How to Fix Red Screen of Death (RSOD) in Windows 10

I think every Windows user is familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, but have you heard of the Red Screen of Death (RSOD) in Windows?

After starting Windows 10, some users have encountered the error «red screen of death» and have received messages about it. The red screen of death is generally associated with the iPhone 6, the iPhone 5S or other smartphones, but now computers/portable with Windows 10 they also show the red screen error.

And when the Windows 10 red screen appears, you can't do anything and have to manually restart your computer/laptop. Windows 10 system crashes without giving any error. like the black screen of death and the blue screen of death, the Windows 10 red screen is another fatal error and can completely paralyze your system.

It can happen while playing games, entering passwords, watching videos, booting, updating Windows 10, during Boot or when nothing is being done. In this article, I want to help you today. Discover the complete information about the causes of red screen of death error and how to fix the red screen of death error in Windows 10.

You can also read: Fix Macbook Pro Boot Black Screen

Causes of the red screen of death

The Red Screen of Death appears on Windows 10 computers in all situations. This means that it can appear when you start your computer, when you update the operating system, when you set a user password, when you play a game, or even when you do nothing with your computer.

There is no specific situation in which it is more likely to occur.However, it is quite common for this screen to appear when there is a problem with hardware, especially when overclocking your computer.

But hardware problems are not the only cause of Windows 10 Red Screen of Death, it can also occur due to outdated drivers, incompatible drivers, or BIOS issues.

This problem is relatively common due to faulty graphics drivers or installation of the wrong files of an application causing such conflict. Here are some other reasons why you may see a red screen on Windows:

• Outdated drivers: This type of red screen appears at startup or during operating system initialization because outdated drivers cause a conflict with the operating system.
• Common mistake: In some cases of red screen of death, the root cause of the problem has not been found, this type of unknown error usually occurs during boot.
• On laptops: According to reports from users who encounter this type of red screen of death on a laptop, it is usually caused by problems with the video card.
• Audio playback: Although it may not seem to have much to do with it, errors in the video card can cause this type of error when playing audio.
• File Explorer or Microsoft Excel: In some cases, a familiar screen has appeared when using File Explorer or opening an Excel XLS or XLSX document, which also indicates a conflict with the video card or one of its drivers.
• Multiple monitors: If the problem is related to the video card, using external monitors may cause some of the problems.
• Graphic card Nvidia: If we integrate graphics cards of this brand, we may have a red screen problem due to a conflict with the overclocking performed.

The meaning of the colors of death on the screen

You may only be familiar with the blue screen of death specific to the Microsoft operating system, but we can find another type of red screen. The truth is that although they are less common or less known, many users have experienced this type of error, but it is not the only one, since we can also find yellow, green, purple or brown screens.

1. Yellow screen: A dead screen with a yellow background is usually caused by an error in the browser being used. A buzzing sound also indicates that the document is not working. XML cannot be processed. In this case, it is best to restart the computer. First we can try to remove the programs and processes that are running in the background and that may be related to this.
2. Green screen: You may see a green screen, especially if you are a member of the program Windows 10 InsiderThis type of error is related to installed updates. Since Insiders are users who test new versions of Microsoft's operating system before everyone else, they are the most affected by this type of error.
3. Purple screen: Purple screens are directly related to an error caused by a virtual machine installed on our computer. Usually, a hard disk partition is used to install software, a virtual machine that allows us to run an operating system other than our main operating system. If this is not possible, an error of this type may occur.
4. Brown screen: This error is caused by a bug caused by a video game. This usually happens when we try to run a game on a computer that does not meet the minimum hardware requirements. Overloading one of the computer's components can cause this colored screen. We recommend restarting your computer and killing background processes and programs to make the most of the game's CPU and RAM, taking into account the game's specifications.
5. Black screen: This type of screen usually appears when there is a problem with Windows Update and the update is in progress. A typical solution for such cases is a forced restart. Press the power button for a few seconds until the computer turns off. Turn it back on and check if the problem is resolved.
6. Orange screen: This type of warning appears when there is a serious hardware error, but has also been observed when errors occur when playing videos from YouTube or when waking the device from standby mode.
7. White screen: This happens when your computer crashes due to hardware errors related to graphics and monitors. You can try restarting your computer and see if the problem persists, if not, you should check your display and video card drivers.

