What Are Fatal Exception Errors (Q150314)
The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition

Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

Microsoft Windows 98

Microsoft Windows 95
If this article does not describe the error message that you are receiving, view
the following Microsoft Web site to view more articles that describe error
messages:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/windows/topics/err
ormsg/emresctr.asp
To view a list of articles applicable to Fatal Exception 0E errors in Windows 98,
click to view the following link:
Click here to view a list of Fatal Exception 0E articles
To view a list of articles applicable to Fatal Exception 0E errors in Windows Me,
click to view the following link:
Click here to view a list of Fatal Exception 0E articles
SUMMARY
When you attempt to shut down your computer, start Windows, or start a
program in Windows, you may encounter error messages that are similar to:
A fatal exception XY has occurred at xxxx:xxxxxxxx
Fatal exception errors are codes that are returned by a program in the following
cases:

Access to an illegal instruction has been encountered

Invalid data or code has been accessed

The privilege level of an operation is invalid
When any of these cases occurs, the processor returns an exception to the
operating system, which in turn is handled as a fatal exception error. In many
cases the exception is non-recoverable and the system must either be restarted
or shut down, depending upon the severity of the error.
In the sample error message that is listed above, XY represents the actual
processor exception from 00 to 0F. (Note that the "h" that is listed after the 0E,
0F, and so on, in the explanations below is frequently omitted from the error
message.) The xxxx:xxxxxxxx value represents the enhanced instruction pointer
to the code segment; the 32-bit address is the actual address where the
exception occurred.
Windows does not cause these errors, but has the exception-handling routine for
that particular processor exception, which displays the error message.
NOTE : This article is primarily for informational use. Click the following link to go
to the "Troubleshooting Fatal Exception Errors" section of this article:
Troubleshooting Fatal Exception Errors
MORE INFORMATION
Processor Exceptions and Their Definitions
00: Divide Fault
The processor returns this exception when it encounters a divide fault. A divide
fault occurs if division by zero is attempted or if the result of the operation does
not fit in the destination operand.
02: NMI Interrupt
Interrupt 2 is reserved for the hardware Non-Maskable-Interrupt condition. No
exceptions trap through interrupt 2.
04: Overflow Trap
The overflow trap occurs after an INTO instruction has executed and the 0F bit is
set to 1.
05: Bounds Check Fault
The BOUND instruction compares the array index with an upper and lower bound.
If the index is out of range, then the processor traps to interrupt 05.
06: Invalid Opcode Fault
This error is returned if any one of the following conditions exists:

The processor tries to decode a bit pattern that does not correspond to any legal
computer instruction.

The processor attempts to execute an instruction that contains invalid operands.

The processor attempts to execute a protected-mode instruction while running in
virtual 8086 mode.

The processor tries to execute a LOCK prefix with an instruction that cannot be
locked.
07: Coprocessor Not Available Fault
This error occurs if the computer does not have a math coprocessor and the EM
bit of register CR0 is set indicating that Numeric Data Processor emulation is
being used. Each time a floating point operation is executed, an interrupt 07
occurs.
This error also occurs when a math coprocessor is used and a task switch is
executed. Interrupt 07 tells the processor that the current state of the
coprocessor needs to be saved so that it can be used by another task.
08: Double Fault
Processing an exception sometimes triggers a second exception. In the event that
this occurs, the processor will issue a interrupt 08 for a double fault.
09: Coprocessor Segment Overrun
This error occurs when a floating point instruction causes a memory access that
runs beyond the end of the segment. If the starting address of the floating point
operand is outside the segment, then a General Protection Fault occurs (interrupt
0D).
10 (0Ah): Invalid Task State Segment Fault
Because the Task State Segment contains a number of descriptors, any number
of conditions can cause exception 0A. Typically, the processor can gather enough
information from the Task State Segment to issue another fault pointing to the
actual problem. See Microsoft's Programming the 80386/80486 Guide for more
information.
11 (0Bh): Not Present Fault
The Not present interrupt allows the operating system to implement virtual
memory through the segmentation mechanism. When a segment is marked as
"not present," the segment is swapped out to disk. The interrupt 0B fault is
triggered when an application needs access to the segment.
12 (0Ch): Stack Fault
A Stack Fault occurs with error code 0 if an instruction refers to memory beyond
the limit of the stack segment. If the operating system supports expand-down
segments, increasing the size of the stack should alleviate the problem. Loading
the Stack Segment with invalid descriptors will result in a general protection fault.
13 (0Dh): General Protection Fault
Any condition that is not covered by any of the other processor exceptions will
result in a general protection fault. The exception indicates that this program has
been corrupted in memory, usually resulting in immediate termination of the
program.
14 (0Eh): Page Fault
The Page Fault interrupt allows the operating system to implement virtual
memory on a demand-paged basis. An interrupt 14 usually is issued when an
access to a page directory entry or page table with the present bit set to 0 (Not
present) occurs. The operating system makes the page present (usually retrieves
the page from virtual memory) and re-issues the faulting instruction, which then
can access the segment. A page fault also occurs when a paging protection rule is
violated (when the retrieve fails, or data retrieved is invalid, or the code that
issued the fault broke the protection rule for the processor). In these cases the
operating system takes over for the appropriate action.
16 (10h): Coprocessor Error Fault
This interrupt occurs when an unmasked floating-point exception has signaled a
previous instruction. (Because the 80386 does not have access to the Floating
Point unit, it checks the ERROR\ pin to test for this condition.) This is also
triggered by a WAIT instruction if the Emulate Math Coprocessor bit at CR0 is set.
17 (11h): Alignment Check Fault
This interrupt is only used on the 80486 CPUs. An interrupt 17 is issued when
code executing at ring privilege 3 attempts to access a word operand that is not
on an even-address boundary, a double-word operand that is not divisible by
four, or a long real or temp real whose address is not divisible by eight.
Alignment checking is disabled when the CPU is first powered up and is only
enabled in protected mode.
Troubleshooting Fatal Exception Errors
Clean Boot Your Computer
Because there are many conditions that can cause a fatal exception error, the
first step in resolving the issue is to narrow the focus. To narrow the focus, try a
"clean boot" of your computer.
Clean-boot troubleshooting refers to methods of reducing problems that may
occur because of your computer's environment. Many problems occur because of
conflicting drivers, terminate-and-stay-resident programs (TSRs), and other
settings that are loaded when your computer starts. For additional information
about how to clean-boot your computer, click the article numbers below to view
the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows
98
Q243039 How to Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 95
Query the Microsoft Knowledge Base
To determine if the error message that you are receiving is documented in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base at:
http://support.microsoft.com/support/
For additional information about how to query the Microsoft Knowledge Base, click
the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q168242 How to Search the Knowledge Base for Windows 95/98
Articles
Q242450 How to Query the Microsoft Knowledge Base Using
Keywords
Articles About Fatal Exception Error Messages
For additional information about fatal exception error messages, click the article
numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q133440 Error Message: This Program Has Caused a Fatal
Exception 0D at 00457:000040B1 and Will Be Terminated
Q192803 Fatal Exception 0D Using ATI All-in-Wonder Pro Video
Adapter
Q175211 Fatal Exception Error When Opening or Closing Control
Panel
Q171195 Fatal Exception Error Suspending and Resuming with
MSDLC32
Q187214 Err Msg: A Fatal Exception 0E Has Occurred at
0028:C02A0201...
Q190123 Error Message: A Fatal Exception 06 Has Occurred at...
Q252523 Fatal Exception Error Message When Attempting to
Connect to the Internet
Q189655 Err Msg: A Fatal Exception 0E Has Occurred at
0028:<XXXXXXXX>
NOTE : This list of articles is not comprehensive. If one of these articles
does not address your issue, use the steps in the "Query the Microsoft
Knowledge Base" section of this article to find more information.
“STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN
Some users, when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP, get an error
message similar to the following: STOP 0x0000009F:
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
Stop Messages literally means that Windows has stopped. (Which isn’t the same
as saying it has shutdown!) See Knowledge Base Links: STOP MESSAGES for
much more information that the brief remarks below. Most Stop Messages
indicate hardware issues; some are caused by troublesome software or a system
service problem. The links page just mentioned provides a 10-step approach to
troubleshooting STOP Messages in general, then itemized analysis on the most
common of these. (STOP messages are identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal
number, but also commonly written in a shorthand notation; e.g., a STOP
0x0000000A may also be written Stop 0xA.)
Here are a few that may affect Win XP shutdown and restart. Stop 0x9F and
Stop 0x8E are two of the most common of these at shutdown, and generally
point to a bad driver. Stop 0x7B on restarting means Win XP lost access to the
system partition or boot volume during the startup process, due to a bad device
driver, boot sector virus, resource conflict, boot volume corruption, or other
problem listed here. Stop 0xC000021A can when on restart after a system
administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM account no longer
has adequate permissions to access system files and folders.
MS-MVP Jim Pickering advises the following as one approach to these problems:
Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “Last Known Good
Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely
have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a
previous working condition. System Restore provides an alternate approach,
especially if you need to go back further than the last known good configuration,
and Device Manager provides a tool for rolling back to an earlier driver.
ERROR CODE
SOURCE
100 - 199
MAINBOARD (Anakart)
200 - 299
RAM OR CACHE MEMORY (Ara bellek veya keş belleği)
300 - 399
KEYBOARD (klavye hatası)
400 - 499
MONOCHROME DISPLAY (siyah-beyaz ekranlarda olur genelde)
500 - 599
COLOUR DISPLAY ( renkli ekran hatası)
600 - 699
FLOPPY OR ADAPTER (disket veya disketin bağlı olduğu güç)
700 - 799
MATHEMATICAL CPU (işlemci hatsı)
900 - 999
PARALLEL PORT(LPT1) (port hatası)
1000 - 1099
SECONDARY (ALTERNATE) PARALLEL PORT
1100 - 1299
ASYNCHRONIZE COMMUNICATION (OR COM. PORT) ADAPTER
1300 - 1399
GAMEPORT (oyunlarda kullandığımız joypadler)
1400 - 1499
COLOUR /GRAPHICS PRINTER (yazıcı)
1500 - 1599
SYNCHRONIZE COMMUNICATION (OR COM. PORT) ADAPTER
1700 - 1799
HARD DISK OR ADAPTER (harddisk veya bağlı bulunduğu güç)
1800 - 1899
XT EXPANSION UNIT (genişleme yuvası)
2000 - 2199
BISYNCHRONIZE COMMUNICATION ADAPTER
2400 - 2599
EGA DISPLAY CARDI (MCA) (ekran kartı)
3000 - 3199
LOCAL AREA NETWORK (ağ problemi)
4800 - 4999
INTERNAL MODEM (takmış olduğunuz modem motorolamı yoksa?)
7000 - 7099
Phoenix BIOS (en tehlikelisi Bİos hatsı)
7300 - 7399
3.5" FLOPPY (disket hatası)
8900 - 8999
MIDI ADAPTER (ses kartı)
11200 - 11299
SCSI ADAPTER (scsı parçası)
21000 - 21099
SCSI Fixed Disk AND/OR CONTROLLERI (zip driver falan )
21500 - 21599
SCSI CD-ROM SYSTEM (cd rom )
WINDOWS XP
SHUTDOWN & RESTART
TROUBLESHOOTING
Version 10.3 — December 24, 2001
Receive notice whenever this page is updated.
“With its rock-solid foundation and ground-breaking new features, Windows
XP Professional won’t quit working, even when your workday is done.” —
Microsoft
(Did they know what they were saying?)
Shutdown problems in Windows XP can be caused by many factors, just like
earlier versions of Windows. These included: a damaged exit sound file;
incorrectly configured, damaged, or incompatible hardware; conflicting programs,
or an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver.
For a step-by-step troubleshooting method that applies to all versions of Windows
9x, see the generic Windows Shutdown Troubleshooter. Some of its steps
may be found to apply to Windows XP as well, though many will not.
Windows XP shutdown issues mostly center around a
very few issues, especially device driver version and
other legacy hardware and software compatibility issues.
Roxio’s release of patches for Easy CD 5 has wiped out
more than half of all XP shutdown issues. In turn, this
uncovered and highlighted the next greatest problem:
specific hardware incompatibilities. These are detailed
below where known. The driver and software issues are
expected to resolve substantially as hardware and
software manufacturers release updated versions.
REBOOT INSTEAD OF SHUTDOWN
The majority of Win XP shutdown problems reported thus far have been that it
reboots when shutdown is attempted. This may be a global symptom
emerging from several distinct causes, because, by default, XP executes an
automatic restart in the event of a system failure. Therefore, more or less
anything compromising the operating system during the shutdown process could
force this reboot.
Disabling the “restart on system failure” feature may permit
the exact cause to be isolated: Right-click on My Computer, click
Properties, click the Advanced tab. Under “Startup & Recovery,”
click Settings. Under “System Failure,” uncheck the box in front of
“System reboot.”
Here are some things that have produced this reboot-instead-of-shutdown
symptom:

