Blue Screen of Death commonly referred to as BSOD, is the most common error message in Windows 8. This error can be fixed easily by performing a system restore, updating device driver, uninstalling recently installed software that caused the error and rebooting Windows 8.
Here we will discuss how to do all this and identify the root cause of the problem.
Getting information about the problem
Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) you get on your Windows 8 contains the most important piece of information i.e. the error code. This code helps to identify and fix the problem. Therefore, you should note down this error message as it disappears because Windows automatically reboots after BSOD. This information is also saved in a memory dump file but you cannot view it using inbuilt Windows tools.
For this, you can use third-party tools or do a search online for the error code. If you are unable to find minidump you’ll need to configure it. For this head to Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Startup and recovery settings. Here check if the minidump option is enabled. If not enable it.
Troubleshooting and Fixing BSOD on your Windows 8
The following tips will help you fix the Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) on Windows 8.
Method #1: Use System Restore
Steps to perform System Restore on Windows 8. These steps will revert your system to the older date when your system was working perfectly fine.
- Type Control Panel in the search bar.
- Once you are there look for System icon. If you are unable to locate it, there’s a possibility that you are in Control Panel’s category view. To change the view click the down arrow next to View by and select either Small or large icons.
- Here, lookup for System option and double click on it.
- This will open System Restore window here click on System protection from the left sidebar.
- Click on the System Restore button. You’ll get two options using which you can perform a system restore. Select the point from the list and click Next.
- Next, click on Scan for affected programs. This will show you a list of programs and drivers that will be affected by performing system restore. Make sure you don’t lose anything important if there’s anything important make a note of it so that you can work on it later as once you perform a system restore you will lose it.
- Restore the system once done click on Finish.
Method #2: Install updates
In Windows 8, updates aren’t installed automatically, therefore, you’ll need to install Windows update manually. To do so follow the steps below:
- Click Settings > Change PC settings > Update and recovery > Windows Update > Install updates.
This will help update Windows so that you don’t get BSOD due to outdated Windows. In addition to this, if you get the following error message then you need to follow these tips:
Error Message: SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED
System Thread Exception Not Handled, the error message usually appears when an incompatible graphics driver is installed.
To fix this error in Windows 8 you will need to uninstall graphics driver and install the latest compatible graphics driver.
To uninstall device driver follow the steps below:
- Press Windows + R keys together.
- Here type devmgmt.msc
- Now look for the “Display adapters” category.
- Right-click the driver under the Display adapters category to uninstall the available driver.
- Confirm uninstall wait for it to complete and then restart your Windows 8.
Now you will need to install a compatible graphics driver. But how?
In addition to this, if you receive DRIVER IRQL NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO error message then remember an incompatible driver can be a reason for this one too.
To fix this error, you need to uninstall the driver or make sure you have the latest available version of that driver installed on your system.
THREAD STUCK IN DEVICE DRIVER Team is another error message related to incompatible driver. When a loop of the video graphic driver takes place you encounter this error message.
To fix this error, you can try:
- Updating video driver and
- Updating BIOS
Now, that we know what is to be done the question is how to get a compatible driver installed? Installing any driver without knowledge might lead to a system crash. Therefore, to resolve this, we recommend using a driver updater tool like Advanced Driver Updater. This tool helps to update your system with the most compatible drivers. Moreover, Advanced Driver Updater takes a complete backup of system drivers before updating the outdated drivers. So that if you face any problem, you can restore to old driver update.
To install Advanced Driver Updater click on the button below.
Once you have the latest driver installed you will now need to update BIOS. Generally, your computer’s manufacturer website contains all the information about the latest BIOS version. If you are running the latest version, upgrade BIOS and restart the system.
All the guidelines on how to upgrade BIOS can be found on the computer manufacturer’s site.
In addition to the steps explained above, we also suggest uninstalling currently installed software as it can be a cause of BSOD. These steps will help you deal with the BSOD error message that you get on Windows 8. If these steps were helpful and easy to follow please share them with others facing the same problem. Also, leave us a comment in the section below.