This article is part of a continuing series on Blue Screen of Death errors. A Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) is the error screen you see when Windows has a major issue. It halts the PC and displays some very important information.

Depending on the error message you get, the steps you need to take are different.

Error Name:
INACESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

This one may appear under another error name, but with a code of 0x0000007B.

This BSoD happens because Windows has lost access to the hard drive’s system partition during startup. Therefore, this problem could be caused by one of three things: your device drivers need updated, your PC needs scanned for viruses, or your hard disk needs scanned for errors.

Update your Device Drivers

Driver Reviver can update all the drivers on your system in one go. It’s a great app for fixing Blue Screen of Death errors like this one. It scans your PC for out of date drivers, backs up your existing drivers, and creates a Restore Point before updating all your PC’s drivers to their latest versions.

Scan your PC for Viruses

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is our recommended free app solution for getting rid of viruses that may cause BSoDs like this one. We have a guide to escaping a virus attack that goes into more detail.

Scan your Hard Drive for Errors

Bad sectors or areas on your hard drive could lead to this error, so scanning your drive for errors is wise. To do so:

1. Click Start
2. Click Run… if in Windows XP, otherwise skip this step
3. Type chkdsk /f /r X: in the box and press Enter, where X: is the current drive letter, usually C:
4. You’ll have to restart in order to complete the repair process

More Information from Microsoft

Here’s a page on Microsoft’s website about this specific BSoD error. It’s pretty technical, but worth checking out if the above solutions don’t work.

Good luck!

Steve Horton