By now, the Roxio/Adeptec Easy CD / Direct CD software is well
documented as being the major cause of this undesirable shutdown
behavior. SOLUTION: Roxio has released new drivers (here) to solve this
problem in both the Platinum and Basic editions of Easy CD Creator 5. As
expected, at least half of the Win XP shutdown problems went away with
the release of these patches.
One warning about this patch comes from correspondent Bert Smith:
Be sure to read the directions! “Roxio Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.0 can
be a real hassle to get working under Win XP,” Bert wrote, “and there is
the risk of your computer not booting if you blindly go ahead and install it
without first consulting the Roxio Web site.” Bert also mentioned that
Roxio’s “Take Two” backup program (normally part of Easy CD Creator 5
Platinum) is uninstalled when the Roxio patch is applied.
o
Direct CD. Many Easy CD users (but not all) found that installing
Easy CD 5.0 does not cause the shutdown problem, provided they
do not install the Direct CD component.
o
UDFRINST. Several people solved this reboot-on-shutdown
problem by deleting the UDFRINST file. This file is part of the
Roxio CD-RW software for systems not using Direct CD.
o
CDRALW2K.SYS. Correspondent Larry Blumette identified the
CDRALW2K.SYS file (version 1.0.0.1048) as the Roxio file causing
his shutdown problems and error conditions. When he deleted or
renamed this one file, his problems went away. (Of course, you
lose your CD functionality that way, too.)

Whether or not APM is enabled makes a difference — but the effect
could go two ways. Some users report that XP reboots on shutdown if APM
is enabled, but shuts Windows down just fine if APM is disabled. Other
users report exactly the opposite behavior. According to Jack Dunne, this
is similar to a known Windows 2000 problem. The issue seems related to
the computer’s specific hardware or BIOS — so, as with all NT operating
systems, stick to the Hardware Compatibility List where possible.

Y-SB3 Logitech Internet Keyboard can also cause this problem. If you
use it as a simple generic keyboard, there’s no problem; but, if you install
the Key Commander software that drives the special Internet functions,
Win XP will restart instead of shut down. Unfortunately, Logitech has
decided that they will not be updating this driver for this keyboard. (Tip
from Jan K. Haak.)

Logitech MouseWare 8.6. Windows reboots when shutdown is
attempted. The software caused a BSOD with KBDCLASS.SYS. Removing
the software solved the BSOD the problem. (Tip from Pablo Cheng.)
SHUTDOWN HANGS ON “SAVING YOUR SETTINGS”
During shutdown or reboot, Win XP may hang (stop responding) at the “saving
your settings” screen. During such a hang, there is no response to Ctrl+Alt+Del;
the mouse may or may not work. The problem may be intermittent.
This is a known bug in Windows XP, for which Microsoft has a supported fix.
Because this patch is scheduled for further quality assurance testing in the future,
Microsoft only recommends that you install it if you have a serious problem;
otherwise, they recommend waiting for Service Pack 1, which will include the
more permanent version of the fix. To learn how to get this patch, see Windows
XP Stops Responding (Hangs) During Windows Shutdown.
NOTE: The article says the patch may only be obtained by
contacting Microsoft. However, it is now available on the Windows
Update site under “Recommended Updates” for Win XP
Professional, titled “Restarting Windows XP.”
As a workaround, newsgroup correspondent “lou” resolved this problem by
dismantling the Windows XP logon Welcome screen. In the Control Panel, click
User Accounts, then click “Change the way users log on or off.” Uncheck the box
that says “Use the Welcome screen.” This removes the initial logon screen with
individual icons for each user and, instead, pops up the classic logon prompt that
requires each user to type a user name and password.
“ShutMeDown” REGISTRY PATCH
Download the “ShutMeDown” Registry patch. Please follow sensible
Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (or run
System Restore to create a restore point). This is not the appropriate fix for most
machines, but does help some users. After installing, test Windows shutdown. If
the fix does not work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior
state.
For those who want more background information, the fix provided by this patch
is based on a Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q155117 for Windows NT
4.0. It still works in Windows XP (which, after all, is Win NT 5.1).
SBLive: DEVLDR32.EXE PROBLEMS
In the early days of Win ME, one of the biggest culprits for shutdown issue was
the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live. History repeated itself in the Beta phase of
Win XP. SOLUTION: The SBLive drivers in the released version of Win XP solved
the shutdown problem for most (but not all) SBLive users.
Here’s the commonly reported problem scenario people
encountered: On attempting shutdown, nothing at all appears to
happen for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, an “End Task”
window appears, wanting to terminate DEVLDR32.EXE. No matter
what one does, one ultimately is locked out of shutting down other
than by a power switch shutoff. (NOTE: This problem exists with
the SBLive in Windows 2000 also.)
You may have to do a couple of extra steps to get rid of old files so that the new
drivers will install correctly (especially if you installed the final version of Win XP
on top of one of the Beta versions), or to remove troublesome support software.
Correspondent Sean Caldwell summarized his steps: Shutdown Windows. Remove
the Creative card. Reboot in Safe Mode. In the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder,
delete the DEVLDR file. Fully shutdown the computer before rebooting.
Some users report that the DEVLDR problem continues to plague them
even with the new drivers. If installing the new drivers doesn’t solve your
shutdown problem, try these solutions that people used prior to the release of the
new drivers:

Newsgroup correspondent “James (beast)” wrote that he solved the welldocumented SBLive / DEVLDR32 problem by downloading and installing
the LiveService software. (James cautions that one should disable all
antivirus software while executing this program. Since I know nothing of
the person operating this site, I do recommend that you at least viruscheck anything you download first.)

Correspondent Martin Sladek provided another solution: “I’ve ran into the
very same problem with SBLive Value drivers. The problem was so severe
I ran without the software all together. Since then, SBLive 5.1 came out,
and I had installed the 5.1 version of the software in Windows 2000 Pro.
I’ve not had a single problem since. Would you be able to add this upgrade
solution to your page?” Happily, Martin.
MISC. HARDWARE ISSUES
In addition to hardware issues mentioned under other specialized topics on this
page, many users have written identifying specific hardware as at the root of the
Windows XP shutdown issue. Here’s what they have reported:

MODEMS: Intel Ambient HaM Modem. Causes Win XP to hang at
shutdown. Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the modem.
SOLUTION: Intel now has issued updated drivers that resolve this issue.
They can be downloaded here. (Tip from Mark Gillespie.)

MODEMS: Billion BIPAC PCI Passive ISDN-card. Reboot instead of
shutdown issue conjoined with BSOD error message STOP 0x000000D1:
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in file SERIAL.SYS.
Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the Billion ISDN card.
SOLUTION: Billion has now released a new driver 3.24 that solves this
problem, available here. (Tip from Leo Foederer.)

MOTHERBOARDS: Asus P2B-F. Causes a shutdown problem because
Win XP Setup doesn’t enable ACPI by default. SOLUTION: Manually
enable ACPI during a Win XP install or reinstall. Correspondent Bill
Anderson (based on a solution by “Willy”) gave a lengthy description of
how to do this (edited a little bit for space reasons):
1. Boot the computer from the Win XP CD-ROM.
2. Win XP Setup says it’s checking hardware. Soon after, at the
bottom of the screen, it offers the opportunity to press F6. Do this
at once, and cross your fingers! [Various users report difficulty with
this. Apparently, sometimes it works; sometimes not. It may be in
the timing of exactly when you press the key. I haven’t been able
to test it, because I don’t have this board. You may have to try
repeatedly, or try pressing F6 and F5 repeatedly. – JAE] When
successful, you’ll see a two-paragraph instruction that begins, “To
specify additional SCSI or other mass storage devices.” Press
<ENTER> to brings up a small window that appears to contain only
two options, but, in fact, contains more (use the arrow keys to
scroll up). If this windows doesn’t appear at this point, you need to
start over and do more pressing of F6 and F5!
3. When the small window does appear, use the up-arrow to choose
“Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).” (It’s the
third from the top of the list.)
4. Next, you may see that two-paragraph SCSI/mass storage
instruction again. If so, press <ENTER>. Many drivers will load,
then you should see the Win XP installation screen. If you are
running this after Win XP is already installed, choose the Repair
option.

VIDEO CARDS: Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 and all other video cards
based on the Kyro II video chip. Causes restart and shutdown issues (or,
in some cases, only restart issues) until the video adapter is removed.
SOLUTION: New XP-specific drivers are now available from Hercules. At
present, they remain uncertified (PowerVR, who makes the Kyro II chip, is
working on that), but they reportedly work just fine. Download the Kyro II
drivers here. (Tip from MS-MVP Don Lebow.)

