How to fix the 0x000000BE blue screen error (ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY) in Windows

Stop error 0x000000BE, also written 0xBE, is ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY. Windows stopped because a driver tried to write to memory that is marked read-only. Find the driver named on the stop screen or in the crash dump, then update, roll back or remove it first.

Facts checked on 16 October 2026. Steps written for Windows 11 (25H2 and 26H2) and Windows 10 22H2.

What the 0x000000BE blue screen means

Microsoft's bug check reference says the ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY bug check has a value of 0x000000BE and is issued if a driver attempts to write to a read-only memory segment. Windows marks its own code and some data as read-only on purpose, so a write there is a bug or a sign that something tampered with the system.

Windows cannot tell whether the write was harmless, so it stops at once rather than risk damaged data. If Windows can tell which driver did it, Microsoft says its name is printed on the blue screen. That name is the most useful fact on the whole screen: write it down or take a photo before the PC restarts.

What causes the 0xBE blue screen, most common first

Microsoft names a driver as the cause in its definition, so the question is always which one. A driver is most often new or freshly updated, comes with a device you added, or comes with a program that hooks deep into Windows, such as security, VPN, anti-cheat or hardware monitoring software.

Find the driver behind 0x000000BE

Microsoft's reference points to the !analyze command of its debugger as the way to find the root cause. You do not have to be a programmer to read the one line that matters. If the PC still starts, it takes about ten minutes.

1. Open File Explorer and go to C:\Windows\Minidump. Each crash leaves one .dmp file named by its date.
2. Install Microsoft's debugger: open Terminal and run winget install Microsoft.WinDbg.
3. Start WinDbg as administrator, select File > Open dump file and open the newest .dmp file.
4. Type !analyze -v and press Enter. Wait until the analysis ends.
5. Read the lines IMAGE_NAME and MODULE_NAME. A name such as ntoskrnl.exe is Windows itself; any other .sys file is your suspect.

How to fix the 0x000000BE blue screen error

Start with Fix 1 if the stop screen or the dump names a driver. Fix 2 is for crashes after an update, Fix 3 for new hardware and Fix 4 for a PC that restarts in a loop. Fix 5 finds a guilty program. Fixes 6 to 8 are the general checks and repairs.

Fix 1. Update, roll back or disable the driver the crash names

15 minutesLow riskThe stop screen shows a What failed line, or !analyze -v shows an IMAGE_NAME that is not a core Windows file.

Microsoft defines 0xBE as a driver writing to read-only memory and says Windows prints that driver's name when it can. Only a different version of that driver, or not loading it, removes the bad write.

1. Search the driver file name (for example rt640x64.sys or nvlddmkm.sys) to learn which device or program it belongs to.
2. Right-click Start and select Device Manager, then find that device.
3. If the crashes began after a driver update, open Properties > Driver and select Roll Back Driver.
4. Otherwise, download the newest driver for that exact device from its maker or your PC maker's support page and install it.
5. If no newer driver exists, right-click the device and select Disable device for a test.
6. Restart and use the PC the way it used to crash. Step by step with screenshots: Update, roll back or reinstall a driver

Fix 2. Undo the update or program that came before the crashes

15 to 30 minutesRead the warningThe crashes began within days of a Windows update, a driver update or a new program, and no driver is named.

Every update can bring a new driver, and a program can install its own. Going back to the state before the first crash removes that driver without having to know its name.

1. Note the date of the first crash: open Event Viewer and find the oldest event 1001 with 0x000000be.
2. Open Settings > Apps > Installed apps and sort by install date. Uninstall a program installed just before that date: Uninstall a program or app in Windows
3. If a Windows update came the same day, uninstall it: How to uninstall a Windows update
4. If you cannot tell what changed, press Win + R, type rstrui and choose a restore point from before the first crash: Undo recent changes with System Restore
5. Restart and use the PC as before.

Fix 3. Unplug new hardware and test with the basics only

15 minutesLow riskThe crashes began after you added a device: a dock, a USB hub or adapter, a mouse with its own software, an external drive or a card inside the PC.

