Advertisement

  PPC > Computing Guides > Windows  

GPF and the Blue Screen of Death

Getting system crashes? Programs not responding? Kai Chandler tells all in this week’s Beginners’ Guide.

System crashes, General Protection Faults or programs not responding – anyone who has used Windows will experience these from time to time.  Problems may be rare with Windows NT and 2000 as these operating systems are relatively stable but crashes may be daily occurrences for Windows 95 and 98 users.

What causes system crashes?  A common cause is when Windows scrambles its memory. Perhaps two programs are trying to access the same bit of memory at the same time?

  If your system crashes first note any error message as this may help you to resolve it. Write it down so you can see if the same error comes up again and again.

You’ll probably need to reset the computer, hence losing any data unwritten at the time. To do this, press the PC’s reset button – it’s probably on the front of the system box. If you don’t have a reset button then simply turn the power off and leave for 60 seconds before restarting the computer.

What can be done to reduce the chance of these errors? There’s no simple single answer but the Top Tip is that if say you are running a program that freezes up, there’s probably an incompatibility with another program running at the same time. To investigate this, you need to know how to see if a program has stopped responding. To do this, press Control-Alt-Delete keys together – first Control then Alt then Delete. This shows the Close Programs window. All the programs or tasks running are listed. If one is marked Not Responding then you may close it by selecting it and clicking on End Task. If your mouse is not functioning, use the arrow keys to select the program and then press the Alt and E keys together.

To find which program is causing the incompatibility requires some detective work. End some tasks (not Explorer as that will close Windows) and see if the program now runs OK. You may find that a program such as your favourite utility or antivirus tool is incompatible with another program in which case you should try reinstalling one or both programs.

Here are some more ways of reducing or avoiding problems

1. Reboot daily. Windows stores some vital information in sections of RAM called resources. If these resources become full then Windows can become unstable. To avoid this, don’t run too many programs at once and reboot your computer every day.

2. Video drivers: The code controlling your display can cause problems. If you get errors that refer to a file that ends in .VSD then check the graphics board vendor's Web site for a more up-to-date driver. To find out what video board and driver you have, select Start | Settings | Control Panel | System | Display Adapter | Properties. You may need to use a search engine such as www.google.com  to find the vendor's Web site.

3. Viruses: these can cause all sorts of unpleasant problems so please make sure you are using an up to date antivirus tool. It’s no good unless you update it regularly. Try AVG 6.0 from Grisoft, Inc. It has all the features you’d expect. It’s comprehensive, has regular downloadable updates, and is absolutely free for home and small office users. It also regularly wins awards for killing lots of viruses! 

4. Mismatched system files: When you install Windows software, the installation routine can replace existing Windows .dll files. There’s often a dialogue box that warns if the installer has found a later version of a file on your hard disk than the one it is installing. If you accidentally installed the earlier version then programs expecting the more up to date .dlls can get confused and cause problems. The answer is to reinstall the original program once again to restore the correct files. Indeed a general tip is to reinstall any programs that cause problems.

5. Check for updates: Sometimes programs have known problems – known to the vendor that is! Check the vendor’s web site for information about how to avoid clashes. There may be patches or updates to download.

6. Minimal Stack Pages.  The higher the value of this internal setting the more conflicts between applications caused by insufficient memory will be prevented. Rather than playing directly with the Registry, set it using Tweak-Me shareware which you can download from our libraries.

7. Hardware problems: Sometimes hardware problems can cause crashes. Bad memory, unstable power supplies, processors running too hot, cables with poor connections or boards that are not properly seated can all cause problems. Check that the fan is running properly – you should be able to hear it.  Also check that the ventilation apertures are not blocked with dust. 

If nothing else works then is probably time to reinstall Windows. This is easier than it sounds and you’ll be rewarded with a frisky, responsive system that should run smoothly –at least for a while!