USB: Lexar Media Combo Digital Film Reader (USB). There is a
problem with the SAUSB.SYS file, apparently part of the Win98 SE driver
set for this device, retained during an upgrade to Win XP. Deleting the file
solved the problem. The newer version 4.5 drivers from Lexar’s Web site
work perfectly, and do not cause a shutdown problem. (Tip from
correspondent “Gary.”)
“STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN
Some users, when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP, get an error
message similar to the following: STOP 0x0000009F:
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
Stop Messages literally means that Windows has stopped. (Which isn’t the same
as saying it has shutdown!) See Knowledge Base Links: STOP MESSAGES for
much more information that the brief remarks below. Most Stop Messages
indicate hardware issues; some are caused by troublesome software or a system
service problem. The links page just mentioned provides a 10-step approach to
troubleshooting STOP Messages in general, then itemized analysis on the most
common of these. (STOP messages are identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal
number, but also commonly written in a shorthand notation; e.g., a STOP
0x0000000A may also be written Stop 0xA.)
Here are a few that may affect Win XP shutdown and restart. Stop 0x9F and
Stop 0x8E are two of the most common of these at shutdown, and generally
point to a bad driver. Stop 0x7B on restarting means Win XP lost access to the
system partition or boot volume during the startup process, due to a bad device
driver, boot sector virus, resource conflict, boot volume corruption, or other
problem listed here. Stop 0xC000021A can when on restart after a system
administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM account no longer
has adequate permissions to access system files and folders.
MS-MVP Jim Pickering advises the following as one approach to these problems:
Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “Last Known Good
Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely
have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a
previous working condition. System Restore provides an alternate approach,
especially if you need to go back further than the last known good configuration,
and Device Manager provides a tool for rolling back to an earlier driver.
SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT’S REAL SLOW
If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users
report a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Generally, this is a
consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted; it also may
have something to do with particular hardware. If you experience this problem,
be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this
solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which
program(s) are involved.
Newsgroup correspondent “Sarah.” provided one specific solution for this. In
Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services, stop the Nvidia Driver
Helper service. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run
box.) Many other newsgroup participants quickly confirmed that this solved this
“extremely slow shutdown” problem for them. According to correspondent Gan
Ming Teik, downloading and installing the new version 23.11 Nvidia driver also
solves this problem.
Correspondent Graeme J.W. Smith reported a more obscure cause of slow
shutdown: In Win XP Professional, the Group Policy Editor has a security option to
clear the pagefile at system shutdown. The same setting also forces the
hibernation file to be wiped at shutdown. These processes take long enough that
users may think that shutdown has hung. Since someone actually has to have set
this policy, the problem will be pretty rare, but is worth mentioning. To change
the setting, click Start | Run, type GPEDIT.MSC, click OK. Drill down to
Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local
Policies | Security Options. In the right pane, find “Shutdown: Clear virtual
memory pagefile.”
POWERDOWN ISSUES
“Powerdown issues” are quite distinctive from “shutdown issues.” I define a
shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn’t make it at least to the “OK to
shut off your computer” screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has
shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after
that. This is a different problem, and I encourage people reporting these issues to
make a clear distinction in their labeling.
When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power
Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon,
click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled
“Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer, there will be a red X
on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the
powerdown problem. (Tip from Terri Stratton.)
This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors
can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case,
consider the following tips:

If you change the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a
powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will
likely fix it. (Tip from Kelly Theriot)

On some hardware, power management features simply don’t work right.
This is exceedingly rare on Windows XP when compared to any earlier
version of Windows but, on some machines, especially if no BIOS upgrade
is available, there seems no conclusion to reach except, “Yes, you’re right,
it doesn’t work, so don’t use that feature.” Accordingly, several
correspondents have noted that their Win XP computers will not
powerdown correctly unless they have Turn Off Monitor, Turn Off Hard
Disks, and System Standby all set to “Never” in Control Panel | Power
Options. (Tip from Dan Mitchell & others)

Correspondent “Snake” restored powerdown functioning by disabling his
CD-ROM’s AutoRun feature. The fastest way to do this is with the “Disable
AutoRun” Registry patch that you can download here.
OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS...

BIOS UPGRADE. As with every new operating system that comes along
— especially one that is as much of a “step up” as Windows XP is from
Windows 9x — the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is
updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown
problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier
versions of Windows.

UNSIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS. Some users have found that Windows XP
won’t shutdown properly if unsigned device drivers are used. This is simply
a variation of the broader device driver issue: Hardware manufactures
have not yet released all necessary device drivers for Win XP. This will
continue to be a problem for the next few months; it already has been
reduced to a very minor cause of Win XP shutdown problems.

SIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS ON TOP OF UNSIGNED ONES. Good advice
on a variation of the above comes from correspondent Attila Szabadkai.
For his SBLive 1024 sound card he had originally installed non-XP drivers,
then updated these with digitally signed XP drivers downloaded from
Creative Labs. Result: He got a 0x0A Stop Message at shutdown.
SOLUTION: He removed all drivers, and put back only the digitally
signed one.

PACE INTERLOK ANTI-PIRACY SOFTWARE. According to the MS
Knowledge Base article Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because
of Resource Conflict, PACE InterLok anti-piracy software installs a driver
(TPKD.SYS) that uses the same IRQ as the Standard Floppy Disk
Controller device. This can cause Win XP to hang at a blank screen (with
mouse and keyboard nonresponsive) when you try to shutdown or restart.
Additional symptoms may be that the floppy drive doesn’t show in My
Computer; the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device in Device Manager
may display the error status “This device cannot find enough free
resources that it can use. (Code 12)”; and/or when trying to shutdown
from Safe Mode you get the error message, STOP 0x0000009F
Driver_Power_State_Failure. The solution is to get the updated
TPKD.SYS file from PACE.

QUICK-SWITCHING USER ACCOUNTS. One reported quirk affecting
shutdown is the three-account shuffle. Windows XP gives the ability to
rapidly bounce between user accounts, with Win+L. If at least three user
accounts exist, and you quick-switch through all three, and then log off all
three in reverse order — “backing out” in an orderly way — then the
machine may hang on shutdown. There may be other variations of account
shuffling that cause this, but this one, clear example was provided by
newsgroup correspondent John Ward. So far, I have no concrete clue on
what may be occurring here.

USING SHUTDOWN SCRIPTS & 802.1x AUTHENTICATION
PROTOCOL. This combination can cause Win XP to take in excess of 10
minutes to shutdown normally. (IEEE 802.1x is an authentication standard
for both wireless networks and wired Ethernet networks.) Here’s how the
dominoes fall: The 802.1x authentication protocol stops after the user logs
off. Shutdown scripts run after the user logs off. If the script is on a
network share and the connection is no longer available (since
authentication has terminated), the script can’t run. The default time-out
for shutdown scripts is 10 minutes. So the computer sits there 10 minutes
before continuing with its shutdown. (Reference: MSKB article
Q311787.)

CHANGE NTFS TO FAT32? MOVE THE PAGEFILE? Correspondent
“Curiefleas” wrote that his reboot-on-shutdown problem was solved when
he used a third party partitioning program to convert his NTFS partition to
FAT32. It isn’t clear why this would be the case, but the tip was worth
passing along. In a possibly related vein, other correspondents have
reported a shutdown problem in XP either being caused by, or resolved by,
relocating the pagefile! Is there some common issue involving substantial
moving of the hard drive’s contents? These two hints intrigued me in light
of a seemingly dissociated shutdown problem reportedly occurring in Win
ME only immediately after a defrag. These all may be unrelated to each
other — or not. I list them here as part of the ongoing data collection.

SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS IN WINDOWS NT/2000. In researching
known causes of shutdown problems in earlier versions of NT-family
operating systems, most of what I found referred to problems that were
resolved in later versions. There is no reason to suspect their recurrence.
For example, there were quite a few shutdown issues identified in NT 3.x
that didn’t survive to NT 4.0. Very predictable causes were involved most
often, especially difficulty with some 16-bit applications or specific
hardware incompatibilities. Very few shutdown failure scenarios are
documented for Windows 2000. All that I found were conflicts with
specific software, specific hardware, or drivers. While these three
frame a wide set of possibilities, they are sufficiently narrow to be very
encouraging when joined with what we are seeing with Win XP. If
approved compatible hardware and software are used, including XPspecific drivers, we see almost no shutdown problems at all. If other
hardware or software is used... well, that gives us a starting place to focus
our investigations.

As stated at the beginning, I recommend that, if nothing above resolves
your Win XP shutdown problem, try those troubleshooting steps that
have worked for Windows 9x operating systems to help us establish
a track record of exactly what does and does not apply, from that
protocol, to the emergent scenarios in Windows XP.
Return to the TOP of the Page.
Troubleshooting STOP: 0x0000007B or "0x4,0,0,0" Error
The information in this article applies to:





Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft
Windows XP Professional
Windows XP Home Edition
Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5 , 3.51 , 4.0
Windows NT Server versions 3.5 , 3.51 , 4.0
BackOffice Small Business Server versions 4.0 , 4.0a
SYMPTOMS
When you restart your computer, you may receive one of the following error
messages:
STOP: 0x0000007B Inaccessible Boot Device
Setup has encountered a fatal error that prevents it
from continuing. Contact your software representative
for help. The following status codes will assist them
"0x4, 0, 0, 0"
CAUSE
This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions exists:

Your computer is infected with a boot sector virus.

A device driver required by your boot controller is not configured to
start at boot time or is corrupt. If during a WINNT /B installation no
mass storage device was detected.

A resource conflict exists between the boot controller and another
controller in the system or between SCSI devices.

Drive translation is not being performed or was changed.

The boot volume is corrupt and cannot be mounted by Windows NT.

Information in the Windows NT registry about which device drivers
load at start up is corrupt.

If this error occurred during Windows NT Setup while reading Windows
NT Setup floppy disk 2, you may have the Drive Swapping option
enabled in your computer BIOS.

Using winnt /b as the installation method may present a timing issue
for the disk controller. The controller is not given enough time to
respond and identify itself and is therefore detected incorrectly or not
at all.