Microsoft's first step for repeated stop codes is to remove new hardware. Every device brings its own driver, and USB and network drivers are a common source of 0xBE.

1. Shut the PC down and unplug everything except the keyboard, mouse and screen.
2. Remove any card or drive you added inside the PC before the crashes began.
3. Start the PC and use it for the length of time that usually brings a crash.
4. If it stays stable, plug the devices back in one at a time, a day apart if the crash was rare.
5. When the crash returns, update the driver of the last device you added, or uninstall it with Delete the driver software for this device ticked.

Fix 4. Stop a restart loop from Safe Mode or the recovery environment

30 minutesRead the warning0x000000BE appears during startup and the PC restarts again and again before you can sign in.

Safe Mode starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers, so the third-party driver behind 0xBE usually does not load. Microsoft recommends Safe Mode when restarting is a problem, and the other fixes can be run from there.

1. Turn the PC on and, when the logo appears, hold the power button until it shuts down. Do this twice; the third start opens Automatic Repair.
2. Select Advanced options > Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart, then press 4 for Safe Mode: Start Windows or a Mac in Safe Mode
3. In Safe Mode, roll back or uninstall the driver or program you installed last, as in Fix 1 and Fix 2.
4. If Safe Mode does not start, go back to Advanced options and run Startup Repair: Run Startup Repair
5. If that fails, select System Restore and pick a point from before the first crash.

Fix 5. Find a guilty program with a clean boot

30 minutes plus testingLow riskThe dump names only Windows files, or a driver of security, VPN, anti-cheat, RGB or hardware monitoring software.

These programs load their own kernel drivers at startup. A clean boot starts Windows without third-party services, so if 0xBE stops, one of them is the cause, and halving the list finds which.

A clean boot turns off non-Microsoft services and startup apps, and nothing is uninstalled. Step by step with screenshots: How to perform a clean boot in Windows

1. Do the clean boot and use the PC as long as it usually takes to crash.
2. If it stays stable, turn half of the services back on in msconfig and restart.
3. Keep halving until the crash returns; the last group you turned on holds the culprit.
4. Update that program from its maker or uninstall it, then return msconfig to Normal startup.

Fix 6. Test the memory and undo overclocks

30 minutesLow riskThe stop codes change from crash to crash, the PC runs an overclock or memory profile (XMP or EXPO), or nothing above helped.

Microsoft does not list RAM as a cause of 0xBE. But bad or overclocked memory can corrupt any data, including a driver's, so a test rules it out when the driver fixes fail.

1. Reset every CPU, GPU and memory overclock to default in the BIOS, and turn off XMP or EXPO for the test.
2. Press Win + R, type mdsched and select Restart now and check for problems: How to test your RAM with Windows Memory Diagnostic
3. Wait for the test to finish and Windows to start. The result appears as a notification, or in Event Viewer under MemoryDiagnostics-Results.
4. If errors are reported, test one memory stick at a time to find the bad one.

Fix 7. Repair system files and check the disk

20 to 60 minutesNo riskSFC has never run on this PC, Event Viewer shows disk errors, or the crash happens during startup.

A damaged Windows file is a rare cause of 0xBE, but these two checks rule it out before a reset. They were in the old version of this guide too, now moved after the driver fixes.

DISM fetches clean copies of Windows components, then SFC replaces damaged system files with them. Step by step with screenshots: Run DISM and SFC to repair Windows system files

In Terminal (Admin), one after the other:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
sfc /scannow

Then check the disk for file system errors and bad sectors. chkdsk C: /f /r runs at the next restart and can take an hour on a large drive: Check a disk for errors (chkdsk)

Fix 8. Reset Windows and keep your files

60 minutes or moreRead the warningEvery fix above failed and the dumps keep naming only Windows files.

A reset replaces every Windows file and the whole driver store at once. If 0xBE then returns before you install any driver of your own, the cause is the hardware.

