Blue Screen of Death - Survival Guide

7/29/2019 Blue Screen of Death - Survival Guide

1/14

2/13/2013

EveryErrorExplained |Mr.CharlesWeber.

BLACKROSE

DIGITAL

SERVICES

MANAGEMENT

(BDSM,LLC.)

BlueScreenofDeath:SurvivalGuide


2/14

BlueScreenofDeathSurvivalGuide:EveryErrorExplained

BSoD101:ACrashCourse

ErrorNameTherearemanypartstoaBSOD,butthemostimportantisrightatthetop.Theactualnameoftheerroris

presentedinallcapswithanunderscorebetweeneachword.Insomecasesthiswillbeallthatsneededtogetto

therootoftheproblem(thankstothehandyguideyouareabouttoread).Mostofthetime,however,more

informationwillberequired.

TroubleshootingAdviceNearlyeveryBSODincludesaportionoftextwithsomebasictroubleshootingadvice,thefirstofwhich

recommendsrestarting

your

computer.

Gee,

thanks

for

the

tip

Microsoft.

Before

you

restart,

copy

the

exact

all

capserrorcodeandhexadecimalvaluesshownaboveandbelowthisportionofgenerictext.Thenextparagraph

providessoundadvice,alertingtheusertochecktomakesuretheirhardwareisinstalledproperly,ortoundoany

recentsoftwareorhardwareupgrades.

MemoryDumpEveryBSODisaccompaniedbyamemorydump.WhatthismeansiswhenWindowscrashes,itdumpswhateverit

isholdinginsystemmemorytoafile,andsavesthefileonyourharddrivefordebuggingpurposes.Ifyoucontact

Microsoftfortechnicalassistance,theyllwanttoknowthecontentsofthisfile.


3/14

StopCodeThetechnicalinformationsectionportioncontainstheactualWindowsstopcode,inohsoeasytoread

hexadecimalform.Despiteappearingunintelligibleatfirstglance,thiscombinationofnumbersandlettersis

instrumentalindeterminingthecauseofthecrash.Payparticularattentiontothefirstsetofnumbersandletters.

Itprecedestheotherfour,whichareenclosedinparenthesis.Ifaspecificdriverisassociatedwiththecrash,itwill

belisted

on

the

very

next

line.

IRunVista,soI'mImmunetoBSODs,Right?

Unfortunately,no.Acommonmisconceptionisthatbluescreensdon'tevenexistinVista.Thegoodnewsis

MicrosoftputalotofworkintohowVistahandlescriticalerrorsandotherglitchesthatinpreviousOSswould

causeasystemcrash.Mostofthetime,ifaproblemoccurs,Vistawillattempttofixtheproblemwithoutany

interruption.Forexample,ifyourvideocardcrashes,youmayseeamessagesaying"Displaydriverstopped

respondingandhasrecovered."InXPandpreviousOSs,thisalmostalwayswouldhaveresultedinasystemcrash.

Insomecases,Vistawillbeunablerecoveronitsown,andtheresultisabluescreen.Bydefault,Vistawillreboot

itselfafterbrieflyflashingthebluescreen.Ithappenssofastyoumightmissit,butonceWindowsreloads,you'll

begreetedwithanerrormessagesimilartotheabove.Youcantryclickingthe'Checkforsolution'button,justas

youcantryyourhandplayingthelotto.Neitheroneislikelytoresultinanything.


4/14

Instead,scrolldownandtakenoteofthebluescreencodes.Armedwiththisinformation,youcanperformyour

owndetectivework.Alternately,ifyou'dprefertoseetheactualbluescreenratherthanautomaticallyrebooting,

rightclicktheMyComputericononyourdesktop,selectProperties,andclickonAdvancedSystemSettings.Inthe

SystemProperties

window

that

appears,

select

the

Advanced

tab,

click

Settings

under

Startup

and

Recovery,

and

unchecktheboxthatsays'AutomaticallyRestart.'ThesamestepsalsoapplytoXP.