If you run Setup from a bootable SCSI CD-ROM drive, you receive a
STOP 7B error message because Setup does not allow you to add a
third-party SCSI driver when you boot from the SCSI CD-ROM.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, use the appropriate method:
Method 1
Check any diskettes for viruses that may have been used in the computer
since the last time you were able to successfully restart Windows NT.
NOTE : You may need to use more than one brand of virus detection
software to detect and remove various viruses.
If a virus has infected the Windows NT computer and a virus detection
program cannot remove the virus and repair the system, you will have to
reinstall Windows NT. For more information on how to protect the boot sector
from viruses in Windows NT, see the following article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q122221
TITLE : How to Protect Boot Sector from Viruses in Windows NT
Method 2
Windows NT requires a mini-port driver to communicate with the boot
controller. If the device driver is corrupt or incompatible with your controller,
you can replace it by copying a new drive to the
%systemroot%\system32\drivers folder or through the Emergency Repair
process. On computers running on a SCSI controller or ATAPI enabled
systems, SCSIPORT.SYS and DISK.SYS (Windows NT 4.0 only) device drivers
are also required to successfully boot.
If you attempt a "WINNT /B" installation, you may receive a STOP 0x7B
before mass storage detection takes place. To work around this, when the
computer reboots after the initial file copy, press F6 as soon as "Setup is
inspecting your computers hardware configuration" is displayed. This will
allow you to add a mass storage device at the very beginning of text mode
setup.
ARTICLE-ID: Q125933
TITLE : STOP 0x0000007B: Inaccessible Boot Device After
Removing CD-ROM
ARTICLE-ID: Q164471
TITLE : Replacing System Files Using a Modified Emergency
Repair Disk
Method 3
If an IRQ or I/O port address conflict exists between your boot controller and
another controller in the system, Windows NT will either hang or stop with
the Stop 0x0000007B error message. If you recently added new hardware,
remove the new hardware or re-configure it so it does not conflict with the
resources of any other installed controllers.
Check the SCSI chain for proper termination. Remove any non-essential SCSI
devices or check to ensure each SCSI ID is unique.
ARTICLE-ID: Q102651
TITLE : Required Settings for Adaptec 1510 SCSI Host Adapter
Method 4
The Windows NT Boot partition must exist within the first 1024 cylinders of
the boot device. This is due to restrictions of the INT-13 BIOS call used to
start the operating system. Check your CMOS settings for LBA support on IDE
based systems, or your SCSI controllers BIOS settings for enabling drive
translation for drives greater than 2GB.
ARTICLE-ID: Q114841
TITLE : Windows NT Boot Process and Hard Disk Constraints
Method 5
If the file system is corrupt and Windows NT cannot mount the boot volume
during start, move the drive to another machine running Windows NT and run
the CHKDSK command on that drive. Alternately, attempt to create a parallel
installation of Windows NT on the drive in a separate directory. The Windows
NT Setup program checks the integrity of the volume prior to copying files
and may fix some problems.
Method 6
If the SYSTEM Hive in the Windows NT registry is corrupt, it may prevent
Windows NT from loading the Mini-port device driver required by the boot
controller. To resolve this problem, use one of the following methods:

Start from the three Windows NT setup disks and use the Repair
utility. When prompted, select to inspect registry files, and then only
replace the System Configuration Registry hive. This hive contains
information about which device drivers and services start during start
up.

Install a parallel copy of Windows NT into a separate directory, and
then use Registry Editor to modify the System hive in the Windows NT
registry to correct the invalid or missing information.
ARTICLE-ID: Q165748
TITLE : How to Disable a Service or Device that Prevents NT
from Booting
Method 7
Many computers are equipped with a 5.25-inch and a 3.5-inch floppy diskette
drive in one single unit. When you install Windows NT on a computer with this
floppy drive unit, the STOP 0x7B error message may appear during Setup
while Windows NT Setup disk 2 is being read. To resolve this problem, disable
the Drive Swapping option in your system BIOS. For information about
correcting this problem, see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:
ARTICLE-ID: Q126423
TITLE : STOP: 0x0000007B "Inaccessible_Boot_Device" During
Setup Disk2
Method 8
Install using the three boot floppies, a bootable CD, winnt or winnt32. Install
the device driver recommended by hardware vendor if one is available.
Method 9
Install using the three boot floppy disks. Install the device driver
recommended by hardware vendor if one is available.
Error Message:
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Explanation:
This Stop message indicates that a kernel-mode process or
driver attempted to access a memory address to which it did not
have permission to access. The most common cause of this
error is an incorrect or corrupted pointer that references an
incorrect location in memory. A pointer is a variable used by a
program to refer to a block of memory. If the variable has an
incorrect value in it, the program tries to access memory that it
should not. When this occurs in a user-mode application, it
generates an access violation. When it occurs in kernel mode, it
generates a STOP 0x0000000A message.
If you encounter this error while upgrading to a newer version of
Windows, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service,
a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new
version.
User Action:
This error usually occurs after the installation of a buggy device
driver, system service, or BIOS. To resolve it quickly, restart your
computer, and press F8 at the character-mode menu that displays
the operating system choices. At the resulting Windows 2000
Advanced Options menu, choose the Last Known Good
Configuration option. This option is most effective when only one
driver or service is added at a time.
If you encounter this error while upgrading from Windows NT 4.0 or
earlier, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a
virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new
version. If possible, remove all third-party device drivers and
system services and disable any virus scanners prior to upgrading.
Contact the software manufacturers to obtain updates of these
tools.
For additional error messages that might help pinpoint the device
or driver that is causing the error, check the System Log in Event
Viewer. Disabling memory caching of the BIOS might also resolve
this error. You should also run hardware diagnostics supplied by
the system manufacturer, especially the memory scanner. For
details on these procedures, see the owner’s manual for your
computer.
If your system has small computer system interface (SCSI)
adapters, contact the adapter manufacturer to obtain updated
Windows 2000 drivers. Disable sync negotiation in the SCSI BIOS,
check the cables and the SCSI IDs of each device, and confirm
proper termination. For enhanced integrated device electronics
(EIDE) devices, define the onboard EIDE port as Primary only. Also,
check each EIDE device for the proper master/slave/stand-alone
setting. Remove all EIDE devices except for hard disks.
STOP Message: Unknown Hard Error with DLC.SYS (Q103011)
The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 3.1

Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 3.1

Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server, version 3.1
SYMPTOMS
If a beta version of Microsoft SNA Server for Windows NT is installed, the
following STOP message may appear on startup:
STOP: c0000221 Unknown Hard Error
\SystemRoot\System32\drivers\dlc.sys
CAUSE
The April beta version of SNA Server contained DLC patches as a workaround for
a beta Windows NT bug. The patched DLC.SYS file for beta Windows NT causes
the released Windows NT version to stop responding when you start a DLC
session.
RESOLUTION
If the system partition is FAT and on an Intel platform, boot to MS-DOS and
expand a new copy of DLC.SYS off the released Windows NT CD-ROM or floppy
disks.
The new copy of DLC.SYS should be expanded from the CD-ROM or floppy disk
and placed in the winnt\system32\drivers subdirectory on the BOOT drive.
If the System partition is not FAT, Windows NT must be reinstalled.
SYMPTOMS
The following STOP message appears when a critical system file or other file
needed to load Windows is corrupted:
STOP: C0000221 unknown hard error
<path>\<file name>
Alternatively, the error may read as follows:
STOP: 0xC0000221 unknown hard error
c:\winnt\system32\ntdll.dll (or other specific file/driver)
In Windows 2000 the error reads as follows:
STOP: 0xC0000221 STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
<path>\<file name>
This error can appear in many different formats, ranging from a blue system error
screen to a dialog box. The type of format depends on how much of the operating
system was loaded when the corrupted file was detected.
CAUSE
If you receive this error message, the file listed in the error message is corrupted.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, you need to either obtain a new copy of the file or reinstall
Windows. If reinstallation fails to solve the problem, a hardware or network
problem may exist.
MORE INFORMATION
The files that are checked for integrity when Windows starts are:

All drivers (except those loaded by the system loader to boot the system)

All dynamic link libraries (DLLs), including USER, GDI, SHELL, KERNEL, NTDLL,
CRTDLL, etc.

All DLLs loaded into the address space of the Windows server (video drivers, printer
drivers, etc.)
This error message can be caused when you install an inappropriate driver for
your hardware. For example, this error would appear if you installed a MIPS
driver on an X86-based computer.
To change the size of the virtual memory paging file
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators
group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a
network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this
procedure.
Open
System in Control Panel.
On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
On the Advanced tab, under Virtual memory, click Change.
Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging
file you want to change.
5. Under Paging file size for selected drive, click Custom size, and
type a new paging file size in megabytes in the Initial size (MB) or
Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
1.
2.
3.
4.
If you decrease the size of either the initial or maximum page file settings,
you must restart your computer to see the effects of those changes.
Increases typically do not require a restart.
Notes




