The LiveKernelEvent 141 error is a thorn in the side of many gamers. It mainly shows up in the middle of gaming or when players try to launch a video game. The error could also appear when you try to launch any other application.
This article contains guides that will show you how to fix the LiveKernelEvent 141 crash error in Windows 10.
Disable overclocking
An overclocked GPU or CPU could trigger the error. When you overclock your CPU or GPU, you’re increasing the strain on the device to enjoy temporarily improved performance.
If you want to enjoy better frame rates and efficient gameplay, go for a device that meets the game’s recommended requirements. You can also employ other performance-boosting methods, such as reducing the load on your CPU, freeing up disk space, and reducing graphic-intensive settings in the game.
Restore your CPU and GPU clock speeds to their defaults, and the error should go away for good. If it doesn’t, leave the clock speeds at their defaults and move on to the next solution.
Reinstall your GPU driver
Your graphics card is at the center of your system’s performance when it comes to gaming. The LiveKernelEvent 141 error is one of the results of a faulty GPU driver. The driver controls communication that flows between the operating system and the video card. It helps the device interpret video processing instructions.
Once the driver becomes corrupt or obsolete, its chances of producing such an error increase, especially during gameplay.
So, your first step should involve reinstalling the driver. This means you’ll have to uninstall the piece of software and reinstall it.
Follow these steps to uninstall it:
- Right-click on the Windows logo key in your taskbar or press Win + X on your keyboard.
- The Power User menu will now slide out.
- Click on Device Manager.
- Once the Device Manager window shows up, expand the Display Adapters category.
- Right-click on your graphics adapter and select Uninstall Device.
- Check the box beside “Delete the driver software for this device” once the Uninstall Device confirmation box appears.
- Click on Uninstall.
- After the process is complete, restart your computer.
After restarting your system, Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver automatically. If nothing happens, your system’s display will be affected. Move on to the next solution.
Roll back the GPU driver
Installing the previous version of the GPU driver is one way to check whether you’re experiencing compatibility problems with the driver update you recently installed. These steps will show you how to roll back the GPU driver:
- Right-click on the Windows logo in your taskbar or press Win + X on your keyboard.
- The Power User menu will now slide out.
- Click on Device Manager.
- Once the Device Manager window shows up, expand the Display Adapters category.
- Right-click on your graphics adapter and select Properties.
- After the graphics card’s Properties window opens, go to the Driver tab and click on the Roll Back Driver button.
If the Roll Back Driver button is greyed out, you can do things manually. Return to the driver’s Properties tab to check your driver version. After that, head to the GPU manufacturer’s website to search for the previous driver and download it. Make sure you also note your GPU’s make and model, your system architecture, and your OS version.
Update the GPU driver
Updating the driver should fix the problem if it’s a result of obsolete driver components. Sometimes, games require new software capabilities to communicate with the graphics card, and GPU manufacturers release driver updates.
If you haven’t updated your device driver for a while now, you should do so.
First, go through the Windows Update client to install updates for your computer. Updates are essential in the sense that they patch bugs and enhance performance. The client will also help you install the latest version of your graphics card driver if Microsoft has published it. If you don’t know how to update your system, these steps will help:
- Launch the Settings app using the Windows + I keyboard combo.
- After the first page of Windows Settings opens, click on the Update & Security icon.
- When you see the Windows Update client, allow it to check for updates and download them.
- If you have optional updates, such as Quality and Feature updates, click on the Download and Install button.
- Once the client downloads the updates, click on the Restart Now button to allow it to reboot your PC and start the installation process.
- Note that your computer will likely reboot multiple times before the installation process completes.
- After the process completes, your computer will boot up normally.
- You can now start the game or app to check for the problem.
If updating your system doesn’t work, you have other alternatives. Using a third-party application designed to find driver-related problems and fix them is your best bet. Auslogics Driver Updater will not only update your obsolete graphics card driver but also find other problematic device drivers on your system and update them as well.
What’s more, it can keep a backup of old driver versions after updating them. Doing that will allow you to roll back to the previous drivers whenever new drivers cause problems.
Here’s how to install and use Auslogics Driver Updater:
- Open Auslogics Driver Updater’s product page.
- After the page shows up, click on the Download button.
- Allow your browser to save the installation package.
- After the browser downloads the file, run it.
- Select the Yes option in the User Account Control dialog box.
- Next, select a language and choose your installation folder once the installation wizard opens.
Note: It’s recommended that you go for the default install location.
- After that, use the checkboxes to apply other preferences, such as creating a desktop shortcut, starting the app after you boot your system, and allowing the tool to share anonymous crash reports.
- Next, click on the Click to Install button.
- The program will check your computer for outdated and corrupt drivers once the installation is complete.
- A list will appear, showing you the drivers that you should update.
- Make sure you update each driver that comes up. If you go for the program’s full version, it will download the drivers simultaneously.
- Once the tool completes the update process, restart your computer and check if the problem persists.
Use the CHKDSK utility
Since hardware problems are the leading cause of the error, you should check your hard disk drive for faulty sectors. The CHKDSK tool will scan for bad sectors and prevent your computer from using them in the future. The utility can also attempt to recover readable files in these bad sectors.
There are two main ways to run the CHKDSK program: one includes going through File Explorer, and the other involves using the Command Prompt. We’ll show you how to use both methods.
These steps will show you how to run the CHKDSK tool via File Explorer:
- Summon a File Explorer window by double-clicking any folder on your desktop or by pressing Win + E.
