A user reports that their computer crashed and displayed a blue screen with white text before restarting. After rebooting, the user experiences the same crash each time they launch a specific application. As a technician, what should be your first step in troubleshooting this recurring BSOD?
Run a disk cleanup to free up space on the user's hard drive.
Replace the RAM in the user's computer.
Perform a system restore to a point before the problem started happening.
Because the blue screen appears only when a particular application is opened, a likely cause is that the application is interacting with an outdated or corrupted driver (for example, a video or sound driver). The recommended initial step is to open Device Manager and check for any devices with issues, then download and install the most recent drivers from the hardware-vendor or Windows Update. If the crash were due to failing hardware or file-system corruption, it would probably occur under other conditions as well. Replacing RAM, performing a system restore, or running disk cleanup are valid later steps but should follow after ruling out driver conflicts.
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What is a BSOD and what causes it?
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Why is updating drivers important for troubleshooting application issues?
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What other steps can be taken if updating drivers doesn't resolve the BSOD?