ERROR NAME
There are many parts
to a BSoD, but the
most important ele-
ment is right at the top.
The name of the error
is presented in all caps
with an underscore
between each word.
In some cases this will
be all that’s needed to
get to the root of the
problem. Most of the
time, however, more
information is required.TROUBLESHOOTING
ADVICE
Nearly every BSoD
includes a portion of
text with some basic
troubleshooting instruc-
tions, the first of which
recommends restarting
your computer. (Before
you restart, copy the
exact all-caps error name
and hexadecimal values
shown above and below
this portion of generic
text.) The next paragraph
provides sound advice,
alerting the user to
ensure that all hardware
is installed properly, or to
undo any recent software
or hardware upgrades.STOP CODE
The “technical information”
portion contains the actual
Windows stop code, in the
ever-so-user-friendly hexa-
decimal format. Despite
its unintelligible appear-
ance, this combination
of numbers and letters is
instrumental in determin-
ing the cause of the crash.
Pay particular attention
to the first set of numbers
and letters. It precedes the
four that are enclosed in
parenthesis. If a specific
driver is associated with
the crash, it will be listed
on the very next line.MEMORY DUMP
Every BSoD is ac-
companied by a
memory dump: When
Windows crashes, it
dumps whatever it’s
holding in system
memory to a file, and
saves the file on your
hard drive for debug-
ging purposes. If you
contact Microsoft or
a hardware vendor
for technical assis-
tance, they’ll want to
know the contents of
this file.SEPTEMBER 2006 MA XIMUMPC
crash
course
BLUE SCREEN AUTOPSY
It’s helpful if you get to know all the parts of a blue screen and what
they mean. By default, WindowsXP is confi gured to automatically
restart the system when it encounters a fatal error, making it diffi cult
to decipher a blue screen’s message. To put a halt to Windows’ auto-
matic reboots after errors, right-click My Computer, select Properties,
and select the Advanced tab. Navigate to Startup and Recovery and
click the Settings button. Under System Failure, uncheck the option
labeled Automatically Restart.