What is causing BSODs?

Question

What is causing BSODs?

Luca Strachan 0

Hi all, I've has a few BSODs recently and I'm trying to figure out the root of it. I had them previously not too long ago and solved them that time by updating my BIOS, I couldn't find any problems with the BIOS with it this time.

I've attached the latest Minidumps to help.

[Moderator Note: Personal Info Removed]

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2 answers

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Answer 1

Clary-N 16,995 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Luca Strachan,

Thanks for sharing the dump files. Unfortunately, I’m unable to access the drive link from this end.

Since this is a public forum, we will hide your personal identifiable information, and I have sent the drive link that may contain your personal identifiable information in a private message so we can work together to resolve the issue. Also, please check your private message in case you want to share another link or screenshot to avoid leaking your PII by click on the Message button as show below

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Could you confirm the exact stop code shown on the blue screen, when the crashes usually happen and whether they started after any driver, hardware, BIOS or Windows update?

You can also open the latest dump in WinDbg, run: !analyze -v

Then copy and paste the results here, especially the BUGCHECK_CODE, MODULE_NAME, IMAGE_NAME and FAILURE_BUCKET_ID sections. Before posting, please remove any personal details, such as your username, computer name, email address or identifying file paths.

That information should help narrow down whether a particular driver or component is involved.

Luca Strachan 0 Reputation points

2026-09-24T03:33:34.98+00:00

Will do
Clary-N 16,995 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-24T07:30:17.3866667+00:00

Hi Luca Strachan,

Thanks for sharing the report. It confirms an IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (0xA) crash, which is commonly associated with a kernel-mode driver accessing invalid memory.

Although ntkrnlmp.exe appears in the report, that is the Windows kernel and does not identify the actual faulty driver. The stack involves a file-system routine, so storage drivers or software such as third-party antivirus, backup, encryption or disk utilities may be involved, but this dump alone is not enough to confirm which one.

Could you let me know what you were doing around 16:34:47, whether any drivers or related software were recently installed or updated and the exact PC or motherboard model? Please also run winver and share the Windows version and build, as the build shown in the report appears inconsistent with the “Windows 10” label.

If another crash occurs, please keep the new minidump so the results can be compared.
Clary-N 16,995 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-25T08:00:13.1233333+00:00

Hi Luca Strachan,

May I know if you have got any chance to check my answer?

I am glad to help if you have any other questions.
Luca Strachan 0 Reputation points

2026-09-27T11:01:53.11+00:00

Hey Clary, was on a work trip till today. I'll run your recommendations when I get back.
Clary-N 16,995 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-29T00:13:10.4733333+00:00

Hi Luca Strachan,

No worries, and thanks for the update.

Please give the recommendations a try when you’re able and let me know how it goes. If the issue continues, I’ll be happy to help further.
Clary-N 16,995 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-09-30T08:50:30.75+00:00

Hi Luca Strachan,

Have you had a chance to check my answer yet?

Please do keep me updated.

Answer 2

The most common root causes of BSODs are drivers and hardware. The documented breakdown for stop errors is:

70%: third-party driver code
10%: hardware issues
5%: Microsoft code
15%: unknown because memory is too corrupted to analyze

A stop error can also be triggered by a hardware device, its driver, or related software. Since the minidumps were attached externally and no dump analysis details are available here, the supported next step is to narrow the cause by checking recent hardware, drivers, and system logs.

Recommended troubleshooting path:

Remove or roll back anything added recently.
- Remove any recently added hardware.
- Remove or update any recently added device drivers or system services.
- Identify any recent system configuration changes.
Check Device Manager.
- Right-click Start and select Device Manager.
- Look for devices marked with an exclamation point (!).
- Open the device properties, review the events log, and update, disable, or uninstall the affected device or driver.
Check Event Viewer for the crash window.
- Review the System log in Event Viewer.
- Look for critical or error events that occurred at the same time as the BSOD.
- If a faulting driver is named, update or disable that driver.
Test memory.
- In Control Panel, search for Memory.
- Select Diagnose your computer's memory problems.
- After the test, open Event Viewer and check the System log for MemoryDiagnostics-Results.
Check storage free space.
- Keep roughly 10% to 15% free disk space available so Windows can create swap files and perform normal operations.
Install the latest Windows updates.
- Go to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update and check for updates.
Run hardware diagnostics from the PC manufacturer.
- This is recommended when driver checks do not identify the cause.
If the crashes continue, analyze the dump file with WinDbg.
- Configure the PC to generate a complete memory dump.
- Copy memory.dmp from the Windows directory to another PC.
- Install Debugging Tools for Windows from the Windows 10 SDK.
- In WinDbg, set the symbol path to the Microsoft public symbol server: https://msdl.microsoft.com/download/symbols
- Open the crash dump and inspect the faulting module.

If the BSOD shows a specific code such as DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, focus first on the related driver, Device Manager status, and Event Viewer entries from the same time period.