Blue Screen of Death

It’s the time of year everyone is getting sick and I am no exception. So during my time of illness I thought I’d write about a very common “illness” your computer may come down with. Everyone has heard of it, but not everyone has experienced it first hand. I am referring to the Blue screen of death that windows machines can encounter. It seems scarier than it should be for a number of reasons. When encountering this error, your work will be interrupted, your desktop will disappear and you will be greeted by a screen that is entirely blue with white writing across its face. It will let you know that windows has encountered an error and the computer will need to be restarted.

Once restarted your computer will likely greet you with a message in your action center letting you know that an error occurred and it need to be analysed. Let windows analyse the error. Sometimes Blue screens are very intermittent and are not a major issue, but other times it can cause the computer to be completely unusable. So what are some common ways to fight this “illness”? Well most Blue screens are caused by hardware issues, driver issues or viruses.

Here are the best ways to keep it from happening again:

Use a system restore: Located in the control panel. This can only be done if a previous back up is in place. To create a back up simply let windows run a back up (also located in control panel).

Scan for Viruses or Malware: The program we recommend is Malware Bytes. Also ensure Windows Defender is turned on.

Update Drivers for Software/ Keep them up to date: Be sure to monitor your action center and keep drivers up to date as you work. Open your Device manager and right click each device. Look for the “Update driver” option in the list of device options.

Check for hardware problems: Run the memory diagnostics tool from your search bar. Be sure to clean your computer quarterly with compressed air while it is off, unplugged and outside to avoid overheating.

Reinstall/ Upgrade Windows: Locate your windows disk after you have backed up all data to an external location and reinstall windows.

If none of these tips seemed to work then its time to replace on of the following hardware pieces: Video Card, RAM, Power Supply.

These can be costly to replace and can often be difficult without computer knowledge. Replacing the entire computer may be the worst case scenario if all other efforts have failed.

Blue screens are difficult to diagnose and are frustrating so don’t feel as though you are at fault. Before giving up all hope be sure to give us a call so we can take a look at your ill computer and recommend the most cost efficient way to move forward.