Imagine that you had a week's time to give a very important presentation. Yet six days went by and you didn't even start. Now with 24 hours left, you start making slides and.... somehow, very luckily you manage to complete it by night. Satisfied with your accomplishment, you go to sleep. The next morning, with confidence you switch on your laptop and are about to get started, but the laptop doesn't start, instead shows a blue Screen indicating some system error.
| BSoD Windows 10 (via Wikipedia) |
Feels terrible, isn't it?
Now there could be many reasons why such errors might occur, but overusing your PC isn't likely to be one. However, one of the most common reasons for this error happens to originate from outer space - Cosmic rays! (I am not kidding)
So here are certain details about BSoD, it's causes and some ways to fix it. Finally, we will reveal why rays from outer space are mostly responsible for this annoying error.
Blue Screen of Death (BSoD)
| BSoD Windows 8 (via Wikipedia) |
| BSoD Windows 11 (via Wikipedia) |
Officially known as "Stop Error", the Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) is a critical error screen which is seen Microsoft Windows and ReactOS when there is a system failure.
Almost every PC user has come across this error once or the other. It is one of the most notorious error screens among many others, like the Red Screen of Death, Green Screen of Death, Black Screen of Death, etc.
Why Does It Happen?
A blue screen occurs when Windows encounters a “STOP Error.” This critical failure causes Windows to crash and stop working. The only thing Windows can do at that point is restart the PC. This can lead to data loss, as programs don’t have a chance to save their open data.
BSoD is caused by errors at both the software and the hardware levels. Newly installed drivers or programs commonly cause Blue Screens. On the contrary, even old or incompatible drivers or program files can also cause the error.
BIOS updates or incompatible/outdated BIOS are also responsible to cause this error. Regular apps usually don't have their hands behind blue screens. However, buggy updates can corrupt system files leading to a system crash.
At the hardware level, overheating can cause BSoD. This happens mainly due to insufficient air circulation. Low storage space and issues with hardware components like graphics card or HDMI cables, are also responsible.
How to resurrect your PC?
Blue screens can also occur while you're working on computer. May all the unfinished work and unsaved files rest in peace.
So how to fix (not resurrect) your PC. Well, ways there are many.
If you had recently installed or updated programs/drivers, a system rollback can help. This can be done with the feature called System Restore.
Again, installing the latest drivers from your computer manufacturer’s website can fix BSOD caused by incompatible or outdated drivers.
One could also restart his/her computer in Safe Mode and check for viruses/malwares by running the antivirus software.
Testing the hardware components can also bring front some possible malfunctioning which might have been causing the problem all along.
Finally, if the problem is persistent, you should press the detonator and throw the PC... Nopes. Backup all the data and reinstall Windows. That should be the last option when multiple attempts have failed.
While various methods of fixation are handy, it is always recommended to find the cause of the error before jumping to conclusions. Perhaps if you couldn't find the reason, you could maybe blame cosmic rays.
And that brings us to the most awaited part...
Blue Screens and Cosmic Rays
| Image by NASA |
If your computer crashes, it might be due to a star that exploded somewhere in the Universe millions of years ago.
Cosmic Rays, present in the form of subatomic particles carrying energy, come from distant stars, Supernovae and sometimes from the Sun. The particles having highest energy come from exploding stars, Supernovae and are also believed to come from Black Holes. These particles travel at the speed of light and strike the atmosphere which trigger cascades of charged particles like neutrons, pions, muons, etc. which strike the Earth's surface. Almost every digital device or gadget is vulnerable to these charged particles. And with smaller, more tightly packed transistors, devices like your PC or your smartphone are getting more vulnerable to cosmic rays.
When these particles strike the transistors, they cause something called a bit flip, which causes a malfunction called Single Event Upset (SEU). These events are what cause software glitch and system crash.
Cosmic ray bombardment increases with Altitude. While these bit flips usually don't cause much of a damage to regular devices, they are a matter of concern at certain conditions. An unlucky glitch or system crash on a plane could risk the lives of many people. Making normal everyday devices less vulnerable to SEU would make them more costly and also result in lower battery performance or more frequent charging.
So unless someone comes up with something better, bit flips and Blue Screens for common device users like us are going to be rather... frustrating.