Inanothernodtowardsstreamliningthetroubleshootingprocess,Vista'sProblemReportsandSolutionswizard

cansaveyouoodlesoftimeinPCdetectivework,andmayevenalertyoutopotentialconflictsyouweren'teven

awareexisted.YoucanfindthisappletbynameinyourControlPanel,orjusttypeProblemReportsandSolutions

inVista's

search

box.

Once

loaded,

click

'Check

for

new

solutions'

in

the

left

hand

column.

If

Vista

finds

any

conflicts,itwilllisttheminthemainwindow,alongwithanypotentialresolutions.


5/14

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL(0x0000000A)

Themostcommoncauseofthisconflictisimproperlyinstalleddriversforapieceofhardwareyourecently

installed.

First,disconnectthehardware,anduninstallthedriversforitcompletely.Ifthatfixesthebluescreen,youcan

search

for

updated

drivers

or

contact

the

manufacturer.

If

you

haven't

installed

any

new

drivers

recently,

you'll

needtodosomemoredetectivework.Startbyexaminingthebluescreentoseeifitlistsaspecificdriver.Looking

atthebluescreen,checkthetextattheverybottomofthescreen.You'llprobablyseeafilename.Thisisthe

driverthatcausedtheproblem.If,forexample,thedriverinquestionisnamednv4_disp.dll(annVidiarelated

file),andyou'verecentlyswitchedfromanNvidiavideocardtoanATIpart,thenit'sreasonabletoassumethat

eithertheolddriverwasnotuninstalledcorrectly,orthenewdriversweren'tproperlyinstalled.

SwappingVideocardsIfyou'venarrowedyoursearchofoffendingdriversdowntothoseassociatedwithyourvideocard,turnoffthe

system,disconnectthepower,andremoveandreseatthevideocard.Next,gointotheBIOS(pressF2orDelete

whenyourBIOSpromptsyoutodothis,orconsultyourusermanualormotherboardmanufacturer'swebsite)and

checkthebusspeedforyourvideocard.WetypicallyrecommendleavingthePCIEfrequencysettoAutointhe

BIOS,butifyou'veoverclockedyoursystem,itcaninadvertentlyknockthebusspeedbeyondastablespec,which

cancause

blue

screens.

If

that's

the

case,

manually

set

your

PCI

Efrequency

to

100MHz.


6/14

You'remoreliketoexperiencethisIRQLerrorwhenswitchingformonevideocardbrandtoanother,asthedrivers

willconflictwitheachother.Thesafewaytoswapvideocardsistocompletelyremoveallremnantsofyourold

videocarddriversusingautilitycalledDriverCleaner,orthefreebiealternativeDriverSweeper.Tobeginthe

process,openupyourControlPanel,selectAddorRemoveProgramsinXPorProgramsandFeaturesinVista,

highlightthevideocarddrivers,andclickUninstall.Rebootthecomputer,holdingdowntheF8keytoentersafe

mode.Run

the

Driver

Cleaner

utility

to

scrub

away

any

remnants

of

the

previous

drivers

that

atypical

uninstall

overlooks.Afteryoureboot,installtheappropriatedriversforyournewvideocard.

SomeSoundAdviceWhentheerrorisrelatedtoanaudiodriver,takenoteoftheprogramthatwasrunningwhentheBSoDoccurred.

Makesuretheoffendingapplication'ssoundoptionsareconfiguredcorrectly it'sespeciallyimportantthatituses

thecorrectaudiodeviceanddownloadanypatchesavailablethataddressknownissues.Youshouldupdateyour

soundcard'sdriversaswell.

Ifyou'reusinganaddinsoundcard,verifythatthemotherboard'sonboardaudioisdisabledintheBIOS,sothe

twoaudiodriversdon'tconflictwitheachother.

ChangeDoctorsSystemservicesknowntocausethiserrorincludevirusscannersandbackuputilities.We'vehadgoodlucksticking

withthemajorplayers,suchasAVG,Norton,Kaspersky,AntiVir,andNod32forourantivirusscanning,andNorton

Ghostand

Acronis

TrueImage

for

backup

duties.

Do

not

run

more

than

one

antivirus

application

on

your

computer

atthesametime!


