Fake Blue Screen of Death

Pick a Windows era, choose a stop code, and go fullscreen. It is an ordinary web page pretending to be a crash — nothing is installed, nothing is changed, and Esc ends it instantly.

Windows version

Stop code

Progress counter

Restart loop

What is a BSOD?

Copy shareable link gives you a URL that opens straight into the blue screen with these exact settings. Press Esc or double-click to exit at any time. The progress counter, stop code, and window dressing are cosmetic — the page has no access to your system.

What this page does

This is a pixel-accurate imitation of the Windows stop error screen, rendered as an ordinary web page. It reproduces four eras: the Windows 11 and Windows 10 screens with the sad face, progress percentage and QR block; the Windows XP wall of white monospace text; and the Windows 98 fatal-exception screen. You choose the stop code, decide whether the counter climbs or freezes forever, and go fullscreen with one click.

Nothing here touches your computer. The page cannot crash Windows, read your files, install anything, or survive a tab being closed. It draws a picture of a crash — that is the whole mechanism. Press Esc, double-click, or leave fullscreen and it disappears.

How to run the prank

Choose a Windows version that matches the target machine — Windows 11 for anything recent, XP or 98 if the joke is nostalgia.
Pick a stop code. CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL are the two most people have genuinely seen.
Set the counter to Frozen if you want it to sit at 27% indefinitely, which is far more unsettling than one that completes.
Click Start blue screen. The page goes fullscreen and hides the cursor.
Walk away. Press Esc when the joke has landed.

For the version that runs in a real Command Prompt instead of a browser, see the CMD hacker prank guide. For a fake intrusion rather than a crash, use the fake command prompt.

What the stop codes actually mean

The codes in the dropdown are real Windows stop codes. If you landed here because you saw one on your own machine rather than because you want to prank someone, this is what each of them is telling you.

Stop code	What it means	Usual cause
`CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED`	A process Windows cannot run without has terminated unexpectedly.	Corrupted system files or a bad driver. Start with `sfc /scannow` and `DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth`.
`IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL`	A driver tried to access memory at an interrupt level it was not allowed to.	Almost always a faulty or mismatched driver — most often network, graphics, or antivirus.
`PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA`	Windows asked for data that should always be in memory and it was not there.	Failing RAM or a driver writing out of bounds. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic.
`SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION`	A system service triggered an exception the kernel could not handle.	Driver conflicts, often after an update. Roll back the most recently changed driver.
`MEMORY_MANAGEMENT`	The memory manager found an inconsistency it cannot recover from.	Bad RAM, a failing disk, or a driver corrupting memory. Test memory first.
`KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE`	A kernel data structure failed its integrity check.	Driver incompatibility after an upgrade, occasionally failing hardware.
`DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION`	A deferred procedure call ran far longer than permitted.	Classically an old SSD firmware or storage controller driver.
`UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION`	The memory-compression store hit an unexpected error.	Often a failing drive. Check disk health with `chkdsk` and the drive's SMART data.
`VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE`	The graphics driver stopped responding and could not be reset.	GPU driver problems, overheating, or an unstable overclock.
`INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE`	Windows cannot reach the disk it needs to boot from.	Storage-controller mode changed in BIOS, a failed update, or a dying drive.

Prank responsibly

Use it on your own machine or a friend's, with the understanding that you will tell them within about thirty seconds.
Keep it off work, school, and public computers. A convincing crash on a managed machine generates a real IT ticket, and in some workplaces a real incident report.
Do not use it on someone who is in the middle of unsaved work, sitting an exam, or presenting. The joke is the moment of panic, and that stops being funny the second it costs someone something.
Do not use it to convince anyone their computer needs paid repair. Fake error screens are a standard tech-support scam, and the line between prank and fraud is exactly there.

Frequently asked questions

Is this a real blue screen of death?

No. It is a web page that draws the same picture. Windows is not involved, no crash occurs, and closing the tab or pressing Esc ends it completely. Nothing is written to the machine.

Can this damage my computer?

No. A web page cannot crash the operating system, modify system files, or install software. The worst it can do is occupy the screen until you press Esc.

How do I exit the fake blue screen?

Press Esc, or double-click anywhere on the screen. Leaving fullscreen with F11 also ends it. If a keyboard is not available, closing the browser tab works.

What is the blue screen of death?

The blue screen of death, or BSOD, is the screen Windows shows when the kernel hits an error it cannot safely recover from. Rather than risk corrupting data, Windows halts, writes a memory dump, displays a stop code, and restarts. It is a controlled failure, not a virus.

What causes a real BSOD?

Faulty device drivers are the single most common cause, followed by failing RAM, overheating, disk problems, and unstable overclocks. Malware can cause one, but far less often than people assume. The stop code on the screen is the useful part — the table above explains the common ones.

Does Windows 11 still have a blue screen?

Yes. Windows 11 kept the same layout as Windows 10 — sad face, progress percentage, QR code and stop code. Early Windows 11 preview builds briefly used a black background before the blue was restored, and later releases have shifted the styling again, which is why the exact shade varies between machines.

Is it legal to prank someone with a fake BSOD?

Showing a friend a joke screen on a computer you are allowed to use is not a crime anywhere. It becomes a genuine problem if you use it on machines you have no permission to touch, or if you use a fake error to persuade someone to pay for a repair they do not need — that is the mechanism behind tech-support fraud, and it is prosecuted as fraud.

Related tools

Pair it with the fake Windows update screen for a longer con, the fake command prompt for an intrusion in progress, the system breached screen for a jump-scare finale, or the boot sequence simulator to fake the restart afterwards.