Fix Error POOL_CORRUPTION_IN_FILE_AREA For Windows 10

POOL_CORRUPTION_IN_FILE_AREA is an error on Windows 10 that you’ll definitely want to avoid at all cost and fix as soon as possible. It indicates that there is something damaging on your PC and it will automatically restart your computer at random times and it will make everything run much slower. If you’ve gotten this error and want to learn how to correct it, this article will give you everything you know.

Also Read: Fix Runtime Error 203 For Windows 7 ,8 & 10

What is This Error?

It is one Windows error that is sometimes referred by some as the “blue screen of death” and you can why by looking at the screenshot shown above. It can create many problems with your PC and it will then restart your PC automatically in order to prevent this damage from occurring.

Causes

There are a variety of possible things that could be causing this error but the most general is a bug within your driver. These include an incorrectly configured, old, or corrupted device driver, a recent software change, virus or malware, memory (RAM) corruption, or several other things. Whatever causes this error would’ve been very harmful to your operating system so this error is basically just the computer’s defense mechanism.

It’s a fairly serious error that you’ll want to avoid at all costs due to this potential damage. It also is just flat out inconvenient, as you may lose saved work while your PC unexpectedly restarts. Therefore, you’ll want to fix this error as quickly as possible.

“Windows Updates have sometimes been a pain point for users. The update pop-ups can interrupt a movie or a video game, and the automatic restarts can result in lost data or confused users.” – Ben Parr

How to Fix It

There are several possible solutions for fixing this error, so let’s just get into them.

Solution 1 – Update your drivers

The most common cause of this error is outdated or buggy drivers, therefore it’s important that you update them. If you are unfamiliar what device drivers are, then check out the Wikipedia page on them. The important thing you should know is that by using incompatible drivers Windows 10 won’t be able to recognize and use your hardware so you’ll get this error. Here’s how to download the latest driver on your PC.

1. Press Windows Key + X on your keyboard to open the Power User Menu. Select Device Manager from the list.
2. When Device Manager opens, locate the driver you wish to update, right-click it and choose Update Driver Software.
3. Click on Search automatically for updated driver software and wait for Windows 10 to download and install the appropriate driver.
4. Repeat and do these steps for each driver until each is updated.

This the most common and probable cause of this error which is why I recommend trying it first. It also only takes a couple of minutes and doesn’t change your computer much, while some of the other steps on this list can take much longer and require you to make changes to your computer that you may not have wanted to make. However, if this solution doesn’t work, then just continue on down this list.

Solution 2 – Update Windows 10

Many times this error has already been corrected by the Microsoft team as they receive crash reports when this happens. Therefore, is there is a recurring theme or bug with this error, many times they are able to patch it up and then send it out as an update. Therefore, you should check to verify that Windows 10 is up-to-date with the latest version. If it’s not, then download this update and it may patch up whatever bug is causing it.

Solution 3 – Perform a Malware Scan

So most generally, a bug is what causes you to receive this blue screen of death. But bugs come in many forms and a popular way is through viruses. Visiting insecure sites is just one out of many ways your operating system can get a virus, so you’ll want to scan to make sure it is clean.

If you don’t already have a malware scanner, check out this article from Tech Radar, as they give you the 10 best free scanners out there on the market. You’ll be able to find a great one so you can see if malware is what is causing this error. It’s also just a good tool to have in general as it will definitely come in handy again.

Solution 4 – Run Windows System File Checker

System File Checker is a great and easy to use built-in tool included with Windows that allows you scan for and restore corruptions in Windows system files. Besides just for this error, it’s also just a great tool to know how to use.

To run this tool, follow these simple steps.

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type “command” in the search box and while holding CTRL-Shift on your keyboard, hit Enter.
3. You will be prompted with a permission dialog box, so click Yes.
4. Type “sfc /scannow” and hit Enter.
5. System File Checker will begin scanning for Error 0xDE and other system file problems this can take several minutes.
6. Follow the on-screen commands, as it will lead you to do everything you need to correct it.

Solution 5 – Check for Hard Drive Corruption

This step is similar to the previous one as you will be scanning your PC with similar methods, except this time you will be looking to see if there is an error on your hard drive, not just a specific file.

Here’s how to run this feature of Windows, or chkdsk as it is called:

1. Click the Start button.
2. Type “command” in the search box and while holding CTRL-Shift on your keyboard, hit Enter and then click Yes. 
3. Type “chkdsk /f” and hit Enter.
4. “chkdsk” will begin scanning for hard disk corruption.
5. Once it is finished, follow the on-screen commands which will tell you exactly how to fix it if there is indeed an error.

Solution 6 – Repair Registry Entries

Another place that this error can lie is within your registry, you’ll want to repair these entries. However, it should be noted that manually editing the Windows registry is not recommended unless you are PC service professional. Incorrectly editing your registry can stop your PC from functioning and create irreversible damage to your operating system, as one misplaced character do great damage to your computer.

Because of these risks, I’m not going to show you how to manually do this process. But, there are software programs that are called registry cleaners where that is their main function. I’d recommend checking out CCleaner as it is free and has everything you’ll need to fix this error if the registry is the issue.

Solution 7 – Perform System Restore or Windows 10 reset

If the error is caused by software, you might be able to fix this error by performing a system restore. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Start Automatic Repair by restarting your computer a few times during the boot.
2. Select Troubleshoot-> Advanced options-> System Restore.
3. Choose your username and enter your password.
4. Select Choose a different restore point and click Next.
5. Now select the restore point you wish to restore to and click Next.
6. Wait for the process to finish.

So that is how you perform a system restore on your operating system. However, sometimes that just isn’t enough. So now to the second part of this solution, and that is to do a complete Windows 10 reset. Here’s the most important part of this step; you’ll want to backup all of your files on a USB or another way, because this may result in file loss.

To perform Windows 10 reset, follow these steps. You’ll notice that they are quite similar to the previous ones.

1. Start Automatic Repair by restarting your computer few times during the boot.
2. Choose Troubleshoot-> Reset this PC-> Remove everything.
3. Select Only the drive where Windows is installed-> Just remove my files and then click Reset.
4. Reset process will now start. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the reset.

I know that this can be a quite extreme solution as you will be completely resetting your operating system and that is why I included it last in this article. It’s the most extreme that you probably really don’t want to do, but if nothing else above helped fix this error, it’s really your only option.

Summary

You’ll notice on many of our articles about other error codes here that many of them only take a couple of steps and can usually be corrected within a couple of minutes (see Svchost.exe or CE-34878-0). As you can see from above, that is just not the case with this error. It is a serious and complex issue that can be very damaging t0 your PC, while others may just not allow you to use a certain feature or program. You may correct it with the first solution you try, or with the last one. Whatever it is, just know that if you go through all of these solutions, you should have no problem fixing this error.