Background

• Older versions of Windows, such as Windows XP, are prone to receiving these blue screen error messages, which are described by Microsoft as stop errors or fatal system errors. These computer crashes, because they happen without warning, can be especially troublesome because the user is often in the middle of working on a document or task where all unsaved progress is lost. Apple computers can also have unexpected crashes, but the blue screen is specific to Windows computers.
  
  

Contents

• A blue screen includes the message at the top explaining why Windows has been shut down, and immediately below is the name of the error message, which is in all capital letters. Typically, there will be more text informing the user that he should restart the computer, and if the problem persists, he should uninstall any hardware or software that was recently installed on their computer. In addition, the blue screen will tell the user that the computer is beginning a physical memory dump. This means that Windows dumps all of the data it was holding in the system memory in a file on the hard drive, which Windows will check for bugs once it restarts.
  
  

Device Problems

• The most common causes of a blue screen error are problems with device drivers. A device driver handles communication between the kernel -- which orchestrates a computer's operation and helps software and hardware work together -- and hardware devices such as a printer or hard disk. The kernel can cause a blue screen if a device driver is not responding appropriately.
  
  

Example Messages

• A blue screen that has the error INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE means that Windows was not able to access the boot volume during startup, and this is most likely due to the user installing the incorrect device drivers. The blue screen error DRIVER_POWER _STATE_FAILURE likely means that a device driver is not in the right power state when Windows is shutting down. Users can solve these driver problems by downloading the most up-to-date version of the driver from the manufacturer's website. The error code on a blue screen can be used to diagnose and fix the problem.
  
  

Error Reporting

• To help Windows users solve blue screen error problems, Windows offers a Windows Error Reporting tool on the Windows website. When Windows crashes, the user has the option of sending a confidential error report to Microsoft, which uses the reports to give customers insights into what is causing crashes.