• The blue screen of death, or a computer crash, is your computer's way of telling you of a serious software or hardware problem with the computer. The computer may crash when using the CD-ROM drive of the computer, booting up the main hard drive or using an external hard drive. Read the helpful error codes on the screen to diagnose the problem.
  
  

Memory Failure

• Most crashes occur from bad memory sticks or insufficient memory. Memory sticks do fail over time. Computer drives require memory to run applications and read files. The computer's memory may be unable to handle the load of running the operating system and managing the drive at the same time. Depending on the problem, the error code displayed on the blue screen of death may read "UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP" or "KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR."
  
  

Corrupted Registry or Driver

• The computer registry is the "brain" of your computer system. The registry contains the operating system database, from which run the device drivers and software for your drive. When the registry is corrupted or a driver has been improperly installed, your computer may display the error code "REGISTRY_ERROR." In the event of an incompatible or incorrect driver, the screen displays the error code "KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED."
  
  

Bad Drive

• A failing or virus-infected drive may be responsible for the computer crashes. The computer may have difficulty accessing the drive or reading the drive. A virus may have incapacitated the boot sector of the drive, rendering startup impossible. The blue screen of death error code "INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" means that the computer cannot read the hard disk drive due to a faulty driver, a faulty interface terminator or a virus. The message "IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL" indicates incompatible hardware or device drivers.