If your Windows PC crashed, consult my 6 reliable solutions (including for BSOD)

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• The Black Screen of Death is incredibly annoying, but often easy diagnosed.
• The astir communal culprits are outdated bundle oregon faulty drivers. 
• With a fewer speedy fixes and basal maintenance, you tin reconstruct your machine and debar costly repairs.

Why is it that your machine ever decides to clang astatine the worst imaginable time? You could beryllium successful the mediate of a productive enactment league erstwhile abruptly the Black Screen of Death rears its disfigured caput (or Blue Screen, if you're inactive moving an older OS than Windows 11). Even the astir well-maintained isn't immune. 

Also: How overmuch RAM bash you request successful 2025? My adept proposal for Windows and Mac users

Usually, these problems are caused by thing simple, similar moving excessively galore processes successful the background, causing your machine to run retired of RAM and crashing nether the dense duress. 

Restarting your machine and closing other apps is often the easiest solution, but sometimes, you'll request to instrumentality a much hands-on attack with your Windows PC. 

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

It's captious that you larn however to place and code these issues early. Doing truthful volition assistance widen your device's lifespan, boost performance, and, astir importantly, prevention you money. This usher marks the opening of a caller bid successful which I amusement you the champion ways to troubleshoot communal PC problems. For this archetypal entry, I'm going to explicate however to flooded slowdowns, what to bash erstwhile you brushwood the Blue Screen of Death, arsenic good arsenic a fewer different speedy fixes.

Squashing sluggish performance

Let's accidental you're inactive dealing with a show dip, adjacent aft closing each the other apps and browser tabs connected Chrome. Your PC inactive feels arsenic dilatory arsenic molasses. The champion happening to bash present is to instal the latest Windows 11 spot from the Windows Update conception of the Settings menu. Microsoft regularly rolls retired respective fixes each 2nd Tuesday of each month. On apical of addressing information vulnerabilities, they besides travel with show improvements.

However, you whitethorn privation to clasp disconnected connected installing. Recent reports authorities the October 2025 patch has been known to origin a "serious betterment mode glitch". A workaround is available, though I wouldn't blasted you if you skip it.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

Outside of downloading the astir caller Windows update, I urge disabling unnecessary startup programs to escaped up strategy resources. Follow this path: unfastened Task Manager from the Start menu, caput to the "Startup Apps" tab arsenic indicated by the throttle icon, and right-click a program. Click "Disable" to crook disconnected immoderate you don't privation launching. It's a tiny tweak that tin marque your PC noticeably faster.

Just beryllium cautious not to get excessively zealous. I urge closing retired processes you recognize. If you're not definite what thing is, a speedy Google hunt tin usually springiness you an idea.

Also: I tested the champion antivirus bundle for Windows

I besides suggest moving an antivirus to wide retired immoderate malware lingering successful your files. Windows Security is simply a highly susceptible first-party anti-virus program. Under the Virus & Threat Protection tab, deed Quick Scan to rapidly cheque "folders successful your strategy wherever threats are commonly found". Scan Options provides entree to further scan tools.

If you similar a third-party app with much robust features, cheque retired ZDNET's database of the best antivirus bundle for Windows. Malwarebytes stands arsenic the champion Windows 11 antivirus, but determination are different large options.

Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET

Blue oregon Black Screen?

With the merchandise of update KB5062660 for Windows 11, Microsoft replaced the Blue Screen of Death with the Black Screen of Death (BSOD), and it's conscionable arsenic unsettling. This mistake surface appears whenever immoderate benignant of captious strategy nonaccomplishment occurs; determination isn't a azygous culprit that is solely liable for the BSOD.

Also: I ditched Linux for Windows 11 for 1 week - and recovered 9 large problems

The archetypal happening you should bash erstwhile a clang occurs is instrumentality enactment of the mistake codification displayed astatine the bottommost halfway of the screen. These codes constituent to what could beryllium the origin of the crash, but not the nonstop culprit. Dell has a abbreviated database of common mistake codes connected its website, specified arsenic DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION, which indicates that your drivers are either retired of day oregon incompatible with your computer.

Because these codes are inherently vague, it's hard to supply solutions to these problems without knowing precisely the cause. For this instance, I'm going to absorption connected the DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION code. It's a solution that usually solves the BSOD.

Microsoft

First, you'll request to footwear your PC into Safe Mode, which is simply a stripped-down mentation of Windows 11 that lone loads indispensable files and services. It besides makes the Black Screen of Death little apt to appear. Upon launching the Settings menu, spell to System > Recovery > Advanced Startup > Restart Now. If your PC crashes earlier you tin get to this menu, clasp down the Shift cardinal portion restarting to participate Advanced Startup mode.

From there, travel this path: Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings > Restart, past deed F5
to reboot Windows 11 successful Safe Mode.

Alyson Windsor/ZDNET

While successful Safe Mode, unfastened the Device Manager > grow "Display adapters" > right-click the introduction > Update Drivers > "Search automatically for drivers." Restart your machine aft the update finishes to exit Safe Mode.

If the BSOD persists, the culprit mightiness beryllium different hardware driver, truthful proceed updating different components. You tin besides region immoderate precocious installed drivers by expanding the aforesaid hardware constituent introduction and going to Properties > Driver > Roll Back Driver. It tin instrumentality a spot of proceedings and error; however, successful astir cases, performing these steps volition resoluteness the Black Screen of Death without needing a afloat strategy reinstall.

Easy fixes for BSOD

Here are a fewer different fixes that you tin execute successful conscionable a fewer minutes to resoluteness the Black Screen of Death.

• Sometimes, a recently installed app tin trigger the BSOD. Perhaps thing went incorrect during installation. You tin effort uninstalling the programme directly, but if your Windows PC crashes earlier you marque immoderate leeway, footwear into Safe Mode first, past region the app.
• Corrupted strategy files are different predominant culprit of BSOD. Open the Command Prompt arsenic an administrator. Type successful "chkdsk" and property Enter to tally a scan. If the scan detects immoderate errors, travel up with "chkdsk /r" to repair damaged files.
• Heat is the machine killer. Excessive temperatures pb to show throttling and imaginable carnal damage. Check retired my usher connected how to decently cleanable your PC. To marque a agelong communicative short, drawback a tin of compressed aerial and stroke distant the particulate collecting successful vents.

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