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Troubleshooting Windows Blue Screen While Playing (2XKO)

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Blue screens can sometimes be hard to troubleshoot as they can be caused by hardware issues. Before you consult with a technical expert, we've prepared some steps you can follow to take a jab* at fixing this.

*Taking a jab is a figure of speech. Please, do not stab the Blue Screen as this may result in permanent damage of your monitor and Ekko will not be able to fix it for you.

Standard Troubleshooting

Run System Health Check

This will find and repair corrupt Windows files.

  1. Open Command Prompt as an Administrator.
  2. Type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
  3. When it finishes, type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and press Enter.
  4. Finally, type chkdsk /f /r and press Enter. You will need to type Y and restart the PC to let this run.

Scan for Malware

Run a full system scan with a reputable tool like Malwarebytes or the built-in Windows Defender.

  1. Update your Windows
  2. Update your Graphics card
  3. Update Motherboard BIOS (as advised below)

13th/14th Gen Intel CPUs - vgk.sys errors

If you encounter vgk.sys errors and your CPU is a 13th or 14th generation Intel CPU, such as the i7-13700 or i7-14700k, following these steps may resolve your issue:

Enable Memory Integrity

This Windows feature can resolve software conflicts with vgk.sys.

  1. Open the Start Menu and search for "Windows Security".
  2. In the app, go to Device security.
  3. Click on Core isolation details.
  4. Find the Memory integrity setting and toggle the switch to On.
  5. Restart the computer and test the game. If it still crashes, proceed to the next step.

Adjust CPU Ratio via Intel XTU 

If the crash continues, it's a hardware stability issue. We can try a software workaround first.

  1. Download and install Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU) from here
  2. Open XTU and go to the Basic Tuning section.
  3. Find the Performance Core Ratio (it may show a multiplier like 55x).
  4. Lower this multiplier to 54x. Click Save.
  5. Test the game. If it still crashes, try lowering it again to 53x. (Note: The PC may crash once while applying this. This is normal. Just restart and confirm the setting.)
  6. If this still doesn't fix it, proceed to the final step.

Update Motherboard BIOS

This is the most complex step, but it is the official fix from manufacturers for the root-cause instability.

  1. Visit your motherboard manufacturer's website (e.g., ASUS, MSI, Gigabyte)
  2. Locate the support page for your specific motherboard model, download the latest BIOS version, and follow the manufacturer's instructions to update it (this usually requires a USB flash drive)

If you're unsure of what who your motherboard manufacturer is or what model your device is running:

  1. Press Win + R
  2. Type in msinfo32 - this opens up your System Information
  3. Under System Summary, you can locate the manufacturer and model under BaseBoard Manufacturer and BaseBoard Product

If the steps to update your BIOS feels too daunting, don't hesitate to reach out to your motherboard manufacturer for guidance!

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