Reading blue screens of death is fun, but
there’s another, easier way to discover what
your 0C’s problem is: the Event 6iewer. When
an error occurs in Windows, the OS adds a
note to the system’s log l les. These logs are
accessible through Windows’ Event 6iewer,
and they contain all the information we need to
know what ails our poor computer.
To get started, go to the Start menu and
open the Control 0anel. Click Administrative
Tools, then double-click the Event 6iewer icon.
Alternately, select Run from the Start menu
and type eventvwr.msc, which will bring you
right into the Event 6iewer.
On the left-hand pane, highlight the appli-
cation or system icon. On the right-hand pane,
you’ll see up to three different events labeled
Information, Warning, and Error. These are
sorted by the time in which they occurred.
Scroll to the approximate time of the last
system restart and double-click the events.
This brings up a 0roperties window detailing
information that should clue you in on any
problem. For example, if one of the events
contains a bugcheck message with the code
0x0000002E, we know this is a DATA?B5S?
ERROR, and is usually indicative of faulty
RAM. On the other hand, there might be sev-
eral events pointing to a specil c driver, such
as nv4?disp.dll. This tells us we should focus
on the videocard and any recent changes
related to the display hardware.
Armed with this information, we’re ready
to begin the troubleshooting steps outlined
on the previous pages. If typing the event ID
into Google www.google.com and Microsoft’s
+nowledge Base http://support.microsoft.com
doesn’t help, head over to http://www.eventid.net.
This site contains a repository of comments
and errors from other users, as well as the
steps they took to alleviate their problems.
We recommend you familiariZe yourself
with the event viewer, even if your system is
healthy. Rooting out minor problems before
they progress will ensure your Windows install
keeps humming along uneventfully.50 MA XIMUMPC SEPTEMBER 2006
crash
courseThe Event Viewer contains three logs:
Application, Security, and System. An
application log records events from specific
programs. Everything about these logs is
determined by the programmers for the
given application and not by Windows.
The security log records events that have
to do with system security, such as logon
attempts and proper or improper use of
resources. Finally, the system log records
items such as system drivers and other
Windows-only system components.In the right-hand pane are the actual events
being recorded. Most of these are harmless
and easily ignored, but for a system on the fritz,
it would be silly to overlook any warnings or
errors. If there are several errors, you can save
them to a handy text file for easier viewing, by
highlighting one of the three logs and selecting
Export List from the Action drop-down menu.When an event is double-clicked, it brings up
the Properties box displaying a summary of
pertinent information. The top portion outlines
the date and time the error occurred, the
source of the error, and the event ID number.
Underneath is a description of what happened
and a link to Microsoft’s help and support
center. This is a great starting point for what
will hopefully now be a short and painless
troubleshooting journey. Bon voyage!And the others...
Brief descriptions of the other
BSoDsPAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_
AREA: Faulty hardware, including
RAM system, video, or L2 cache .INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE:
Caused by improperly conl gured
Jumpers on 0ATA hard drives, a boot
sector virus, or incorrect IDE controller
drivers, which can also occur when
installing the wrong chipset drivers.VIDEO_DRIVER_INIT_FAILURE:
Caused by installing the wrong drivers
for a videocard, or rebooting before
driver installation could complete.BAD_POOL_CALLER: Caused by
a faulty or incompatible hardware
driver, particularly when upgrading
Windows 80 instead of performing a
clean install.PFN_LIST_CORRUPT: Caused by
defective RAM.MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION: A
bad C05—or one that is too aggres-
sively overclocked, or an underpow-
ered or faulty power supply.An End Run
around the
BSoD
If you don’t want to bother with
decrypting a blue screen, it’s time
you learned about the Event Viewer