Stop errors

Todays post is about stop errors, otherwise known as the Blue Screen(s) of Death.

A Blue Screen of Death, or BSoD, happens when a piece of software attempts to do something it is not allowed to do, and Windows has no way to handle the error this causes except to stop working and give the person using the computer(the user) an error message.
This error message is called a stop error because Windows stops whatever it was doing at the time.

Just about everyone who has used a Windows-based computer has experienced the BSoD at one time or another.

The reason it is called the Blue Screen of Death (or Doom) is because you lose anything and everything you were working on at the time and your only option for getting back into Windows is to restart the computer.

Now that we know what a BSoD is, now we have to see what all the stuff in the error means, so that maybe whatever caused the error can be fixed.
According to Wikipedia, "the text on the error screen contains the code of the error as well as its symbolic name (e.g. 0x0000001E, KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED) along with four error-dependent values in parentheses that are there to help software engineers with fixing the problem that occurred. Depending on the error code, it may display the address where the problem occurred, along with the driver which is loaded at that address. Under Windows NT and 2000, the second and third sections of the screen may contain information on all loaded drivers and a stack dump, respectively. The driver information is in three columns; the first lists the base address of the driver, the second lists the driver's creation date (as a Unix timestamp), and the third lists the name of the driver."

Each BSoD usually displays a message such as FILE_SYSTEM as well as a number like 0x00000022. The usual parameters displayed for the BSoD are the following:

   number of error (parameter, parameter, parameter, parameter) name of error

Knowing all of the above information is important in understanding and determining the cause of the Blue Screen.

If you computer "blue screens" then what you should do is:

1. Write down the name of the error message (i.e. MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION or whatever is in all caps).

1. Write down the error number (it will look like "0x00000000").

1. If Windows says why it stopped (for example, "driver error" or something specific not just "Windows stopped working to protect your system") write that down too.

You may be thinking "why should I do this, when I wont be fixing it?" The answer is if you have a repair done because of the Blue Screen, you will be able to tell the repairman what the error said so that they know where the problem is. Or so that you can look it up on the internet yourself.

The View On Vista

The news is out! There will be six, count 'em 6, versions of Microsoft Windows Vista released next Spring (or whenever Vista is finally released).
The 3 home version are: Windows Vista Basic - The lowest end of Vista; least gee-whiz features and no fancy desktop, it'll look mostly like Windows XP.
Windows Vista Premium Edition - Fancy, Mac-like desktop, and security features.
Windows Vista Ultimate Edition - All the gee-whiz features you've heard about that are supposed to be included in "Vista;" except the ones Microsoft has said they are leaving out.

In other news, if you are having trouble with your cable modem connection, have Comcast as your provider, and you have Norton Internet Security 2005 installed, Norton may be the problem. Try disabling Norton and then see if the problem goes away.
I ran into this situation this morning with a customer; after uninstalling Norton, the problem went away.
There are a whole host of reasons why you should not use Norton, any product, any version; If you have Norton and you want an effective solution, try (well, just about anything other McAfee is a better alternative) one of the free anti-virus programs available for download off the Internet. These free alternatives are Anti-Vir and AVG ; they are both effective and easy to use. They dont, however, offer all the bells and whistles of Norton. The only real difference between the free programs and Norton is "do you want your computer to be safe" or "do you want lots of fancy features and only the impression of being safe."

Patent Trolls

In the news today, Ebay is being sued by a heretofore unknown company called MercExchange. ME says Ebay is infringing on ME's "Buy It Now" patent. Buy It Now is one of the features Ebay has to allow people to purchase objects without going through the auction process.

MercExchange is a business whose entire business model consists of applying for or buying patents and then suing successful companies for "infringing" their patent.

What is a "patent troll"? "Patent troll is a pejorative and controversial phrase coined by former Intel assistant general counsel Peter Detkin in 2001 to describe entities that broadly assert specious patents across an industry for the purpose of generating nuisance value settlements. Instead of actively developing a technology, a "patent troll" would acquire or register a patent and pursue a strategy of looking for potential infringers and proposing license agreements to companies. Where the "patent troll" is unable to achieve a licensing agreement, it threatens, or enters, patent infringement litigation. To avoid litigation, companies often choose to settle by purchasing a license. Today, "patent troll" is used to describe a number of businesses using similar patent strategies."(From wikipedia)

There are a number of companies whose stated goals and business models are to sue successful, deep-pocketed companies for enough money to either keep the troll from ever having to work agan or to cripple the defending company.
Some "patent trolls" are listed on the NYSE, and, as such, must please investors and analysts every quarter. Which means lawsuits and "infringement" settlements.

This is why America needs patent reform.

In the Beginning...

There was the Command Line. And everyone was sad. Then came the Gui, and all the people were happy. Except those who liked the command line; they were unhappy.

Thus begins my first post for Peter's PC Repair and Consulting.

In the news today, the release date of Microsoft's Vista OS was delayed. Again. But this time it was not delayed for "technical" (i.e. the programmers hadnt finished it) reasons, but rather for "security" reasons. Microsoft said, "We just have to close a few security holes and it wil be fine."

Right. Sure.

More likely, the Digital Rights Management software wasnt playing nice with the rest of Vista.

Anyway, more later.

Honest.