TECH BREAK: How to save your computer from the 'blue screen of death'

In simple terms, this is when your PC abruptly and without giving you any options, displays the message ‘Your PC ran into a problem & now it needs to restart.’ PHOTO| COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • In simple terms, this is when your PC abruptly and without giving you any options, displays the message ‘Your PC ran into a problem & now it needs to restart.’
  • Other than the fact that most of the work were doing at the time you encountered the BSOD would be lost, this wouldn't be a problem since the PC would just restart.

For quite some time now, my relatively old HP Folio 9470m laptop running Windows 10 has been a pain thanks to a term known in the tech circles as ‘Blue Screen of Death’ (BSOD).

In simple terms, this is when your PC abruptly and without giving you any options, displays the message ‘Your PC ran into a problem & now it needs to restart.’

Other than the fact that most of the work were doing at the time you encountered the BSOD would be lost, this wouldn't be a problem since the PC would just restart.

However, my case was rather different. Each time I encountered the BSOD, my PC wouldn't boot to Windows.

The keyboard lights would turn on shortly and the cooler fan turns on, full blast.

Nothing else happens, the screen doesn't turn on and certainly the PC doesn’t.

Restarting wouldn’t solve this issue so I did some research and found it needs a BIOS restart. BIOS (basic input/output system) is a system that enables your PC components to start on boot, it is the bridge between software and hardware and very essential, without it the PC wouldn’t work.

Resetting BIOS requires one to disconnect the BIOS battery inside the PC, a painstaking process that calls for some knowledge around Computer hardware operations.

A BIOS restart would solve the problem every time I encountered the BSOD but having to open up my PC every time this happened wasn’t a walk in the park.

So I did a spot check of my BIOS version and found out the PC was running on a 2016 system, archaic in PC terms and long overdue for an update.

HP, and just about every other manufacturer offers BIOS updates for their users on their websites at no charge.

I found the latest 2019 BIOS update and installed it in my PC and so far, so good. I haven’t encountered the BSOD a week on, previously, I would encounter it once, sometimes twice a week.

 Importance of updating BIOS

●It enables your PC better deal with hardware compatibility issues.

● Newer updates generally fix known bugs found on previous versions.

● It offers latest security updates.

If your PC is running fine, a BIOS update may be unnecessary. Keep your drivers updated to improve your PC’s performance.

Disclaimer: Opening your PC may void your warranty or cause more damage to the PC, doing so is at your own risk.