Athwbx.sys or the Qualcomm Atheros driver file is known to trigger several Blue Screen of Death errors. This occurs when the driver gets corrupted or when the operating system is unable to access or find it. In addition, bad sectors in the hard disk or RAM can also cause BSOD errors. The athwbx.sys file is known to cause the following BSOD errors listed below:
- SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (athwbx.sys)
- STOP 0x0000000A: IRQL_NOT_LESS_EQUAL (athwbx.sys)
- STOP 0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED (athwbx.sys)
- STOP 0×00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA (athwbx.sys)
- Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. You can search online later for this error: athwbx.sys
Before you proceed with the troubleshooting tips given below, you might want to try performing System Restore as it could resolve Blue Screen errors caused by the athwbx.sys file. To run System Restore, follow these steps:
- Tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box.
- After that, type in “sysdm.cpl” in the field and tap Enter.
- Next, go to the System Protection tab then click the System Restore button. This will open a new window where you have to select your preferred System Restore point.
- After that, follow the on-screen instructions to finish the process and then restart your computer and check if the problem is fixed or not.
If System Restore didn’t help in fixing the Blue Screen error, now’s the time for you to resort to the troubleshooting tips provided below but before you get started, make sure that you create a System Restore point first.
Option 1 – Try recreating the athwbx.sys file
The first thing you can try is to recreate the athwbx.sys file. Every time your Windows 10 PC boots up, it looks for all the system drivers in place and if it is unable to find them, it tries to create them. This is why if you remove your corrupt driver file, chances are, you might get a fixed file recreated just for you. How? Refer to the steps below.
- Boot your Windows 10 PC in Safe Mode.
- Then open File Explorer and navigate to this location: C:/Windows/System32/drivers
- From there, look for the file named sys and rename it to athwbx.old.
Note: As you can see, the file’s extension has changed from .sys to .old.
- Now restart your computer and check if the athwbx.sys Blue Screen error is now fixed.
Option 2 – Try to update or rollback your device drivers
If the first option didn’t work for you, then it’s time to either update or roll back the device drivers. It is most likely that after you updated your Windows computer that your driver also needs a refresh. On the other hand, if you have just updated your device drivers then you need to roll back the drivers to their previous versions. Whichever applies to you, refer to the steps below.
- Open the Devices Manager from the Win X Menu.
- Then locate the device drivers and right-click on them to open the Properties.
- After that, switch to the Driver tab and click on the Uninstall Device button.
- Follow the screen option to completely uninstall it.
- Finally, restart your computer. It will just reinstall the device drivers automatically.
Note: You can install a dedicated driver on your computer in case you have it or you could also look for it directly from the website of the manufacturer.
Option 3 – Run the System File Checker Scan
System File Checker or SFC is a built-in command utility that helps in restoring corrupted files as well as missing files. It replaces bad and corrupted system files with good system files. To run the SFC command, follow the steps given below.
- Tap Win + R to launch Run.
- Type in cmd in the field and tap Enter.
- After opening Command Prompt, type in sfc /scannow
The command will start a system scan which will take a few whiles before it finishes. Once it’s done, you could get the following results:
- Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
- Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.
- Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some of them.
Option 4 – Try to run the CHKDSK utility
Running the CHKDSK utility might also help you resolve the athwbx.sys Blue Screen error. If your hard drive has issues with integrity, the update will really fail as the system will think that it’s not healthy and that’s where the CHKDSK utility comes in. The CHKDSK utility repairs hard drive errors that might be causing the problem.
- Open Command Prompt with admin privileges.
- After opening Command Prompt, execute the following command and hit Enter:
chkdsk /f /r
- Wait for the process to be completed and then restart your computer.
Option 5 – Run the Memory Diagnostic Tool
Running the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool in Windows 10 might also help you in fixing the athwbx.sys Blue Screen error. Refer to the steps below on how to run this tool:
- Tap the Win + R keys to open Run and type exe and hit Enter to open the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool.
- After that, it will give two options such as:
- Restart now and check for problems (Recommended)
- Check for problems the next time I start my computer
- Once your computer has restarted, perform a basic scan or you could also go for the “Advanced” options such as “Test mix” or “Pass count”. Simply tap the F10 key to start the test.
Note: After you select the option, your PC will restart and check for memory-based issues. If it finds any issues, it will automatically fix them and if there’s no issue found, then it’s most likely not a memory-based issue so you should try the other options given below.
Option 6 – Run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter
The Blue Screen troubleshooter is a built-in tool in Windows 10 that helps users in fixing BSOD errors like athwbx.sys. It can be found on the Settings Troubleshooters page. To use it, refer to these steps:
- Tap the Win + I keys to open the Settings panel.
- Then go to Update & Security > Troubleshoot.
- From there, look for the option called “Blue Screen” on your right-hand side and then click the “Run the troubleshooter” button to run the Blue Screen Troubleshooter and then follow the next on-screen options. Note that you might have to boot your PC into Safe Mode.