What does the DPC Watchdog violation error indicate and how to fix it

Working at a computer or laptop is not always cloudless or hassle-free. Sometimes errors come out.

But objectively the most terrible and unpleasant are those that are accompanied by the emergence of BDOS. That is, the blue screen of death.

DPC Watchdog violation is one of such errors. Together with it, the code 0x00000133 is displayed on the screen. The problem is serious and requires increased attention. Otherwise, the consequences will be disappointing.

What does this mean

First you need to find out the meaning of the DPC Watchdog violation error on Windows 10 or Windows 8. It is the same for all operating systems.

These words hide the very essence of the problem. In fact, the error informs the user that there is an incorrect, excessively long operation of the DPS mechanism, which is responsible for deferred procedure calls. The problem occurs at the DISPATCH level or higher.

But it is unlikely that such an explanation gives any information to an ordinary user who has not encountered anything like this, and is used to solving the bulk of problems through specialists.

In simple terms, this error mainly occurs due to a failure in a particular driver. He requires increased attention to himself, which under normal working conditions should not be.

If such errors occur, there is a risk of irretrievably losing data, or encountering a failure of computer equipment. Because of this, the operating system decides to shutdown abnormally, displaying an appropriate message against the background of a blue screen of death.

Possible reasons

Before fixing an error like DPC Watchdog violation on Windows 10 or another OS version, you need to understand why it occurs at all and how to proceed.

Quite often, those who have recently switched from an outdated Windows 7 or more current Windows 8 to the latest version of the OS in the face of Windows 10 face a blue screen with the DPC Watchdog violation. Or, an error occurs after installing and connecting new hardware to a PC.

But practice shows that a stop code with the DPC Watchdog violation designation on computers with Windows 10 and other OS versions usually appears on the screen quite spontaneously.

Experts identify several main reasons:

• The operating system version being used does not support the driver from this or that device. It’s worth remembering if the computer worked fine when using Windows 7 with this driver. If yes, but the situation changed when switching to another OS, the problem is this.
• There is a damage to the driver of the device connected to the PC.
• The equipment itself is out of order, or its firmware is very outdated.
• The equipment operates in an abnormal mode.
• Malicious software has entered the system. Viruses are to blame.
  
  

  The installed anti-virus utility usually reports about Trojans in executable files.

• Registry components or system files are damaged.
• Malfunctions from the RAM modules.
• The appearance of numerous bad sectors on the hard disk.
  
• The emergence of a conflict between programs and different services in the operating system, etc.

Since quite often a blue screen with such an error appears exactly after connecting new equipment, it is worth considering this option as well.

Most often, the fault lies with:

• hard drives;
• solid state drives;
• memory cards;
• external hard drives;
• connected mobile devices;
• video cards;
• network adapters;
• peripheral devices connected to a PC via USB.
  

Seeing a blue screen in front of them and the inscription DPC Watchdog violation, users of Windows 8 and other OS versions need to try to fix the problem.

This can be done by following the step-by-step instructions.

Step by step guide

To fix an error such as DPC Watchdog violation that occurs when installing a new version of Windows 10 or under other circumstances, you need to find the cause and deal with it in one way or another.

The step-by-step instruction provides for the following operations:

• boot the system in safe mode;
• disable fast boot;
• update drivers;
• check the temperature;
• apply SFC;
• check your hard drive and defragment it;
• restore or reinstall the OS;
• test and change RAM modules.

Now in more detail about each step.

Safe mode

Since now BDOS and DPC Watchdog violation are displayed on the screen, a critical error has occurred, due to which the operating system will not be able to boot normally.

To restore it with minimal consequences, and find the cause, you need to boot the OS, but through safe mode.

To open access to Windows 10 or Windows 8 when a DPC Watchdog violation occurs, you must:

• send the computer to reboot;
• after completing the BIOS test, press the Shift and F8 keys
  
• wait for the system to boot in safe mode;
• The first step is to run any anti-virus program to scan for possible infection.

If no threats were detected during the anti-virus scan stage, then you can proceed to the next step.

Fast Boot Mode

Since Windows 8 and 10 cannot boast of stable performance, it cannot be ruled out that the error was the result of the default mode that provides a fast boot of the operating system. If this is the reason for the stop, disabling the mode will help a lot to solve the problem.

