The WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR (Windows Hardware Error Architecture) basically presents itself when either your BIOS settings are configured wrongly or there is a component failure on your system.
Though the majority of the time the issue is hardware-based, it is still recommended to make sure things are not wrong on the software side; tackling software-based issues is relatively much easier and can be done without any professional help.
Using the solutions listed in this guide, you can pinpoint exactly where the issue is and how you can resolve it. Moreover, if your computer is wrongly raising the flag due to a software bug, the listed solutions will resolve it for you.
Since there can be many reasons as to why you are experiencing this issue, you might need to perform multiple fixes listed below to completely eradicate the issue from your PC. But before you head to resolving the issue using this guide, you must learn about why the issue occurs.
Why does the WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR occur?
The WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR is a critical error that if and when faced is capable of crashing your system if not resolved in time, and will reset itself. It’s a common bluescreen error that appears when your PC shuts itself down to protect itself from data loss. But the error itself may end up removing your personal files and folders from the computer to restore the functionality when resetting itself.
Though most of the time this error is faced due to malfunctioning hardware on the system, in some cases, it has been observed that it could also be triggered by driver incompatibilities, outdated Windows versions, and even overclocking of the processor.
To add to that, one can not rule out the possibility that a failing hard drive, bad memory, incorrectly installed CPU, or a variety of other hardware faults can result in a WHEA uncorrectable error.
Please note that overclocking the CPU can also result in this error and if you have been experiencing the error recently after overclocking, reversing the procedure can immediately resolve the problem for you.
1. Check Bad Sectors on your Hard Drive
The first and foremost fix you can try is to analyze and fix the bad sectors on your hard drive using the CHKDSK command. It is simple, fast, and does not rely heavily on your intervention. Moreover, the CHKDSK command can be invoked via File Explorer as well as the Command Prompt. If you wish to gain more control over the chkdsk command, you can invoke it using the Command Prompt.
To run the CHKDSK command using the File Explorer, first, double-click on the ‘This PC’ icon on your desktop. Alternatively, you can press the Windows+E shortcut on your keyboard to open it as well.
Now, right-click on the drive you wish to check and choose the ‘Properties’ option from the context menu.
Click the ‘Tools’ tab on the ‘Windows Properties’ window, and then click on the ‘Check’ button in the ‘Error Checking’ section.
If there are no errors on the driver, you might receive a prompt from the system stating so. In case you still wish to continue with the scanning, click on the ‘Scan drive’ option on the prompt. If not, hit the ‘Cancel’ button.
The scan may take a while. Wait patiently while the process runs in the background. You can use the disk while the scan is ongoing but not while fixing it. If any errors are found after the scan, you can decide if you want to fix them.
If any errors aren’t found, move on to the next fix.
2. Run Windows Memory Diagnostics
Windows Memory Diagnostics helps you diagnose and find issues with your RAM. As mentioned earlier, there is a high probability the issue is due to a hardware problem. This will help you determine if faulty RAM is the culprit of the issue.
To do so, first, head to the Start Menu and type Memory Diagnostics to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Windows Memory Diagnostics’ tile to proceed.
Now, on the ‘Windows Memory Diagnostic’ window, click on the ‘Restart now and check for problems’ tile to proceed. This will immediately restart your computer and check the installed RAM for any error during the PC boot.
3. Uninstall a Recently Installed Update
If you have been experiencing the issue after recently installing an update, uninstalling it from your system might do the trick for you. You can easily uninstall an update right from the Settings app on your Windows 11 PC.
To roll back to the previous iteration of the operating system, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile to open the Settings window. Otherwise, type Settings in the menu to perform a search for it.
Next, on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab present on the left sidebar to continue.
Then, from the right section of the window, locate and click on the ‘Update history’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section.
Now, on the ‘Windows history’ page, scroll down to the bottom and click on the ‘Uninstall updates’ tile situated under the ‘Related settings’ section.
After that, on the next screen, locate the last installed update, and click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to proceed. This will bring an overlay window to the page.
From the overlay window, click on the ‘Uninstall’ button to commence the rollback of the update.
Once the rollback completes, your system will restart. If it doesn’t, you should restart it yourself. Once it restarts, see if the error has been resolved.
4. Update or Install the Missing Drivers
A missing or outdated driver could also be one of the reasons that you have been experiencing this issue on your system. Since updating and/or installing a driver on your system is a very straightforward process, it is worth a try. Moreover, you can update the driver either from the Settings app or from the Device Manager.
