Many Windows 11 users have been facing the 'Page fault in Nonpaged area' BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) error on their computers. However, with no more information about what exactly causes the issue, it is difficult to diagnose and rectify.
Fortunately, discussed in this guide are 11 methods that will help you eradicate this issue from your system. But before we jump onto that, it is imperative that you understand what exactly is the cause of this issue.
What exactly causes the 'Page Fault in Nonpaged Area' Error?
Usually, page fault errors occur when a system service, app, or driver attempts to access a paged file which typically should exist but is not currently present. The faults are either hard or soft.
A page fault is deemed hard when the app memory page has been paged to the hard disk and it has to be loaded from there which will impact the app performance.
A soft page fault is when the app memory page is on the standby list. Though it can be quickly loaded to the working set, it usually happens when an app allocates new memory pages from the free list or standby list.
The page fault error is usually caused due to outdated Windows, outdated/corrupt drivers, and/or corrupted/damaged system files.
Now that you understand the reason, let's move on to the methods that can fix the issue on your computer.
1. Update Windows
If you have not updated your PC for quite a while, there's a high possibility that a simple update might be able to fix your problem.
First, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' tile.
After that, click on the 'Windows Update' tile from the left sidebar to proceed.
Then, from the right section of the window, click on the 'Check for updates' button. Otherwise, click on the 'Download & Install' button to download the updates.
2. Update or Roll Back Drivers
In case you have recently updated a driver, roll it back to the previous version and your problem should be eradicated. Otherwise, if your drivers are out of date, you will have to manually make sure that each driver is up to date.
To do so, open the Start Menu and type Device Manager to search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the 'Device Manager' tile to open it.
If you are here to roll back the driver, locate the component category you recently updated the driver for and double-click on it to expand the section. Then, double-click on the component to open its properties. This will open a separate window on your screen.
After that, from the properties window, click on the 'Driver' tab. Then, click on the 'Roll Back Driver' button to roll back the recent update. If the button is greyed out, the driver has not been recently updated and cannot be rolled back.
In case you are here to update the driver, on the properties window of a component, click on the 'Update Driver' button. This will open a separate window on your screen.
After that, from the 'Update Drivers' window, click on the 'Search automatically for drivers' to let Windows search for drivers on its servers. Otherwise, if you already have the latest driver available on your machine, click on the 'Browse my computer for driver' option to browse the file using File Explorer.
Make sure you roll back or update the NVMe, WiFi, Bluetooth, Webcam, Third-party webcam, and graphics drivers that are known to cause this issue on your computer.
3. Repair System Files with SFC and DISM
Deployment Image Servicing and Management scans will check and repair the existing operating system files installed on your device along with other system files currently on your PC. This has been known to fix the issue for many users.
Head to the Start Menu and type Terminal to search for it. Then, right-click on the 'Terminal' tile and choose the 'Run as administrator' option from the context menu to proceed.
Next, if you are not logged in with an admin account, enter credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the 'Yes' button to proceed.
After that, click on the 'chevron' (downward arrow) icon and select the 'Command Prompt' option.
Then, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard. This will restore the currently installed OS image on your device.
DISM/ Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth
Once completed, type or copy+paste the following command to check and repair the system files on your PC. SFC is a free tool from Microsoft that can help you find and recover corrupted files on your PC.
SFC/ scannow
Once the scan is successful, restart your PC and check if the method resolved the issue.
4. Reset Windows Update Service
Usually, update services are triggered automatically by the operating system. That being said, there are exceptional cases where a third-party app or service tends to interfere and arrest its functionality.
Head to the Start Menu and type Terminal. Then, right-click on the tile and select the 'Run as administrator' option.
Next, a UAC (User Account Control) window will appear on your screen. If you are not logged in as an admin, provide credentials for one. Otherwise, click on the 'Yes' button.
After that, click on the 'chevron' icon and select the 'Command Prompt' option.
Next, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command to stop the currently running update services. Ensure you press Enter after you enter each command separately to execute them all.
net stop bitsnet stop wuaservnet stop cryptsvc
After that, press the Windows+ R keys together on your keyboard to open the Run command utility. Then, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned address path and click on the 'OK' button to proceed.
