Forum Discussion

mikeleblanc413's avatar
Nov 13, 2014

What is, "Page fault in non paged area"? error message

I've been trying to update from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 and near the end of the update I get a messages that reads, "windows could not load 8.1 because of a page fault in non paged area". Re-installation is automatically begun, but I get another message that that can't be done, so I must restore to an earlier state. This whole process is about 1 1/2 hours. My question is: what is a page fault in a non paged area and how do I correct it so 8.1 can be installed? Thanks!
  • It's a programming error - a program is trying to read memory from a location that doesn't exist. Is there a file name listed after the error message? Maybe something ending in .sys? That would indicate if the problem is in a driver and if so, which one.

    Your best bet is to take this up in the Microsoft forums or to call them directly.