It is a terrifying sight. You are browsing the internet, listening to music or even worse – working on an important document in Word or Excel and suddenly, all you can see is a blue screen with an error message. This blue screen error, 0x0000007E, strikes terror into every computer user because it comes without warning and gives you no information on how to fix the problem except a strange string of numbers and letters. Well, fear not intrepid computer user, here are some ways that you can solve the dreaded STOP: 0x0000007E error.

“STOP: 0x0000007E Blue Screen error”

What Does 0x0000007E Mean Exactly?

Good question. This particular error means that there is something wrong with your hard drive, which is the part of your computer where all of your data is stored. Or, possibly there is something wrong with the way your data is being accessed by your computer.

Potential Problem #1: A Faulty Hard Drive

One of the reasons that the 0x0000007E error might occur is you have a damaged hard drive. While this problem might not have a solution except for backing up all of your data and getting a new hard drive, or for many people getting a new computer since it is simpler and not much more expensive, but it is also one of the easiest possibilities to rule out. You can use a Windows tool called Check Disk to determine if your hard drive is faulty.

Here’s how it is done.

1. Click START and then type CMD into the search box at the bottom. (In Windows XP you click RUN and then type CMD.)
2. When the black box comes up simply type the command CHKDSK
3. Run the check on your disk and find out if there are any errors.

“Use the Windows CMD prompt to run ChkDsk”

Potential Problem #2: The Hard Drive is Full

Another possible explanation for the 0x0000007E error is that your hard drive is packed full of stuff. It might seem crazy, but this is most certainly one of the reasons this error might appear. You can check the amount of space remaining on your hard drive by going to MY COMPUTER and seeing how much space is available. If necessary, empty the recycle bin, delete some files or uninstall some programs to free up some space.

Potential Problem #3: You Need to Update Your BIOS.

BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System. Simply put, your BIOS is the text that you see running when you first start your computer before goes to Windows. Your computer might have an option when you restart that says something like ‘Press F2 to Enter Setup’. This is how you enter the BIOS settings. Unfortunately, in order to update your BIOS you will need to visit your manufacturer website and get instructions on how to do it, because each computer is a little bit different and you will need the software from their website.

Potential Problem #4: You Have a Driver Problem

Just like your golf game, you can blame your 0x0000007E error on a bad driver. Drivers are small programs that run specific parts of your computer. For example, your sound card and video card require drivers in order to run correctly. Sometimes drivers can become corrupted. If this happens then you’ll have to update your drivers. You can head directly to the hardware manufacturer’s website to download drivers, but often tt is difficult to determine exactly which driver is causing the problem, and which specific driver you need to download an install.

“You can go directly to the manufacturer website to download drivers”

If you know which piece of hardware is giving you problems, and which specific driver you need, then we definitely recommend heading to the manufacturer site to get it. But, be sure not to get hijacked along the way. If you’re not quite sure, or don’t want the headache or hassle of doing it all yourself, you can download ReviverSoft’s Driver Reviver and run a scan to identify problems with drivers on your computer, and quickly, easily and safely update all out of date and problem drivers.