Blue Screen of Death Fix (Windows 11)

Quick Tips

• The BSOD appears after any number of fatal errors occur.
• The causes are as numerous as the solutions.
• It helps to start simple with troubleshooting and move on to more advanced fixes.

The Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is a famous (or infamous) screen that greets users whenever Windows encounters a fatal error and closes immediately to prevent any damage. There’s no shortage of things that cause the BSOD, but quite a few fixes are involved, too.

In this article, we’ll be giving you some general troubleshooting tips to solve as many issues as possible that cause this error.

Common BSOD Causes

The Blue Screen (or Black Screen after Windows 11 24H2) is the result of a large number of potential, fatal errors. For clarity, later versions of Windows have added error codes to the screen to aid in troubleshooting, and well over 250 codes exist. Some major reasons might include:

• Compatibility issues with hardware and drivers
• Outdated Operating System files and software
• Memory or storage corruption or failure
• Malware or viruses
• Coding errors
• Power-related problems and component damage

Blue Screen of Death Windows 11 Fix

If your version of Windows 11 is acting up, fear not. We’re going to cast the net wide and give you some broad troubleshooters to help.

Run Your Antivirus

Before trying anything else, it’s a good idea to run your antivirus software to check for malware. Existing malware can cause further harm to your computer and might prevent other fixes from being successful in the long run.

Update Your Windows

A fully updated Windows operating system, both in terms of cumulative updates and emergency patches, is vital to the overall health of your computer. The Windows team irons out difficulties and patches bugs with every release, one of which may be causing your BSOD. It’s always good to keep Windows 11 fully updated, especially after 24H2.

Check Your Hardware

Hardware components are big culprits in BSODs, as they aren’t part of the Microsoft ecosystem by default, and they and their drivers may clash with your version of Windows 11. You can manually update your drivers through Device Manager (accessible via the search bar). It’s also a good idea to disconnect any hardware you might’ve added just before the errors started happening. If they stop, you’ve found your culprit.

Check for Corrupted Drivers

The Driver Verifier Manager is a powerful utility that tests all drivers to detect potential corruption. Here’s how to run it:

Step 1. Find Command Prompt in the search bar and right-click it, choosing to run as Admin.

Step 2. In Command Prompt, type “Verifier” and press “Enter.”

Step 3. Choose “Create standard settings” and then “Next.”

Step 4. Select “Automatically select all drivers installed on this computer” and click “Finish.”

Step 5. The utility will scan and report any errors. Reboot once done.

Startup Troubleshooter

If you’re getting a BSOD in Windows 11 before startup is even finished, it might be helpful to use Windows’ advanced startup tools to fix things. Here’s what to do:

Step 1. Restart your machine and press one of the Function keys (it may be in a different location depending on the computer) to start your PC with Advanced Startup Options.

Step 2. Click on “Troubleshoot” and click on “Advanced options.”

Step 3. Click “Startup Repair” and let the process run.

Step 4. If this doesn’t work, you can then try restoring from a system save point, via “System Restore,” or reset your PC (last resort) via the “Reset this PC” option.

Command Prompt Checks

Running a disk check and an SFC scan in Command Prompt are good ways to detect storage errors and system file corruption, respectively. To run a disk check:

Step 1. Open up Command Prompt as the Administrator via the search bar.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt window, type “chkdsk [disk name] /r” and press “Enter.” The “/r” will check for bad sectors. Include “/f” to fix any corruption found.

Step 3. Restart your machine once done.

To run the SFC scan:

Step 1. Type: “sfc /scannow” and press “Enter.” The scan process will begin, which may take some time, depending on your drive.

Step 2. Reboot your machine.