You're not the only one who gets trolled by Windows!

Well folks, does the above image look familiar? Have you ever seen this screen pop up suddenly during the middle of your work and caused you to bang your head right on the screen which caused all your past work to disappear? Well, this is what we call the “Blue Screen of Death” or simply “BSOD” and you’re simply not the only one who just got trolled by Windows!

Tracing back the roots of the issue

Now it may seem like an old issue, which was evident in Windows NT 3.1 and most of the Windows platforms launched subsequently. But in scenarios where there might be room for problems such as a faulty memory, problems with power supply, overheating components, or perhaps when hardware crosses its run limits, BSOD makes its way to the OS and ultimately halts the system.

Back in the days when Windows 9x series prevailed, BSODs turned out to be common because of the presence of some incompatible DLLs or perhaps some bugs in the OS kernel. Not to forget the unstable nature, as well as a poor memory protection nature of Windows 9x. This resulted in frequent BSODs.

“Yes it’s 2018 and we are still facing the BSOD!”

No wonder it is 2018 and we are still hung up with this fatal error! People who are currently engaged with the Windows 10 operating system may also face a couple of BSOD occasions. You aren’t safe yet lol.

The above screenshots have been captured from the most recent trending tweets and it clearly seems like people have not given up whining about the issue. The screenshot on the right is a tweet of a person who faced BSOD in Windows 10. That’s right! The issue still remains. While there is room for improvement in the Windows OS, there's still a trending issue that needs to be looked into! And with more and more new versions of the OS being released, very little has been affected in what we still regret seeing as the BSOD.

People are literally smashing screens right now! You don’t even wanna know how many people out there reached violently to this issue perhaps even smashing their screens up , this isn’t funny at all!

So what caused this error to pop up on your screen out of nowhere? 

The problem is with your monitoring!

BSOD, in other terms, known as STOP error is a mutual error shared across the Windows platform and is an indicator of a very critical issue that causes Windows to completely halt. Such an issue is usually derived from a fatal system error because of certain hardware malfunctioning or driver (that are poorly installed) related problems. This means that your OS can no longer operate in a safe manner and hence, troubleshooting is desired in order to make things right again!

Remember, the problem is with the monitoring! Normal applications usually don’t result in such errors but upon crashes, they might cause such blue screens! While this error occurs, your Windows forms a “minidump” file which usually contains details about the error and then it saves it to your disk. These minidump files are often useful in viewing the cause of the crash so that preventive measures can be taken to tackle it accordingly!

Below is an example of a blue screen indicating an application crash along with a short note on the root cause of the scenario:

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Now, there are several hours of extreme dedication in fixing the BSOD and once you have identified the root cause of the blue screen, you may deal with the issue accordingly. Now, the troubleshooting methods may vary in the time they take for resolving the issue.

The most important factor to consider here is the step you just recently performed. Suspicion may lead to correct identification of the issue. “Have the recently installed software lead me to the BSOD?” “Did my new keyboard cause the issue?”

Troubleshooting 

While you identify the problem, it is crucial to then revert back to the old configuration of the settings. These maybe of the drivers you just installed or perhaps through a system restore to the point where your OS was working just fine.

Blue screens may also occur from memory issues when there is insufficient space on the driver where your Windows is installed. So make sure you check to see if there is enough free space for Windows to work properly!

Viruses may also cause BSODs. Such viruses and malware are prone to attack the boot sector and must be scanned and quarantined at all costs. So do consider this step using Bootable Anti-Virus tools.

Stick with your System and Applications logs in Event viewer more frequently! These often provide clues and warnings to what may be causing any such system errors. You may also revert the BIOS back to its default state or simple update it as misconfigured or outdates in the BIOS may also lead to blue screens.

In case of a hardware-related issue, one can simply:

• Replace the malfunctioned hardware
• Update hardware's drivers or firmware
• Ensure it is included in the “Hardware Compatibility List”
• Confirm with manufacturer for further support.

There are multiple hardware testing softwares out there, such as the HDD Scan which allows you to identify and analyze the specific hardware that is causing any particular issue. Make sure all your components are attached to the system properly as any lack of communication between the OS and hardware results in such blue screens. You can also consider reverting back all hardware settings to their default states by going to you system’s device manager. And remember to always start your PC with the essential hardware!

If the issue is with the application program then simply re-install the software and make sure you install the updated version of that program. You can also simply contact the developers for further support or perhaps replace the software with a similar one (if it is available). For example, if your UTorrent application is crashing again and again, simply use BitTorrent instead!