How to fix Red Screen of Death (RSOD) in Windows 10

As with almost all system errors or crashes, there are several possible solutions for the red screen in Windows 10. In most cases, the most important thing is to identify the problem as best as possibleIn other words, find the reason why our computer is on this error screen.

1. Delete problematic files

If you have just installed a program, application or driver, this could be the cause of the red screen. Switch to safe mode during system startup and the red screen should no longer appear. Simply access the Control Panel and remove the problematic application under Add/Remove Programs, also available in Settings.

If you have installed softOSD, which happens in some cases, you must uninstall that program. SoftOSD is a software application which is typically 495,98KB in size. Its function is to control the display of the connected hardware. It supports various monitor configurations, VGA, DVI, HDMI, or DisplayPort interfaces, and most graphics chipsets. Since this process is not mandatory for Windows, it can be easily disabled if it causes crashes.

It can cause Windows 10 to boot to a red screen of death and if removed, the computer will boot fine. The same program can be found in Add/Remove Programs. If you receive a warning about removing sds4a.sys, ignore it.

2. Disable overclocking

El overclocking is possible on some systems and is used to change the behavior of the multiplier, voltage, or clock speed to improve hardware performance. However, This type of overclocking can cause major problems for the CPU or GPU, especially in terms of temperature.

As we have already mentioned, overclocking sometimes causes a red screen of death in Windows 10, so it is advisable to disable it if we encounter these problems.

In this case, we just need to use the same application that we would have used to activate overclocking. And if the computer cannot boot normally as in the previous point, we will boot it through the advanced boot options and safe mode.

3. Update your computer's BIOS/UEFI

BIOS or UEFI issues can also cause a red screen. Again, we need to boot the computer using the advanced boot options, and in this case, Visit the motherboard manufacturer's websiteThere you should find specific software to update your BIOS, if it exists and is available.

The entire process is guided by the manufacturer's proprietary software, but you have to be careful, as any problem can cause permanent damage to your computer.

If we don't know the manufacturer of our motherboard, it's easy to use one of the many PC hardware detection applications available, most of which are completely free.

4. Change the Settings.ini file in Windows 10

There is a recognized failure in some video games which causes exactly that: a red screen of death in Windows 10. And in these cases, the problem is related to the settings.ini file. In this case, we have to open the specific folder of the video game that causes the problem, find the settings.ini file and open it with a text editor, but without formatting.

If we open it, we will find the line DxVersion = auto, and instead we must write the text DxVersion = 9. Now You just have to save the file with the changes made, without forma tear plus the text file, and then try to open the game. If this is the problem, it should work fine and not disable your computer with the red screen we talked about.

5. Install your video card's generic drivers and update them

On some systems, the red screen of death issue is caused by problems with the graphics driver. In this case, The solution may be to install generic Windows 10 drivers and then apply the corresponding updates, if available.

To do this, we must locate and open the Device administrator in the Windows 10 search bar. There, locate the Display adapters section and expand it.

Let's select the device, right-click and delete it. Accept the deletion and then reboot the system. After rebooting, it is best to go to the official website of the graphics card manufacturer and download the latest driver version available for your hardware.

6. Third party tools

In fact, the first time you receive a red screen error message on your computer, you might be surprised and a little worried about the cause of the error message. However, if the same error appears again after shutting down and restarting your system, you might wonder if something you are doing on your computer or using a particular application or program is causing the red screen to appear.

This will allow us to isolate and correct the error by stopping its activity., updating or uninstalling the application that caused the problem and installing an alternative.

Last details

However, if we are a little lost on this topic and do not know what may be causing the red screen in Windows 10, we can follow all the recommendations above. If, despite everything, we have not been able to solve the problem, we can also We can use a third party application designed to fix some Windows issues and errors.

These types of applications usually help us solve hardware component problems, detect the presence of viruses or malware, fix corrupted system files or registry entries, etc.

Moreover, all this will be done automatically and transparently for us. After scanning the system, The application will try to detect all these types of problems and if successful, it will automatically attempt to repair anything it finds corrupt. One of the most well-known and widely used programs is Advanced System Repair, although there are other free or paid alternatives.

You can also read: How to Fix DPC Watchdog Violation Error in Windows 10