The possibility of some Windows 10 devices experiencing Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) crashes with error code 0xc000021a was verified by Microsoft over the weekend. The KB5021233 cumulative update, which was made available on Patch Tuesday in December 2022, according to the Redmond corporation, is to blame for the problem.
According to Microsoft’s document explaining the technical details of the problem, “After installing KB5021233, there might be a mismatch between the file versions of hidparse.sys in c:/windows/system32 and c:/windows/system32/drivers (assuming Windows is installed to your C: drive) that might cause signature validation to fail when cleanup occurs.”
Only the client versions of Windows 10—including Windows 10, versions 22H2, 21H2, 21H1, and 20H2—are affected by the BSOD.
There isn’t a permanent cure for this yet, but Microsoft promises users that a fix is already in the works. It also provides a remedy that calls for using Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to carry out a series of operations. Additionally, Microsoft advises that you stick with their recommendations rather than the alternative ones that are promoted online. Microsoft continues, “We do not advise deleting the hidparse.sys from your WindowsSystem32 folder.
- The Windows Recovery Environment must be accessed. Please see Entry points into WinRE if your device has not already started up into WinRE automatically.
- To troubleshoot, click the button.
- To begin using recovery, troubleshooting, and diagnostic tools, click the button.
- To access advanced options, click the button.
- If necessary, choose “Command Prompt” and wait for your device to restart.
- When your device restarts, a Command Prompt window should appear. Before using the Command Prompt window, you might need to authenticate into your device with your password.
- Run the following command (Note: You may need to adjust this command for your environment if Windows is not installed at C:windows): xcopy C:\windows\system32\drivers\hidparse.sys C:\windows\system32\hidparse.sys
- Type: exit once the preceding command has finished.
- Click “Continue” to move forward.
- Now, Windows ought should launch normally.
