Solved BSOD critical process died

A couple days ago I was playing tarkov and everything was fine. Then my game started crashing. Then during ganing id see a flash of red big dot or blue. Almost like looking into a light bulb and your eyes see that purple dot. Then after doing that it would reboot and I'd see green lines on the screen. Fast forward to today. Now I get BSOD and computer won't boot at all. I am not able to do a reset because it tells me PC had a problem resetting. Ive tried going in safe mode and i get BSOD all over again. I have picture of the error I see and I'm not sure if it's one thing specific or if I'm getting hit with a wombo combo of problems. Hopefully someone can help me its very frustrating.

I also get the critical process died error code

Find several flash drives that you can format.

Find a working Windows computer.

Flash drives can be repurposed as needed.



1)On the working Windows create a bootable Sea Tools flash drive

SeaTools Bootable | Seagate US

https://www.seagate.com/content/dam...es/seatools/USBbootSetup-SeaToolsBootable.zip

On the problematic computer run the bootable Sea Tools Long Generic test (all drives) > take pictures > post a share link into this thread using one drive, drop box, or google drive



2)Find a flash drive that you can format (> or = 8 GB)


3)On the working Windows computer create a new bootable Windows 11 Media Creation Tool (MCT) (Windows 11 iso)

The CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED bugcheck is usually either a RAM issue or a CPU issue - although whatever the issue it may well have corrupted your Windows installation, so you may be looking at a system restore from backup (if you have one) or a reinstall once the problem is fixed.

I would first suggest you tests your RAM by downloading Memtest86 (free), use the imageUSB.exe tool extracted from the download to make a bootable USB drive containing Memtest86 (1GB is plenty big enough). Please do this on a different PC. Then, boot that USB drive on your PC, Memtest86 will start running as soon as it boots. If no errors have been found after the four iterations of the 13 different tests that that the free version does, then restart Memtest86 and do another four iterations.

Please make sure that the drive is tested first as per post #3.

zbook said:

Please make sure that the drive is tested first as per post #3.

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They're both equally valid suggestions, so I'm not sure why it is nesscary that the drive is tested first? I would say, just run whichever test the OP prefers to do first, it is likely going to be some form of hardware failure, however, Stop 0xEFs can be caused by AV programs and Windows terminating "rogue" processes.

@jrez8 if you're able to create a bootable Windows USB, then it might be worthwhile booting into Safe Mode from that and then providing us with the dump files.

This guide contains instructions to fix the CRITICAL PROCESS DIED BSOD error message in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

@FreeBooter That tutorial fails to address the underlying issue of the Stop 0xEF bugcheck which is very often failing hardware. The first course of action is to ensure that there is no hardware failure otherwise the crashes will potentially just continue and we'll be back to square one. It's probably best to rename that video too to something along the lines of how to repair a unbootable machine. It isn't really a Stop 0xEF tutorial in my opinion.

Well, the guide is there to address non-bootable Windows OS because of critical process died BSOD error message, so naming the video will not help viewer to found the video.

Is it possible to buy a new m.2 and upload windows isolated file and not have this issue?

When available post the Long Generic test results and the status of the bootable Windows 11 MCT.

jrez8 said:

Is it possible to buy a new m.2 and upload windows isolated file and not have this issue?

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I wouldn't purchase anything until you've been able to confirm what the problem is, I wouldn't want to see you just spend your money frivolously.

FreeBooter said:

Well, the guide is there to address non-bootable Windows OS because of critical process died BSOD error message

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However, it still doesn't address my earlier point, that simply repairing potentially corrupt boot files isn't going to resolve the root cause of the Stop 0xEF crash.

x BlueRobot said:

I wouldn't purchase anything until you've been able to confirm what the problem is, I wouldn't want to see you just spend your money frivolously.


However, it still doesn't address my earlier point, that simply repairing potentially corrupt boot files isn't going to resolve the root cause of the Stop 0xEF crash.

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How do you know it's not going to also stop with your questioning others and give yours to OP not to us.

FreeBooter said:

How do you know it's not going to

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Because that's not how a Stop 0xEF works, I was just pointing out the fact, that if the files were corrupted and the user had a defective hard disk for example, then those files will just become corrupted again.

FreeBooter said:

also stop with your questioning others and give yours to OP not to us.

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I've agreed with the suggestions from both zbook and ubuysa and have asked the OP to provide the dump files if they're able to. I'm sorry, but I'm free to post constructive criticism, as is everyone else, if you're offended by that then you shouldn't really be posting on technical help forums. Please feel free to criticise any of my posts as well, I'm always willing to correct any mistakes I make, after all, we can't possibly know everything and it is one of the best ways to learn.

x BlueRobot said:

Because that's not how a Stop 0xEF works, I was just pointing out the fact, that if the files were corrupted and the user had a defective hard disk for example, then those files will just become corrupted again.


I've agreed with the suggestions from both zbook and ubuysa and have asked the OP to provide the dump files if they're able to. I'm sorry, but I'm free to post constructive criticism, as is everyone else, if you're offended by that then you shouldn't really be posting on technical help forums. Please feel free to criticise any of my posts as well, I'm always willing to correct any mistakes I make, after all, we can't possibly know everything and it is one of the best ways to learn.

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Have you watched the video i'm repairing boot process that caused by this BSOD error i'm not repairing BSOD error message.

FreeBooter said:

Have you watched the video i'm repairing boot process that caused by this BSOD error i'm not repairing BSOD error message.

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Yes, I did and I'm saying that it futile because the same boot error could simply occur again unless we find the underlying issue. Your title is also misleading then, because it literally says "Fix CRITICAL PROCESS DIED Stop 0xEF Error". Anyway, it isn't appropriate to argue in the middle of an OP's thread, I was just leaving a constructive comment since the video title isn't particularly accurate in relation to its content.

I was just asking about buying the new m.2 and using iso file because I gave to upgrade the storage anyway so was wondering i could kill 2 birds with one stone

Were you able to start the Long Generic test?

What size is the drive that is being tested?

i just downloaded the sea tools onto a usb drive and am going to test it. i dont know how it will pull information if i cant load into my pc though.

I can not get sea tools or windows iso to boot.