There are many potential causes for critical errors like “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area,” including faulty drivers, incomplete or improper software installations, RAM faults, and hardware failures.
There is no silver bullet for determining what caused the error, so you’ll have to test various solutions before you find one that works. Detailed explanations of our strategies for solving the problem will be provided.
What Does “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” Mean?
This error occurs when the Windows operating system tries to access a page of memory that is not present in the RAM or is corrupted.
The nonpaged area is a region of memory that contains data critical for the operation of your system and must remain in RAM at all times.
When Windows cannot retrieve that data, it halts and displays the “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” error.
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Common Causes of This Error
Several issues can trigger this memory error, including:
- Faulty hardware: Bad RAM or hard drive issues are frequent culprits.
- Corrupted system files: System files that have become corrupted, often due to software installation or improper shutdowns.
- Outdated or faulty drivers: Especially if they are not compatible with your Windows version.
- Viruses and malware: These can corrupt or modify system files and memory data.
- Overclocking: Running your CPU or memory (RAM) at speeds beyond specifications can cause instability and errors.
How to Fix the “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” Memory Error
There are a number of potential triggers for critical errors like “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” including: Incorrectly installed drivers, software, updates, Memory, and hardware.
As there is no silver bullet for determining what led to the issue, you will need to attempt various solutions before finding one that works.
The approaches we’ve taken to solving the problem will be detailed. One of the most recognizable and frustrating Windows issues is the blue screen of death. The term “blue screen of death” is often used to describe this error.
Microsoft’s operating system provides users with a “Windows Stopcode” whenever crucial system issues cause a crash.
Blue screen with a sad smiley face and indistinct messages like “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” are the norm rather than more specific errors.
Because it can be caused by both software and hardware issues, this doesn’t assist much.
Solution 1: Repair System Files with SFC and DISM
Errors such as “Page Fault in Nonpaged Area” might be caused by damaged or missing system files. Windows has the DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) and SFC (System File Checker) repair tools for examining and fixing these. The following are the command line instructions for executing both.
Step 1: Press the Windows keyboard keys for “Run” ([Ctrl] + [R]) and “Shift” ([Ctrl] + [Ctrl] + [Enter]). You can gain administrative privileges by opening the command prompt in this fashion.
Step 2: Enter sfc/scannow and hit [Enter]. When the SFC utility detects a problem with a system file, it will replace it with a backup copy that has not been damaged.
Step 3: Type “DISM.exe/Online/Cleanup-image/Scanhealth” and “DISM.exe/Online/Cleanup-image/Restorehealth,” then hit [Enter] after each one.
Step 4: Try a system restart.
Solution 2: Clean up Windows Update
Step 1: Misplaced, incomplete, or corrupted update files are another common cause of the blue screen. You can remove obsolete Windows Update data with the operating system’s built-in tools.
Step 2: Open the “disk cleanup” application by searching for it in the Windows search bar.
Step 3: Select “Clean up system files” from the data cleanup menu. Choose “Windows update cleanup” from the drop-down menu, then click “OK” to confirm. Click the “Temporary files” option here, too. The associated data will be deleted.
Step 4: Next, you’ll want to restart the computer.
Solution 3: Test the RAM
The random access memory (RAM), also known as the computer’s working memory. Windows includes a RAM diagnostic tool that may be used to verify the Memory’s health:
Step 1: The first thing you need to do is open a command prompt as an administrator and type “mdsched.exe” into it. If you prefer, you can just type “memory diagnostics” into the Windows search box.
Step 2: The “Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool” will scan the RAM for memory issues, which can take up to 30 minutes. After a system restart, Windows will display the results.
Step 3: If the Memory is broken, it is almost never fixable. If this happens, the RAM chip needs to be swapped out.
Solution 4: Test the Hard Disk and Memory for the Swap File
The blue screen of death might also be caused by problems with your disks’ file systems. Verify the following:
Step 1: First, open an elevated command prompt and type “chkdsk C: /f /r /x” while logged in as an administrator. This is a test of your partitions and a chance to fix any problems it finds. The “C:” in this case refers to the C: partition. As a result, you’ll need to keep tweaking the letter until you’ve tried each and every partition.
Step 2: As a second step, use the aforementioned command on any other partitions where you suspect your swap file may be stored. In order to avoid a memory leak, you should give your system and swap partitions twice as much free space as the total amount of memory installed.
Solution 5: Update the Drivers
Drivers that haven’t been updated in a long time can potentially trigger a system freeze. If you haven’t updated your drivers recently, please do so.
Step 1: First, launch the “device manager” by searching for that term in the Windows search bar.
Step 2: Navigate the list of devices by expanding the relevant line and then right-clicking on the device in question. To update drivers for hardware components such graphics cards, disks, processors, and network adapters, select “Update drivers” from the “System” menu.
Step 3: You may scan for driver issues with a built-in Windows utility. Launch the command prompt in administrative mode and type “perform /report” to generate the necessary report. After waiting for a minute, you will get a full report of all the problems on your system, including the drivers. Yet, Windows will typically scan for and install updated versions of an out-of-date driver automatically.
Additional Tips and Solutions
- Remove recently installed software: Some applications can cause these errors due to compatibility issues or bugs.
- Update your BIOS: Sometimes, an outdated BIOS can cause hardware conflicts. Check your motherboard manufacturer’s website for updates.
- Reinstall Windows: As a last resort, reinstalling Windows can resolve persistent issues caused by deep-seated system corruption.
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Conclusion
As Blue Screen of Death messages go, Page Fault in Nonpaged Area is as near as Windows gets to declaring “invalid memory reference.”
If you want to know what’s going on, you need to learn about paged memory, which divides the addressable memory area into multiple 4K memory pages.
The operating system can refer to a huge number of pages, but only a subset of those pages will be stored in Memory at any given time.
If an application or the operating system attempts to access a memory address that isn’t already resident in RAM, the page manager will often report a “page fault” (page not present) status.
The requested page is ultimately read from the page file. Whenever there is a requirement for additional storage space, an older, less frequently used memory page will be changed out for the new one.