1. Back up your files and note the apps you will need to install again.
2. Open Settings > System > Recovery (on Windows 10: Settings > Update & Security > Recovery).
3. Select Reset PC, then Keep my files and Cloud download.
4. After the reset, install the chipset and device drivers from your PC maker first, then apps one at a time, testing between them. Full method: Reinstall Windows without losing files

Still getting 0x000000BE: what to collect and whom to ask

Microsoft treats 0xBE as a driver bug, so the help you need comes from the driver's maker. Collect the facts once and send them to whoever the dump points at.

• The three newest .dmp files from C:\Windows\Minidump, zipped.
• The IMAGE_NAME and MODULE_NAME lines from !analyze -v.
• Your Windows edition and build from Settings > System > About.
• The driver version of the named device from Device Manager.
• What you were doing at each crash: idle, gaming, copying files, on a VPN, at startup.

How to keep 0xBE from coming back

Other blue screens follow the same logic: find the driver in the dump first. Our guide to blue screen error code 133 shows it for a driver that holds the processor too long.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 0x000000BE error?

0x000000BE is the Windows stop code ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY. Microsoft's bug check reference says it is issued when a driver attempts to write to a read-only memory segment. Windows stops the PC at once because it cannot know whether the write damaged anything. The fix is to find that driver, on the stop screen or in the crash dump, and update, roll back or remove it, as in Fix 1.

Are 0xBE, 0x00000BE and 0x000000BE the same error?

Yes. They are the same hexadecimal number written with a different count of leading zeros. Event Viewer uses the long form 0x000000be, WinDbg prints be, and the Kernel-Power 41 event writes it in decimal as BugcheckCode 190. Searches for 0xbe error, bugcheck 0x000000be or the bugcheck was: 0x000000be all lead to the same stop code and the same fixes on this page.

How do I fix this blue screen if I cannot read the dump?

Work from what changed. If the crashes began after an update or a new program, undo it as in Fix 2. If they began after you plugged something in, remove it as in Fix 3. If nothing changed, a clean boot (Fix 5) shows whether a program's driver is behind it without any debugging. The Event Viewer System log can also show device errors right before each crash.

Can bad RAM cause the attempted write to readonly memory blue screen?

It can, but it is not the usual cause. Microsoft's definition names a driver, and a driver bug repeats in the same way each time. Faulty or overclocked memory tends to cause different stop codes from crash to crash. If that is what you see, or the driver fixes failed, reset any overclock and run Windows Memory Diagnostic as in Fix 6. One user on Microsoft Q&A tested RAM with no errors and the crash still came, so do not stop at the memory test.

Is 0x000000BE a sign of a virus?

Rarely. Writing to read-only kernel memory is something malware that patches Windows can do, but on a normal PC a buggy driver is far more likely. Run a full scan with Microsoft Defender if you installed software from an unknown source before the crashes began. If the scan is clean, follow the driver fixes. Keep your security software on, and update it rather than turn it off if its own driver is named.

What does www.windows.com/stopcode on the blue screen mean?

It is Microsoft's short link to its help page for stop code errors. The page gives basic steps that fit 0xBE too: remove new hardware, start in Safe Mode, check Device Manager, keep 10 to 15 % of the disk free, install updates and restore Windows. This guide follows those steps but orders them for this one stop code, with the named driver first.

Can I just ignore the 0xBE blue screen?

Once, yes. Microsoft says that in most cases the restart solves the problem and no action is needed. A crash that comes back with the same stop code, even twice an hour as in the question above, will not go away by itself, because the same driver loads every time. Each crash can lose unsaved work, so find the driver and fix it.

Does 0x000000BE happen on Windows 10 and Windows 11 alike?

Yes. The stop code and its meaning are the same on Windows 11 and Windows 10, and the fixes on this page work on both. Only the screen differs: Windows 11 24H2 and later show a black stop screen. Windows 10 left support on 14 October 2025, so a driver maker may no longer release a fix for it, which makes rolling back or removing the driver more likely.

I see 0x00000BE on Windows XP. Does this guide apply?

The meaning is the same: a driver wrote to read-only memory. On Windows XP the screen is blue text with the code and often the driver name. But Windows XP has had no support for many years and current drivers do not exist for it, so the only practical fixes are removing the named device or program, or moving to a supported Windows. This guide is written for Windows 11 and Windows 10.