Any issues involving Windows 10 critical process died should always be taken seriously if you do not wish for a serious error occurs in your Windows 10 PC. When you see a stop code with the saying “critical process died” on your PC screen, then you must try to find the source of errors immediately. Just like any Windows system errors, like “KMode Exception Not Handled“ or “System Service Exception Not Handled“, the problem lies in the clashes within some services in the system. To fix it, you must list all the possible things which may cause the error. If you do not have sufficient knowledge about Windows OS, then you can try to find the solutions to fix the problem in this article.
As you may know, Windows operating system is prone to errors in many levels. BSOD, or Blue Screen of Death, specifically happens when the system stops to operate. In this case, you find a Blue Screen of Death Error (BSOD) carrying an error message entitled Critical_Process_Died and a stop error 0x000000EF.
When a message stating “critical process died” appears on your Windows 10 screen, you can immediately use a stop code or perform an effective method to fix it. This type of error results in the blue screen suddenly appearing on your PC screen.
As mentioned on the official Microsoft website, the “critical process died” error comes up with the message “The CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED bug check has a value of 0x000000EF on Windows 10. This indicates that a critical system process died. You can usually see the message regarding this error along with the Blue Screen of Death.
Other than an error in the system, the Blue Screen of Death can also be caused by other things. One of the things that can cause the BSOD is an unregistered change in the data. Usually, it comes from an unauthorized program which unknowingly tries to modify a data related to the critical component of Windows.
Automatically, the operating system detected it and abruptly stops the process. This, in turn, can cause the “Critical Process Died” error and result in the Blue Screen of Death you see appearing on your Windows 10 PC screen shortly after.
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Dealing with “Critical Process Died” Error on Windows 10
As mentioned above, “Critical Process Died” error on Windows 10 may have been triggered by many things. One of many things which can cause this error is the critical components within the operating system experiences malfunctions.
Other than that, an unauthorized program may compromise the operating system functions by modifying some critical components. One of these two factors may often cause “Critical Process Died” error on Windows 10 and you need a stop code to fix it. Alternatively, you can use some of the methods we have curated in this article to fix this issue.
In addition to the system error and unauthorized business, some outdated, incompatible or faulty drivers can also cause the “Critical Process Died” on Windows 10. Due to the bad memory sector of certain outdated or faulty drivers, the operating system will fail to operate certain services. In return, the system will crash as the service does not manage to operate even though the system pushes it to do so.
Once you get to know these various factors which cause the “Critical Process Died” error on Windows 10, you can now try to perform one of the methods or use a stop code to fix this issue. Take a look at the methods we have provided below and see which one works for you.
Methods to Fix “Critical Process Died” Error on Windows 10
Just like methods to fix other BSOD errors, you may find some of the methods below familiar. You can try to perform one of the methods and see if it solves the issue. Without further ado, let’s check out the methods to fix “Critical Process Died” error one by one.
Using CCleaner and Antivirus to Fix “Critical Process Died” Error
Step 1: If you do not have CCleaner or any antivirus on your Windows 10 PC, try to download them first.
Step 2: Run the antivirus and proceed the scanning process at once.
Step 3: Wait until the scanning and deleting process finish.
Step 4: Afterward, you can turn to CCleaner.
Step 5: Head to the “Cleaner” section and look under the Windows tab.
Step 6: Clean all the sections which can potentially have the harmful files infected your Windows 10 system.
Step 7: After you check all the important sections, you can now click on the option “Run Cleaner”. Wait until the CCleaner finishes the scanning process.
Step 8: Once you have done with the general cleaning, you can now head to the “Registry” tab and scan the problematic registry files.
Step 9: Afterward, choose the option “Scan for Issue” and wait for the program to finish the scanning process.
Step 10: Once the scanning process is done, you can click on the option “Fix Selected Issues”.
Step 11: Make sure to back up your current registry files first in case something wrong occurs later.
Step 12: Proceed with the option “Fix All Selected Issues” after the backup is made.
Step 13: At last, you can restart your Windows 10 PC and see whether or not the “Critical Process Died” error is fixed.
Fixing “Critical Process Died” Error on Windows 10 with SFC and DISM Tool
Step 1: First, you can press Windows and X buttons.
