How To Fix a 'Page Fault in Nonpaged Area' Error in Windows 10

There are many reasons you may get a Windows error screen that reads "Page Fault in Nonpaged Area" in Windows 10. Most of the time, it relates to some form of hardware memory failure. Sometimes it could be related to a software issue.

Cause of "Page Fault in Nonpaged Area" Error

The following are a few examples of what can cause this Windows 10 error.

• Corrupt unit of hard drive memory
• A software driver memory conflict
• An aborted or failed Windows update
• Faulty RAM card

Each of these cases involves hardware or software. While there are many causes of this error, it's easy enough to troubleshoot and locate the issue causing it for you.

How to Fix "Page Fault in Nonpaged Area" Error

This issue applies to the latest version of Windows 10. If you aren't sure if you're running the latest version, make sure you've checked for and installed the latest Windows 10 updates.

1. The most common cause of this error is a corrupt memory location on your hard disk. The CHKDSK command is the best way to do this. Run this command with error checking to find any bad sectors on your drive. There are several things you can do if the program finds errors. These include repairing hard drive errors, trying to recover data from any bad sectors, or fixing any corrupted files.

   If CHKDSK doesn't find issues, but you're still convinced there could be something wrong with your hard drive, you could also try any free hard drive testing programs. They may find issues that CHKDSK may not.

2. Missing or corrupted system files could cause unusual behavior, like the "page fault in nonpaged area" error. It's a good idea to scan your system and check for corrupt Windows system files using the SFC command. You'll want to use SFC with the /Scannow parameter to automatically repair your system files that could be causing the issue.

3. The last software related issue to check for an easy fix is whether any recently installed drivers or Windows updates are causing memory conflicts. One easy way to find this issue is by checking for any device status errors using Device Manager. If there are errors and you haven't updated the driver in a while, try updating the driver for that device. If you updated before the error, then try rolling the driver back. If there are no driver errors, then checking for and installing the latest Windows updates could resolve the error.

   A quick way to check if a driver is causing the issue is to boot Windows in safe mode. This starts Windows with only the minimum required system software running. If your error goes away, it points to non-hardware driver or software issues.

4. If you've come this far, then your "page fault in nonpaged area" error could be caused by Windows attempting to write to your paging file (pagefile.sys) without enough memory. This is also known as running out of "virtual memory." If Windows isn't configured to resize the paging file automatically, you could see this error. You can adjust your virtual memory manually or configure Windows to handle it automatically.

5. At this point, your actual RAM could be the cause of this error. Before you decide to swap out your physical memory cards, there are a few housekeeping tricks you can try. First, try clearing RAM on your Windows PC. This may reset memory and remove any issues. You can also try using Windows system tools to check RAM.

6. At this point, you may need to replace the memory (RAM) in your computer. Before you do this, make sure to order the correct RAM type for your computer. Keep in mind that Windows 10 laptops may be difficult to upgrade, so you may need to decide whether you want to try an upgrade or replace it entirely.