The Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) is a dreadful and frightening event in the life of most computer users. It is an error screen that appears as a result of a system crash and it typically indicates a serious problem with the computer that requires immediate attention.
The term “Blue Screen of Death” came into common use in the late 1990s, although the phenomenon itself was around long before then—Microsoft has documented the Blue Screen of Death as far back as 1985.
The Blue Screen of Death is caused by a wide variety of different software and hardware issues, though it usually means a critical system error of some kind. It differs from the more general “system crash” in that it is an unrecoverable error—the computer cannot reboot normally after the BSoD is displayed and will often require manual intervention in order to be restarted.
When the Blue Screen of Death appears, it can sometimes be accompanied by a “stop” message or code, which may indicate the precise underlying cause of the issue. Once the cause of the Blue Screen of Death is identified, it can usually be addressed by reinstalling the software or hardware that is causing the problem.
Recognizing the physical effects of a sudden system crash—such as a loud beep, or the display of a static image on the monitor—and following the proper procedures to troubleshoot the issue, can help to prevent the BSoD from happening in the first place. Ultimately, however, the majority of Blue Screen of Death incidents are due to hardware conflicts or software incompatibilities and will they can often be hard to predict or completely avoid.
In either case, the Blue Screen of Death is a warning of an impending serious computer problem and is an indication that the user should attempt to find the cause of the problem—as well as its solution—as soon as possible.
