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Featured Articles August 2000 • Vol.11 Issue 8 Page(s) 42-46 in print issue |
Windows Error Messages What's Behind The Most Common OS Problems | ||
 Microsoft didn't design Windows error messages so mere mortals could unravel their meaning, but that doesn't mean you can't prevent errors from recurring. This article focuses on the most common error messages seen across all the major Windows operating systems. We'll tell you what the standard operating procedure is when these messages appear (if there is one) and let you know what damage to expect from each error, along with offering some tips for preventing errors from striking again. Keep in mind that the standard response we supply for many error messages won't always work. Sometimes one error spawns others that don't produce error messages because the first problem is unresolved. Occasionally you can simply cancel out of a major error and merrily continue computing; other times a minor glitch will freeze the entire computer so badly that a hard reboot (turning off the PC's physical power switch) is required. In general, if the computer seizes completely you should wait a few minutes to see whether it comes back to life. Windows has a knack for self-resuscitation—at least to the point where you may be able to save your files before the entire system collapses—but it frequently takes awhile. We'll discuss more methods of dealing with a frozen operating system at the end of the article in the Miscellaneous Errors section.  The Usual Suspects That said, we can get to the real reason you are reading this article and explain what those all-too-frequent error messages mean. We've listed the text of the error messages you'll see, followed by a short description of what the text is trying to tell you. Standard responses to the error messages follow. Whenever you see "XX" in the sample error messages we've provided, it indicates a variable that you should pay close attention to when interpreting the message. It could be a program name, an error number, or something else that will vary depending on what caused the error on your machine. You've probably heard of the notorious "Blue Screen of Death," an error message that sounds more dangerous than it sometimes really is. "Blue Screen of Death" is a generic term that refers to any of a number of errors that cause system crashes. Many of these errors replace your Windows Desktop with a blue screen, hence the name. Many of the fatal exception errors you'll read about in this article are Blue Screen of Death errors, but remember that the appearance of a blue screen does not necessarily indicate the computer is about to crash. The "Error Reading CD-ROM…" message, for example, appears on a blue screen, but doesn't indicate the system has become unstable. Error Message: "A fatal exception XX has occurred at 00457:000040B1" Interpretation:Fatal exceptions are nasty processor errors that can bring the entire system to its knees. The XX represents a specific processor error code, such as 00 for a divide by zero fault or 13 for a General Protection Fault. Solution: Windows 98 is a little better about recovering from fatal exception errors than other Windows operating systems, but typically the only thing you can do when a fatal exception error occurs is try to save anything you can (usually impossible) and restart the computer. Use the Start menu's Shut Down command if possible. If that doesn't work, you may have to press CTRL-ALT-DELETE one or more times to get the computer to respond. If all else fails, use the Power or Reset button on the front of the computer. Error Message: "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, contact the program vendor." Clicking the Details button opens a box that reads something like: "XX caused an invalid page fault in module nddeapi.dll at 015f:70c449bb" or "XX caused a general protection fault in module nddeapi.dll at 0012:0000045." (XX is the name of the program that just crashed.) Interpretation:This means the program listed in the upper-left corner of the error message window is crashing because it experienced some sort of destabilizing error. It's generally impossible to determine whether the program itself or some other application caused the error. Clicking the Details button should reveal a bunch of error codes cleverly disguised as gibberish. As far as non-programmers are concerned, it is gibberish; even if you could interpret the error code it wouldn't necessarily tell you anything useful because Windows rarely can tell what is causing program errors. If you want, you can note the file name with the .DLL extension (Nddeapi.dll, in our example) so you can find out what .DLL was involved in the program crash. Solution: Unfortunately there is no easy way to solve this problem. Try to remember what you were doing immediately before the program crashed. Had you just clicked a new hyperlink in your browser? Were you trying to access a seldom-used menu command in your spreadsheet software? Did you launch another application immediately before the crash? When the system reboots, repeat what you did (make sure no important files are open) to see whether it prompts another crash. If so, you may need to reinstall the application or contact the manufacturer for help. Usually the best thing to do is save all your open files in applications that are running, then close all those applications. Reboot the system by clicking Start, Shut Down and choosing Shut Down from the menu. Then wait 10 seconds before turning the PC back on.
