Computer Tips

BSOD Help

Blue Screen of Death – BSOD Help

Has your Microsoft Windows computer suffered from the Blue Screen of Death or better know as the BSOD?  If it has then you may be fed up of the computer crashing and then rebooting, with the now familiar blue screen with white writing.  Typically the blue screen stays up for a few seconds if you are trying to write the information down or forever when you aren’t! Below is some information relating to BSOD help that you can obtain through using the BlueScreenView program.

Blue Screen of Death Help

What you can do is to download “Bluescreenview” by Nirsoft.

Once downloaded,  double click to run the program.

When run BlueScreenView will automatically pick up your minidump files.

BlueScreenView does not need to be installed onto the computer, simply run BlueScreenView.exe.

Minidump Files

What are minidump files you may well ask?  These files are created every time that Microsoft Windows Operating System crashes.  This applies to Windows versions from at least XP onwards to Windows 10.  These minidump files are generally created and stored under the following directory:

C:\Windows\Minidump\*.dmp

If your computer has crashed several times then there will be a minidump file for each occurrence with its corresponding date and time.  This means you can actually see what has happened and when and this can be useful when looking for BSOD help.

By default these “memory dumps”, for that is what they are, should be turned on by default.  However as in everything else with Microsoft Windows this is not always the case. To check to see if they are turned on you need to start “Control Panel” and go to “System and Security” then “Advanced System Settings”.  Click on the “Advanced” tab at the top of the small box.  Next click on “Settings” under the box saying “Startup and Recovery”.  With this final box opening, make sure:-

  • under “System Failure” that “Write an event to the system log” is ticked and
  • “Write debugging information” box says “Small memory dump (256KB)” and
  • the “Dump file” box says: %SystemRoot%\Minidump.

When completed click “OK” button which saves what you have changed (if that was necessary).  If no changes were made you can click “Cancel” button.

BlueScreenView Program 

Upon running BlueScreenView the program allows you to view all the minidump files created.  These are displayed individually with such information as: filename, date and time, and the basic information of what caused the crash in the first place. Details of Bug Check Code, driver information or which module caused the crash are displayed.  This is important as the driver information can point to a specific hardware driver, such as a video card driver which is to blame.  Changing the version of the hardware driver can then assist in stopping the BSODs.

A very common BSOD module problem reported is ntoskrnl.exe. This is the Microsoft Windows Operating System failing and the cause can be but not limited to:

  1. Corrupt Operating System;
  2. RAM (memory) needs checking or replacing;
  3. Windows hardware drivers are corrupted or need updating in-line with the version of Operating System you are using (running);
  4. Overclocking of the computer’s CPU

The issue is seen often with Windows 10 as Microsoft are constantly updating the Operating System (OS) and so the hardware drivers are constantly out of date and playing “catch-up”.

What are Drivers?

If you are unsure of what “drivers” (or sometimes called “device drivers) are, then they are software programs written by the hardware manufacturer of a piece of hardware.  So every single piece of hardware in the computer has a “driver” or sometimes “drivers”, as would be the case for motherboards.

The hardware “communicates” with the “driver” the “driver” then “communicates” with Operating System and so on forwards and backwards.  For example, when you hit a key on the keyboard the hardware registers that hit and the keyboard driver then communicates that information to the Operating System and it then informs the program that a key has been hit, and produces the result. Wikipedia has a far more detailed explanation for what a “device driver” is.

Conclusion

Thus as you have gathered running the BlueScreenView allows you to find out reasons and faults causing your computer to fail.  If you have experience with computer repairs this BSOD help maybe all you need to then be able to correct this problem and get your machine back up and running again.  However if you are not experienced in computer repairs you are best of providing this information to a reputable computer repair business – or speaking to them on the phone to obtain a ‘guestimate’ of likely cost of repair.

Affordable Computer Repairs and Service

We are a Brisbane computer repair business located in Coorparoo, an inner southern suburb of Brisbane.  If you live in Brisbane and need BSOD help, please give us a ring on 3397 1215.

BSOD Help