7/14

DATA_BUS_ERROR(0x0000002E)

ThisisoneoftheeasierBSoDstodiagnose,asfaultymemorysticksarealmostalwaystoblame.Ifyougetthis

error,thinkforasecond:ArethoseDIMMsyoujustaddedcompatiblewithyourmotherboard?Yourmotherboard

manufacturer'swebsitewillhavealistofspecificbrandsverifiedtoworkwithyourparticularboard,although

theseareoftenincomplete.

Next,aretheyinstalledinthecorrectslots?Somemotherboardsaremorefinickythanotherswhenitcomesto

properslotplacement,andthesituationiscompoundedwhendealingwithadual ortrichannelboard.Most

motherboardsthatrundualchannelrequirethatyouinstallmatchingsetsofRAMinthesamecolorslots,while

others,suchassomeMSIboards,requirethatyouinstalltheminalternateslots.AndifyouhaveaCorei7setup,

youmayneedtoinstallyourRAMstartingwiththeslotfarthestfromtheCPU.Whenindoubt,RTFM.

Onceyou'veverifiedthatyourRAMisinstalledcorrectlyandiscompatiblewithyourmotherboard,checktomakesurethey'rerunningwithinspec.It'spossibleyoumayhavesetyourmemory'slatencytimingstooaggressive,or

maybethestickscan'thandlethefrequencyyou'retryingtorunthemat.YourBIOScouldalsomisreadtheSPD

settings.Whateverthecase,lookupthecorrectparametersforyourRAMandtrymanuallysettingtheminthe

BIOS.


8/14

Iftheproblempersists,theproblemislikelyabadstick.Tofindoutwhichstickisbadyoucansimplyremoveone

stick,thenrunyoursystemforawhiletoseeifthebluescreensstop.Thenswapthesticksandrunyourtestagain.

Ifthemachinebluescreenswithonestick,butnottheother,you'vefoundyourculprit.Youcanalsoruna

diagnosticprogramsuchasMemtest86+tohelpdeterminewhichstickisdefective.Ifyou'rerunningVista,youcan

alsouseMicrosoft'sWindowsMemoryDiagnosticsTool.TypethenameoftheprograminVista'ssearchbox,and

onceselected,itwillrunthenexttimeyoureboot.BecausemostRAMsoldtodayincludesalifetimewarranty,be

suretocheckwithyourvendorbeforeyoutossoutabadstick.


9/14

NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM(0x00000024or0x00000023)or

FAT_FILE_SYSTEM(0x00000024or0x00000023)

Whilemanybluescreenscanbetracedbacktoanewhardwareinstallorbadmemory,thisparticular

errorscreams

in

capital

letters

that

something

is

fishy

with

your

hard

drive.

The

error

that

gets

displayed

dependsonthefilesystemyourOSisusing.Inmostcases,thefilesystemwillbeNTFS.Withreallyold

systems,theerrorwillreadFAT16.Ifyougetthiserror,besuretodoonethingimmediately,beforeyou

evenbeingtocontemplateitscause:Backupyourimportantdata.

CalltheCableGuy

Theeasiestsolutionsareoftenthemostoverclocked,buttheycanalsobethemosteffective.Checkingyourhard

drive'scableconnectionsfallsintothiscategory.SATAcablesarenotoriousforworkingthemselvesloose

especiallywhenusersliketokickthecomputersstoredunderthedesk.IfusingaSATAdrive,makesureyouhave

onlyonepowercableconnected,nottwo(manySATAharddrivesincludeaSATApowercableandalegacyfour

pinconnector).WithaPATAdrive,removetheribboncableandlookforanybentorbrokenpins.Carefullylineup

thecableandpushitsecurelyintoplace.Youmightalsohaveabadcable,soifyouhaveaspacecablelyingaround

oneyouknowtobegoodswapitwiththeoneinyourPC.


10/14

CheckPlease!

Nowit'stimetocheckyourdriveforerrors.Todothis,we'llfirstrunadiagnosticscan.InXP,clickStart,thenRun,

andtypecmd.InVista,simplytypecmdintheStartSearchbox,thenrightclickcmd.exeandselectRunasAdministrator..Attheflashingcommandprompt,typechkdsk/f/randrebootthesystemifprompted.The/fand

/rswitchesattempttofixfilesystemerrors,thenlookforanmarkanybadsectorsbeforeautomaticallyrebooting

whenthescancompletes.