Error Message: "A file being copied is older than the file currently on your computer." Interpretation:If this message appears when you are installing some hardware or software, it means the application or hardware device driver software is attempting to overwrite a file already installed on your hard drive with an older version of that file. Solution: Always click Yes to skip copying the file and keep the newer version. If the product you are installing doesn't work, make a backup copy of the newer version of the file, then try uninstalling and reinstalling the program, this time letting the older file overwrite the newer version. Usually programs run better when you leave the newer version alone. Error Message: "Warning: Windows has detected a Registry/configuration error. Choose Safe mode to start Windows with a minimal set of drivers." Interpretation: The Registry is a database containing all the information Windows needs to keep track of your hardware and software. You should tend to this message immediately because it is telling you there is a problem with the all-important Registry.
If the operation is successful, you can follow the prompts to reboot Windows, and everything should be fine. If it doesn't work, you may have to reinstall Windows, along with any hardware and software that was having trouble when the Registry problem occurred. Error Message: "Missing Shortcut: Windows is searching for XX. To locate the file yourself, click Browse." Interpretation: XX is the name of the file you were trying to access via a shortcut, but this error message is telling you that the program the shortcut is associated with is no longer there. Solution: The file that the shortcut points to has been deleted from your system or moved to another location, so you just need to find it if it is still installed on the computer. Right-click the shortcut icon and click Properties, making sure the Shortcut tab is selected when the Properties box appears. The Target line shows the name of the file associated with the shortcut; it appears after the final slash. For example, in the target line "C:\PROGRAMFILES\MICROSOFT MONEY\SYSTEM\Msmoney.exe," Msmoney.exe is the name of the file the shortcut points to. Click Start, choose Find, and click Files Or Folders. Enter the name of the target file in the Named box and search all your drives for the file. If the file shows up, delete the old shortcut, then hold the right mouse button down as you drag the file's icon to the Desktop. Release the mouse button and select Create Shortcut(s) Here to make a fresh shortcut that points in the right direction. If the file doesn't show up, you'll have to reinstall the application associated with the broken shortcut. Error Message: "Rename: A filename cannot contain any of the following characters: \/:*?"<>|" or "Rename: If you change a filename extension, the file may become unusable. Are you sure you want to change it?" Interpretation: These messages appear when you have just typed a new name for a file and either pressed ENTER or clicked outside the file icon. The first message is telling you that you tried to use characters that have special meaning for Windows and therefore cannot be used in file names (this occurs most frequently when people try to use a slash or colon). The second message is warning you that the three-letter extension (such as .EXE, .DOC, or .TXT) was modified when you typed the new name. This is a no-no, because file extensions tell Windows what program to use to open the file and let the programs know how to handle the file. For example, Microsoft Word interprets .DOC files differently than .TXT files, even though both represent text documents. Solution: To solve the first message, note the taboo characters, click OK, and remove those characters from the file name. The message also appears if the name you type exceeds 230 characters in length. (This paragraph is about 250 characters long to this point.) Remove some characters to prevent the error. The file extension error can be more complicated because it doesn't undo the changes that you made when you click OK. You'll have to remember what the extension was and type it manually (don't forget the period between the file name and the file extension). If you forgot the extension, think of what kind of file it was. If it was a text document, try the common .DOC, .RTF, .WPS (if you use Works), or .TXT extensions. Remember that shortcuts do not need file extensions since they just point to the real file. Error Message: "There is not enough free memory to run this program. Quit one or more programs, and then try again." Interpretation: Most users can figure this one out: Windows is telling you there isn't enough RAM to store the necessary information for all the programs you are trying to run. Solution: There is little you can do about this error aside from installing more RAM on your computer or running fewer programs at the same time. Don't install one of the "RAM compression" programs on the market that supposedly double your available RAM without requiring the installation of any physical RAM chips. They generally cause more errors than they solve. You also should know that when this error message appears, you should think