What to do if my PC keeps getting the 'blue screen of death'

The term 'blue screen' or 'blue screen of death' refers to an error screen that can be displayed on all Windows machines where the system has encountered a fatal error state. This means that Windows cannot continue to run normally and so must restart the machine in order for normal functionality to resume. The below picture shows a typical blue screen. 

When a PC encounters this situation, you should expect all unsaved work to be lost. There are exceptions such as Microsoft Word, where drafts are saved at regular intervals. 

This type of error can occur for many reasons. If you start to experience this on a more regular basis it is advised to contact the helpdesk with the following information:

• What activity (if any) was the PC doing at the time of the crash
• Take a picture with your phone showing the error code, which can be located at the bottom of the screen in smaller text
• How many times have you experienced the blue screen

By providing the above information to the helpdesk will greatly speed up the diagnosis and therefore the amount of time it will take to deploy a permanent fix.