- Once File Explorer opens, go to the left pane of the window and click on This PC.
- Next, switch to the right pane.
- Right-click on the drive where Windows is installed (in most cases, it is Local Disk C) and select Properties.
- Once the Properties dialog window appears, move over to the Tools tab.
- Under the Tools tab, go to the Error Checking section and click on the Check button.
- Windows will now check your hard disk briefly and will likely bring up a dialog that says,
“You don’t need to scan this drive.
We haven’t found any errors on this drive. You can still scan for errors if you want.”
- Select Scan Drive. The tool will now check your drive, and a dialog will show you the scan results.
To run a more in-depth scan, you’ll have to run the CHKDSK tool via an elevated Command Prompt window. Here’s how:
- Open Run by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Run from the Quick Access menu or pressing the Windows logo key + R shortcut.
- After the dialog box appears, type “CMD” (without the quotes) into the text box, then press Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
- Select Yes after the User Account Control dialog pops up to ask permission to run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
- Once you see the elevated Command Prompt window, type the following line into the black screen and hit Enter:
chkdsk C: /f /r /x
Note that “C” in the command line is a placeholder for the Windows volume or partition.
The “/f” parameter allows the CHKDSK tool to resolve any error it detects.
The “/r” switch prompts the utility to recover any readable information from the bad sectors.
The “/x” parameter allows the tool to unmount the drive before scanning it.
Press the Y keyboard button if you see this message:
“Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)”
Check your RAM
Another hardware device to assess is your system memory. RAM sticks are known for random failures and permanent damage that cause all sorts of system errors. If any of your RAM sticks is damaged and triggers the error, it won’t go away until you replace the defective device. The Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool can help you find out if any of your RAM sticks is problematic.
The steps below will show you how to do that:
- Head to your taskbar, right-click the Start button and click on Run. The Windows + R keyboard shortcut is another way to launch the Run dialog window.
- Once Run shows up, type “mdsched” and click on the OK button.
- The Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool window will pop up. Click on the option that reads, “Restart now and check for problems (Recommend).”
- Your device will now reboot.
- You’ll see the Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool’s interface once your system restarts.
- Once the testing process is complete, the tool will automatically restart your system.
- After your computer boots up, watch out for a notification that will tell you the scan results.
You can also go to the Event Viewer to check the results of the scan. Follow these steps:
- Right-click on the Windows logo in your taskbar or press Win + X on your keyboard.
- The Power User menu will now slide out.
- Click on Event Viewer.
- After the Event Viewer opens, go to the left side of the screen and navigate to Windows Logs > System.
- Single-click on System, then go to the right side of the window and click on Find.
- Once the Find text box opens, type “MemoryDiagnostic” and click on the Find Next button.
- The search results will show up at the bottom of the Number of Events list in the middle pane. The date and time of the Information event should match the period you ran the test.
- If you have two RAM sticks, you should see two Information events.
- Details of the events will appear under the Events section.
Note that you have to replace your RAM stick if it’s bad. If you have two RAM sticks, you can remove one and run the test to check if it’s the faulty one.
Perform a clean boot
Running a clean boot allows you to confirm whether a startup program or service is triggering the error. Sometimes, background applications that launch after Windows starts clash with other programs, such as games, and produce different crash errors. If the problem keeps occurring when you’re running a game or an app, an application conflict is likely the culprit, especially if other solutions haven’t resolved the issue until now.
To perform a clean boot, you’ll be disabling startup programs and services. Once you’ve prevented them from launching the next time Windows starts, you can run the game or app that has been crashing to check if the problem occurs again. If the app or game no longer crashes, then you’ve confirmed the cause of the error.
But that’s not where it ends. You also have to pinpoint the particular app causing the problem since you can’t keep all your startup services and programs disabled forever. We’ll show you everything you have to do.
Firstly, go to the Settings app to disable startup programs. Follow these steps:
- Press Win + I to open Settings, or right-click Start and click on Settings in the Power User menu.
- After Settings shows up, click on Apps.
- Once the Apps window appears, go to the left pane and click on Startup.
- Go to the right pane and switch off the apps under Startup Apps.
Next, head to the System Configuration dialog to disable startup services:
- Right-click on the Start button and select Run from the Power User menu. You can also tap Win + R to launch the Run dialog box.
- After Run shows up, type “msconfig” and click on OK.
- Head to the Services tab when you see the System Configuration dialog box.
- Tick the “Hide all Microsoft services” checkbox.
- Click on the Disable All button.
- Click on the OK button.
- Restart your computer.
Once your system starts, the startup services and programs you disabled will remain idle. You can now run the game or the program to check if crashes will happen. If nothing happens, you have to isolate the startup item responsible for the error.
To find the culprit, you have to enable one service and restart your system to check for the problem. Keep on going through the startup items one after the other until one of them triggers the issue again.
You can follow these steps to speed up the process:
- Go to the System Configuration window and switch to the Services tab.
- Uncheck the boxes for half of the services under the tab, then click on Enable All. You can uncheck the services in the bottom half so that you’ll be enabling the top half.
- Click on OK and reboot your computer to check for the problem.
- If the app or game crashes, then one of the services you enabled is responsible. You now have to check only the services in this batch, one after the other. However, if the problem doesn’t occur, it means you no longer have to check the services you enabled. Enable the other half and see if the error persists.
- Do the same with the programs you disabled in the Settings app.
Conclusion
That’s how to resolve the LiveKernelEvent code 141 problem. You can head to the comments section to ask questions and share your thoughts about the error.