BAD POOL HEADER error on Windows 10 [Fixed]

Sometimes, the blue screen of death errors can ruin the day of a Windows user. Bad Pool Header is a widespread BSOD error and can appear randomly in any version of windows. But, recently, many Windows 10, 8.1, and 8 users have reported this problem. Therefore, in this article, you will know about some ways to fix this issue.

Like other blue screen errors, it can be caused by any hardware or software failure. If you use any incompatible antivirus or application, that can create BSOD in this way. When you find this error, you should remember what the last thing you did before finding the blue screen of death.

It can be a Windows update or a driver update, and it may be a hardware replacement, etc. If you can find out the possible reason behind this problem, it will be easier to fix it.

This blue screen of death may appear temporarily. After restarting the computer, it may disappear. But sometimes it can become a nightmare. If this blue screen error occurs frequently or entirely prevents you from accessing your PC, you will need to use a recovery disk or flash drive like on this guide.

If you can boot your computer for some time before the blue screen of death appears, you can try the following methods.

Method #1: Update Drivers and Windows

Try to update your drivers with the latest version. Update your windows too. If you are using the latest drivers, then find out which drivers are incompatible with your version of Windows. After that, remove these incompatible drivers.

You can update the drivers from the device manager following these steps:

Press the Win + R keys from the keyboard.
In the window that opens, copy the command devmgmt.msc and press Enter.
Now, you will see the entire list of drivers in a new window.
Right-click on any driver that you wish to update and select Update driver
On the window that opens, you can choose the first option to let Windows search the latest available drivers from the Internet

You can also update your drivers and even the system from Windows Update, to do that follow these steps:

Press the keys Win + I to open the Windows Settings
There click on the section Update & Security
Finally, there click on the button Check for updates
Windows will start searching updates for the system and also for your devices
When it finds something, install them all

If you want to update your devices using a more extensive database than the one from Windows Update, you can use a special driver updater. The one that I always recommend is Driver Booster, and you download the program from this link.

Once you installed the program, click on the button SCAN
Driver Booster will start scanning all your devices, and then it will search updates
When it finishes, you will see a summary of all the available updates, and there you only need to click on the button Update Now at the top to install them all at once

Method #2: Disable Search Service in Windows

Disabling the indexing service can fix this bad pool header issue quickly. But to perform this method, you will need to use an administrator account on your computer. Follow these steps:

Press the keys Win + R to open the Run window and there copy the command services.msc, then press Enter to open the Services window
Once there, scroll down until you find the service Windows Search and double click on it
Now, in the Startup type drown down menu select the option Disabled and click on Apply to save the changes
$C:\Users\Augustodisable window search service\Pictures\Screens\2019-10-15 13_10_53-Greenshot.jpg$
Finally, restart your computer, and hopefully, this BSOD will be gone for good

Method #3: Disable Security Software

On some occasions, this BSOD error can be caused by third-party antivirus, antimalware, or firewall programs. Therefore, you can disable these programs and see what happens. If, after disabling the security software with the steps that I will leave below you solve the problem, you can thoroughly uninstall that faulty program.

Disable Antivirus

If you have installed some antivirus on your computer, you can disable it easily following these steps:

Navigate to your taskbar, to the right side and there right-click on the icon of on your antivirus
On the menu that opens, click on the option Disable shield temporarily
Now, you can verify if the problem has been fixed successfully

Method #4: Check Hard Disk

On Windows, you have a useful utility that helps you to fix errors in the hard disk, and that could be the reason for this BSOD. You can check your hard drive following these steps:

You will need to open PowerShell as an administrator. To do that, right-click on the Start Menu and in the menu that opens click on Windows PowerShell (Admin)
Once there, copy and run the following command: chkdsk /f C:
The utility will tell you that it cannot run because the drive is in use and that you can schedule the scan in the next restart. There only type Y to confirm
Restart your computer and wait for the utility to check your hard disk. Hopefully, when it finishes, the issue will be fixed

Method #5: Memory Check

Sometimes, this error can be caused by a memory problem. So you can try to check your memory to fix this issue following these steps:

Press the Win key to open the Start menu
On the search box, type the word memory
Now, in the results, click on the one that says Windows Memory Diagnostic
Windows will ask you for admin rights and click on Yes
On the window that opens, click on the option Restart now and check for problems
Finally, wait for the tool to scan your memory and restart your computer
In this way, you will be fixed this BSOD error on Windows 10 successfully

Method #6: Clean Boot

A clean boot does not correct any windows error. But it helps identify if some third-party programs or services are causing a problem like this BSOD.

You can try to perform a clean boot on Windows following these steps:

Press the keys Win + R and in the box copy the command msconfig, then press Enter
Once in the System Configuration utility, navigate to the Services tab
There, check the box Hide all Microsoft services and click on the button Disable All
Click on OK to apply the changes and restart your computer
Now, if the bad pool header error doesn’t appear again, you need to go back to the System Configuration utility and enable the services one by one while you restart the computer to find the one that is the cause of this BSOD

Method #7: Scan for Virus

Sometimes, malware can create conflicts on your system, and therefore, you always need to scan your computer to remove these unwanted threads.

You can scan your system using the Windows Security antivirus that you have installed by default on Windows 10, but I will recommend downloading Malwarebytes.

This antivirus can be downloaded for free and doesn’t need to run every time on your computer. You can use only the times that you need to scan your computer.

Method #8: Disconnect Devices

Some users have reported that this BSOD could appear when you have connected some problematic devices on your computer. Therefore, you can disconnect any external hardware except the mouse and keyboard.

Then restart the computer. If this solves your problem, you can connect each device one by one to find the one that has compatibility problems with Windows.

Method #9: Safe Mode

If you haven’t been able to boot your computer, you can try to enter the Safe Mode to restore your system and fix this bad pool header problem once for all.

On older versions of Windows like 7, you can open the Safe Mode pressing the key F8 while booting, but on Windows 8 and 10, the things are different.

To open the Safe Mode on Windows 10, restart your computer, and when it is starting, suddenly turn on the computer or unplug the power source.

After this, Windows 10 will think that are have been some problem starting the system and will boot this time the WinRE and from there follow these steps to open Safe Mode

You will see a blue screen with several options, there click on Troubleshoot
Now, click on Advanced options
On this section, you need to click on the option Startup settings
Finally, there click on the button Restart
When Windows start, it will show you several options, and there you can choose the option number 4 F4 to open the Safe Mode
Once your computer boots without problems in Safe Mode, open the Control Panel
Sort the view by icons and click on the section System
In the left side menu, click on System Protection
Now, in the window that opens, click on System Restore
Click on Next, and you will see a list of available restore points that you can use. Choose one where your computer was working without a problem and click on Next
Follow the wizard until the process finishes, and hopefully, this annoying BSOD will be fixed

Those were the most common ways to fix this bad pool header error on Windows 10. If you still need help, you can write in the comments section below, but you also can use Microsoft Community Forums. There you can receive multiple replies that could help you in your particular case.

Thanks for reading, here I leave some other Windows-related error:

How to fix BAD POOL HEADER error on Windows 10