The Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD)

What is wrong with my computer? Why do I keep getting a blue screen with error messages on it? The dreaded blue screen of death, what does it all mean.

Does your computer system display the blue screen of death regularly similar to the one below?

Most BSOD’s are caused by hardware failure. You could have a blown capacitor on your motherboard causing the blue screen of death. A faulty video adapter, or a bad stick of RAM could be the cause. Another common cause could be heat issues. The heat sink fan on your CPU could need replacing. Maybe your power supply is full of dust and needs cleaning.

One of the best ways to determine what the error message means is to google the problem. Google may be your best friend when determining blue screens of death. If you look at the diagram above you will notice I highlighted the important information with a red arrow. This is the info you need to determine the reason behind the BSOD. Have you replaced any hardware recently?

Another cause of the famous BSOD error is corrupted drivers for your hardware. Try updating drivers before replacing the hardware. Nine times out of ten you will need to replace faulty hardware.

In some instances you can’t see the blue screen of death, it just flashes by real quickly. If you can’t see the BSOD try the following:

• Restart your computer in safe mode. How to enter safe mode
• Once the advanced boot options page has loaded choose Disable automatic restart on system failure.
• You can also disable automatic restart on system failure from within windows. If you are using windows xp do the following:
• Click Start then click Control Panel.
• Double click on System
• In the System Properties window, click on the Advanced tab.
• Locate the Startup and Recovery area and click on the Settings button.
• In the Startup and Recovery window, locate and uncheck the check box next to Automatically restart.

If you are using windows Vista, do the following to disable automatic restart.

• Click Start.
• Right click Computer and choose Properties.
• Next, on the left side of the window click Advanced system settings.
• Next, under Startup and Recovery choose Settings.
• Next, under system failure uncheck automatically restart. Click Ok and you are done.

If you can’t figure out the reason for the blue screen of death (BSOD) take your system to a professional. Make sure you give the professional the information about the blue screen of death.