Fix: The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck

The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck” is an error message that appears when your PC recovers from a BSOD error after a restart. There are variations of bugcheck errors, just like BSOD errors. When this error appears, it often indicates there is a problem with a driver, whether it is the anti-cheat kernel-level driver or a system driver.

The bug check error also indicates that a critical process has stopped working. As a result, your Windows keeps restarting from the BSOD with the bug check error. To fix this error, you will need to identify the problematic driver on your PC or even a problematic hardware component causing this error.

If you are receiving this error while playing a specific game, such as MW2 or VALORANT, you should also consider reinstalling its anti-cheat software, which can fix this error. Before you move on to the methods, it is important to keep in mind that every bug check error is different, so you should follow all the methods to fix your bug check error.

1. Remove overclocking from the GPU, CPU, and RAM.

If you have overclocked your GPU, CPU, or even RAM, the first thing you should do is reset the overclock settings to default, as incorrect overclock settings can cause your components to overheat. This can result in various BSOD errors and also cause the “The computer has rebooted from a bug check” message. Hence, try removing the overclock settings.

Below, we have listed the steps for resetting the GPU overclock settings: If you overclocked your RAM from BIOS, simply navigate to the BIOS settings and disable the XMP feature. The same applies to CPU overclocking; access the BIOS settings and reset the CPU overclocking to default.

1. To reset the GPU overclock settings, open the overclock application.
2. Now simply click the reset button to remove the overclock settings.
   
3. You can also uninstall the overclock application to remove the overclock settings.

2. Run the Driver Verifier.

In most cases, ‘The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck’ occurs when there is a problem with one of the system drivers. To identify the problematic driver, we use Driver Verifier, a troubleshooting utility that checks drivers installed on your Windows operating system.

Once you run this utility, your drivers will be tested after the restart. If Driver Verifier detects any violations, it will display the BSOD error with the name of the causing driver. To do so, follow these steps.

1. To run the driver verifier, press the Win + R keys simultaneously.
2. Here type verifier and click OK to run the utility.
   
3. Now choose Create standard settings and click Next.
   
4. Choose Automatically select all drivers installed on this computer and click Next.
5. Once completed, click “Finish” and restart your computer to begin the test.
6. Once your PC is restated, just wait for the driver verifier to detect the problematic driver.
7. If it detects any problems, it will cause your system to crash by displaying a BSOD error. Don’t forget to note the driver’s name, which should be mentioned in the bottom left as a stop code.
8. Once you note the stop code, search for it on Google to determine which device it belongs to. For example, if the driver belongs to the audio driver, reinstalling it will fix this issue.
9. Once done, right-click the Start Menu and select Device Manager to open it.
   
10. Once it is opened, right-click the problematic driver and select Uninstall device.
    
11. Once again, click Uninstall to confirm.
12. Click the Start Menu and type Verifier.
    
13. Run the utility and select Delete existing settings.
    
14. Click “Next” and then click “Finish.
15. Restart your computer, and your problem should now be resolved.

3. Use DDU to reinstall the GPU driver.

Before we proceed to analyze a dump file, which may become a lengthy process for you, it is recommended to first reinstall the graphics driver, as this error typically occurs when there is a problem with the graphics driver.

To uninstall the graphics driver, we recommend using DDU instead of uninstalling the driver from the Device Manager. DDU, or Display Driver Uninstaller, is an application that allows users to remove drivers completely from the system, along with registry files. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Download the Display Driver Uninstaller from the link.
2. Once you have downloaded it, extract the DDU folder using WinRAR or 7zip.
   
3. Then, navigate to the folder and run the 7Zip extractor.
4. Click ‘Extract‘ and proceed to the extracted folder.
5. Run the Display Driver Uninstaller here.
6. Select the Device and Device type from the right.
7. Then, click Clean and Restart to uninstall the drivers.
8. Once finished, head to your GPU manufacturer’s website and download the GPU driver from there.
9. Once it is downloaded, run the driver installer and follow the simple installation instructions to install the driver.

4. Analyze a minidump file.

A minidump file contains important data about system crashes. When a BSOD error occurs or the system crashes, the minidump file automatically generates on a system drive. By default, a minidump file generates automatically; you don’t need to tell Windows to generate it. However, if your Windows is not configured to generate a minidump file, you can follow the steps provided. Otherwise, proceed to read or analyze the minidump file.