To install or update the driver from the Settings app, first, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ icon tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Alternatively, you can press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to open the app.
Next, on the Settings window, click on the ‘Windows Update’ tab present on the left sidebar to proceed.
Then, from the right section of the window, click on the ‘Advanced options’ tile present under the ‘More options’ section.
Then, on the next screen, scroll down and click on the ‘Optional updates’ tile present under the ‘Additional options’ section.
After that, locate and click on the ‘Driver updates’ tile to expand it. Then, from the list of available drivers, locate the available driver and click on the checkbox preceding the individual item. Next, click on the ‘Download & install’ button present at the bottom of the section to commence the installation of the driver.
You can also install the missing drivers using the Device Manager. The process is pretty straightforward. Moreover, if you need to install or update multiple drivers on your system, using the Device Manager would be more convenient.
First, head to the Start Menu and type Device Manager in the menu to perform a search for it. Then, from the search results, click on the ‘Device Manager’ tile to open the app.
Note: Just for showcasing the process, we will be updating the ‘Bluetooth’ drivers. You can follow the same process for any other drivers listed in the Device Manager.
After that, from the ‘Device Manager’ window, locate and click on the downward arrow preceding the ‘Bluetooth’ category. Then, from the expanded options, locate the ‘Intel Wireless Bluetooth’ driver and right-click on it to reveal the context menu. Next, click on the ‘Properties’ option to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
From the separately opened window, you can view the current status of the driver of the hardware present on your PC. In case no driver is detected, the window will state so. Then, click on the ‘Update driver’ button present right beneath the ‘Device status’ area.
In case you are here to update an already installed driver, click on the ‘Driver’ tab present in the top section of the window. Then, click the ‘Update driver’ button present in the window to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
From the separately opened window, click on the ‘Search automatically for drivers’ option to let the Windows search for the latest driver available on the Microsoft servers.
If you already have a driver update package, click on the ‘Browse my computer for drivers’ option to proceed. This will open a File Explorer window on your screen that you can use to navigate to and select the driver package to update.
Once the update/ install has been performed successfully, you might need to restart your PC to apply the changes. You can restart it from the Start menu.
5. Disable External Audio Devices
Some users have been able to resolve the issue by disabling the externally connected audio device from their system. Though this fix is a bit unconventional, it is definitely worth trying.
First, head to the Start Menu and click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section to continue. Alternatively, you can also press the Windows+I keys together on your keyboard to do so.
Then, in the Settings window, make sure you have selected the ‘System’ tab present on the left sidebar of the window.
After that, from the right section of the window, locate and click on the ‘Sound’ tile to proceed.
Next, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on the ‘More sound settings’ tile present under the ‘Advanced’ section. This will open a separate window on your screen.
Now, on the ‘Sound’ window, right-click on the non-default listing for playback and click on the ‘Disable’ option to continue. In case you have more than one non-default listing present on your system, repeat the process for all of them.
6. Reset Your PC
In case no method has been able to fix the issue on your PC, the last resort is to reset your PC. Thankfully, you will not lose your personal files and folders, however, resetting your PC will remove all the programs that you have installed and also bring all the settings to their default configurations.
To reset your PC, head to the Start Menu, and click on the ‘Settings’ tile present under the ‘Pinned apps’ section. Alternatively, type Settings in the search bar to perform a search.
After that, from the Settings window make sure you have selected the ‘System’ tab present on the left sidebar.
From the right section of the window, scroll down to locate and click on the ‘Recovery’ tile to proceed.
Then, on the ‘Recovery’ settings screen, locate the ‘Reset this PC’ tile and click on the ‘Reset PC’ button present on the far right edge of the tile to proceed. This will open a separate window on your screen.
Now, from the separately opened window, click on the ‘Keep my files’ tile to proceed. In case you wish to remove all your personal files as well when resetting, click on the ‘Remove everything’ option.
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.
Note: ‘Could download’ will require an active internet connection and will consume upwards of 4 GB of data.
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.
If you chose to change the settings, on the next screen, can choose to not restore the apps and settings, by clicking on the toggle switch present under the ‘Restore preinstalled apps?’ option to bring it to the ‘No’ position. You can even switch from the Cloud download to local install by clicking on the toggle switch present under the ‘Download Windows?’ option to change the install 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 the impacts resetting your PC will have on your system. Read them carefully and click on the ‘Reset’ button to commence the resetting process.
WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR is a critical error and should be resolved as soon as possible. Hopefully, the solutions mentioned in this guide will be able to help you in resolving it on your system.
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