Red screen of death - what is it?

What can scare the most inexperienced PC user? When, instead of the usual interface, a single-color window appears on the entire monitor with incomprehensible text that does not want to disappear in any way, despite all the ongoing activities. This is called a death screen, indicating a serious error, a malfunction in the computer system. But even experienced users will be in some confusion if, instead of the classic blue or black, such a warning will suddenly come out against a background of a different color. For example, the red screen of death - what is he talking about? Let's figure it out.

What is this screen of death?

Let us clarify what this key concept means. Screen of death - a slang name for a screen saver that unfolds on the entire PC screen due to some malfunction in the operating system (OS). As a rule, the computer in this case needs a reboot, or even restoration, reinstallation of the system.

Why does the red screen of death and others like it appear? In the kernel of the OS, mandatory self-checks periodically happen. If, as a result of such an event, the system detects that some process is not going as it should, the components began to work in emergency mode, or something else happened that required an emergency reboot, then it hurries to notify the user about it. Note that microcontroller machines in this case do the necessary without asking. The PC is equipped with a screen with which it can "ask for help" from a person.

Both the blue and red screens of death are not a meaningless combination of characters against an alarming background. The text that is displayed on the monitor, reports on the causes of the error, malfunction, hints at its nature. Theoretically, you can reinstall the software, replace some details, which is why the system tries to describe in detail here which direction to act.

If the death screen appeared on a device whose software it is almost impossible for an ordinary user to replace, reinstall - a smartphone, game console, player, then in this case he clearly says one thing - the gadget is broken. Repair will be a reliable solution.

Why does the screen of death appear?

Consider the common causes of the appearance of blue, red screens of death and others:

• Error in the kernel module or one of the drivers.
• Overheating of memory, microprocessor.
• The virus enters the zero ring of protection.
• System crash. A frequent reason for it is a power supply problem.
• Failure of the permanent memory (the OS is stored in it). The origins of the problem may be in a damaged file system.
• Serious hardware issues. For example, a failure in one of the drivers will most likely indicate a malfunction of the element for which it is responsible.
• Most of these screensavers speak of problems with PC RAM.

What could be the screen of death?

If Windows screens of death - red, blue, black - the most common, then users of other devices are found with different shades of screensavers.

Is there a difference in what background the error message appeared, error? Let's figure it out next.

From blue to red and green

Windows OS is characterized by the use of the blue screen of death. It first appeared in version 3.1x. According to some information, it could be noticed in the early variations, but then the screensaver consisted of unreadable characters. Initially, it served as a task manager, it could forcefully close a "hung" program.

Then he began to inform the user about any error in the system, and also recommended the actions that needed to be performed so that the device would work again in normal mode. There was also the opportunity to artificially cause a blue death saver.

In the OS of the 8th and 10th versions, finally, the frightening screen was replaced: in case of a system error, a sad smiley is displayed on the screen and a request to restart the device. Agree, this option is much less frightening to users.

And now for the red screen of death. Windows 7 and earlier could not show this kind of screen saver. In 2004, it became known that this color warning appeared in the downloader of the beta variation of Windows Vista. Note that the red screen previously spoke of an open industry standard ACPI error in Windows 98.

In 2016, the screen of death in the preliminary version of “tens” was replaced from blue to green. It is on it that a sad emoticon appears asking for a reboot. The standard versions remained blue.

Is there red?

Thus, the red screen of death on Windows 10, 7 or other versions, except for "Vista", is theoretically impossible to see. Its appearance is typical only for errors that occur when working in test versions of Longhorn. Microsoft warns that red will not become a full replacement for blue in the future, so we do not need to “wait” for it on our monitors.

As for the beta version of Vista, the red screen there testified to the same errors that are shown to the average user on a black background. The developers made it for a test variation of a catchy shade in order to make it easier to notice and track errors of the "not run-in" variation of the OS.

How to cause red color?

Suppose the user wanted to surprise friends with this unusual screen saver. How to cause a red screen of death? Since it is a replacement for black in the test versions of Vista, it’s logical to do the same thing that causes the latter to happen - install the OS on a damaged hard drive or try to boot from a non-system drive.

If a red screen appears on the PC

Although theoretically a red screen on Windows ordinary versions is impossible, users still complain about its appearance! Consider a number of cases:

• It occurs when you try to install Windows 10. Before the user, a simple red screen appears containing a greeting, a request for waiting, etc. In this case, you should not be scared - the installation starts. During it, in order to diversify your expectation, the screen will change colors.

• Red (or rather red-blue) color sometimes appears when there are problems with the monitor, video card. But it’s more correct to call it the screen of error, not death. This is due to the fact that as a result of malfunctions, the green color disappears. To find it, you need to check the health of the monitor, the cables leading to it, the functioning of the video card. This problem may also occur if drivers fail. Sometimes rollback of the system will be effective in solving such a disaster.

If, when you turn on the computer, a red field appears, then the output will be to restore the system via BIOS or to reinstall it at all. However, many users consider this tantamount to the death throes of the system, the highest level of danger. Fortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to see such a screensaver.

Red screen on Android

Such a frightening color may appear on smartphones based on Android. Its cause is your own OS flashing, an error that occurs when the settings are completely reset to the factory settings.

What to do when the red screen of death appears on the "Android"? There is only one way out - to carry the device to a service center.

Red screen on iphone

Now let's move on to the "apple" gadgets. The red screen of death on the iPhone 5s, 6, 6s , etc. is a fairly common phenomenon. He has many reasons:

• Strong blow, fall.
• High humidity inside the device, falling into water, snow.
• Using a non-original cable for charging.
• Downloading unlicensed programs.
• Poor quality flash controllers installed by the manufacturer and so on.

A completely red screen may appear both suddenly and after a series of unreasonable reboots of the gadget. "Treatment" of the device: restoration via iTunes or a visit to the service center.

That's all we wanted to tell you about such an ambiguous problem as the red screen of death. It is characteristic for both PC and smartphones on popular platforms. In most cases, the correct name is the screen of error, not death.