[SOLVED] DPC Watchdog Violation Error | Quickly & Easily!

If you’re in the middle of your work, and suddenly you see the blue screen popping up saying that you’re having a DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION blue screen error, you’re not alone. Many Windows users have reported about this error. But no need for you to worry about it, this error is possible to fix. 

5 fixes for DPC WATCHDOG VIOLATION

Here are 5 fixes for you to try. You may not need to try them all; just work your way down until you find the one works for you.  

1. Change SATA AHCI controller driver
2. Update all device drivers
3. Check hardware and software compatibility
4. Perform a disk check
5. Run Event Viewer

What is DPC Watchdog Violation? 

The DPC Watchdog Violation blue screen of death bug check has a value of 0x00000133. ^[1]

DPC stands for Deferred Procedure Call. Watchdog refers to the bug checker, which usually monitors or track your Windows programs and your PC performance.

When you see the Violation message, your PC watchdog (aka bug checker) is overwhelmed. Probably because a DPC is running too long a time, or your system is stuck at an interrupt request level (IRQL) of DISPATCH_LEVEL or above. ^[1]

Why would I have the DPC Watchdog Violation error?

In most cases, you will see this error when your device driver(s) is outdated or installed wrongly. For example, if you haven’t installed the video card driver for your new operating system, DPC Watchdog Violation could easily happen when you try to watch a video online. 

In some cases, incompatible hardware with your operating system can be the cause as well. For example, if your external hard driver is not longer supported by Windows 10, or that you have recently installed a new hardware device on your older computer, you will see DPC Watchdog Violation error as well. 

Sometimes, this error could be caused by software conflict, although not as common as the two causes above.

Fix 1: Change SATA AHCI controller driver

This is the most effective method according to a wide range of Windows users. So you might want to try it first: 

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X at the same time, then click Device Manager.
   
2. Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers. 
   
3. Right-click SATA AHCI controller and click Properties.
   
4. To verify that you’ve chosen the correct controller: go to the Driver tab, click Driver Details.
   
   Make sure the iaStorA.sys is listed as a driver. Click OK to exit. 
   
   If you’re seeing storahci.sys listed here, move on to Fix 2 for more help.
   
5. Navigate to the Driver tab, then click Update Driver…. 
   
6. Select Browse my computer for driver software.
   
7. Click Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
   
8. Click Standard SATA AHCI Controller, then click Next. Finish the rest of the procedure as instructed.
   
9. Restart your computer after for the change to take effect.
   

Fix 2: Update all device drivers

If you’re seeing storahci.sys listed in the properties of SATA AHCI controller driver, you should update your driver in this way.

In addition, one reason for DPC Watchdog Violation is outdated drivers for your hardware devices. You should check that if all your devices have the correct and latest drivers. If they are not, you should update them.

You can update your driver manually, by visiting the manufacturer’s website, downloading the latest correct installer and installing step by step. But if you don’t have the time or patience to do that manually, you can use Driver Easy to update automatically:

1. Download and install Driver Easy.
2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
   
3. Click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system.
   (This requires the Pro version – you’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All. If you don’t want to pay for the Pro version, you can still download and install all the drivers you need with the free version; you just have to download them one at a time, and manually install them, the normal Windows way.)
   

Alternatively, if you’re comfortable manually installing drivers, you can click ‘Update’ next to each flagged device in the free version to automatically download the correct driver. Once it’s downloaded, you can manually install it.

Fix 3: Check hardware and software compatibility

As mentioned, incompatible hardware devices with your PC operating system, and/or conflicted software programs could be one of the causes of the DPC Watchdog Violation error as well. 

Check hardware compatibility

If you have some external devices plugged or installed on your PC, such as external hard drive or a USB flash drive, disconnect them all (leave your mouse and keyboard connected), then restart your computer.

See if this error persists. If the error stops, plug your external devices back, only one at a time, then restart your PC. If you get the error again after certain device, you have got the culprit already. You can either replace this device completely from your PC, or update its driver as instructed in Fix 2. 

Check software compatibility

If this error only happens very recently, try to reflect if you have made some changes to your PC. For instance, have you installed a new application, or have you upgraded some programs. 

If you are not sure what changes you have done, you might want to do a system restore, to help you go back to the previous stage of your PC. 

Fix 4: Perform a disk check

A blue screen of death error could indicate a disk problem. You may want to make sure that your disk is at a good state: 

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run dialog. Type cmd and press Ctrl, Shift and Enter at the same time to run Command Prompt as administrator.
   
   When prompted with the administrator permission, click Yes to continue.
   
2. On your keyboard, type chkdsk /f /r, then press Enter.
   
3. Press Y on your keyboard.
   

Fix 5: Run Event Viewer

This method does not provide you with a solution, but you might be able to find the culprit driver or device that is causing you the DPC Watchdog Violation blue screen error. 

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and X at the same time. Then click Event Viewer.
   
2. On the left side of the panel, click Windows Logs, and then System.
   
3. In the middle part of the panel, you will be able to some entries. Check the ones marked by Error or Warning, then you should be able to see the detailed information of what exact went wrong at a certain time range.
   

Reference

[1] Microsoft debugger bug check 0x133 

• Blue Screen
• BSOD