C:\Windows\softwareDistribution\DataStore
Then, press the Ctrl + A keys to select all the files and folders. Next press the Shift+ Delete keys to permanently delete all files.
Finally, head back to the elevated Command Prompt window, type or copy+paste the following commands one by one, and hit Enter to start the services you disabled earlier.
net start bitsnet start wuaservnet start cryptsvc
5. Run Windows Memory Diagnostics
Windows Memory Diagnostic tool helps you diagnose and find issues with the RAM module installed on your computer. If the issue is hardware-based, this will significantly help you pinpoint the issue.
Head to the Start Menu and type Memory Diagnostic to perform a search for it. After that, from the search results, click on the 'Windows Memory Diagnostic' tile to proceed.
Then, either click on the 'Restart Now and check for problems' option to restart the PC immediately. Or click on the 'Check for problems the next time I start my computer' option based on when you're comfortable with performing these checks.
6. Run CHKDSK
CHKDSK scan will check your hard disk for the physical bad sector and logical errors as well. This will help you to pinpoint problems with your secondary storage device.
First, head to the Start Menu and type Terminal to perform a search for it. Then, right-click on the 'Terminal' tile and choose the 'Run as administrator' option to proceed.
Then, enter credentials for admin on the UAC screen if not logged in with an admin account. Otherwise, click on the 'Yes' button to proceed.
After that, click on the chevron (downward arrow) and then choose the 'Command Prompt' option to continue. This will open the Command Prompt in a separate tab.
Next, type or copy+paste the below-mentioned command and hit Enter on your keyboard to execute the command.
chkdsk /f
After that, press the Y key to schedule the scan to be initiated when you boot up your PC next time.
7. Disable Automatic Paging of File Size
The error can present itself when the paging file size is not correctly configured. You can easily change these settings from the 'Settings' app on your computer.
First, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' icon to proceed.
After that, make sure you have selected the 'System' tab from the left sidebar.
Next, from the right section, click on the 'About' tile to continue.
Then, click on the 'Advanced system settings' from the 'Related link' section. This will open a separate window on your screen.
Now, click on the 'Settings' button present under the 'Performance' section to continue.
Another separate window will open. Click on the 'Advanced' tab and then click on the 'Change' button present under the 'Virtual Memory' section. This will open a separate window on your screen.
Now, click on the checkbox preceding the 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives' to uncheck and make sure the 'System managed size' option is selected. Then, click on 'OK' to save the changes.
8. Roll Back to a System Restore Point
If you have created a system restore point previously, you can easily roll back to it instead of resetting the PC. In case you are factory resetting the computer to giveaway, you can initiate the process after restoring your PC.
Head to the Start Menu and type Control to perform a search. Then, from the search results, click on the 'Control Panel' tile to proceed.
After that, locate and click on the 'Recovery' tile from the grid of icons.
Next, click on the 'Open System Restore' option from the list. This will open a separate window on your screen.
From the separately opened window, click on the 'Next' button.
All created system restore points will be listed on the screen. Click to select the desired one and then click on the 'Next' button to initiate the rolling back process.
Next, a list of drives that will be impacted by the rollback will be displayed, along with the timestamp of the restore point created. You can also check the programs that will be affected; click on the 'Scan for affected programs' button. A new window will appear on the screen.
On the new window, you can view the programs that will be deleted and the ones that will be restored (since no programs will be affected on the test PC, the list in the screenshot below is empty). Click on the 'Close' button to navigate to the previous window.
Finally, click on the 'Finish' button to initiate the rollback process.
9. Restore to Factory Settings
In case you haven't been able to fix the issue using the above-mentioned methods, you can reset your PC. Though you will not lose any personal files and folders, the system settings will be reset to factory defaults and all your installed programs will be deleted.
First, head to the Start Menu and click on the 'Settings' tile.
After that, ensure you have selected the 'System' tab from the left sidebar.
Then, from the right section of the window, scroll down and click on the 'Recovery' tile to proceed.
Afterward, locate and click on the 'Reset PC' button to proceed. This will bring a separate window to your screen.
Now, click on the 'Keep my files' tile from the opened window. In case you wish to remove all your personal files as well when resetting, click on the 'Remove everything' option instead.