ChangeDriversEventhoughwedon'treallythinkaboutharddrivesasneedingdrivers,thecontroller'sthey'reattachedtomost

certainlydo.AbuggySATAcontrollerdrivercanwreakhavoconyourdata.Yourmotherboard'schipsetdrivers

includespecificdriversfortheIDE/ATAcontrollerthattheharddrivesareconnectto,soyou'llneedtoinstallthe

latestversionforyourmotherboard.Tofindyourchipsetdrivers,you'llneedtogotoyourmotherboard

manufacturer'swebsiteandsearchthesupportsection,orheaddirectlytoyourchipsetmanufacturer'swebsite.


11/14

UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP(0x0000007F)

Ifyouseethisbluescreen,you'reprobablyoverclockingyourCPU,butthisisnotalwaysthecase.The7Ferroris

knowntoattackindiscriminately,lashingoutatmorethanjustoverclockers.ThisparticularBSoDcanrearits

headinresponsetobadRAM,afaultymotherboard,orcorruptedBIOS.

OverzealousOverclockingIfyou'veoverclocked,thefirstthingyoushoulddotoisolatetheproblem(oranyproblem,forthatmatter)isto

revertyouroverclockedcomponentstotheirdefaultspeeds.Ifthebluescreengoesaway,thenyouroverclock

wastooaggressive.ThebestwaytoensurethatyouroverclockisstableistostressthehelloutofyourPC.Todo

this,manyenthusiaststurntothetorturetestnamedPrime95.Thisutilitystressedyourrig'sCPUandmemory

subsystems.Ifanyerrorsarefound,it'sagoodindicationthatyoursystemisnotcompletelystable.

HotPotato!ThisBSoDcouldalsobegeneratedbyanoverheatingPC,soit'sagoodpracticetomonitoryoursystemtempsona

regularbasis.Thereareseveraltempmonitoringprogramsavailable,suchasCoreTemp,RealTemp,SpeedFan,

andmanyothers.

Asfar

as

temperatures

go,

most

CPUs

can

get

very

hot

without

incurring

any

damage.

Temperatures

of

75C

under

loadaren'tunheardofforhotrunningCPUs,thoughmostnewerchipsprobablywon'tgetashigh.Ingeneral,it'sa

goodideatokeepyourCPUbelow70C,andbelow50Catidle.Thiswillvarybyprocessormake,model,andeven

stepping(revisions)ofthesamechip.

Ifaprocessorisrunninghot,examineyourcase'sairflowandseeifthereareanyobstructions.Checkyourfansfor

dustbuildup,includingthetopoftheheatsinkthat'scoolingyourCPU.Ahighqualitycoolerwillalsobring

temperaturesdown.AndyoushouldalwayshavesomesortofthermalpastebetweentheCPUandthecooler.


12/14

Finally,verifythatallfansarespinning.Ifthefanispluggedinandstillnotspinning,replacethedefectivefan

immediately.

TheBIOSBeckonsIfyourBIOSiscorruptorhastroublewithanewcomponent,suchasnewlyreleasedprocessorcore,yourfirst

orderofbusinessistoupdatetothelatestversion.BeforeupdatingtheBIOS,youshouldchangeitssettingsback

todefault

(there

is

usually

a"reset

to

default"

setting

in

the

BIOS

that

makes

this

process

easy,

or

you

can

simply

cleartheCMOSviathejumperonyourmotherboard).YoushouldneverattempttoupdateyourBIOSonasystem

thatisoverclockedandunstable.AsuddenrebootinthemiddleoftheBIOSflashingprocesswilldestroyyour

motherboard,turningitintoafancydoorstop.Andremember:Never,underanycircumstances, restartorshut

downthesystemwhileyou'reflashingyourBIOS.YoucandownloadthelatestBIOSfromyourmotherboard

manufacturer'swebsite.