To turn off Fast Boot, the user will need to:

• right-click on a free area of ​​the desktop;
• open through the context menu “Control Panel”;
• go to the “System and Security” section;
• find a block called “Power supply”;
  
• by clicking on this section, on the left side of the new window go to the category “Button actions”;
  
• remove protection by clicking for this on the item “Change parameters” that are not available;
• uncheck the box next to the line “Enable fast startup”;
  
• save the changes made to the settings.

All that remains is to send the computer to a regular reboot and check if the operating system will boot normally after that.

If the problem persists, and the laptop or PC continues to give out the blue screen of death, you can safely move on to the next item.

Drivers

Quite often it happens that the error in question arises precisely because of the incorrect operation of the drivers of one or another integrated equipment. That is, the problem lies with the control files.

In this case, the following recommendations can be made:

• right-click on the “Start” button;
• in the context menu that opens, select the “Device Manager” section;
  
• open the list of equipment installed on the computer;
• carefully check the labels on this list;
  
• track the possible presence of exclamation or question marks in front of this or that equipment;
  
• update the configuration;
• open each of the main devices separately;
• run a driver update for them.

Moreover, this equipment does not have to have exclamation or question marks. But if there is a problem, most often they are present.

After updating all the drivers one by one, restart the computer and check if the error has gone away after that.

Temperature regime

Some users themselves provoke the occurrence of serious problems on their computer. And this often happens when the user is trying to overclock the equipment, to raise its productivity and efficiency. But in the pursuit of speed, many forget the importance of maintaining a stable temperature.

In addition to overclocking the modules, poor ventilation is also observed, the equipment overheats, which leads to emergency shutdowns and all sorts of errors. Among them is DPC Watchdog violation.

To verify or disprove this guess, you can use any utility to check the temperature of the equipment. Particular attention should be paid to the processor and video card when scanning.

If the temperature is within the normal range, does not go beyond 40-45 degrees under load, or 30-35 in normal mode, then this reason can be excluded. If there is a confirmed overheating, it is recommended to purge the system, check the cooling performance, and level the performed overclocking. Some components may need to be replaced.

Using SFC

To check that the system files are immutable, you can use a utility built into the operating system called SFC. It scans hard disk partitions. Moreover, the tool also repairs a large number of damaged operating system components.

If the cause is from software faults, this method helps a lot.

To complete this procedure, you must complete the following steps:

• press the key combination Win and X;
• in the context menu that opens, open the command line (always with administrator rights);
  
• register the sfc / scannow command;
• confirm the launch of the utility by pressing Enter;
  
• at the end of the procedure, look at the results;
• send the computer to reboot.

If after that the situation has not changed, move on.

Checking and defragmentation

When the computer has not been defragmented for a long time, numerous fragmentation and the formation of a large number of bad sectors can also provoke the error in question.

It is not at all necessary to use third-party software here. The capabilities of the built-in tools are quite enough.

In this case, it is recommended to do this:

• right-click on “Start”;
• open the context menu;
• launch “Explorer”;
  
• select the system volume (hard disk partition where the operating system is installed);
• right-click on it;
• open “Properties”;
• go to the “Service” tab;
• press the “Check” button.
  

When the scan is completed and the system sectors are restored, in the same tab, but already in the “Optimization and defragmentation” section, you need to click the Optimize button.

The procedure can take a long time. But be patient and don’t turn off the analysis.

System rollback or OS reinstallation

If a failure occurs after a particular procedure, installation of drivers and other actions, it will be quite natural to roll back the system to its working state.

To do this, you need to go into recovery mode and select the point at which the OS functioned normally. Of course, for this you need to periodically create restore points.

If the procedure with rolling back the operating system to a working state did not give a positive result, then the only solution is a complete reinstallation of the OS. This will definitely eliminate the error if it was caused precisely by problems from the software side.

RAM modules

It cannot be ruled out that the error in question was the result of a malfunction of the RAM modules. As most users know, these modules are installed in special connectors on the motherboard. And on some PCs there are several.

Therefore, users should try to swap them. Alternatively, extract each module one by one and check if the situation changes after that.

If physical malfunctions are observed on the part of the RAM modules, then nothing else, besides replacement, will help.

Almost everyone can face the DPC Watchdog violation error. Although it is considered serious and dangerous, there are still ways to solve it, and on its own.

Overclock processors and video cards with extreme caution. After all, it is because of this that the hardware part most often suffers. Plus, there is a possibility of an error due to a software failure, hardware conflicts, incorrectly working drivers, etc.

It is recommended that you start with the simplest possible reasons. If nothing can be done, it is better to contact trusted qualified specialists. This is especially true for hardware failures that require equipment repair.

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