SOLVED: REGISTRY_ERROR Blue Screen of Death
A Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) is the blue-colored screen that appears when a Windows computer shuts down unexpectedly. Blue Screens of Death can be caused by one of a wide variety of different reasons, only one of which is an error or other problem with the affected computer’s registry. When a registry problem causes a BSOD, the cause of the BSOD is listed as REGISTRY_ERROR. Being met with a REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD just once is not that big of a problem, but being met with a REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD every single time you leave your computer idle for upwards of 4 minutes or use Security and Maintenance to maintain your computer is most certainly a huge issue.
Computers affected by this issue, when idle, experience a CPU usage of upwards of 40%, whereas the normal CPU usage for when a computer is left idle is just 0-5%. An affected computer’s BPU usage keeps on climbing when it is left idle, and usually after about 4 minutes, the computer shuts down and displays the REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD. The same REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD is also displayed when an affected user goes into Security and Maintenance in the Control Panel and clicks on Start Maintenance.
There is no universal cause for this issue – in some cases, the REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD is caused by a genuine registry error, in some it is caused by one or more defective .NET Framework tasks that are triggered when affected computers are left idle, and in some it is caused by something entirely unrelated. Thankfully, though, the REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD problem can be resolved, and the following are the two methods that have proven to be most effective in fixing this issue:
Solution 1: Disable all .NET Framework tasks that are triggered when your computer is idle
Open the Start Menu.
Search for “task scheduler”.
Click on the search result named Task Scheduler.
In the left pane, double-click on Task Scheduler Library to expand it.
Double-click on Microsoft to expand it.
Double-click on Windows to expand it.
Locate and click on the .NET Framework subfolder to have its contents displayed in the right pane.
In the right pane, right-click on any and all .NET Framework tasks that have When computer is idle under Triggers, and click on Disable to disable them. There are normally only one or two such tasks.
Close the Task Scheduler, restart your computer, and you should no longer be met with the REGISTRY_ERROR BSOD when you leave your computer idle or when you Start Maintenance on your Windows 10 computer.
Solution 2: Reset your Windows 10 computer
In the event that Solution 1 does not work for you, there is no need to worry as the majority of Windows 10 users who have suffered from this issue in the past have only been able to fix it by resetting their Windows 10 computer. Windows 10’s reset feature is a more than welcome recovery medium as it is capable of fixing a ton of different problems associated with Windows 10. In addition, to top it all off, resetting a Windows 10 computer does not necessarily erase any user data stored on it. To reset a Windows 10 computer, you need to:
Open the Start Menu.
Click on Settings.
Click on Update & security.
Click on Recovery in the left pane.
In the right pane, click on Get Started under Reset this PC.
Click on either Keep my files (if you want the computer to be reset without losing any of the user data stored on it) or Remove everything (if you want the computer to be reset and any and all user data stored on it to be deleted. If you plan on using the Remove everything option, it would be best for you to back up any data/files that you don’t want to lose in the process to a safe location.
If you clicked on Remove everything in the last step, click on either Just remove my files to only have your files deleted or Remove my files and clean the drive to have your files deleted and your Hard Disk cleaned (which takes longer than its alternative). If you clicked on Keep my files in the last step, skip this step.
If presented with a warning, simply click on Next.
When prompted to do so, click on Reset.
Once you click on Reset, the computer will restart and then reset itself. When/if prompted with a screen that has three options on it and asks you to choose one, click on Continue.
Note: Whether you choose the Keep my files option or the Remove everything option, all of your installed programs and applications will be uninstalled, so you are going to have to reinstall them once your computer has been successfully reset. Resetting a Windows 10 computer also results in the resetting of any and all settings and preferences to their default values.
