Stop Message Overview

Stop errors occur only when a problem cannot be handled by using the higher-level error-handling mechanisms in Windows Vista. Normally, when an error occurs in an application, the application interprets the error message and provides detailed information to the system administrator. However, Stop errors are handled by the kernel, and Windows Vista is only able to display basic information about the error, write the contents of memory to the disk (if memory dumps are enabled), and halt the system. This basic information, known as a Stop message, is described in more detail in the section titled "Stop Messages" later in this chapter.

As a result of the minimal information provided in a Stop message, and the fact that the operating ...

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