about saving all your work and shutting down as many programs as possible. Using the PC to the limits of its RAM destabilizes the entire computer and eventually will lead to program crashes or a complete operating system collapse. Always leave as much RAM headroom as possible. Error Message: "There was an internal error, and one of the windows you were using will be closed. It is recommended that you save your work, close all programs, and then restart your computer." Interpretation:You most often see this when you open several windows from the same application, such as many open browser windows or several text documents running in separate windows. When one of the open windows experiences errors and crashes, this message pops up Solution:Depending on the way the program is configured, sometimes this error closes only the offending window, and sometimes it brings down the entire program. Try to save whatever work you can in the other open windows before closing the error message. If only the error-producing window closes, shut down the program it was associated with before doing anything else (saving your work first, of course). Most of the time you can continue using your other open applications with no trouble after you close the program that generated the error message, but it's usually better to heed the warning, save your work, and reboot the system to clean out the garbage that caused the instability in the first place. Error Message: "Invalid system disk Replace the disk, and then press any key" Interpretation: This is a scary-looking message that is normally quite innocuous. It just means you left a nonbootable diskette in the diskette drive before booting or restarting the PC. Nearly all computers are designed to look at the diskette drive for operating system information before looking to the hard drive and produce an error message if there are no system files on the diskette. On rare occasions, the "Invalid system disk" error appears when Win98 is installed and rebooted for the first time. If Setup failed to copy required system files, it may be because of physical errors caused by the hard drive itself or a minor glitch that can be corrected by repeating the Windows installation process. In the former case, solutions are expensive and outside the scope of this article, so you'll have to contact Microsoft's technical support and maybe even your hard drive manufacturer to fix things. Solution: Take the diskette out of the drive and reboot your computer. Beware that computer viruses can spread via diskettes that are accidentally left in the computer and then accessed automatically when the machine boots up. If the diskette you left in the drive came from an outside source such as a friend or co-worker you may want to run an antivirus program when Windows loads to see whether anything nasty got onto your PC. Error Message: "Error Reading CD-ROM in Drive D:" (or the letter of your CD-ROM drive). "Please insert CD-ROM XX With Serial Number XX in Drive D: … If the CD-ROM is still in the drive, it may require cleaning." Interpretation: Usually this means you have attempted to eject a CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive while a program was accessing it. Sometimes the error appears when the drive can't read a very dirty, scratched, or otherwise damaged CD-ROM. Solution: Either press the ESC key to close the error message (and possibly crash the program that was accessing the CD-ROM) or reinsert the CD-ROM and press ENTER to attempt to let the program pick up where it left off. Sometimes this error will freeze the computer, and you'll have to use the Power or Reset buttons on the front of your PC to get Windows' attention. If a scratched or dirty CD-ROM caused the error, clean the disc and try again, but frequently a CD-ROM is damaged beyond repair if this message shows up. Error Message: Blue screen when system boots that reads, "Windows was not properly shut down. One or more of your disk drives may have errors on it… ScanDisk is now checking drive C: for errors." Interpretation: This often is mistaken for an error message (the blue screen is particularly unnerving), but it really is just telling you that Windows is doing its job. Windows is designed to "know" when the operating system was not properly exited through use of the Shut Down command, and it sends a red flag to ScanDisk when the computer boots up, telling the program to automatically look for hard drive errors. Solution: This is one of the few times when Windows acts abnormally that you should sit back and do nothing. Let ScanDisk run its course and prepare to wait up to 10 minutes depending on the size, condition, and speed of your hard drives. Frequently the cause of the "illegal" shutdown is something much less sinister than a hard drive error (such as a frozen application that forced you to hit the Power switch). If you're sure your hard drive is OK, you can press the X key to bypass the ScanDisk checkup. If the computer made noises before shutting down or was turned off due to a disruption in the actual power supply, always let ScanDisk check for errors. Error Message: "Data Error Reading Drive C:" or "Error Reading Drive C:" or "Serious Disk Error Writing Drive