Admin Tips
- Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base
  - Windows 2000
    - Admin Tips
      - TroubleShooting
        Dealing with Blue Screens

Section(s): TroubleShooting
Published on Apr 21, 2005.
Last Modified on Apr 21, 2005.
Last Modified by Mitch Tulloch.
Rated 2.6 out of 5 based on 8 votes.

Handling a blue screen is more about common sense than being an uber-geek.

Ever got a had a Windows 2000 or later system blue screen? The information displayed in such "STOP messages" can be cryptic to decipher to say the least. Not many of us are geeky enough to use a kernel debugger to analyze a memory.dmp file and figure out what went wrong. If you're not inclined to do that (and don't want to pay Microsoft PSS to do the same) then try out some of the following steps and you may be able to resolve your problem:

Uninstall the last device you installed.
Roll back a device driver you updated recently.
Open up your box and reseat PCI cards and memory.
Run diagnostics on your hard drives.
Uninstall a recently installed hotfix or service pack.
Roll back the configuration of your system using Last Known Good or XP's System Restore.
Reconfigure your BIOS settings to their original values.

About Mitch Tulloch

Mitch Tulloch was lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is the book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch was also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008 and technical project lead for the Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Resource Kit, both books also from Microsoft Press. For more information on these and other books by Mitch, see www.mtit.com .