The error is one of the most frustrating Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes in Windows 11 and Windows 10, often triggered by outdated graphics drivers, corrupted system files, or faulty hardware acceleration.

Go to the tab. If available, click Roll Back Driver (if the error started after a recent update).

Press the , type cmd , right-click Command Prompt , and select Run as administrator .

What (like .sys) is shown on your blue screen?

The most prevalent cause of this exception is a kernel-mode driver attempting to perform an illegal operation. In modern contexts, this often involves:

Boot into the screen via the forced shutdown method mentioned above. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt .

Is this a , a custom build , or a newly upgraded component?

Sometimes, the BSOD screen will display the specific filename responsible for the crash in parentheses next to the error code. Identifying this file tells you exactly which device driver needs to be fixed. Driver Filename Associated Component Fix Action NVIDIA Graphics Card Reinstall GPU Drivers atikmdag.sys AMD Graphics Card Reinstall GPU Drivers rtwlane.sys / netwtw06.sys Wi-Fi / Network Adapter Rollback Network Driver ntfs.sys Hard Drive File System Run CHKDSK Utility

In simple terms: Windows operates with two modes:

A brand-new component (usually RAM or a PCIe expansion card) that arrived dead on arrival (DOA). Step 1: Identify the Culprit Driver