The notorious blue screen of death (BSOD), is a villain well dreaded amongst the Windows community for some time due to its pestering nature.
When this error makes an appearance, it causes the entire screen to go blue. It also provides the error code as well as some vague technical information which is mostly useful for developers, and technicians. This guide provides a few solutions to help deal with 1 particular BSOD error, the Athw8x.sys error in a simplified and easy-to-comprehend manner.
If you’re looking for a 1-in-all kind of a solution to this BSOD error, you need to somehow look for a method to fix the Registry. This is a very critical area of the computer system, on which hinges the smooth operability of the Operating System as well as all the programs that have been installed. So it is highly critical you sort the Registry and defrag it from time to time. Start from cleaning system junk using ST Cleaner.
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Solution 1: Update Qualcomm Drivers
This particular BSOD error is caused by a third driver of a Network adapter, which is called Qualcomm Atheros Network Adapter. By default, Windows tries to install drivers for almost every new piece of hardware as soon as it is detected, but users still have the option to install drivers provided by the device manufacturer on their own. This arrangement, however, sometimes leads to many problems across the system. Even though mostly these issues do get fixed, sometimes they don’t. Users often don’t bother to keep their system up-to-date with latest drivers, and therefore it’s highly recommended to update the system with latest Qualcomm drivers for Atheros Network Adapter.
Atheros Network Adapter is a generic name for Qualcomm processor based Network adapters. The processor is utilized by a countless number of consumer-level hardware manufacturers to power their network adapters. However, Qualcomm doesn’t provides drivers directly for their processors, and thus the driver for this particular product has to be downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.
- Open Device Manager by searching for it in the Start menu and open it.
- Click to collapse the Network adapters section. This will reveal the list of all Network adapters that are available.
- Usually, any Network adapter which utilizes this processor includes its name in the list. Searching for the Network adapter’s name on the web can help the user easily download and install the relevant driver. For example, in the above screenshot, the second Network adapter’s name is Realtek RTL8192CU. Search this name on the Internet to find it’s driver.
Solution 2: Update/Remove Left Over/Other Network Drivers
If there are multiple Network adapters installed on the computer, such as a Wireless Network card and 4G or 3G modem, they might conflict with the Atheros Network adapter, ultimately leading to the BSOD. Also, leftover drivers from any previous network cards should be removed altogether. They can easily be removed through the Uninstall a program feature in Control Panel. Alternatively, you can download Geek Uninstaller to do the trick for you as follows:
- Extract the setup file to a given location, and then install the program.
- Find any driver you need to uninstall, right-click it and select Force Removal.
Selecting Force Removal - Once the scan is over, click the Finish button to remove any leftover files, Registry entries etc that pertain to the concerning driver from the system.
- Once the leftover drivers have been removed, update the drivers for the concerning piece of hardware. This can be done in the same way as described in Solution 1.
Solution 3: Remove Other Network Adapters and their Drivers
If the problem still persists, remove any peripheral devices such as External Network adapters/ Modems from the system or uninstall their drivers and retreat to the default drivers provided by Microsoft. Drivers can be uninstalled in the same way as described in the last solution. If the problem still persists, it’s quite possible that the hardware is very old or not compatible with the operating system you’re using. In such a case, it’s a must to purchase a newer hardware that makes use of the latest technologies available without which serves the same purpose.
Solution 4: Scan the System Files for Corruptions
Athw8x.sys file is installed by Qualcomm Atheros CB42/ CB43/ MB42/ MB43 network adapters of which driver is a part of the system file; hence if the files are corrupted for some reason, they can be fixed via the System File Checker.
- Search for cmd in the Start menu.
- Right-click Command Prompt from the Search Results and select Run as administrator.
- Type this command in Command Prompt and press Enter to execute it:
sfc /scannow
System File Checker scan in progress
