The system thread exception not handled error usually appears during the blue screen of death of Windows 10. There is usually a parenthesis following this error message with the file name that is causing the problem. Sometimes though, there won’t be any indication of what file is causing the problem and in this case a series of troubleshooting steps must be performed. In this latest installment of our troubleshooting series we will tackle the system thread exception not handled issue.
How To Fix System Thread Exception Not Handled Issue
Before performing any of the recommended troubleshooting steps listed below it’s best to restart your computer first. This action refreshes the operating system and remove any corrupt temporary data that could be causing the problem.
There are several factors that can cause this problem ranging from an outdated driver to an overclock setting. Listed below are the recommended troubleshooting steps you need to do to fix this problem.
Check the minidump files
The first thing you will need to do in this case is to determine what exactly is causing the problem. Windows stores information from a Blue Screen Of Death in what are called minidump files. The quickest way to view the information of the minidump file is by using a free to download tool called the BlueScreenView which you can download from https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html. Although this is an old program it will get the job done. Once the program is installed and running, it should automatically find and list all the minidump files your computer has made after a BSOD crash. You can then view important information about that crash, such as the error code and the file that’s involved.
If the file that’s causing the problem is part of a third party program then you should uninstall this program. If it is part of a driver then you must update the affected driver.
To know more details about the particular file that’s causing the problem you can type its name over at Google. With the information that you have gathered you will now have a general idea of what needs to be done.
Update your display drivers
One of the most common causes of this problem is a corrupted or outdated display driver. If this is what’s causing the problem then you will have to uninstall then reinstall these drivers.
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card then follow the steps listed below.
- Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.
- Type msconfig and click OK. Then the System Configurations will open.
- When System Configuration opens, click the Boot tab. Under Boot options, check Safe boot then click OK.
- When you’re prompted to restart your computer to apply these changes, click Restart then you will boot into Safe Mode.
- Go to your local hard disk by clicking on This PC then Local Disk C. You should be able to see the NVIDIA folder right there. Right-click on it and choose Delete.
- Click Start and type Run. Select Run, the Run dialog box will appear.
- Type “devmgmt.msc” in the run box and click the OK button which should open the Device Manager Window.
- Expand the “Display Adapters” field. This will list all network adapters that the machine has installed. Right click on the Nvidia adapter you want to uninstall and select “Uninstall”.
- Click “OK” when prompted to uninstall the device. This will remove the adapter from the list and uninstall the driver.
- Press Win+R (Windows logo key and R key) at the same time to invoke the Run box.
- Type msconfig and click OK. Then the System Configurations will open.
- When System Configuration opens, click the Boot tab. Under Boot options, uncheck Safe boot then click OK.
- When you’re prompted to restart your computer to apply these changes, click Restart.
- Download the latest NVIDIA driver for your computer from here https://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx.
- Run the setup file and follow the instructions which appear on screen. Choose the Custom installation option and check all the boxes in the custom install options windows. Also check the box which states “perform clean install”.
- Restart your computer
If you have an AMD graphics card then follow the steps listed below.
- Download the AMD Cleanup Utility from here https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/gpu-601.
- Locate the file where it was saved and double-click on the “AMDCleanupUtility.exe’ file.
- A dialogue box should appear stating AMD Cleanup Utility has detected the system is not in safe mode and provide an option to reboot the system to run the Utility in safe mode:
- Click “Yes” the system will be rebooted and AMD Cleanup Utility will run in safe mode.
- The next dialogue box provides a warning message stating that the AMD Cleanup Utility will remove all AMD driver and application components.
- Click “OK” to continue
- After clicking “OK” the Utility will be minimized to the notification area (system tray) and the progress will be displayed as a tool tip.
- The cleanup process will continue to run in the background. To check the progress, hover the mouse over the AMD icon in the notification area.
- Once the cleanup process is finished, a message is displayed stating it has successfully completed. Click “View Report” to see the list of components that were uninstalled, otherwise click “Finish” to exit the Utility.
- Reboot your computer.
Check if the the system thread exception not handled issue still occurs.
Uninstall the sound drivers
There are instances when a sound driver can cause this problem. To check if this is the culprit you will need to uninstall your computer sound driver.
- Click Start and type Run. Select Run, A Run dialog box will appear.
- Type “devmgmt.msc” in the run box and click OK button.
- In Device Manager, expand category “Sound, video and game controllers“. Under this category, right-click on anything related to C-Media USB Audio Class 1.0 and 2.0 DAC Device Driver. A context menu will pop up. Then select Uninstall device.
- You may be required to confirm the uninstallation. Check the box next to “Delete the driver software for this device” and click the OK button.
- Restart your PC for the change to take effect. After restarting, Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver and replacing it with the manufacturer’s driver.
- If Windows doesn’t replace the sound card driver, open Device Manager again, select Action and click on the Scan for hardware changes option.
Check if the the system thread exception not handled issue still occurs.
Uninstall third party software in Safe Mode
There are instances when certain third party services can cause this problem. To check if this is the culprit you will need to start the computer in Safe Mode.
- Power on your computer.
- When the Windows logo appears hold down the power button until the system powers off . You may need to repeat these first two steps as many as 3 times.
- Power it on and let it start. You should see a screen saying “Preparing Automatic Repair” followed by “Diagnosing your PC”. If you don’t see this screen then repeat the previous step.
- Once this is done you will likely see a screen saying “Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC”. Click on “Advanced options“.
- Click “Troubleshoot” on the next screen.
- Click “Advanced options“
- Click “Startup Settings“.
- Click “Restart“
- A screen showing a list of options and their corresponding numbers should come up after restarting. Press the 5 or F5 for “Enable Safe Mode with Networking“.
- Windows will restart and should now be in Safe Mode with Networking. This basically disables all non-essential drivers, except those for networking, which should allow you to still access the internet.
Once your device is in safe mode, select the Star then select Settings then Apps. Select Sort by name and change it to Sort by install date. Select the third-party software you want to remove, and then select Uninstall. After you uninstall the third-party software ( start with the antivirus as this could be causing the BSOD), restart your device then check if the issue still occurs.
Reset the computer
If the above steps fails to fix the problem then you should consider resetting the computer.
- Go to Settings. You can get there by clicking the gear icon on the Start menu.
- Select “Update & security” and click Recovery in the left pane.
- Windows presents you with three major options: Reset this PC, Go back to an earlier build and Advanced startup. Reset this PC is the best option for starting fresh. Advanced startup lets you boot off a recovery USB drive or disc and “Go to an earlier build” is made for Windows Insiders who want to roll back to a previous version of the OS.
- Click Get started under Reset this PC.
- Click either “Keep my files” or “Remove everything,” depending on whether you want to keep your data files intact. Either way, all of your settings will return to their defaults and apps will be uninstalled.
- Select “Just remove my files” or “Remove files and clean the drive” if you chose to “remove everything” in the prior step. Cleaning the drive takes a lot longer but will make sure that, if you are giving the computer away, the next person will have a hard time recovering your erased files. If you are keeping the computer, choose “Just remove my files.”
- Click Next if Windows warns you that you won’t be able to roll back to a prior version of the OS. Click Reset when prompted.
- Windows will then restart and take several minutes to reset itself. Click Continue when prompted.
Check if the the system thread exception not handled issue still occurs.
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