To open System, click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance
and Maintenance, and then click System.
To have Windows choose the best paging file size, click System
managed size.
For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the
minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all
drives. The recommended size is equivalent to 1.5 times the amount
of RAM on your system. Usually, you should leave the paging file at its
recommended size, although you might increase its size if you routinely
use programs that require a lot of memory.
To delete a paging file, set both initial size and maximum size to zero,
or click No paging file. Microsoft strongly recommends that you do not
disable or delete the paging file.
Related Topics
I can't explain it any better than this, I ripped off of technet. Its
from the Microsoft Windows XP Resource Kit Appendix.
As you can see, its important if you get a blue stop screen to post
the error code and arguments, as these numbers, although they
look meaningless, give a lot of useful information.
Stop 0x0000000A or IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
The Stop 0xA message indicates that a kernel-mode process or
driver attempted to access a memory location to which it did not
have permission, or at a kernel interrupt request level (IRQL) that
was too high. A kernel-mode process can access only other
processes that have an IRQL lower than, or equal to, its own. This
Stop message is typically due to faulty or incompatible hardware or
software.
Interpreting the Message
This Stop message has four parameters:
Memory address that was improperly referenced.
IRQL that was required to access the memory.
Type of access (0x00000000 = read operation, 0x00000001 =
write operation).
Address of the instruction that attempted to reference memory
specified in parameter 1.
If the last parameter is within the address range of a device driver
used on your system, you can determine which device driver was
running when the memory access occurred. You can typically
determine the driver name by reading the line that begins with:
**Address 0xZZZZZZZZ has base at If the third parameter is the same as the first parameter, a special
condition exists in which a system worker routine, carried out by a
worker thread to handle background tasks known as work items,
returned at a higher IRQL. In that case, some of the four
parameters take on new meanings:
Address of the worker routine.
Kernel interrupt request level (IRQL).
Address of the worker routine.
Address of the work item.
Resolving the Problem
The following suggestions are specific to Stop 0xA errors. For
additional troubleshooting suggestions that apply to all Stop errors,
see "Stop Message Checklist" later in this appendix.
A Stop 0xA message might occur after installing a faulty device
driver, system service, or firmware. If a Stop message lists a driver
by name, disable, remove, or roll back the driver to correct the
problem. If disabling or removing drivers resolves the issues,
contact the manufacturer about a possible update. Using updated
software is especially important for multimedia applications,
antivirus scanners, and CD mastering tools.
A Stop 0xA message might also be due to failing or defective
hardware. If a Stop message points to a category of devices (video
or disk adapters, for example), try removing or replacing the
hardware to determine if it is causing the problem.
If you encounter a Stop 0xA message while upgrading to Windows
XP Professional, the problem might be due to an incompatible
driver, system service, virus scanner, or backup. To avoid problems
while upgrading, simplify your hardware configuration and remove
all third-party device drivers and system services (including virus
scanners) prior to running setup. After you have successfully
installed Windows XP Professional, contact the hardware
manufacturer to obtain compatible updates. For more information
about simplifying your system for troubleshooting purposes, see "
Troubleshooting Concepts and Strategies" and "Troubleshooting
Startup" in this book.
For more information about Stop 0xA messages, see the Microsoft
Knowledge Base link on the Web Resources page at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/reskits/webresources. Search
using keywords winnt, 0x0000000A, and 0xA.
Rgds
Paulxdg
Computer Reboots Without Warning
Your computer may reboot for no apparent reason, and without any prior
warning.
This is the default behavior when Windows XP encounters a System failure. This
behavior can be changed by going to the System applet in Control Panel, select
the Advanced tab and click the Settings button under the Startup and
Recovery heading. Under System failure, un-check Automatically restart.
To check why your system had a failure, check the Event logs for any error
messages. You can find the Event Viewer in the Administrative Tools, or by
typing eventvwr in the Open box from the Run command.
When you press CAPS LOCK or BACKSPACE, you may receive the following error
message:
A Fatal Exception 06 has occurred at 0000:00000017
CAUSE
This issue can occur if you have a Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5100C/5200C scanner
installed, and a Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 970 printer is attached to the parallel
port on the scanner.
RESOLUTION
To resolve the problem, perform the following steps:
1. Click Start , point to Settings , and then click Control Panel .
2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs .
3. Highlight any HP installed applications and click Add/Remove .
4. Follow the prompts to uninstall the software.
5. Restart the system.
6. Click Start , point to Settings , and then click Printers .
7. Double-click Add New Printer .
8. Click Next .
9. Select Local Printer , and then click Next .
10. Click Have Disk .
11. Insert the Hewlett Packard CD that came with the printer.
12. Click Browse in the Install From Disk window and click the CD-ROM
drive.
13. Open the folder named Enu , then the folder 9xinf , and click the file
Hpdj.inf .
14. Click OK .
15. Select Lpt1 and click Next .
Follow the prompts to finish the Add New Printer Wizard.
16. Restart your computer.
WINDOWS XP
SHUTDOWN & RESTART
TROUBLESHOOTING
Version 10.6 — January 25, 2002
In IE, hold mouse here for list of most recent changes.
Receive notice whenever this page is updated.
“With its rock-solid foundation and ground-breaking new features, Windows
XP Professional won’t quit working, even when your workday is done.” —
Microsoft
(Did they know what they were saying?)
Shutdown problems in Windows XP can be caused by many factors, just like
earlier versions of Windows. These included: a damaged exit sound file;
incorrectly configured, damaged, or incompatible hardware; conflicting programs,
or an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver.
For a step-by-step troubleshooting method that applies to all versions of Windows
9x, see the generic Windows Shutdown Troubleshooter. Some of its steps
may be found to apply to Windows XP as well, though many will not.
Windows XP shutdown issues mostly center around a
very few issues, especially device driver version and
other legacy hardware and software compatibility issues.
Roxio’s release of patches for Easy CD 5 has wiped out
more than half of all XP shutdown issues. In turn, this
uncovered and highlighted the next greatest problem:
specific hardware incompatibilities. These are detailed
below where known. The driver and software issues are
expected to resolve substantially as hardware and
software manufacturers release updated versions.
REBOOT INSTEAD OF SHUTDOWN
The majority of Win XP shutdown problems reported thus far have been that it
reboots when shutdown is attempted. This may be a global symptom
emerging from several distinct causes, because, by default, XP executes an
automatic restart in the event of a system failure. Therefore, more or less
anything compromising the operating system during the shutdown process could
force this reboot.
Disabling the “restart on system failure” feature may permit
the exact cause to be isolated: Right-click on My Computer, click
Properties, click the Advanced tab. Under “Startup & Recovery,”
click Settings. Under “System Failure,” uncheck the box in front of
“System reboot.”
Here are some things that have produced this reboot-instead-of-shutdown
symptom:

By now, the Roxio/Adeptec Easy CD / Direct CD software is well
documented as being the major cause of this undesirable shutdown
behavior. SOLUTION: Roxio has released new drivers (here) to solve this
problem in both the Platinum and Basic editions of Easy CD Creator 5. As
expected, at least half of the Win XP shutdown problems went away with
the release of these patches.
One warning about this patch comes from correspondent Bert Smith:
Be sure to read the directions! “Roxio Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.0 can
be a real hassle to get working under Win XP,” Bert wrote, “and there is
the risk of your computer not booting if you blindly go ahead and install it
without first consulting the Roxio Web site.” Bert also mentioned that
Roxio’s “Take Two” backup program (normally part of Easy CD Creator 5
Platinum) is uninstalled when the Roxio patch is applied.
o
Direct CD. Many Easy CD users (but not all) found that installing
Easy CD 5.0 does not cause the shutdown problem, provided they
do not install the Direct CD component.
o
UDFRINST. Several people solved this reboot-on-shutdown
problem by deleting the UDFRINST file. This file is part of the
Roxio CD-RW software for systems not using Direct CD.
o
CDRALW2K.SYS. Correspondent Larry Blumette identified the
CDRALW2K.SYS file (version 1.0.0.1048) as the Roxio file causing
his shutdown problems and error conditions. When he deleted or
renamed this one file, his problems went away. (Of course, you
lose your CD functionality that way, too.)

Whether or not APM is enabled makes a difference — but the effect
could go two ways. Some users report that XP reboots on shutdown if APM
is enabled, but shuts Windows down just fine if APM is disabled. Other
users report exactly the opposite behavior. According to Jack Dunne, this
is similar to a known Windows 2000 problem. The issue seems related to
the computer’s specific hardware or BIOS — so, as with all NT operating
systems, stick to the Hardware Compatibility List where possible.

Y-SB3 Logitech Internet Keyboard can also cause this problem. If you
use it as a simple generic keyboard, there’s no problem; but, if you install
the Key Commander software that drives the special Internet functions,
Win XP will restart instead of shut down. Unfortunately, Logitech has
decided that they will not be updating this driver for this keyboard. (Tip
from Jan K. Haak.)

Logitech MouseWare 8.6. Windows reboots when shutdown is
attempted. The software caused a BSOD with KBDCLASS.SYS. Removing
the software solved the BSOD the problem. (Tip from Pablo Cheng.)
SHUTDOWN HANGS ON “SAVING YOUR SETTINGS”
During shutdown or reboot, Win XP may hang (stop responding) at the “saving
your settings” screen. During such a hang, there is no response to Ctrl+Alt+Del;
the mouse may or may not work. The problem may be intermittent.
This is a known bug in Windows XP, for which Microsoft has a supported fix.
Because this patch is scheduled for further quality assurance testing in the future,
Microsoft only recommends that you install it if you have a serious problem;
otherwise, they recommend waiting for Service Pack 1, which will include the
more permanent version of the fix. To learn how to get this patch, see Windows
XP Stops Responding (Hangs) During Windows Shutdown.
NOTE: The article says the patch may only be obtained by
contacting Microsoft. However, it is now available on the Windows
Update site under “Recommended Updates” for Win XP
Professional, titled “Restarting Windows XP.”
As a workaround, newsgroup correspondent “lou” resolved this problem by
dismantling the Windows XP logon Welcome screen. In the Control Panel, click
User Accounts, then click “Change the way users log on or off.” Uncheck the box
that says “Use the Welcome screen.” This removes the initial logon screen with
individual icons for each user and, instead, pops up the classic logon prompt that
requires each user to type a user name and password.
“ShutMeDown” REGISTRY PATCH
Download the “ShutMeDown” Registry patch. Please follow sensible
Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (or run
System Restore to create a restore point). This is not the appropriate fix for most
machines, but does help some users. After installing, test Windows shutdown. If
the fix does not work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior
state.
For those who want more background information, the fix provided by this patch
is based on a Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q155117 for Windows NT
4.0. It still works in Windows XP (which, after all, is Win NT 5.1).
SBLive: DEVLDR32.EXE PROBLEMS
In the early days of Win ME, one of the biggest culprits for shutdown issue was
the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live. History repeated itself in the Beta phase of
Win XP. SOLUTION: The SBLive drivers in the released version of Win XP solved
the shutdown problem for most (but not all) SBLive users.
Here’s the commonly reported problem scenario people
encountered: On attempting shutdown, nothing at all appears to
happen for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, an “End Task”
window appears, wanting to terminate DEVLDR32.EXE. No matter
what one does, one ultimately is locked out of shutting down other
than by a power switch shutoff. (NOTE: This problem exists with
the SBLive in Windows 2000 also.)
You may have to do a couple of extra steps to get rid of old files so that the new
drivers will install correctly (especially if you installed the final version of Win XP
on top of one of the Beta versions), or to remove troublesome support software.
Correspondent Sean Caldwell summarized his steps: Shutdown Windows. Remove
the Creative card. Reboot in Safe Mode. In the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder,
delete the DEVLDR file. Fully shutdown the computer before rebooting.
Some users report that the DEVLDR problem continues to plague them
even with the new drivers. If installing the new drivers doesn’t solve your
shutdown problem, try these solutions that people used prior to the release of the
new drivers:

Newsgroup correspondent “James (beast)” wrote that he solved the welldocumented SBLive / DEVLDR32 problem by downloading and installing
the LiveService software. (James cautions that one should disable all
antivirus software while executing this program. Since I know nothing of
the person operating this site, I do recommend that you at least viruscheck anything you download first.)

Correspondent Martin Sladek provided another solution: “I’ve ran into the
very same problem with SBLive Value drivers. The problem was so severe
I ran without the software all together. Since then, SBLive 5.1 came out,
and I had installed the 5.1 version of the software in Windows 2000 Pro.
I’ve not had a single problem since. Would you be able to add this upgrade
solution to your page?” Happily, Martin.
MISC. HARDWARE ISSUES
In addition to hardware issues mentioned under other specialized topics on this
page, many users have written identifying specific hardware as at the root of the
Windows XP shutdown issue. Here’s what they have reported:

MODEMS: Intel Ambient HaM Modem. Causes Win XP to hang at
shutdown. Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the modem.
SOLUTION: Intel now has issued updated drivers that resolve this issue.
They can be downloaded here. (Tip from Mark Gillespie.)

MODEMS: Billion BIPAC PCI Passive ISDN-card. Reboot instead of
shutdown issue conjoined with BSOD error message STOP 0x000000D1:
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in file SERIAL.SYS.
Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the Billion ISDN card.
SOLUTION: Billion has now released a new driver 3.24 that solves this
problem, available here. (Tip from Leo Foederer.)

