Blue Screen of Death (BSOD)
A Blue Screen of Death (a.k.a BSOD or Bluescreen) is an error screen that Windows produces when it encounters an error that it cannot recover from. They can be caused by any number of problems, and can be problematic to troubleshoot. Thus, knowing the different parts of a BSOD can aid you in figuring out the cause.
Enabling BSODs
By default, most current versions of windows won't show a BSOD at all. They will simply reset upon experiencing a showstopping problem. This is fine if the PC is working great, but is annoying if a system is experiencing repeated problems. To prevent Windows from starting automatically and display the BSOD, follow these steps:
Windows XP Navigate to the Start Menu, and open the control panel. Go to System, open the Advanced tab. Under Startup and Recovery, Click settings. On the window that comes up, make sure that the box next to Automatically Restart is unchecked, then click Ok.
Windows Vista/7
Parts of a BSOD
Caused by
Error Name