C:" Interpretation: These are some of the scarier hard drive errors: They usually mean horrible, expensive trouble. Sometimes the errors being reported are repairable, and sometimes they mean it's time to buy a different hard drive, possibly losing everything on your old one in the process Solution: If Windows still runs and you can access it, run ScanDisk. Click Start and choose Programs, then Accessories, then System Tools, and click ScanDisk. Select all the hard drives on your system (anything with an icon that matches that of drive C:) by holding SHIFT and clicking on each drive's icon. Select the Thorough radio button and check the Automatically Fix Errors box before clicking Start. This may fix the problem, but if not, you may be in serious trouble that nothing short of a hard drive replacement will solve. Error Message: "Error Copying File … Cannot copy XX: The disk is write-protected. Remove the write protection or use another disk." Interpretation: This message sometimes appears when you're trying to copy files to a diskette. XX is the name of the file you are trying to copy, and write-protection means the diskette is configured so information can be read from it, but not added to it. Solution: Remove the diskette from the drive and look for a little sliding plastic tab on the back. If you see an open hole through the diskette, the disk is write-protected, and you need to slide the tab downward. You can cover the write-protect hole with a piece of tape if no plastic tab exists, but pulling that trick too often may gum up the diskette drive with adhesive. Error Message: "Not enough memory to render page" Interpretation: This error appears when a document you sent to the printer is too big for the printer's buffer memory. The memory is where files are stored after they leave Windows and before they go to the printer's processor.
Barring the RAM upgrade, reduce the size of the file causing the error message. Find the file's icon, right-click it, and click Properties. Note the number in the Size field. If you are printing a graphic image, load it into your graphics editor program and reduce the picture's resolution, color depth, and/or actual size to reduce the file size. Look to the editor's Help file if none of those terms appear. Many times you can just open the file and save it in another format using the File menu's Save As command. For example, opening a file with a .BMP extension and saving as a .GIF or .JPG using the Save As command can shave up to 90% off the file's size with little impact on image quality. Sometimes printing a large text document generates similar errors. Load it in your word processor and break it into several chunks, printing each section separately and collating everything when you are finished. Alternatively, if your Print command lets you print just a few pages at a time try handling things that way. Error Message: "Windows cannot shut down this program automatically. It is recommended that you exit the program with its Quit or Exit command. If the program consistently encounters problems, click the Start button, then select Help, Troubleshooting, and ‘If you have trouble running MS-DOS programs.' Do you wish to terminate this program now and lose any unsaved information in the program?" Interpretation: You have tried to exit a DOS program that was running in Windows without using the DOS application's commands for shutdown. Solution:Terminating the program won't affect other running programs, so if you don't need to save any information in the DOS program, go ahead and click OK. Otherwise choose Cancel to return to the DOS program and save all your information before quitting. Miscellaneous Errors Sometimes the same strange error appears frequently without affecting Windows' stability. The PC we wrote this article on, for example, generates an error message when we open the Display Properties window, but we've ignored the error each time without ill effects. Every copy of Windows is unique since nobody has the same combination of hardware and software installed, so errors like this usually aren't worth tracking down and fixing. Much worse are the occasions where the keyboard and mouse freeze for no apparent reason, and the system just sits in a frozen state. There are no surefire ways to determine the cause of these problems, especially because no telltale error message appears. Just turn the computer off, wait a few seconds, restart it, and let ScanDisk go to work. If the problem reappears, it may be time for a complete reinstallation of Windows on a clean hard drive, coupled with fresh installations of your hardware and software. Check the Smart Computing Web site at http://www.smartcomputing.com for many articles on Windows reinstallations. Finally, we recommend looking into utilities that can help you deal with error messages. Check out Attune from Aveo, which pops up when an error message occurs and guides users step-by-step through corrective procedures. It also helps users keep PCs up-to-date, which can head off many of the situations that lead to error messages. You can learn more about the free service and download a copy of Attune at http://www.aveo.com  by Tracy Baker |
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