a corrupt registry and issues with the RAM.
A lot of users who encountered blue screen errors state that they are able to eliminate these errors by cleaning out the registry. The registry is a kind of catalog that contains information about various files, hardware and software configurations etc. Any changes we make to the configuration in terms of addition or deletion of hardware or even installation or un-installation of software is logged in the registry.
When we first purchase a pc, everything is hunky dory since the amount of applications are limited. However, as we keep adding programs it creates a demand on our computers resources. Moreover, the registry is clogged with old obsolete entries and new ones as well. These redundant entries and even some created by malicious software like Trojans and other viruses can slow your system and cause these blue screen errors to appear.
How To Fix BSOD
The quickest way to deal with blue screen errors caused by a corrupt registry is to download registry cleaner software and run it on your pc. If the blue screen of death refuses to go away even once you’ve cleaned your registry then perhaps your RAM is faulty. You might want to get it tested by a certified technician and replace it if needed.
However when you get a blue screen and your computer just doesn’t restart, try go into Safe Mode. Press the F8 key as your computer is starting-up. If your computer succeeds in going into safe mode then it’s likely that the cause is faulty software or device drivers.
What you can do here is to restart it once again and press F8. This time choose “last known good configuration” instead of Safe Mode. This could take you to Windows. Once you get there you can try cleaning the registry using registry cleaner software to solve any registry related issues. If this doesn’t help, you could try uninstalling any recently installed hardware or software. You could also uninstall the device drivers. They can be reinstalled later. If the problem still persists, then maybe the issue is hardware related and the best recourse would be to consult a computer technician.
Even though blue screen errors occur less frequently in Windows XP than in Windows 95 or Windows 98, they can still cause a lot of trouble and anxiety. You can prevent these errors to an extent by regularly running registry cleaner software on your pc to protect it from getting corrupted.
