The most serious error that can occur on a computer is that related to the Kernel, which represents the heart of the operating system. When there is an error concerning the Windows Kernel, a blue screen appears on the screen with a worrying message where an error code is indicated and the computer restarts. The Kernel error (often indicated with the Event ID 41 in the event log and generated by Kernel Power) can describe itself with the following message codes which are among the most frequent:- Unexpected Kernel Mode Trap
- Kmode exception not Handled
- IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
- PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
- Kernel Security Check Failure
- Critical Process died
The critical error Kernel-Power causes the system to crash. The error can trigger in a number of circumstances, although all refer to a power problem. The restart occurs for safety reasons because the system detects an anomaly that could seriously damage the internal hardware components and compromise any possibility of being able to reuse it.
The causes of this restart problem which prevents, in fact, the use of the computer in a normal way (also because with the sudden restart it is prevented from saving the work that was being done), they are to be traced, in most cases, to a hardware problem, i.e. a malfunction of one of the parts that make up a computer. It could therefore depend on the incompatibility between two parts or on an energy failure, on an excess of heating of the processor, or on a failure of the RAM memory or of the power supply. In other cases, it may depend on an incorrect configuration of the Windows settings, perhaps linked to an incorrect driver or the failure to update a program.
Starting from the cause, it is possible in many cases to resolve a critical error that forces the restart of the computer, also because it may be sufficient to even remove a certain program, disable a Windows 10 feature or install the latest updates.
Solutions to resolve the critical error that restarts the Windows PC
1) Update Windows 10
A Windows 10 update is often enough to make even serious errors disappear. By correcting system bugs and compatibility with other software, you could also resolve the critical error that causes the computer to restart. To download the latest Windows 10 updates, open the Settings, go to the section Updates and Security and then look for new updates and proceed with the installation.
Fortunately, with Windows 10, the Windows Update service is also able to download and install hardware driver updates, thus correcting any bugs related to the presence of obsolete drivers.
READ ALSO: Update the drivers of a Windows PC automatically
2) Disable Windows 10 quick start
The quick start of Windows 10, already explained in another article, is a hybrid sleep mode that does not completely shut down the computer and allows you to turn it on extremely quickly. This type of startup, however, must be supported by your computer, otherwise it can cause a serious error.
To disable quick start, open the Control panel from the Start menu, then open the section Hardware and sounds and click on Energy saving options, press on Specifies power button behavior. From here, disable Quick Start. If it were already disabled and not editable, it is better to leave it like this.
3) Run the Windows utilities CHKDSK and SFC
CHKDSK is a Windows system tool that you can use to check for disk errors that can cause the system to restart automatically. To run it, you must open a command prompt window (right click on the Start menu or search for CMD on the search bar). Once the cmd prompt opens, run the command chkdsk / r and let the automatic check and fix finish.
SFC, on the other hand, is the internal Windows tool to correct errors related to corrupt or not found system files. However, before running the SFC command, it is best to verify that it is fully functional.
From the Command Prompt started with administrator rights, run the command first
DISM / online / cleanup-image / restorehealth
Then, when finished, run the command
sfc / scannow
4) Enable the legacy boot menu
If the PC fails on startup, we have seen in another article what to do if the PC turns itself off with a sudden shutdown.
In particular, it is possible to enable the legacy boot menu and disable UEFI.
To do this, restart the computer and enter Windows 10 recovery mode. If this is not possible, you must start the PC from a USB stick with the Windows 10 installation files and use the Repair computer options.
In the recovery console screen, you can go to Advanced options to find the command prompt. In the Command Prompt, type C: and press Enter, then run this command:
BCDEDIT / SET {DEFAULT} BOOTMENUPOLICY LEGACY
Then type Exit and press Enter to restart the PC normally.
5) Relocate the RAM and graphics card
In the case of a desktop PC, one of the internal components may have been incorrectly fixed. The components that are most likely to be positioned incorrectly are one of the RAM memory cards or the video card. Opening the case it is quite simple to see if they are slow and not perfectly fixed.
6) Check if the power supply is defective
Since one of the most frequent causes of Kernel-related errors is a power supply defect, you need to do the right checks to see if the PC power supply is faulty or is about to break.
One of these checks, if there are no other noticeable effects, is to use a PSU (Power Supply Unit) test tool such as the free program OCCT. doing stress tests with OCCT on CPU, GPU and motherboard it is possible to detect any power supply failure.
Using OCCT, which you can download for free, close all open programs, go to Test configuration, select Power, select the graphics card, set the resolution to 1920 × 1080 and press the large red icon with the Play symbol. Most errors are detected within the first 5 minutes, although the program recommends taking a test of at least an hour. Once the test is complete, OCCT shows any power supply errors.
Conclusion
One of these five solutions, unless an internal hardware component is really broken, should solve the problem of the blue screen with Kernel error. A combination of these fixes may be needed to avoid the appearance of the critical error Kernel-Power or others with a blue screen.
If that wasn’t enough, we have seen in other articles insights on the issue, in particular on the Windows “blue screen” crash analysis.