| For Windows NT users, the dreaded error message
is the infamous STOP error, also known as "Blue
Screen of Death". These are operating system-generated
bug checks that purposefully bring the system to halt
when servere error conditions are encountered. The resulting
blue text screen includes some type of STOP error message
and often other information, such as one or more hexadecimal
codes and a list of all system drivers active in memory
at the time of the STOP error
Because of NT's robust memory protection model, these messages are usually not related to User Mode applications but to a problem with the hardware device or a system-level service or driver. These types of services are known as "trusted" code because they are run in NT's protected Kernel Mode along with the Windows NT operating system and device drivers. Furtunately, NTis adept at protecting the operating system from events that would crash most other systems. STOP errors are relatively rare. |