1. Right-click the Start Menu and click ‘Run‘ to open the Run Window.
2. Type sysdm.cpl in the search box and click OK to navigate.
   
3. Now go to Advanced, and click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
   
4. Here make sure that the Small memory dump (256 KB) option is selected under Write debugging information.
   
5. Once done, click OK, and again, click OK to close the Window.
6. Wait for the BSOD error to occur, and then follow the steps to read a minidump file.

5.1 Read a Minidump File

Now, your next step is to read a minidump file. For that, you will have to download a software development tool, which is a package of debugging tools that you can use to read a minidump file. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Download a Software Development Kit by using the link.
2. Once it is downloaded, run the installer, click “Continue,” and then click “Next.
3. Unselect all the tools here, except for Debugging Tools for Windows.
4. Then, click ‘Download‘ and wait for the downloading process to complete.
   
5. Once done, click “Close.” Then, navigate to the following directory.

   C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Kits

6. Open the folder ‘Debugging Tools for Windows (x64)’ or ‘(x86)’, depending on your Windows architecture.
   
7. Run the WinDbg (x64) application as an administrator by right-clicking on it.
   
8. Click File and select Open Crash Dump from the listed options.
   
9. Navigate to Windows > System32.
10. Here select MEMORY.DMP and click Open.
    
11. Wait for the Minidump file to load properly.
12. Once it is loaded, click !analyze -v to view more information.
    
13. In my case, you can clearly see that my computer crashes due to vgk.sys, which is a Vanguard anti-cheat file of VALORANT.
    

Your computer can also crash due to a corrupted driver. To confirm this, search the Image Name, as shown in the screenshot above, on Google to determine to which device it belongs.

If it belongs to a network driver or any device driver connected to the computer, reinstalling it will fix the BSOD and bug check error. However, if it belongs to the game’s anti-cheat system, reinstalling it will also fix your error.

5.2 Reinstall the corrupted driver.

1. To reinstall the corrupted driver, click the Start Menu and search for Device Manager to open it.
2. Once the device manager is opened, right-click the corrupted device driver.
3. Select ‘Uninstall Device.’ Then, click ‘Uninstall‘ again to confirm.
4. Once completed, if it is a network driver, GPU driver, or even Realtek driver, go to the official website and download the driver installer from there. If you have a laptop, visit your laptop manufacturer’s site to download a driver.
5. But if it is a keyboard, mouse, or any other device driver installed by Windows. You can simply restart your computer to install the driver.
6. Once completed, the BSOD issue should now be fixed.

6. Run the System File Checker.

This error can also occur due to corrupted system files since some BSOD errors can be caused by them. Hence, we will try running the System File Checker (SFC) command, which will verify the corrupted files and restore them from the cache folder located at %WinDir%\System32\dllcache.

To run the SFC command, follow these instructions:

1. Press the Windows key and type Command Prompt.
2. Right-click on the Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
3. Then, type the following command and press Enter.

   sfc /scannow

   

4. Once completed, wait for the verification to finish, and then check if this bug check error has been fixed or not.

7. Reinstall the game’s anti-cheat system.

If you are encountering this error in a specific game such as MW2 or VALORANT, you should try reinstalling the game’s anti-cheat program.

You might wonder why you should reinstall the anti-cheat program. Most anti-cheat systems run with a kernel driver to prevent cheaters from taking unfair advantage. Hence, it is possible that the anti-cheat driver is causing BSOD issues, which is why you keep getting this bug check error whenever you play that specific game. To prevent this, try reinstalling the anti-cheat system.

8. Use a System Restore utility.

If you have created a restore point in the past, then this can be very helpful for you in fixing this error. If you do not know about a restore point, it is a troubleshooting utility that allows users to restore a previous state, or you could say the previous version of Windows when everything was working properly.

Since it requires a restore point, you might not have that if you learned about the System Restore utility in this article. In this case, you can reset your Windows, which essentially will uninstall all the drivers, including the corrupted ones.

We recommend that you first check the restore point, even if you have not created it, because Windows redistributables, driver installations, and even optimization applications often create a restore point. If something bad happens, the user can restore to the previous version.

To use a system restore utility, follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key, and enter the System Restore utility, which is rstrui.
   
2. Run the command and click Next.
3. Now select a restore point and click Next.
   
4. Click Finish to start the restore process.
   
5. Once finished, view the result.