Software & Apps > Windows 58 58 people found this article helpful What Is a POST Error Message? By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Facebook Twitter Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 16, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide A POST error message is an error displayed on the monitor during the power-on self test if the BIOS encounters some kind of problem while starting the PC. It will only display on screen if the computer is capable of booting this far. If the POST detects an error before this point, a beep code or POST code will be generated instead. POST screen with BIOS version. POST error messages are usually fairly descriptive and should give you enough information to begin troubleshooting whatever problem the POST found. A POST error message is sometimes called a BIOS error message, POST message, or POST screen message. Although completely unrelated to hardware and therefore not covered in this article, a "post error message" can also refer to problems that come up while trying to upload/post information online, such as to a social media account. Resources on POST Errors If you're seeing POST error messages, then the problem is very likely related to some sort of hardware malfunction. A stop at this step in the boot-up process means the computer hasn't even loaded the operating system, so POST errors aren't related to Windows, macOS, or Linux. See How to Fix Stopping, Freezing, and Reboot Issues During the POST for a troubleshooting guide on what to do when your computer hangs during the post. A POST test card displays errors during the POST, and is useful if the hardware issue occurs before the monitor can show the error. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up! Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit