Blue Screen of Death: Read the Stop Code and Fix It on Windows 11

What the blue screen means: Windows stopped on purpose

Microsoft calls this a stop code error, bug check, kernel error or BSOD. Windows halts when running on could corrupt data or weaken security. The screen reads "Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart," and the PC restarts by itself.

A hardware device, its driver or software can cause it. Microsoft's own analysis of crashes puts 70% on third-party driver code, 10% on hardware, 5% on Microsoft code and 15% unknown, because memory was too damaged to analyze. A program like Notepad or Slack is rarely the root cause.

What Windows 11 24H2 shows: a black screen with the same stop code

The colour depends on your version. Windows 11 version 24H2 and later shows a black screen. Version 23H2 and older shows the classic stop code screen. Either way, the stop code appears on screen, plus the module name of the code that was running when it is known, for example rdbyss.sys.

Microsoft's Windows 10 example screen also carries a QR code, the stop code PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA and the module AcmeVideo.sys. If Windows can save a dump file, a percent-complete counter shows while it writes. Photograph the screen first.

Common stop codes and their hex values

Each stop code has a hex value in Microsoft's bug check code reference (dated 2025-07-15). Specific codes may have their own page on this site, so search for the code name.

• CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED, 0x000000EF: a critical process such as csrss.exe, wininit.exe or winlogon.exe ended
• IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, 0x0000000A: Windows or a driver touched paged memory at an invalid address, often after a faulty driver, service or BIOS
• DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, 0x000000D1: a driver used pageable memory while the interrupt level was too high
• PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, 0x00000050: invalid system memory was used; drivers, antivirus, a corrupted NTFS volume or bad RAM can cause it
• SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION, 0x0000003B: an exception while code moved from user level to kernel level
• MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, 0x0000001A: a severe memory management error
• KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE, 0x00000139: the kernel found a damaged critical data structure
• VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, 0x00000116: the graphics driver did not recover from a timeout
• UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION, 0x00000154: the kernel memory store hit an unexpected exception

Where Windows saves the 64 KB minidump

When a crash happens, Windows can write a dump file. The small memory dump, or minidump, is exactly 64 KB and is stored in %SystemRoot%\Minidump, which is normally C:\Windows\Minidump. Microsoft's example name is mini022900-01.dmp, the first dump of 29 February 2000, so the name carries the date. A second crash keeps the first file.

Larger dumps (kernel, complete, automatic) go to %SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP. To choose the type, search "Advanced system settings", open Startup and Recovery Settings and set Write debugging information to Automatic memory dump. One older Microsoft page says 256 kb for the small dump; the debugger documentation says 64 KB.

A worked example: from CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED to a dump file

Say the PC restarts on 31 October 2026 and you photographed the stop code CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. Step 1: look up the name in the reference, which gives 0x000000EF. Step 2: press Win+R, type eventvwr.msc and open the System log. The bug check event lists the 4 parameters. For this code, parameter 2 is 0 if a process ended and 1 if a thread ended.

Step 3: open C:\Windows\Minidump and note the newest .dmp file by its date, following Microsoft's miniMMDDYY-NN pattern (for this date, mini103126-01.dmp). Step 4, optional: copy the file to a PC with WinDbg, load the symbol server https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols, run !analyze -v and read STACK_TEXT. Most readers can stop at step 2, since the stop code plus the module name is enough to search.

Microsoft's fix order: 6 steps for Windows 11

These are the steps on Microsoft's customer page. Do them in order and test after each.

• Shut down and remove any hardware you added before the error
• Start in Safe Mode if the PC has trouble restarting
• Open Device Manager and update, disable or uninstall any device marked with an exclamation point
• Keep roughly 10% to 15% of the drive free
• Go to Settings > Windows Update and select Check for updates (on Windows 10: Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update)
• Restore Windows with a restore point or another recovery option

Safe Mode, DISM and sfc /scannow, step by step

To reach Safe Mode, go to Settings > Recovery > Advanced startup, then Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart. Press 4 for Safe Mode, or 5 for Safe Mode with Networking.

For damaged system files, open Command Prompt as administrator. Microsoft says to run DISM first: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth, which may take several minutes. Then run sfc /scannow and do not close the window until it reaches 100%. SFC writes details to %windir%\Logs\CBS\CBS.log.

For disk errors behind PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, run chkdsk /f /r and restart so the scan runs before Windows loads.

Memory diagnostic and Driver Verifier: 2 tests for repeating crashes

If you see MEMORY_MANAGEMENT, UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA, test the RAM. Search Start for "Windows Memory Diagnostic" and restart to run it. For the extended test, press F1 on the tool screen, set Test Mix to Extended and press F10. Read the MemoryDiagnostics-Results entry in the System log afterwards.

Driver Verifier (type verifier at a command prompt) is for stubborn driver crashes. It slows the PC and can cause extra crashes, so check only suspect drivers, 10 to 20 at most at a time. Safe Mode turns it off.

Mistakes that prolong a blue screen

Running SFC before DISM is the usual order error. Another is verifying every driver at once with Driver Verifier. A third is blaming the app on screen, which often only exposed a driver or hardware fault.

When a blue screen points to hardware

Hardware is about 10% of crashes in Microsoft's data, so rule out drivers first. Hardware is likelier when the same stop code survives a driver update, SFC and DISM, or the memory test reports errors. MEMORY_MANAGEMENT parameter 1 of 0x31 or 0x403 is probably a hardware error, says Microsoft.

For VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE, Microsoft lists over-clocking, poor cooling, weak power supply and defective memory. The default graphics timeout is 2 seconds, and more than 5 timeouts in one minute also trigger the stop. Check for a BIOS or UEFI update and reseat cards and cables.

Who can fix it alone, and who should call for help

You can handle it alone if the PC reaches the desktop and the crash began after a recent driver or update. Call a technician or the manufacturer if the PC never reaches Safe Mode, the memory test fails, or the crash returns after all 6 steps.

If you are looking at the error right now, Crade can read the screen and explain the stop code in plain words.