On the next screen, you will need to choose a method for reinstalling the operating system on your machine. Since there could be an issue with the copy already present on your system, it is recommended that you click on the 'Cloud download' option.
After that, Windows will list the settings that you have chosen. In case you wish to change any of it, click on the 'Change settings' option to continue.
If you chose to change the settings, you can configure the following settings on the next screen. You can choose to not restore the apps and settings by clicking on the toggle switch present under the 'Restore preinstalled apps?' option and bringing it to the 'NO' position. You can even switch from the Cloud download to the local installation by clicking on the toggle switch present under the 'Download Windows?' option to change the installation method. Once adjusted according to your preference, click on the 'Confirm' button to proceed.
After that, from the main window, click on the 'Next' button to continue.
In case your PC was updated recently, you will receive a message on the screen stating that you will not be able to roll back once you reset the PC. To continue, click on the 'Next' button.
After that, Windows will list out all impacts resetting your PC will have. Read them carefully and click on the 'Reset' button to commence the resetting process.
10. Fresh Install Windows 11
If even the 'system restore' and restoring the computer to factory settings fails to resolve the problem for you, the only option you have is to fresh install Windows 11 on your computer. You will first need to create an installation media if you have not already created it. Once you have the installation media, follow the below-mentioned steps.
There are mainly 2 ways to fresh install Windows 11 on your computer. Either from the bootable USB or by mounting the ISO file. To showcase the process, we will be using the ISO file. Though the steps vary a little in the bootable USB method, the overall process remains the same.
Once you have downloaded the ISO file, navigate to the folder and right-click on the file. Then, select the 'Mount' option.
After that, head to the mounted drive and double-click on the setup.exe file to run the installer.
On the installer window, click on the 'Next' button.
After that, read the EULA (End User License Agreement) and click on the 'Accept' button.
The installer will then download updates and prepare your PC for the installation; wait patiently while the process is running.
Once done, the installer will display the currently chosen configuration on the screen. To customize, click on the 'Change what to keep' option.
On the next screen, it is best to choose the 'Nothing' option in order to eradicate the problem once and for all. Then, click on the 'Next' option.
Finally, click on the 'Install' button on the installer window.
Once the installation is completed, you will have to go through the OOBE (Out of the Box Experience) which is a one-time setup of Windows 11.
The first screen on the OOBE will be for region selection. Select your country from the provided list and click on the 'Yes' button.
After that, select the keyboard layout according to your region, This can be important because if a wrong layout is selected, some of the keys might function differently from what is intended. This can be changed later though. Once selected, click on the 'Yes' button to proceed.
On the next screen, you will need to connect to a wireless network. Select one from the list and provide a password for authentication.
Once connected, click on the 'Next' button.
In case you do not have access to the internet at present, click on the 'I don't have internet' button.
On the next screen, Provide a name for your PC and then click on the 'Next' button.
After that, if your user account is created by your institution or organization, click on the 'Set up for work or school' option. Otherwise, click on the 'Set up for personal use' option and click on the 'Next' button. You will need to provide your Microsoft account credentials on the next screen.
After you are signed in, click on the 'Setup as a new device' option to ensure no issues are carried forward in the fresh install.
On the next page, read all the privacy settings and toggle each one as per your requirement. They are not compulsory, so choose as you please. Then, click on the 'Accept' button.
Afterward, Windows 11 allows you to choose for which purpose you wish to use this PC. Select one from the list by clicking on the following checkbox. Windows will suggest tips and tricks based on your selection. However, this is not a mandatory step and you can click on the 'Skip' button to move to the next screen.
Next, choose if you wish to use OneDrive to store your files. If not, click on the 'Only store files on this device' option and click on the 'Next' button.
On the next screen, you might be prompted to opt for the 'Microsoft 365' service. You can either buy the service or try it for free. However, you can also choose to skip it altogether by clicking on the 'No thanks' button.
The first setup is now complete. Since it is a fresh install, you will hopefully not face any of the previous issues on your computer.
That's it, people, using the aforementioned methods you can easily tackle the 'Page Fault in Nonpaged Area' error on your Windows 11 computer.
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