Fixing Random Blue Screens (BSoD) With Different Errors
By Timothy Tibbettson 06/30/2023 |
There's only one thing we hate more than a blue screen, also known as the Blue Screen of Death or BSOD, and that's a Blue Screen of Death that gives you different error codes making it difficult to understand what the problem is. Here's what you can try.
First off, there's a good chance you have a hardware problem, but as you already know, random errors make this a little tricky. If you run into issues trying any of these steps where the computer is on, try rebooting into safe mode.
1: Check Your Memory
Many times, random BSOD errors can be a bad memory stick. Most computers have more than one stick of memory. Remove one and see if the problem goes away, and if not, swap the other stick and again see if the problem is solved. Your computer may run slow while doing this test, but it's simple and effective. Memory testing could take at least 30 minutes to hours, so this is the best way to diagnose memory as the problem.
If you've never removed a stick before, look for two small tabs that hold a stick in place and push them gently outwards to release the RAM that is locked into place this way. Now, slide one stick out. When putting your memory back, take note that they only go in one direction. Look at the teeth before you insert the memory stick to be sure you're putting it in correctly. Typically you will find that there's a slot down the middle of the RAM and it's never centered, but off to one side.
2: Update Your Drivers
Many of these errors are hardware problems and can be fixed by just updating your device drivers. We'd try Driver Booster first, reboot, and see if your problem is solved.
3: Update Your BIOS or Firmware
Head to your motherboard or computer builders website and look under driver updates for a BIOS update. Typically, if there's a known issue, it will be mentioned. However, this is one of those cases where we would consider updating our BIOS.
4: Test Other Hardware
Nowadays, most of our hardware is built into the motherboard making diagnosing other hardware difficult. You could try and remove other hardware that is removable (video cards, network cards) and see if the problem goes away. Hopefully, you have an old graphics card lying around because graphics cards also have memory, the primary cause of ransom Blue Screen of Death errors.
5: Disable SATA in BIOS
Another known trick is to disable SATA in your BIOS. The difficult problem here is there are many types of BIOS, and each one may look different. Typically, you will find a handful of sections so look for SATA and disable it. I wish we could be more specific but we can't. If you're new to the BIOS, be sure to see this page for some basics. If you don't see SATA, look for RAID and change that to ACHI.
6: Reset Your PC
Windows 10 now features Reset this PC. Hopefully, a reset can save you the trouble of a clean install but only if you can even get to Safe Mode. We should note, however that a clean install rarely fixes a BSOD. At the time this article was written, it's easiest
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First off, there's a good chance you have a hardware problem, but as you already know, random errors make this a little tricky. If you run into issues trying any of these steps where the computer is on, try rebooting into safe mode.
1: Check Your Memory
Many times, random BSOD errors can be a bad memory stick. Most computers have more than one stick of memory. Remove one and see if the problem goes away, and if not, swap the other stick and again see if the problem is solved. Your computer may run slow while doing this test, but it's simple and effective. Memory testing could take at least 30 minutes to hours, so this is the best way to diagnose memory as the problem.
If you've never removed a stick before, look for two small tabs that hold a stick in place and push them gently outwards to release the RAM that is locked into place this way. Now, slide one stick out. When putting your memory back, take note that they only go in one direction. Look at the teeth before you insert the memory stick to be sure you're putting it in correctly. Typically you will find that there's a slot down the middle of the RAM and it's never centered, but off to one side.
2: Update Your Drivers
Many of these errors are hardware problems and can be fixed by just updating your device drivers. We'd try Driver Booster first, reboot, and see if your problem is solved.
3: Update Your BIOS or Firmware
Head to your motherboard or computer builders website and look under driver updates for a BIOS update. Typically, if there's a known issue, it will be mentioned. However, this is one of those cases where we would consider updating our BIOS.
4: Test Other Hardware
Nowadays, most of our hardware is built into the motherboard making diagnosing other hardware difficult. You could try and remove other hardware that is removable (video cards, network cards) and see if the problem goes away. Hopefully, you have an old graphics card lying around because graphics cards also have memory, the primary cause of ransom Blue Screen of Death errors.
5: Disable SATA in BIOS
Another known trick is to disable SATA in your BIOS. The difficult problem here is there are many types of BIOS, and each one may look different. Typically, you will find a handful of sections so look for SATA and disable it. I wish we could be more specific but we can't. If you're new to the BIOS, be sure to see this page for some basics. If you don't see SATA, look for RAID and change that to ACHI.
6: Reset Your PC
Windows 10 now features Reset this PC. Hopefully, a reset can save you the trouble of a clean install but only if you can even get to Safe Mode. We should note, however that a clean install rarely fixes a BSOD. At the time this article was written, it's easiest
comments powered by Disqus
