---
title: "Comprehensive Bluescreen Troubleshooting Guide"
canonical: "https://kb.uconn.edu/space/IKB/10748725066/Comprehensive%20Bluescreen%20Troubleshooting%20Guide"
format: markdown
---
A blue screen, commonly referred to as The Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) is a semi-common crash relating to Windows computers. Bluescreen errors can stem from a variety of different causes, so multiple troubleshooting steps are required.

Faculty, students, and staff can troubleshoot bluescreen errors in their Windows computers.

## System Diagnostics 

Most University machines have hardware diagnostics built into their firmware. To run this tool,

1. Press the **F12** key while the computer is first starting.
2. Select **Hardware Diagnostics**. Errors with **RAM** or **Hard Disk** commonly show up here and are one of the leading causes of a BSOD.

## Disk Corruption

Errors on the disk can often lead to BSOD. To check for this issue,

1. Right-click the **Start** menu.
2. Open **Windows Powershell**.
3. In the blue window, type "***chkdsk*****.**"
4. Hit **Enter**. If any errors come up, you may need to restart the PC to fix them.

## Windows Corruption

If you are experiencing BSOD, you may have some corrupt system files. If you are able to log in to your computer,

1. Right-click the **Start** menu.
2. Open **Windows Powershell**.
3. Type **sfc /scannow. **
4. Press **Enter**. This scan usually takes around an hour and will fix corrupt files.

> ✅ Alternatively, you can fix Windows corruption by re-installing Windows.
> ✅ 
> ✅ - Re-image your computer.
> ✅ - Manually reinstall Windows using a Windows 10 boot image.

## Drivers/Firmware

A less frequent but normal reason for bluescreen crashes is out-of-date/corrupt drivers. Finding up-to-date drivers can be a difficult process. The key drivers to look out for are **Chipset**, **Ethernet**, **BIOS**, **Video**, and **IO** (USB or thunderbolt). To find the most recent version of the drivers, visit your computer manufacturer's support website. For example, "Acer Predator 15 inch drivers" will usually return a download page for Acer drivers.

For University supported machines, contact ITS at [techsupport@uconn.edu](mailto:techsupport@uconn.edu) or **(860) 486-4357** to have this process completed by an experienced technician.

## Critical Process Died Since Updating to 1803

For some machines, disabling **Aggressive Link Power Management** in **BIOS **may resolve this issue.

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