MOTHERBOARDS: Asus P2B-F. Causes a shutdown problem because
Win XP Setup doesn’t enable ACPI by default. SOLUTION: Manually
enable ACPI during a Win XP install or reinstall. Correspondent Bill
Anderson (based on a solution by “Willy”) gave a lengthy description of
how to do this (edited a little bit for space reasons):
1. Boot the computer from the Win XP CD-ROM.
2. Win XP Setup says it’s checking hardware. Soon after, at the
bottom of the screen, it offers the opportunity to press F6. Do this
at once, and cross your fingers! [Various users report difficulty with
this. Apparently, sometimes it works; sometimes not. It may be in
the timing of exactly when you press the key. I haven’t been able
to test it, because I don’t have this board. You may have to try
repeatedly, or try pressing F6 and F5 repeatedly. – JAE] When
successful, you’ll see a two-paragraph instruction that begins, “To
specify additional SCSI or other mass storage devices.” Press
<ENTER> to brings up a small window that appears to contain only
two options, but, in fact, contains more (use the arrow keys to
scroll up). If this windows doesn’t appear at this point, you need to
start over and do more pressing of F6 and F5!
3. When the small window does appear, use the up-arrow to choose
“Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).” (It’s the
third from the top of the list.)
4. Next, you may see that two-paragraph SCSI/mass storage
instruction again. If so, press <ENTER>. Many drivers will load,
then you should see the Win XP installation screen. If you are
running this after Win XP is already installed, choose the Repair
option.

VIDEO CARDS: Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 and all other video cards
based on the Kyro II video chip. Causes restart and shutdown issues (or,
in some cases, only restart issues) until the video adapter is removed.
SOLUTION: New XP-specific drivers are now available from Hercules. At
present, they remain uncertified (PowerVR, who makes the Kyro II chip, is
working on that), but they reportedly work just fine. Download the Kyro II
drivers here. (Tip from MS-MVP Don Lebow.)

USB: Keyboard or Mouse + Selective Suspend. Some USB input
devices (such as a USB keyboard or mouse) do not support the Selective
Suspend power management feature. When these devices are used with
Selective Suspend turned on, the computer may hang during shutdown, or
otherwise not shutdown correctly. WORK-AROUND: Disable power
management for your USB hub: Open Device Manager (click Start, click
Run, type DEVMGMT.MSC, click OK). Double-click to expand Universal
Serial Bus Controllers. Double-click USB Root Hub. Click Power
Management. Uncheck the box “Allow the computer to turn off this device
to save power.” OK your way out. NOTE: Doing this may significantly
reduce laptop battery life. (Reference & more information: Microsoft
Knowledge Base article Q315664.)

USB: Lexar Media Combo Digital Film Reader (USB). There is a
problem with the SAUSB.SYS file, apparently part of the Win98 SE driver
set for this device, retained during an upgrade to Win XP. Deleting the file
solved the problem. The newer version 4.3 SAUSB.SYS driver from Lexar’s
Web site works perfectly, and does not cause a shutdown problem. (Tip
from correspondent Eric Brown.) Though one correspondent reported that
the even newer version 4.5 driver (SAUSBI.SYS) also can be used in Win
XP , Lexar says this driver doesn’t work on XP. One correspondent has
confirmed that this matches his experience in trying (unsuccessfully) to
use 4.5 on both Widows 2000 and XP.
“STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN
Some users, when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP, get an error
message similar to the following: STOP 0x0000009F:
DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
Stop Messages literally means that Windows has stopped. (Which isn’t the same
as saying it has shutdown!) See Knowledge Base Links: STOP MESSAGES for
much more information that the brief remarks below. Most Stop Messages
indicate hardware issues; some are caused by troublesome software or a system
service problem. The links page just mentioned provides a 10-step approach to
troubleshooting STOP Messages in general, then itemized analysis on the most
common of these. (STOP messages are identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal
number, but also commonly written in a shorthand notation; e.g., a STOP
0x0000000A may also be written Stop 0xA.)
Here are a few that may affect Win XP shutdown and restart. Stop 0x9F and
Stop 0x8E are two of the most common of these at shutdown, and generally
point to a bad driver. Stop 0x7B on restarting means Win XP lost access to the
system partition or boot volume during the startup process, due to a bad device
driver, boot sector virus, resource conflict, boot volume corruption, or other
problem listed here. Stop 0xC000021A can when on restart after a system
administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM account no longer
has adequate permissions to access system files and folders.
MS-MVP Jim Pickering advises the following as one approach to these problems:
Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “Last Known Good
Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely
have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a
previous working condition. System Restore provides an alternate approach,
especially if you need to go back further than the last known good configuration,
and Device Manager provides a tool for rolling back to an earlier driver.
SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT’S REAL SLOW
If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users
report a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Generally, this is a
consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted; it also may
have something to do with particular hardware. If you experience this problem,
be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this
solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which
program(s) are involved.
Newsgroup correspondent “Sarah.” provided one specific solution for this. In
Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services, stop the Nvidia Driver
Helper service. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run
box.) Many other newsgroup participants quickly confirmed that this solved this
“extremely slow shutdown” problem for them. According to correspondent Gan
Ming Teik, downloading and installing the new version 23.11 Nvidia driver also
solves this problem.
Correspondent Graeme J.W. Smith reported a more obscure cause of slow
shutdown: In Win XP Professional, the Group Policy Editor has a security option to
clear the pagefile at system shutdown. The same setting also forces the
hibernation file to be wiped at shutdown. These processes take long enough that
users may think that shutdown has hung. Since someone actually has to have set
this policy, the problem will be pretty rare, but is worth mentioning. To change
the setting, click Start | Run, type GPEDIT.MSC, click OK. Drill down to
Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local
Policies | Security Options. In the right pane, find “Shutdown: Clear virtual
memory pagefile.”
POWERDOWN ISSUES
“Powerdown issues” are quite distinctive from “shutdown issues.” I define a
shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn’t make it at least to the “OK to
shut off your computer” screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has
shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after
that. This is a different problem, and I encourage people reporting these issues to
make a clear distinction in their labeling.
When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power
Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon,
click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled
“Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer, there will be a red X
on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the
powerdown problem. (Tip from Terri Stratton.)
This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors
can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case,
consider the following tips:

If you change the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a
powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will
likely fix it. (Tip from Kelly Theriot)

On some hardware, power management features simply don’t work right.
This is exceedingly rare on Windows XP when compared to any earlier
version of Windows but, on some machines, especially if no BIOS upgrade
is available, there seems no conclusion to reach except, “Yes, you’re right,
it doesn’t work, so don’t use that feature.” Accordingly, several
correspondents have noted that their Win XP computers will not
powerdown correctly unless they have Turn Off Monitor, Turn Off Hard
Disks, and System Standby all set to “Never” in Control Panel | Power
Options. (Tip from Dan Mitchell & others)

Correspondent “Snake” restored powerdown functioning by disabling his
CD-ROM’s AutoRun feature. The fastest way to do this is with the “Disable
AutoRun” Registry patch that you can download here.
OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS...

BIOS UPGRADE. As with every new operating system that comes along
— especially one that is as much of a “step up” as Windows XP is from
Windows 9x — the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is
updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown
problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier
versions of Windows.

UNSIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS. Some users have found that Windows XP
won’t shutdown properly if unsigned device drivers are used. This is simply
a variation of the broader device driver issue: Hardware manufactures
have not yet released all necessary device drivers for Win XP. This will
continue to be a problem for the next few months; it already has been
reduced to a very minor cause of Win XP shutdown problems.

SIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS ON TOP OF UNSIGNED ONES. Good advice
on a variation of the above comes from correspondent Attila Szabadkai.
For his SBLive 1024 sound card he had originally installed non-XP drivers,
then updated these with digitally signed XP drivers downloaded from
Creative Labs. Result: He got a 0x0A Stop Message at shutdown.
SOLUTION: He removed all drivers, and put back only the digitally
signed one.

PROGRAMS HANG / BECOME UNRESPONSIVE. Sometimes programs
don’t close down correctly, or hang for some other reason during the
Windows shutdown process. This freezes up, or at least significantly
delays, Windows shutdown. For example, a few people have reported an
error message that EXPLORER.EXE has become unresponsive during
shutdown when they have used Win XP’s native CD-burning capabilities
during that Windows session. If Windows is hanging because it can’t force
a program to terminate, one solution is to disable the automatic end task
logic (AutoEndTask). Use this registry patch to force that setting
change. (Be sure to back up the Registry first.)

PACE INTERLOK ANTI-PIRACY SOFTWARE. According to the MS
Knowledge Base article Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because
of Resource Conflict, PACE InterLok anti-piracy software installs a driver
(TPKD.SYS) that uses the same IRQ as the Standard Floppy Disk
Controller device. This can cause Win XP to hang at a blank screen (with
mouse and keyboard nonresponsive) when you try to shutdown or restart.
Additional symptoms may be that the floppy drive doesn’t show in My
Computer; the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device in Device Manager
may display the error status “This device cannot find enough free
resources that it can use. (Code 12)”; and/or when trying to shutdown
from Safe Mode you get the error message, STOP 0x0000009F
Driver_Power_State_Failure. The solution is to get the updated
TPKD.SYS file from PACE.

QUICK-SWITCHING USER ACCOUNTS. One reported quirk affecting
shutdown is the three-account shuffle. Windows XP gives the ability to
rapidly bounce between user accounts, with Win+L. If at least three user
accounts exist, and you quick-switch through all three, and then log off all
three in reverse order — “backing out” in an orderly way — then the
machine may hang on shutdown. There may be other variations of account
shuffling that cause this, but this one, clear example was provided by
newsgroup correspondent John Ward. So far, I have no concrete clue on
what may be occurring here.

USING SHUTDOWN SCRIPTS & 802.1x AUTHENTICATION
PROTOCOL. This combination can cause Win XP to take in excess of 10
minutes to shutdown normally. (IEEE 802.1x is an authentication standard
for both wireless networks and wired Ethernet networks.) Here’s how the
dominoes fall: The 802.1x authentication protocol stops after the user logs
off. Shutdown scripts run after the user logs off. If the script is on a
network share and the connection is no longer available (since
authentication has terminated), the script can’t run. The default time-out
for shutdown scripts is 10 minutes. So the computer sits there 10 minutes
before continuing with its shutdown. (Reference: MSKB article
Q311787.)

CHANGE NTFS TO FAT32? MOVE THE PAGEFILE? Correspondent
“Curiefleas” wrote that his reboot-on-shutdown problem was solved when
he used a third party partitioning program to convert his NTFS partition to
FAT32. It isn’t clear why this would be the case, but the tip was worth
passing along. In a possibly related vein, other correspondents have
reported a shutdown problem in XP either being caused by, or resolved by,
relocating the pagefile! Is there some common issue involving substantial
moving of the hard drive’s contents? These two hints intrigued me in light
of a seemingly dissociated shutdown problem reportedly occurring in Win
ME only immediately after a defrag. These all may be unrelated to each
other — or not. I list them here as part of the ongoing data collection.

SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS IN WINDOWS NT/2000. In researching
known causes of shutdown problems in earlier versions of NT-family
operating systems, most of what I found referred to problems that were
resolved in later versions. There is no reason to suspect their recurrence.
For example, there were quite a few shutdown issues identified in NT 3.x
that didn’t survive to NT 4.0. Very predictable causes were involved most
often, especially difficulty with some 16-bit applications or specific
hardware incompatibilities. Very few shutdown failure scenarios are
documented for Windows 2000. All that I found were conflicts with
specific software, specific hardware, or drivers. While these three
frame a wide set of possibilities, they are sufficiently narrow to be very
encouraging when joined with what we are seeing with Win XP. If
approved compatible hardware and software are used, including XPspecific drivers, we see almost no shutdown problems at all. If other
hardware or software is used... well, that gives us a starting place to focus
our investigations.

SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS IN WINDOWS 9x. As stated at the beginning,
I recommend that, if nothing above resolves your Win XP shutdown
problem, try those troubleshooting steps that have worked for
Windows 9x operating systems to help us establish a track record of
exactly what does and does not apply, from that protocol, to the emergent
scenarios in Windows XP.
Windows XP Stop Errors
Get a grip with Windows XP Stop Errors.
What is a Stop Error..?
These messages are hard to miss, Windows literally stops dead in its tracks and
displays a Blue or sometimes Black screen filled with text describing the error
that has just occurred. A stop error will include a line of text similar to the
example below:
Stop:0x0000000A (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL*** Address x has base at x (filename)
Stop errors are also found in Windows 2000 and other NT systems. One feature
that you will want to make a point of turning off in Windows XP is how the
operating system automatically reboots when a STOP error occurs. If you allow
the system to reboot automatically, then knowing that a serious problem just
occurred on your computer may not be that obvious (and if the same problem
occurs again could leave you in an unrecoverable loop at boot-up time).
This setting can be changed by clicking My Computer, choosing Properties,
Advanced tab and then clicking on the Settings, button under Startup and
Recovery Options. Clear the Automatically Restart checkbox to change how
XP responds to Stop errors.
"Stop errors can occur at any time, but more commonly while installing Windows
XP, during a systems boot process, or after attempting to run an application"
Why do STOP Errors occur..?
Stop errors occur on Windows XP for many different reasons. But are most
common as a result of hardware or driver related problems and in most cases
these errors can traced back to a recent system change, such as newly added
hardware or a recent change of hardware drivers. Other causes are memory
access errors, physical hardware problems, or because of a virus. Older drivers
and software are also a cause, while many applications that worked perfectly
under older Windows versions will perform illegal operations in XP, also causing
STOP errors.
What to look for...
If you get a STOP message be sure to pay particular attention to the STOP code
(The Digits directly following the word "STOP"). Also write down the descriptive
text provided, such as IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. Also note the name of the
file listed at the end of the error message. With this information you will have a
much better chance of searching the possible causes and solutions.
How to Fix the Problem.
Since STOP errors are most commonly the result of a recent system change, such
as newly installed hardware, drivers or software, they will often pop up very
shortly after you have made changes to an XP system. If they do occur, then take
the time to undo whatever recent change may have caused the problem.
Besides checking for an updated driver or patch on the hardware or software
vendors site, take the time to visit the Windows XP Hardware Compatibility List at
ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/services/whql/hcl/winxphclx86.txt to see
whether your hardware is supported.
If you think that an old driver may be causing the problem, use the Sigverif.exe
utility to check for unsigned drivers that may be present on your system,
upgrading them and replacing them as necessary.
Troubleshooting of STOP Messages:
If you can’t find a specific reference to your problem, running through the
following checklist stands a good chance of resolving the problem for you:
If you’ve recently added new hardware, remove it and retest.
Run hardware diagnostics supplied by the manufacturer.
Make sure device drivers and system BIOS are up-to-date.
However, if you’ve installed new drivers just before the problem appeared,
try rolling them back to the older ones.
5. Open the box and make sure all hardware is correctly installed, well
seated, and solidly connected.
6. Confirm that all of your hardware is on the Hardware Compatibility
List. If some of it isn’t, then pay particular attention to the non-HCL
hardware in your troubleshooting.
7. Check for viruses.
8. Examine the System Log and Application Log in Event Viewer for other
recent errors that might give further clues.
9. Investigate recently added software.
10. Examine (and try disabling) BIOS memory options such as caching or
shadowing.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Common STOP messages:
Of all the STOP errors that you are likely to come across none is more common
than the one below. The main problem with this message is that its generic, and
can apply to a wide range of different system drivers. The IRQL message does
give you a clue though. In effect, the offending driver has tried to assign its IRQ a
higher priority than other more important system drivers, which causes system
instability. The good news is that the solution is simple, but there may not always
be a solution for your hardware. The First step is to uninstall the problematic
driver and then see whether a new updated and preferably signed driver is
available for XP from the manufacturers web site. If not you may very well be out
of luck and have to remove the hardware from your pc.
0x0000000A: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1539.)
Typically due to faulty or incompatible hardware or software. A kernel-mode
process or driver attempted to access a memory location to which it did not
have permission, or at a kernel Interrupt ReQuest Level (IRQL) that was too
high. A kernel-mode process can access only other processes that have an
IRQL lower than, or equal to, its own.


Troubleshooting “Stop 0x0A” Messages in Windows {Q165863} Win
NT, Win 2000, Win XP
Troubleshooting a Stop 0x0000000A Error in Windows XP
{Q314063} Win XP









Possible Resolutions to STOP 0x0A, 0x01E, and 0x50 Errors
{Q183169} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
During upgrade to Win XP {Q311564} Win XP
STOP 0x0000000A Error Message When You Change from AC
Power to DC Power {Q316676} Win XP
“Stop 0x0000000A” Error Message When You Fast Switch Between
Users {Q310918} Win XP
While booting NT on same partition as Win 2000 or XP {Q227301}
Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
Windows XP Restarts When You Try to Shut Down Your Computer
{Q311806}
“Fatal System Error” When You Try to Use a Hewlett-Packard
5100C ScanJet {Q307129} Win XP (with Brother printer)
Computer May Hang During a Heavy Load with an Ericsson HIS
Modem {Q319810} Win 2000, Win XP
Other STOP Messages:
0x0000001E: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows 2000
Professional Resource Kit, p. 1541.)
The Win XP kernel detected an illegal or unknown processor instruction. The
problems that cause this Stop message share similarities with those that generate
Stop 0xA errors in that they can be due to invalid memory and access violations.
This default Windows XP error handler typically intercepts these problems if errorhandling routines are not present in the code itself.






Possible Resolutions to STOP 0x0A, 0x01E, and 0x50 Errors
{Q183169} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
During Setup {Q161703} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
During Setup {Q314451} Win XP
An ASPI32.SYS issue (with SCSI hardware) {Q307128} Win XP
Caused by Open Handles while closing an application {Q195857}
Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
Stop 0x1E in PROTCLS.SYS When You Undock a Toshiba Tecra
8100 {Q284154} Win XP
0x00000023: FAT_FILE_SYSTEM
A problem occurred within a read or write to a FAT16 or FAT32 file system
drive. There may be a physical problem with the disk, or an interrupt request
packet (IRP) may not be able to be successfully completed or may be
corrupted. I suggest running ChkDsk or ScanDisk as a first effort to address
it. Disable all file system filter drivers such backup utilities, virus scanners, or
firewall software. Check the file properties of FASTFAT.SYS to ensure it
matches the current OS or SP version. Update all disk, tape backup, CD-ROM,
or removable device drivers to the most current versions.


General Discussion {Q290182} Win 2000
A “Stop 0x23” Error Message Appears When You Use Removable
Media with the Same Attributes {Q305358} Win 2000

STOP Errors 0x00000023 & 0x0000000A in FASTFAT.SYS When a
Program Queries the File System {Q289205} Win 2000
0x00000024: NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1543.)
A problem occurred within NTFS.SYS, the driver file that allows the system to
read and write to NTFS file system drives. (A similar Stop message,
0x00000023, exists for File Allocation Table file systems, FAT16 and FAT32.)


General Discussion {Q228888} Win 2000, Win XP
Caused by Open Handles while closing an application {Q195857}
Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
0x0000002E: DATA_BUS_ERROR
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows 2000
Professional Resource Kit, p. 1545.)
This indicates a system memory parity error, typically caused by failed or
defective RAM (including motherboard, Level 2 cache, or video memory),
incompatible or mismatched memory hardware, or when a device driver attempts
to access an address in the 0x8xxxxxxx range that does not exist (does not map
to a physical address). This Stop message also can indicate hard disk damage
caused by viruses or other problems.
0x0000003F: NO_MORE_SYSTEM_PTES
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
Indicates one or more of the following problems: (1) The system Page Table
Entries (PTEs) are depleted or fragmented due to the system performing a
large number of input/output (I/O) actions. (2) A faulty device driver is not
managing memory properly. (3) An application, such as a backup program, is
improperly allocating large amounts of kernel memory.
0x0000004E: PFN_LIST_CORRUPT
This indicates that the memory management Page File Number list is corrupted.
Can be caused by corrupt physical RAM.

How to Troubleshoot a “STOP 0x0000004E PFN_LIST_CORRUPT”
Error Message {Q291806} Win 2000
0x00000050: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1548.)
Requested data was not in memory. An invalid system memory address was
referenced. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video
RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus
software) might cause this Stop message, as may other hardware problems
(e.g., incorrect SCSI termination or a flawed PCI card).


Possible Resolutions to STOP 0x0A, 0x01E, and 0x50 Errors
{Q183169} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
During setup {Q171003} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP



Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
STOP Error When You Start Windows After You Connect a Scanner
{Q310869} Win XP
Stop 0x1E in PROTCLS.SYS When You Undock a Toshiba Tecra
8100 {Q284154} Win XP
0x00000076: PROCESS_HAS_LOCKED_PAGES
This error message is caused by a driver not cleaning up completely after an
I/O operation. The General Discussion article below contains a method to
track the problem if it recurs, and identify the problem driver. (The third
parameter of the error message shows the number of locked pages.)

