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FIX: Critical structure corruption BSOD error in Windows 10
7 min. read
Updated onMarch 19, 2024
updated onMarch 19, 2024
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Key notes
If you thought that the transition to Windows 10 means saying a final goodbye toBlue Screen of Death errors, you’ll be surprised.
The shift from the former iterations to Windows 10 is, especially if you choose to upgrade rather thanperform a clean install, far from perfect and a bunch of errors emerged.
One of them seeminglycrashes the systemand results in a Blue Screen of Death. Before the system hits the lights, you’ll see theCritical Structure Corruption“prompt.
This is a severe issue and, since it’s hard to determine the exact reason why it occurs, we provided an in-depth curated list of all possible solutions.
Therefore, if you’re stuck with this error and sudden shutdowns come in unpredictable time intervals, make sure to check the solutions we provided below.
Table of contents:
How do I fix the Critical Structure Corruption BSOD error?
1. Check the hardware (HDD, RAM, PSU)
We can’t possibly move to software-related troubleshooting steps until we check out the hardware first.
Concerning the possible causes of the Critical Structure CorruptionBSOD, there are 3 physical parts we’ll need to check out. They are all known instigators of various critical issues and causes of many system crashes.
Also, you can try and unplug all peripheral devices and boot that way and restore to default values overclocked devices. Clean boot, with only Microsoft’s native services at the startup, can help, too. You can disable all third-party services in Task Manager > Startup.
As the final touch, just to eliminate hardware as the possible culprit for theBSOD, boot your Windows in Safe Mode. If everything works as intended and system crashes don’t occur, continue with the steps below.
2. Use specialized BSOD repair software
If you’re wondering how to fix the Critical Structure Corruption error, the best way may be to usespecialized repair software.
Fixing BSOD errors manually can be a daunting task, even for experienced users, but there are tools that can help you with that.
3. Run Blue Screen troubleshooter
Common errors ask for a unifiedtroubleshooter, and that’s what Microsoft provided to Windows 10 users after the Creators Update.
In there, besides the usual troubleshooting tools, one can find more thetroubleshooterwhich specializes in resolvingBlue Screenerrors that affect Windows 10.
Now, taking into consideration the overall lackluster success rate, we wouldn’t hold high hopes. However, it’s won’t cost you and it can help.
4. Run SFC
System File Checkeris the built-in tool run through the elevated command line.
Its main purpose is to scan for the faults in system files and fix possible corruptions. It’s, of course, of utmost importance for all files integrity to be untouched.
Looking at the minidumps shared by the affected users, the ‘Critical Structure Corruption‘ is frequently invoked by kernel32.dll failure. And something as grave as this plagues most users that upgraded to Windows 10 rather than performing a clean installation.
5. Check all drivers
Searching for drivers manually can be a tedious task, and this is why it’s recommended to use specialized driver updater software.
Specialized software will update all your drivers and fix BSOD Critical Structure Corruption errors along the way.
⇒Get Outbyte Driver Updater
6. Try with DISM
The recipe for troubleshooting major system flaws is almost the same every time.
You giveSFCa try and, if it doesn’t notice anything, move to a more specific tool. That tool is DISM or Deployment Image and Servicing Management tool.
In comparison toSFC, DISM has a much higher reach and it depends on Windows Update (or external medium) to replace the affected system files.
So if you’re getting Windows stop code Critical Structure Corruption error, be sure to try DISM.
7. Uninstall critical third-party programs
Now, this is something you should be especially interested in.
Not all third-party programs you seamlessly run on Windows 7 will work on Windows 10. Essentially, this is a second look at the decision to upgrade to Windows 10 over an older Windows operating system.
This goes for various secondary tools and antivirus solutions mostly, but we can’t be sure what exactly triggers the error at hand.
Vulnerabilities in older software may be rapidly found and shared among cybercriminals. This type of attack may be avoided by uninstalling programs that are no longer compatible with your current operating system.
Anuninstaller softwareremoves programs remnants, leaving you with a fresh start to install new suitable software that won’t crash following system upgrades. All unused applications, even resistant and bundled apps, can be totally removed.
Additional cleaning and maintenance modules assist in keeping your PC in a healthy condition.
8. Backup your data and clean install Windows 10
Finally, if none of the above steps fixed the BSOD Critical Structure Corruption error, we recommend clean reinstallation as the last-resort solution.
Namely, as we indicated so many times, even though upgrading is better than the clean install on paper, it doesn’t meet the expectations every time.
The distinction between Windows 7/8.1 and Windows 10 is not minor, and the older configurations will have a hard time with Windows 10. Especially due to the driver’s incompatibility. And that’s where BSOD errors emerge.
You can find out how to reinstall Windows 10 cleanly in thisarticle. Just make sure to backup your data and store the license key.
With that, we can wrap it up. In case you’re still unable to move past the error and sudden shutdowns still occur, we recommend contacting the Microsoft support team and sending them the crash report stored in the minidump file and uploaded to a third-party site.
Furthermore, you can share your alternative solutions or post a question regarding the ones we enlisted. The comments section is just below.
More about the topics:BSoD error codes,windows 10
Aleksandar Ognjanovic
Aleksandar’s main passion is technology. With a solid writing background, he is determined to bring the bleeding edge to the common user. With a keen eye, he always spots the next big thing surrounding Microsoft and the Windows OS.
Focused on Windows errors and how to solve them, he also writes about the OS’s latest features as well as its interface.
In his free time, he likes to read, listen to music, and enjoy the nature. Hiking is one of his newly found passions.
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