Whenthereareseveraldifferentversionstochoosefrom,skiprighttothelatestreleaseratherthanupdating

incrementally.SomemotherboardvendorsincludeutilitiesforupdatingtheBIOSfromwithinWindows.This

makestheprocesseasyenoughforevennovicestoundertake,butforobviousreasons,werecommendavoiding

thisroutewhenasystemispronetobluescreens.

MatingMemoryMismatchedorbadmemorystickscanalsocausethisbluescreen.Toscratchthisoneoffofthetroubleshooting

list,runasinglestickofRAMthatMemtest86hasverifiedtobeerrorfree.Ifthissolvestheproblem,replacethe

badstick.Ifnot,moveontothenextstep.

CPUisKaputWedon'tseethisoften,butanotherknowncauseforthisparticularerrorisabadprocessor.Mostpeopledon't

havethemeanstotesttheCPUinanothersystem,soyouroptionsheremaybelimited.Localcomputerrepair

shopsaresometimeswillingtoruntheprocessorforanightortwoforanominalcost,butyoucanalsocontact

AMDorIntelforareplacementifit'swithinthewarrantyperiod.


13/14

OtherNotableBSoDs

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREAFaultyhardware,includingRAM(system,video,orL2cache).

INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

CausedbyimproperlyconfiguredjumpersonPATAharddrives,abootsectorvirus,orincorrectIDEcontroller

drives,whichcanalsooccurwheninstallingthewrongchipsetdrivers.

VIDEO_DRIVER_INIT_FAILURECausedbyinstallingthewrongdriversforavideocardorrebootingbeforedriverinstallationcouldcomplete.

BAD_POOL_CALLERCausedbyafaultyorincompatiblehardwaredriver,particularlywhenupgradingWindowsXPinsteadof

performingacleaninstall.

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

Causedby

faulty

RAM.

MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTIONAbadCPU oronethatistooaggressivelyoverclocked,oranunderpoweredorfaultypowersupply.

AnEndRunAroundtheBSoD

Readingbluescreensofdeathisfunandall,butthere'sanother,easierwaytodiscoverwhatyourPC'sproblemis:

theEventViewer.WhenanerroroccursinWindows,theOSaddsanotetothesystem'slogfiles.Theselogsare

accessiblethroughWindows'sEventViewer,andtheycontainalltheinformationweneedtoknowwhatailsour

poorcomputer.

InXP,gotheStartmenuandopentheControlPanel.ClickAdministrativeTools,andthendoubleclicktheEvent

Viewericon.Alternately,selectRunfromtheStartmenuandtypeeventvwr.msc,whichwillbringyourightinto

theEventViewer.InVista,justtypeEventViewerintheStartSearchbox.


14/14

Onthelefthandpane,highlighttheapplicationorsystemicon(underWindowsLogsinVista).Ontherighthand

pane,you'llseeuptothreedifferenteventslabeledInformation,Warning,andError.Thesearesortedbythetime

inwhichtheyoccurred.Scrolltotheapproximatetimeofthelastsystemrestartanddoubleclicktheevents.

ThisbringsupaPropertieswindowdetailinginformationthatshouldclueyouinonanyproblem.Forexample,if

oneof

the

events

contains

abug

check

message

with

0x0000002E,

we

know

this

is

aDATA_BUS_ERROR,

and

is

usuallyindicativeoffaultyRAM.Ontheotherhand,theremightbeseveraleventspointingtoaspecificdriver,

suchasnv4_disp.dll.Thistellsusweshouldfocusonthevideocardandanyrecentchangesrelatedtothedisplay

hardware.

Armedwiththisinformation,we'rereadytobeginthetroubleshootingstepsoutlinedpreviously.Iftypingthe

eventIDintoGoogleandMicrosoft'sKnowledgeBase(http://support.microsoft.com)doesn'thelp,headoverto

www.eventid.net.Thissitecontainsarepositoryofcommentsanderrorsfromotherusers,aswellasthesteps

theytooktoalleviatetheirproblems.

Irecommendyoufamiliarizeyourselfwiththeeventviewer,evenifyoursystemishealthy.Rootingoutminor

problemsbeforetheyprogresswillensureyourWindowsinstallkeepshummingalonguneventfully.

Documents

Blue Screen of Death - Survival Guide