Running System Diagnostics with Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool
So, if you’re bumping into that annoying error code 747 — especially the page fault transition fault — it can really throw you for a loop. I’ve been there. Usually, it’s either some memory fault acting up or a driver hiccup throwing a fit. The first thing that finally worked for me was running the Windows Memory Diagnostic tool. Not exactly glamorous, but memory issues are known for making your system crash, lose data, or just freeze out of nowhere.
Here’s where I got stuck — you’d think such a built-in tool would be obvious to find, but on some systems, it’s buried or labeled differently. The easiest way is to go into the Windows search bar and just type “Windows Memory Diagnostic”. No magic shortcut required. When the app shows up, click on it. Then, pick “Restart now and check for problems”. The PC will reboot and run a memory test. It’s not quick — depending on your RAM, it can take some time, so maybe grab some coffee. Alternatively, you can run it from an elevated Command Prompt by typing mdsched.exe and hitting Enter. That’s usually simpler, and if you’re comfortable with CLI, it’s worth trying too.
If the test finds errors, it’s a pretty clear sign your RAM sticks might be faulty — time to swap them out. But if it comes back clean, don’t get too confident just yet. Sometimes, the system’s memory interaction with drivers or other hardware can still be a problem. Also, check out your Event Viewer logs under Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System. If there are any memory-related warnings or errors, they can give you a clue. Sometimes, it’s not the RAM but how your system is managing it.
Updating Storage Controllers Drivers
Now, onto drivers—particularly storage controllers. Outdated or corrupted drivers here can cause the dreaded page fault errors to keep popping up. For me, opening Device Manager was the key. You get there by right-clicking the Start button — because, honestly, Windows hiding things in plain sight is its specialty.
In Device Manager, look for “Storage Controllers”. Expand that section. Find your main storage driver — labels vary, but common ones include “Intel(R) SSD SATA Controller”, “AMD SATA Controller”, or similar. Right-click and select “Update driver”. Then, pick “Search automatically for drivers”. Let Windows do the heavy lifting for a while. If nothing shows up, it’s time to go straight to your PC or motherboard manufacturer’s support website—think Dell, HP, Asus, Lenovo, whatever. Find the latest driver package for your specific model. Sometimes, using tools like Intel RST or AMD RAID drivers is crucial, especially if you’re running those for your SSDs or HDDs. Keeping those updated can fix underlying conflicts causing page faults.
Sometimes, though, driver updates can cause their own issues. If you update and things go sideways, rolling back or trying an older version might help. Also, check all your listed storage controllers — even “Unknown device” entries — because sometimes those are misbehaving drivers. For dependency verification, you can run pnputil.exe /enum-dependencies. Just a little inside tip I found online. Reboot after updating—usually that’s enough to see if the errors go away.
Running Command Line Diagnostic Tools: DISM and SFC
If hardware appears fine but the errors stick around, it’s time to get a bit more aggressive with Windows’ built-in tools. Specifically, DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) and SFC (System File Checker). These scan your system files for corruption, which can cause page fault errors. I know, sounds too simple, but I’ve had weird errors vanish after running these.
Open an elevated Command Prompt — press Windows + R, type cmd, then hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Confirm the UAC prompt. To run DISM, type these commands one by one, pressing Enter after each:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealthHonestly, the first two are quick checks. The third can take a good 10-30 mins depending on how much damage Windows finds. If you’re feeling impatient, watch the console output — but a cup of coffee helps here. After those finish, run:
sfc /scannowThis will scan all protected system files and try to fix them if necessary. It’s not always perfect, but I’ve seen it recover system stability pretty reliably. Once done, restart your PC and see if the error persists. It’s also helpful to look in Event Viewer for specific errors or warnings after the scans are complete.
Adjusting Virtual Memory Settings
Another common culprit is insufficient virtual memory, which can trigger page faults. Windows sometimes doesn’t allocate enough buffer space for memory operations, especially on certain hardware setups. Changing this setting might help. To do that, right-click the Start button and pick “System”. Or press Windows + X and select System. Then, scroll down and click “Advanced system settings”.
This opens the classic System Properties window. In the “Advanced” tab, hit “Settings” under “Performance”. Again, switch over to the “Advanced” tab there, then click “Change…” in the “Virtual Memory” section. Be careful — this is where Windows manages page files, and messing with it can have implications.
Setting the Virtual Memory Size
If you want to get hands-on, uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives”. Select your system drive (probably C:\). Then choose “Custom size”. Now, you need to calculate what values to put in these boxes. Here’s where it gets interesting — I usually recommend sizing the virtual memory to roughly 1.5 to 3 times your installed RAM.
Say, for example, you’re running 8GB of RAM — that’s 8192 MB. So, for initial size, aim for about 1.5 times that, which is roughly 12,288 MB. And for maximum size, about three times, roughly 24,576 MB. Enter 12288 for initial, and 24576 for maximum. That might seem like overkill, but honestly, it helped smooth out those sticky errors for me. After setting these, click “Set”, then “OK” all the way out. Reboot and see if things improve.
Why It Could Help
Giving Windows a bigger buffer for memory management can actually prevent those sudden page faults, especially if your system is on the edge of memory limits or has hardware quirks. Just keep in mind, setting it too high could slow things down, especially if your drive isn’t an SSD. Play with the values based on your total RAM and workload. But honestly, these tweaks, along with the above steps, are what helped me eventually squash that error code 747.
Final thoughts
All these steps — testing RAM, updating drivers, running DISM and SFC, adjusting virtual memory — they’re the usual suspects. Honestly, it can take a couple reboots or driver rollbacks, but each one brings you closer. It’s frustrating, yeah, but don’t give up. Diagnosing and fixing those page fault errors takes patience and sometimes a bit of trial-and-error.
Hope this helped — it took way too long for me to figure out. Don’t forget to double-check your memory modules are seated correctly, drivers are current, and you’ve cleaned out unnecessary startup processes. Good luck, and hang in there!