Windows 10 Crashes to a Blue Screen

Table of Contents:

1. What is a blue screen error?
2. Check Problem Reports for problems and solutions
3. Update drivers and system BIOS
4. Run an online diagnostic
5. Troubleshooting common blue screen error messages
6. Find information about a specific blue screen error from Microsoft
7. Reset or reinstall Windows 10

Cause information is not available.

What is a blue screen error?

When Windows encounters certain situations, it stops and the resulting diagnostic information is displayed in white text on a blue screen.

Blue Screen errors occur when:

• Windows detects an error that it cannot recover from without losing data.
• Windows detects that critical operating system data has become corrupted.
• Windows detects that hardware has failed in an unrecoverable fashion.

Check Problem Reports for problems and solutions

Windows 10 crash errors are collected in Problem Reports and referenced against other crash data that is available online. To access Problem Reports, follow these instructions:

1. Click Start , then type "problem reports."
    
2. Select View all problem reports to view a list of errors that have occurred on your computer and possible solutions for them, such as updating drivers, flashing your system BIOS, or checking for updates to software.
    
3. Under the Source column, look for Windows and under Summary, look for Shut-down unexpectedly.
    
4. Right-click the line item and select Check for a solution.
    
   NOTE: You must be online to view solutions.

Update drivers and system BIOS

Dell recommends updating the device drivers and BIOS as part of your scheduled update cycle. These device drivers and BIOS updates may contain feature enhancements or changes that help keep your system software current and compatible with other computer modules (hardware and software) as well as increased stability.

To learn more about downloading and installing drivers for your Dell computer, see Dell knowledge base article How to Automatically Download and Install Drivers on a Dell Computer.

Run an online diagnostic

Dell has created online diagnostics that can identify problems with your computer hardware or configuration that may be causing the issue. Browse the Dell Online Diagnostics website to get more information and run a scan of your computer.

Troubleshooting common blue screen error messages

When a critical error is detected in Windows, your computer restarts itself to prevent any further damage.

This is a safety measure that is integrated into Windows. To further analyze the STOP error, we must know the error code and information that is associated with the error.

This information is displayed when you turn off automatic restart. To turn off automatic restart, follow these steps:

1. Click Start , then type "advanced system settings."
   The System Properties window appears.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Under the Startup and Recovery section, select Settings....
4. Under System failure, clear the box next to Automatically restart.
5. Click OK, then click Apply and OK to complete the update.

Find information about a specific blue screen error from Microsoft

Once you have obtained the primary error code on the blue screen, see Microsoft article, "Troubleshoot blue screen errors" for further options.

Reset or reinstall Windows 10

If the previous troubleshooting could not resolve your issue, it may be necessary to restore your computer to factory settings. To restore your operating system and software to the original factory settings, see Dell Knowledge Base article, "Reset or reinstall Windows 10 on a Dell computer"

Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• How to Troubleshoot Blue Screen or STOP Error Code on a Dell Computer
• How to read Mini Dump files?
• How to Quickly Fix a Windows On-screen Error Caused by Changing the SATA Mode
• General issues upgrading Dell devices to Windows 10
• Error Codes on Dell Commercial and Consumer products
• How to Automatically Download and Install Drivers on a Dell Computer
• Computer Restarts or Shuts Down Intermittently, Locks Up, Stops Responding or an Error Occurs

Out of warranty? No problem. Browse to the Dell.com/support website and enter your Dell Service Tag and view our offers.