Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Here are a few common Windows error messages you may encounter and what they mean:
Windows Has Recovered from a Serious Error
This message means something major
has crashed, and Windows has restarted itself as a result. If you see this error once, it's
probably a fl uke; but if you see it frequently, you may need to repair Windows or take a
critical look at what programs are loading at startup that may be causing the error.
The System Is Low on Virtual Memory. Windows Is Increasing the Size of Your Virtual
Memory Paging File
This message describes what is happening when your system has run
out of memory. Do you have too many applications running for the amount of memory
installed? As a result, Windows increases the paging fi le size so that it won't happen again
(presumably). If the PC is running slowly, try rebooting.
Data Error Reading/Writing Drive
This message means Windows is having trouble
reading from or writing to whatever drive letter it lists in the error message. Run CHKDSK
(from the drive's Properties dialog box on the Tools tab), and select the Scan For And
Attempt Recovery Of Bad Sectors check box to assess the drive.
A Runtime Error Has Occurred. Do You Wish to Debug?
This is an Internet Explorer
error message, normally caused by badly written code being delivered from the website. It
isn't your PC's fault. If you fi nd this message annoying, you can change a setting in Internet
Explorer to prevent it from appearing. From the Control Panel, choose Network And
Internet, and then Internet Options. On the Advanced tab, in the Browsing section, select
the Disable Script Debugging (Internet Explorer) check box.
The Event Viewer utility in Windows can sometimes provide information
about an error event that has occurred, helping you to narrow down what
may have caused it. You can access the Event Viewer from the Control
Panel in the Administrative Tools section.
OS Slowdown or Lockup
Sometimes you may be working along in your OS when, all of a sudden, everything slows
to a crawl. Simple things like opening an application and closing a window take much
longer than usual.
There are two basic reasons why slowdowns happen. One is that the physical memory
is mostly used up, so the system is relying more on its paging fi le than usual. Because the
paging fi le is on the hard disk, and the hard disk is slower than real RAM, operations
involving heavy use of the paging fi le take longer. The other reason is that the CPU is being
heavily used, so each operation that needs the CPU's attention has to wait its turn.
That begs the question: what causes the RAM and/or the CPU to be used heavily?
They can be legitimately used by applications if you run a lot of applications at once,