Step 2: Afterward, click on the option “Command Prompt (Admin)”.
Step 3: Next, you can type the following command on the Command Prompt window and press Enter:
Sfc /scannow sfc /scannow /offbootdir=c:\ /offwindir=c:\windows (If above fails then try this one) SFC scan now command prompt
Step 4: The command will take a while to proceed.
Step 5: Wait until the process finishes, then you can restart your Windows 10 PC.
Step 6: Once the PC turns back on, open the Command Prompt window again and type the following commands. Press Enter after you type each one.
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth DISM restore health system
Step 7: The DISM command will operate at once. Wait until it finishes the process.
Step 8: Alternatively, you can try to type these commands on the Command Prompt window and press Enter after you type each one of them.
Dism /Image:C:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows /LimitAccess
Step 9: At last, reboot your Windows 10 PC to save the changes and see if this method fixes the “Critical Process Died” error.
Running Driver Verifier
If you find some of the drivers in the Windows system untrusted, then you can run a driver verifier. This tool will help you check which driver may cause the error in the system. Eventually, you can replace the problematic drivers with safe and recent ones.
Updating Outdated Drivers
Step 1: Open the Run box by pressing Windows and R buttons.
Step 2: Afterward, you can type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Device Manager.
Step 3: Expand each category on the list and look at all the devices listed.
Step 4: See the devices with yellow exclamation marks next to the names and check them all.
Step 5: The outdated drivers will have the yellow exclamation marks, therefore you will need to get rid of it or update it. Use the best driver updater to update them.
Step 6: Alternatively, you can right-click on the devices and select the option “Uninstall”.
Step 7: Afterward, you can restart your Windows 10 PC to save the changes.
Step 8: Despite uninstalling important drivers, the Windows system will automatically install them back. Once your PC turns back on, you can check whether or not the “Critical process Died” error is fixed.
Disabling the Sleep and Hibernate Options
Step 1: Head to the Control Panel of the Windows system. Simply type the word “control” in the search bar and select the option “Control Panel” from the search list.
Step 2: On the Control Panel window, you can locate “Power options”.
Step 3: Head to the section “Power Options” and select the option “Change what the power button does”.
Step 4: Afterward, you can click “Change settings that are currently unavailable” option.
Step 5: Proceed to uncheck the option “Sleep” and “Hibernate”.
Step 6: At last, save the changes and restart your Windows 10 PC to apply it.
Refreshing/Resetting Windows 10
As the last resort of this problem, you can try to refresh or reset the entire Windows 10 system. Make sure you can access your Windows 10 PC, or else you have to restart your PC a couple of times until it enters Automatic Repair.
Afterward, you can simply choose to Troubleshoot and “Reset this PC”. At last, you can proceed with the option “Remove everything”.
In case you can access your Windows PC, you can try to follow the steps below to perform this method.
Step 1: Open Settings by pressing Windows and I buttons.
Step 2: Afterward, you can click on the option “Update & Security”.
Step 3: Then, you can select the option “Recovery” on the left-hand menu.
Step 4: Head to the section “Reset this PC” and click on the “Get Started” button.
Step 5: Proceed with the option “Keep my files”.
Step 6: Insert Windows 10 installation media. Have it downloaded first or prepare it before you do the next step.
Step 7: Afterward, you can choose the version of your current Windows operating system.
Step 8: Then, click on the drive where the Windows system is installed.
Step 9: Afterward, you can go ahead and click on the option “Just remove my files”.
Step 10: Proceed to click on the “Reset” button.
Step 11: Follow the on-screen instructions until the resetting or refreshing process finishes.
Running Windows Clean Boot
If you find your Windows 10 PC runs into a “Critical Process Died” issue, then the quick fix to do it is to clean boot the Windows system. To do so, follow the steps below.
Step 1: You can proceed to load “Selective Startup” from the “System Configuration” window.
Step 2: Afterward, enable half of the services
Step 3: Check if the problem still persists.
Step 4: If the problem still occurs, then you can enable half of the Startup items.
Step 5: Check whether or not the problem still persists.
Step 6: Troubleshoot the programs which potentially cause the “Critical Process Died” error.
Step 7: Proceed to boot the Windows 10 PC again with the normal setup.
