How to force a system crash (BSOD) on Windows by pressing two buttons

Is there a way to cause a system crash, the now-famous blue screens on Windows? No, we’re not crazy and it’s something that can help in some situations.

Did you know that there is a way to force the appearance of the terrible blue screen of Windows 7, 8.1 and 10? Yes, the famous Blue Screen of Death, abbreviated BSOD, so hated by users of Microsoft’s platforms. For the few who do not know: the BSOD is a screen that appears inexorably when a fatal error on your computer, be it a hardware (problem’s with components) and software (system bugs, including driver interference). Since the fatal error, you cannot do much: the alternatives are few, including rebooting the system or turn it off altogether.

There is still a way to induce the BSOD Windows 10, the dreaded blue screen, at the press of Ctrl followed by Scroll Lock. To explain it is Microsoft itself, which is not crazy but that is mainly aimed at developers (or, indirectly, to those who simply want to do a ” funny ” joke to friends and colleagues). The company offers a guide that can be completed in 10 steps that simplify below:

• Access to the registry: by pressing the key combination Windows key + R in the Run box, type regedit, followed by the Enter key.
• Navigate to the path: ” HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\kbdhid\Parameters. “
• In the blank space in the right column, press the right mouse button and select New> DWORD (32-bit).
• Give the name CrashOnCtrlScroll followed by the Enter key.
• Change the key new DWORD value from 0 to 1.
• Navigate to the path: ” HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\i8042prt\Parameters “.
• Again, in the empty space of the right column, press the right mouse button and select New> DWORD (32-bit).
• Again, given the name CrashOnCtrlScroll followed by the Enter key.
• Also Change the value of this new DWORD key from 0 to 1.
• Click OK and restart your computer.

Remember, that tinkering with the registry without having full knowledge of what you are doing can be dangerous, so stick to what is described in the small guide high without improvise in any case.

Once the simple procedure simply press CTRL + Scroll Lock to induce the system to a blue screen (BSOD) showing the ” MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH ” message generated by a 0xE2 error. The procedure creates a crash dump on the PC that can be used for debugging purposes. If you want to restore the proper use of the computer and do not want more than the combination of buttons should result in blue screen simply delete the two keys DWORD CrashOnCtrlScroll just made and restart.

Microsoft specifies that the procedure works on Windows 10, but the same steps lead to the same result even on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.