The System Thread Exception Not Handled error is one of the most common BSOD errors (Blue Screen Of Death). Among all Windows errors, this might be one of the most annoying as it could happen at any time. You may be playing a game, working on an essay, surfing on Youtube, this error could show up suddenly and crash your PC. You may even have just started your PC and the message “system_thread_exception_not_handled” show up on a blue screen of death, causing your PC failing to start and automatically reboot. In this article, we will see the main problem causing the system_thread_exception_not_handled error to show up and how to fix it.
The system_thread_exception_not_handled error is caused by a faulty installed driver. To fix this problem you need to first identify the driver causing problems with a tool like WhoCrashed, then proceed to update the driver or reinstall it.
How To Find The Driver Causing system_thread_exception_not_handled Error
When your PC crashes on a blue screen with the message system_thread_exception_not_handled, you usually get the name of the file who causes problems. This gives you a clue of the driver who crashes your PC. For example
The message system_thread_exception_not_handled (atikmpag.sys) means that there is a problem with your ATI RADEON graphic card driver.
Here are a few example of few common driver error messages:
| Error Message | Driver problem |
| system_thread_exception_not_handled (netr28ux.sys) | Ralink 802.11n Wireless Adapters Driver |
| system_thread_exception_not_handled (atikmpag.sys) | Ati Graphic Card Driver |
| system_thread_exception_not_handled (nvlddmkm.sys) | Nvidia Graphic Card Driver |
If you don’t have this information and just have system_thread_exception_not_handled as a message then follow the next section to find the corrupted driver.
How Do I Know Which Driver Is Causing BSOD system_thread_exception_not_handled Error
WhoCrashed is a free crash analysis software that tells you which hardware driver is causing SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED errors.
Follow the steps below to find which driver causes system_thread_exception_not_handled error.
1. Download and install WhoCrashed
Go to https://www.resplendence.com/downloads, scroll down and download WhoCrashed and install it.
2. Click on Analyze
Start analysis by clicking on “Analyze”, WhoCrashed will start to analyze Windows “crash dump files” to try to find the driver causing BSOD errors.
3. See the result to find the faulty driver
Wait for the analysis to finish, then scroll down to see the result report
4. Update faulty driver from Device Manager
Open the device manager to update the faulty driver (See the next section)
When the analysis finishes you should get a result like this:
Fri 10/30/2020 7:56:50 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\020615–31984–01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmdag.sys (atikmdag+0xC508B)
Bugcheck code: 0x1000007E (0xFFFFFFFFC0000005, 0xFFFFF801C9BBE08B, 0xFFFFD0015ADEF128, 0xFFFFD0015ADEE930)
Error: SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED_Mfile path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmdag.sys
product: ATI Radeon Family
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that a system thread generated an exception which the error handler did not catch.
This appears to be a typical software driver bug and is not likely to be caused by a hardware problem.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmdag.sys (ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).WhoCrashed tells you exactly which driver is causing the system error, it even suggest to update the driver to fix this problem.
How To Fix Corrupted Drivers To Solve The SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error
A corrupted driver can cause the SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error and prevent your system of starting. If you still can access to Windows desktop then all you need to do is go “Device Manager” to update or reinstall your drivers.
Follow the steps below to fix corrupted drivers to solve the SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED error
Follow the steps below to find what causes system_thread_exception_not_handled error.
Open Device Manager
Click on the Windows button on your keyboard and start typing”device manager”, search for the Device Manager and click on it.
Right click on the hardware with corrupted driver
In the list of devices, look up for the device with corrupted driver (that you got from WhoCrashed) and right click on it.
Update or reinstall your driver
Click on Update Driver to update your device driver to check if there is a new version of your driver. You can also uninstall the device and reinstall it if the device’s driver is just corrupted.
How To Boot In Safe Mode If Windows Is Not Starting
If you get the blue screen error at Windows boot the you won’t be able to install WhoCrashed right away. We need first to see how to get to start Windows and get to the desktop.
You have to boot Windows in safe mode to be able to access your desktop and thus update your drivers to fix the SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error.
Follow the steps below to start Windows 10 in safe mode.
1. Start you computer
Make sure that your PC or laptop is off. Turn it on with the power button.
2. Interrupt the normal boot process of Windows 10 three times in a row
When your computer is booting, suddenly interrupt the boot process of Windows three times in a row with the Reset or Power button. (If you use the Power button, you have to hold the power button for at least 4 seconds to force the PC to shutdown). This causes Windows 10 to automatically enter the Automatic Repair Mode.
3. On the “Automatic Repair” screen, Click on “Advanced options”
Wait for Windows 10 to make a diagnosis of your computer, then when a blue screen show up saying “Automatic repair” and “Your PC did not start correctly” click on the “Advanced options” button
4. Click on Troubleshoot
On the next screen click on troubleshoot
5. Click on “Advanced options”
Click on “Advanced options” to access more advanced options like changing your Windows behavior during startup.
6. Click on “Startup settings”
Click on “Startup settings”. This allows you to change Windows behavior on startup, this is what will allow us to start Windows 10 in safe mode.
7. Click on “Restart”
On the next screen, click on “Restart” to reboot your computer. After restart Windows will ask you in which mode you would like to start your system.
8. Press 4 to boot in Safe Mode
After restart Windows will prompt with startup settings. From here you have many options, but we only want to boot in safe mode to be able to access Windows 10. Press 4 to boot in safe mode. You can also press 5 if you need access to the internet (for downloading and updating a driver for example)
Your computer will restart automatically after you have pressed 4 or 5. After Windows startup, follow the same procedure in the previous section to update or reinstall your faulty driver to fix the System Thread Exception Not Handled error.
After you have updated or reinstalled your corrupted drivers, restart your computer. Windows 10 should start normally. If you still get the SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error message, repeat the previous procedure (boot in safe mode) and make sure you have updated and reinstalled the correct driver. Start an analysis with WhoCrashed again to check the faulty driver. You may find that there is another driver causing problems. If so, update your drivers again or download another driver and reinstall it and restart your computer.
I hope that you found this tutorial useful and you have solved your System Thread Exception Not Handled problem. If not please leave a comment below for help.