General Discussion {Q256010} Win 2000 (After reading the article, click
here to download a Registry patch to make the recommended change.)
0x00000077: KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1549.)
A page of kernel data requested from the pagefile could not be found or read
into memory. This message also can indicate disk hardware failure, disk data
corruption, or possible virus infection.
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
General discussion. {Q228753} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
General discussion. {Q315266} Win XP
0x00000079: MISMATCHED_HAL
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1552.)
The Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and the kernel type for the computer
do not match. This most often occurs when ACPI firmware settings are
changed. For example, you might install Win XP on an x86-based computer
with the firmware ACPI enable option enabled and later decide to disable it.
This error can also result when mismatched single and multi-processor
configuration files are copied to the system.
0x0000007A: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1553.)
A page of kernel data was not found in the pagefile and could not be read into
memory. This might be due to incompatible disk or controller drivers,
firmware, or hardware.
0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1555.)
Win XP lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup
process. Typical causes: Installing incorrect device drivers when installing or
upgrading storage adapter hardware, or a virus.
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Stop 0x7B or “0x4,0,0,0” Error {Q122926} Win NT, Win XP (on
restart)
During setup on mirrored volume {Q235287} Win 2000 Pro, Win XP
After relocating boot disk {Q271965} Win 2000 Pro, Win XP
During setup (Sysprep issue) {Q303786} Win XP
Using Sysprep {Q257813} Win 2000 Pro, Win XP
When You Press F6 to Load Drivers During Unattended Win XP
Setup {Q307099} Win XP
0x0000007E: SPECIFIED_MODULE_NOT_FOUND
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0x0000007e Error When Registering OLEMSG32.DLL or CDO.DLL
Files {Q238265} Win NT, Win 2000
0x7E Error Occurs in Kbdclass.sys When You Try to Shut Down Win
XP {Q313050} Win XP Professional
0x0000007F: UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1558.)
One of three types of problems occurred in kernel-mode: (1) A bound trap
(i.e., a condition that the kernel is not allowed to have or intercept). (2)
Software problems. (3) Hardware failures.
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General Causes {Q137539} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
General Causes {Q314102} Win XP
0x0000008E
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“STOP 0x0000008e” Error Message During Windows XP Setup
{Q315335} Win XP
0x0000009A: STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES
The Windows kernel has allocated all of its allotted paged-pool memory.
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0x0000009A: STATUS_INSUFFICIENT_RESOURCES {Q142719} Win
NT, Win 2000, Win XP
0x0000009F: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
A driver is in an inconsistent or invalid power state. Typically occurs during
events that involve power state transitions, such as shutting down, or moving
into or out of standby or hibernate mode.
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0x0000009F: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE {Q246243} Win
2000, Win XP
0x0000009F: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE {Q315249} Win XP
Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because of Resource Conflict
{Q262575} Win 2000 (during Safe Mode shutdown with PACE InterLok
software)
Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because of Resource Conflict
{Q314101} Win XP (during Safe Mode shutdown with PACE InterLok
software)
0x000000A5
The cause of this message is always errors in the ACPI BIOS. Nothing can be
done at an operating system level to fix the problem. See the article above for
more details.
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0x000000A5 {Q256841} Win 2000, Win XP (when installing Win 2000 or
later)
0x000000B4: VIDEO_DRIVER_INIT_FAILURE
Commonly this is a video driver issue, or a hardware conflict with the video
card.
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“Stop 0x000000B4” The Video Driver Failed to Initialize {Q240369}
Win 2000 (occurs in VGA mode, but not in Safe Mode)
“STOP 0x000000B4” or Black Screen During GUI-Mode Setup on
Micron Powerdigm XSU {Q250271} Win 2000
0x000000BE: ATTEMPTED_WRITE_TO_READONLY_MEMORY
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
A driver attempted to write to read-only memory. Commonly occurs after
installing a faulty device driver, system service, or firmware. If a driver file is
named in the error message, try to correct the problem by disabling,
removing, or rolling back the driver.
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000C1: SPECIAL_POOL_DETECTED_MEMORY_CORRUPTION
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000C2: BAD_POOL_CALLER
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
A kernel-mode process or driver incorrectly attempted to perform memory
operations. Typically, a faulty driver or buggy software causes this.
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0x000000C2 {Q265879} Win 2000, Win XP
0x000000C2: BAD_POOL_CALLER {Q310527} Win XP (upgrading
Compaq Professional Workstation AP550 from Win 2000 to XP)
Computer with ATI RAGE FURY MAXX Video Adapter Stops
Responding After Upgrade to Win XP {Q307151} Win XP
0x000000C4: DRIVER_VERIFIER_DETECTED_VIOLATION
This is the general bug check code for fatal errors that the Driver Verifier
finds. The accompanying parameters are the parameters that are passed to
KeBugCheckEx and displayed on a blue screen.
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000C5: DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL
An attempt occurred to touch invalid memory at a process IRQL that is too
high. This is almost always caused by drivers that have corrupted the system
pool.
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Error Message: STOP 0x000000C5 DRIVER_CORRUPTED_EXPOOL
{Q291810} Win 2000
Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
Computer May Hang During a Heavy Load with an Ericsson HIS
Modem {Q319810} Win 2000, Win XP
0x000000C6: DRIVER_CAUGHT_MODIFYING_FREED_POOL
A driver tried to gain access to a freed memory pool.
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000C7: TIMER_OR_DPC_INVALID
A kernel timer or Delayed Procedure Call (DPC) was found somewhere in
memory where it is not permitted. This is usually caused by a driver’s failure
to cancel the timer or the DPC before freeing the memory in which the timer
or DPC resides.
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000C9: DRIVER_VERIFIER_IOMANAGER_VIOLATION
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Partial List of Driver Error Codes That the Driver Verifier Tool Uses
to Report Problems {Q315252} Win XP
0x000000CB: DRIVER_LEFT_LOCKED_PAGES_IN_PROCESS
This is related to Stop Code 0x76. It appears instead of 0x76 if diagnostic
tracking is enabled as described in the General Discussion article below. Note
the name of the problem driver on the blue error screen.
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General Discussion {Q256010} Win 2000 (After reading the article, click
here to download a Registry patch to make the recommended change.)
0x000000CE:
DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATION
S
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
A driver failed to cancel pending operations before exiting. Commonly occurs
after installing faulty drivers or system services.
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0x000000CE
DRIVER_UNLOADED_WITHOUT_CANCELLING_PENDING_OPERATI
ONS Where Video Adapter Has TV Tuner or Video Capture Feature
{Q310899} Win XP (in DXAPI.SYS)
0x000000CE Error Message in RASPPPOE.SYS During Upgrade from
Win NT 4.0 to Win 2000 {Q296946} Win 2000
STOP 0x000000CE Error Message Occurs in VGA.SYS {Q293410}
Win 2000
STOP 0x000000CE in VGA.DLL When You Try to Change Display
Settings {Q290114} Win 2000
0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
The system attempted to access pageable memory using a kernel process
IRQL that was too high. The most typical cause is a bad device driver (one
that uses improper addresses).
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“STOP:0xD1” Error Message When You Start Your Win XP-Based
Computer {Q316208} Win XP
Stop 0x000000D1 Error Message When You Turn Your Computer
Off {Q317326} Win XP
0x000000D1 with Conexant SoftK56 Modem Driver HSF_V124.SYS
{Q310742} Win XP
0x000000D8: DRIVER_USED_EXCESSIVE_PTES
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
Typically occurs if your computer runs out of Page Table Entries (PTEs) due to
a driver that requests large amounts of kernel memory.
0x000000E3: RESOURCE_NOT_OWNED
Various failures involving the NTFS file system cause this condition, as
explained in the individual articles below. (All documented causes involve
actual bugs in Windows.)
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“Stop 0x000000E3 RESOURCE_NOT_OWNED” Error Message
{Q281317} Win 2000 SP1, Server (requires later SP to repair)
You Receive a “Stop 0x000000E3” Error Message in Windows 2000
{Q307232} Win 2000 (all versions)
0x000000EA: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
A device driver problem has caused the system to pause indefinitely (hang).
Typically, this is caused by a display driver waiting for the video hardware to
enter an idle state. This might indicate a hardware problem with the video
adapter, or a faulty video driver.
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0x000000EA: THREAD_STUCK_IN_DEVICE_DRIVER {Q293078} Win
XP
0x000000ED: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
The kernel mode I/O subsystem attempted to mount the boot volume and it
failed. This error also might occur during an upgrade to Win XP on systems
that use higher throughput ATA disks or controllers with incorrect cabling. In
some cases, your system might appear to work normally after you restart.
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0x000000ED: UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME {Q297185} Win XP
(During reboot while upgrading to Win XP)
0x000000ED Error Message When Volume on IDE Drive with
Caching Enabled Is Mounted {Q315403} Win XP (NTFS volumes on
some IDE drives)
0x000000F2: HARDWARE_INTERRUPT_STORM
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article.)
This error message appers if the kernel detects an interrupt storm i.e.,
when a level-interrupt-triggered device fails to release an IRQ. Usually, this is
caused by a bad device driver. (See the link above for more details.)
0xC0000135: UNABLE TO LOCATE DLL
Windows attempted to load a DLL file and encountered some error condition.
Among the many possible causes are that the file is missing or damaged, or
that there is Registry corruption.
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Blue Screen STOP Message C0000135 Appears at Startup
{Q173309} Win NT 3.51, 4.0
Damaged Registry Repair & Recovery in Windows XP {Q318159}
Win XP
0xC0000218: UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR
A necessary Registry hive file couldn’t be loaded. The file may be corrupt or
missing (requiring either an Emergency Repair Disk or a Windows
reinstallation). The Registry files may have been corrupted because of hard
disk corruption or some other hardware problem. A driver may have corrupted
the Registry data while loading into memory, or the memory where the
Registry is loading may have a parity error (turn off the external cache and
check the physical RAM).
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0xC0000218: UNKNOWN_HARD_ERROR {Q156640} Win NT, Win
2000
How to Recover from a Corrupted Registry that Prevents Windows
XP from Starting {Q307545} (includes error messages that \WINDOWS
\ SYSTEM32 \ CONFIG \ SYSTEM or \WINDOWS \ SYSTEM32 \ CONFIG \
SOFTWARE is missing) Win XP
How to Troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 Error {Q314874} Win XP
0xC000021A: STATUS_SYSTEM_PROCESS_TERMINATED
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1561.)
This occurs when Win XP switches into kernel mode and a user-mode
subsystem, such as Winlogon or the Client Server Runtime Subsystem
(CSRSS), is compromised and security can no longer be guaranteed. Because
Win XP can’t run without Winlogon or CSRSS, this is one of the few situations
where the failure of a user-mode service can cause the system to stop
responding. This Stop message also can occur when the computer is restarted
after a system administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM
account no longer has adequate permissions to access system files and
folders.
0xC0000221: STATUS_IMAGE_CHECKSUM_MISMATCH
(Click to consult the online Win XP Resource Kit article, or see Windows
2000 Professional Resource Kit, p. 1563.)
Indicates driver problems, system file problems, disk corruption problems
(such as a damaged pagefile), or faulty memory hardware.
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General Discussion {Q101096} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
Unable to Load Device Driver {Q160495} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP
0xC000026C
Usually indicates device driver problems.
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Unable to Load Device Driver {Q160495} Win NT, Win 2000, Win XP