General Troubleshoot Windows XP Tips Page!
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General Troubleshoot Windows XP Tips Page:

 

If you experience a Windows XP Stop error, don’t panic. Instead, you can run through the following general troubleshooting list to isolate the problem and find a good resolution.

Experienced tech support will recommend that you use the hardware driver that was made specifically for your device. But, if an driver causes an errors, you might have better success by using a more up-to date driver for your product, even if the model name is not identical. This strategy is most likely to work for you with printers, video adapters and network cards.

First take a good look for a driver name in the error message. If the error message identifies a specific file name and you can trace that file to a driver for a specific hardware device, you may be able to solve the problem by disabling, removing, or rolling back that driver to an earlier version. The most likely offenders are network interface cards, video adapters, and disk controllers.

 

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Decoding Stop Messages
Stop messages may look cryptic, but they often contain detailed information about the underlying cause of the problem that can enable you to diagnose and repair the condition that’s causing your system to fail. Stop messages may appear under any of the following circumstances:

* During Windows Setup. This type of Stop error is almost always caused by a faulty device driver, a piece of hardware that is in the process of failing, or an incompatible system BIOS. You may see a Stop message during Windows Setup if you attempt a clean install on a system that uses a high-speed disk controller whose drivers are not included with the Windows XP CD. To avoid encountering this Stop error, which occurs when Windows is suddenly unable to access the disk containing temporary Setup files, you must press F6 when prompted at the beginning of Setup and provide the correct drivers.

* At startup. If you see a Stop message during startup on a system where Windows XP previously ran properly, the cause of the error is usually an incompatible service or device driver. If you recently installed a new software application or a new device, those are the most likely culprits.

* While Windows is running. These Stop errors can be caused by drivers, services, or defective hardware and can be difficult to diagnose. The text of the Stop message usually provides important clues. This chapter includes a list of common Stop errors, with suggestions on how to respond to each one.

 

The Steps:

Don’t rule out hardware problems In many cases, software is the victim and not the cause of blue-screen errors. Damaged hard disks, defective physical RAM, and overheated CPU chips are three common hardware failures that can result in Stop errors. If the errors seem to happen at random and the message details vary each time, hardware problems are indicated.

Ask yourself, "What’s new?" Be suspicious of newly installed hardware devices and software programs. If you added a new device recently, remove it temporarily and see whether the problem goes away. Take an especially close look at software in the categories that install services or file-system filter drivers, which hook into the core operating system files that manage the file system to perform tasks such as scanning for viruses. This category includes backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus software, and CD-burning utilities. You may need to uninstall or update the program to resolve the problem.

Search the Knowledge Base Make a note of the error code and all parameters that appear on the same line. Search the Knowledge Base using both the full and short formats. For instance, if you’re experiencing a KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED error, use 0x0E and 0x0000000E as your search keywords.

Check your system BIOS carefully Is an update available from the manufacturer of the system or motherboard? Stop errors are especially common in connection with Advanced Configuration and Peripheral Interface (ACPI) machines, where flaws in the BIOS may trip up the operating system. Also, check the BIOS documentation carefully—resetting all BIOS options to their default settings can sometimes resolve an issue caused by over-tweaking.

Are you low on system resources? Stop errors are sometimes the result of a critical shortage of RAM or disk space. If you can start in Safe Mode, check the amount of physical RAM installed and look at the system and boot drives to see how much free disk space is available. You may be able to free space by running the Disk Cleanup Manager, as described in "Managing Disk Space."

Is a crucial system file damaged? To reinstall a driver, restart your computer and press F8 when prompted to start Windows in Safe Mode. To repair a damaged system file that prevents you from starting even in Safe Mode, start from the Windows XP CD and use Recovery Console. From Recovery Console’s special-purpose command prompt, the Copy command automatically expands compressed files on the fly when you copy from the CD to a local drive.

 

Related:

Part 1 - How To - Troubleshoot a Windows XP Computer Tips Page

Part 2 - How To - Troubleshoot a Windows XP Computer Tips Page, The Windows XP Setup Wizard

Part 2 - How To - Troubleshoot a Windows XP Computer Tips Page, The Boot Floppy Disk

Part 3 - How To - Troubleshoot a Windows XP Computer Tips Page, Startup Modes

 

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