# BlueScreen - Sysinternals | Microsoft Learn Author: Mark Russinovich\ Published: November 1, 2006 Overview * BlueScreen (Bluescreen) is a screen saver that authentically mimics the Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and can simulate system startup screens for various Windows versions. * It cycles between different BSODs and simulated boots roughly every 15 seconds, extracting system-specific information (build number, processor revision, loaded drivers and addresses, disk characteristics, memory size, etc.) to produce realistic output. * Use case: novelty/prank — "amaze your friends and scare your enemies." Download * Download BlueScreen (64 KB): * Download image link (unchanged): Simulated behaviors by OS * NT 4.0: simulates chkdsk of disk drives with errors. * Windows 95 / 98 / 2000: presents the Windows 2000 startup splash (rotating progress band and progress updates). * Windows XP / Server 2003: presents the XP / Server 2003 startup splash with progress bar. Installation and usage * Copy BLUESCRN.SCR to: * %SystemRoot%\system32 on Windows NT/2000, or * %Windows%\System on Windows 95/98. * For Windows 95/98, you must copy \winnt\system32\ntoskrnl.exe from a Windows 2000 system into your Windows directory before running Bluescreen. * Activate via Display settings → Screen Saver tab → select "Sysinternals Bluescreen" and apply. * The "Settings" dialog can enable fake disk activity for extra realism. Compatibility * Client: Windows Vista and higher. * Server: Windows Server 2008 and higher. Important notes * Some virus scanners may flag the Bluescreen screen saver as a virus; if so, you may not be able to use it. * For more details about real Blue Screens and their information, see the referenced Windows IT Pro article: Additional resources * Troubleshoot Windows startup (training module): Last updated: 09/15/2022 (Original download link repeated: )