Have You Ever Seen an Error Message Flash and Disappear? Here’s How to Find It Again

Have you ever seen an error code or English message pop up for a split second—then vanish before you could read it?
You are definitely not alone.

This happens during:

• Windows startup
• App crashes
• Driver or update failures
• Random system glitches

This guide explains how to recover those disappearing error messages using both simple built-in tools and more advanced diagnostic utilities.

1. Stop Automatic Restart (So You Can Read BSOD Errors)

If your PC restarts instantly after a crash, that’s because Windows is set to reboot automatically.
Disable that once, and the blue screen will stay visible until you restart.

How to disable automatic restart

1. Open Control Panel
2. Go to System → Advanced system settings
3. Under Startup and Recovery, click Settings
4. Uncheck Automatically restart

👉 After turning this off, you will have plenty of time to read the STOP code and take a photo.

2. Use Event Viewer to Check Logged Errors

Windows records most system issues silently in the background.

How to open Event Viewer

• Press Win + R
• Type eventvwr
• Press Enter

Then check:

• Windows Logs → System
• Windows Logs → Application

Look for:

• Error
• Critical
• BugCheck
• Kernel-Power

These often indicate the exact moment the crash occurred.

3. Reliability Monitor (Beginner-Friendly Log Viewer)

If Event Viewer feels too technical, Reliability Monitor provides a clean timeline of:

• app crashes
• Windows failures
• warnings
• update issues

Steps

1. Search “reliability” from Start
2. Open View reliability history
3. Click any date to view detailed events

It’s perfect for identifying hidden issues you may have missed.

4. Use BlueScreenView to Analyze Crash Dumps

Whenever Windows crashes, it creates minidump (.dmp) files.

BlueScreenView (free) shows:

• STOP code
• The driver that caused the crash
• Exact timestamp
• Faulty system files

Download:
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.html

It runs without installation and is extremely fast.

5. Use WhoCrashed for Easy-to-Read Explanations

WhoCrashed analyzes dump files and explains the crash in plain English.

Example output:

“This crash was probably caused by Realtek High Definition Audio driver.”

Perfect for beginners and for identifying whether drivers need updating.

Download:
https://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed

6. Record Your Screen (For Ultra-Fast Errors)

Some errors disappear too quickly for Windows to log properly.

Try:

• PC screen recorder (OBS / ShareX)
• Smartphone video recording
• Slow-motion mode for BIOS or pre-boot messages

Then pause the video frame-by-frame to capture the exact error.

7. Bonus Tips

✔ Keep logs longer

Increase retention in Event Viewer so logs are not overwritten.

✔ Schedule Reliability Monitor

Use Task Scheduler to run:
perfmon /rel

✔ Note what happened before the crash

Common triggers include:

• new USB devices
• third-party antivirus
• failed updates
• old drivers

8. How to Search for Disappearing Error Codes

If you saw something like:

0xc00000050xc0000022Exception access violationCritical process died

Search these exact phrases:

0xc0000005 fix windowsexception access violation after update

This often leads to identical cases and confirmed solutions.

Summary

Even if an error appears for only a split second, you can find out what it said.

Tools that help:

• Turn off automatic restart
• Event Viewer (system logs)
• Reliability Monitor
• BlueScreenView (dump analysis)
• WhoCrashed (simple explanations)
• Screen recording for ultra-fast messages

With the right tools, no error message is truly “lost.”

✔️You might also find these helpful:

▶︎How to Fix Windows C Drive Permission Errors (Full Recovery Guide)

▶︎How to Fix “TPM Disabled” and “Secure Boot Not Enabled” When Upgrading to Windows 11 24H2

▶︎How to Fix Windows C Drive Permission Errors (Full Recovery Guide)

タグ: hidden errors, Windows error, troubleshooting, BSOD, error code, Event Viewer, BlueScreenView, crash dump, WhoCrashed, Windows log analysis