# Blue screen, freeze ups, etc. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2015, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449 "2015-02-23T22:28:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/21 "2015-02-26T20:19:31Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Hadn’t thought about heat. This computer isn’t all that old, but I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t opened the case since I bought it, and this is a dusty environment. I had a laptop which was overheating until I cleaned it out. It never BSOd’d, it just stopped. Check to see if your fan is very loud. It is good to clean the dust anyhow, but that probably isn’t the reason. Even trivial hardware can cause problems. I had an old trackball mouse which developed a flaky usb connector. It caused freezes and sometimes BSODs, despite driver updates. A new mouse solved the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/22 "2015-02-26T20:32:16Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I had a laptop which was overheating until I cleaned it out. It never BSOd’d, it just stopped. Check to see if your fan is very loud. It is good to clean the dust anyhow, but that probably isn’t the reason. As noted above, it was really packed with debris, so overheating could have been the culprit. If it happens again, I’m back to square numero uno. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/23 "2015-02-26T23:30:18Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Are all your drivers up to date? > > Is it occurring while you are doing something particular, or is it random? All I do on this laptop is surf the web and I’m usually on the SDMB. 😉 From my little bit of googling I see that it may be a driver issue. Wouldn’t anything Microsoft automatically update? I don’t know how to check that I have the latest drivers. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/24 "2015-02-27T00:19:46Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I pulled the CPU out from the cave where it’s been lurking for a couple of years and was shocked by the amount of crud caking the vent ports. I’m surprised this thing has continued to soldier on with that much dirt, fibers and cat hair gumming up the works; good thing the case is well perforated, I guess. I couldn’t figure out how to get the case cover off without a lot of effort (weird: there are four knurled nuts that can be removed, but that doesn’t seem to free up anything), so I vacuumed the vents from the exterior and then blew air into all of them. Hopefully, the fan will help extract the now-loose dust particles. Hmm, not likely. If you had that much crud on the vents, the CPU heat sink is probably impacted with dust. Download [Speccy](https://www.piriform.com/speccy/builds)and check the CPU temperature. Normal range varies for CPUs, but 120F is a typical normal temp. If it is up around 180, it is definitely overheating. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/25 "2015-02-27T00:21:50Z")
Oh, and if you manage to get the case open, don’t vacuum inside, always use canned air to blow it out. Vacuums can create static electricity that can damage components. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/26 "2015-02-27T00:41:44Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Oh, and if you manage to get the case open, don’t vacuum inside, always use canned air to blow it out. Vacuums can create static electricity that can damage components. Thanks; that much I know. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/27 "2015-02-27T00:47:20Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Hmm, not likely. If you had that much crud on the vents, the CPU heat sink is probably impacted with dust. > > Download [Speccy](https://www.piriform.com/speccy/builds)and check the CPU temperature. Normal range varies for CPUs, but 120F is a typical normal temp. If it is up around 180, it is definitely overheating. Speccy says 105F (41C). Also says 38C for the motherboard. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/28 "2015-02-27T01:09:09Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Speccy says 105F (41C). Also says 38C for the motherboard. It’s too bad you didn’t run it beforehand. I’m curious to know what it was before you cleaned it. “curious to know” that sounds so odd. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/29 "2015-02-27T01:16:12Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Speccy says 105F (41C). Also says 38C for the motherboard. That sounds OK. If you see the blue screen again, try to write down the error code, which be something similar to 0x0000000e ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/30 "2015-02-27T03:14:05Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That sounds OK. If you see the blue screen again, try to write down the error code, which be something similar to 0x0000000e Will do. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/31 "2015-02-27T15:38:33Z")
I downloaded Driver Booster (free version), and it found 4 drivers that needed updating. All drivers are now up to date. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/32 "2015-02-27T16:12:33Z")
> [@Honey](#): > > I downloaded Driver Booster (free version), and it found 4 drivers that needed updating. All drivers are now up to date. That’s what I use. Otherwise you’d have to go into the Control Panel and check them one by one, AFAIK. Hopefully that solves your BSOD problem. Is it still doing it? How often was it happening? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/33 "2015-02-27T16:53:46Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > That’s what I use. Otherwise you’d have to go into the Control Panel and check them one by one, AFAIK. > > Hopefully that solves your BSOD problem. Is it still doing it? How often was it happening? Heh. That’s funny because I did check them all one by one, and every one of them said they had the latest driver. Driver Booster still found 4 outdated ones. I had Driver Booster installed a few months ago, but I uninstalled it when I uninstalled Advanced System Care. The first time it happened (BSoD) was about a month ago, it’s happened twice since. The last time was 2 days ago. ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/34 "2015-02-27T20:18:54Z")
NM ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449/35 "2015-02-27T21:52:13Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I looked in the computer thread, but found no references to the dreaded Blue Screen. I’ve been experiencing this from time to time, and also have been having computer freeze-up recently. > > Does this automatically mean that there is a nasty virus on board, or is my hard drive cashing in its chips? Something else entirely? I’m running Windows 7, have Malwarebytes and AVG Anti-Virus that tell me there are no problems, but clearly something is not right. > > Before I go through all those steps that **Xash** recommends, is there something else I should be trying? I use to get lot of BSODs to I updated IE than it gone away. But many times bad drivers or video problem can also cause BSODs. If you get it more playing games or watching movies it could be bad video card or problem with drivers for the video card. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blue-screen-freeze-ups-etc/713449.md?page=1)