CrashDecoder: Plain-English answers for Windows stop codes and hardware errors

Windows tells you something broke using a hexadecimal code and a string of capital letters. These pages translate that into what actually failed, what to check first, and how to tell a driver problem from hardware that is on its way out.

Start with your error

• 0x0000000AIRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUALA driver accessed memory at an interrupt level too high to survive the fault. Nearly always a driver.
• 0x00000019BAD_POOL_HEADERA pool header was corrupt. The blamed driver is usually the one next door.
• 0x0000001AMEMORY_MANAGEMENTWindows' memory bookkeeping is corrupt. The first parameter tells you which kind, and that changes everything.
• 0x0000001EKMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLEDKernel code faulted with no handler. Parameter 1 names the exception type.
• 0x00000024NTFS_FILE_SYSTEMA fault inside the NTFS driver. Almost always the disk under it, not the driver.
• 0x0000003BSYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTIONA kernel fault during a system call. Usually a driver, sometimes memory, occasionally a dying board.
• 0x00000050PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREAMemory that could never be paged out was missing anyway. Points harder at RAM than most codes.
• 0x0000007AKERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERRORWindows couldn't read data back from disk. Parameter 2 usually names the exact cause.
• 0x0000007BINACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICEWindows couldn't reach its own boot drive. Check UEFI storage mode before anything else.
• 0x0000007ESYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLEDA system thread faulted with no handler. Usually prints the guilty driver right on the screen.
• 0x0000009CMACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTIONA fatal processor machine check. On modern Windows, seeing this rather than 0x124 is informative.
• 0x0000009FDRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILUREA driver stalled during sleep, wake or shutdown. Timing tells you almost everything.
• 0x000000C2BAD_POOL_CALLERA driver misused kernel memory allocation. Verifier with pool options finds it reliably.
• 0x000000EFCRITICAL_PROCESS_DIEDA process Windows can't live without exited. Often a boot loop, so the fixes run from recovery.
• 0x000000F4CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATIONA process or thread Windows needs has exited. Parameter 3 names which one.
• 0x00000101CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUTOne CPU core stopped answering. Overclocks and undervolts cause most of these.
• 0x00000109CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTIONKernel Patch Protection caught something modifying the kernel. Or memory corrupted it.
• 0x00000116VIDEO_TDR_FAILUREThe GPU stopped answering and Windows gave up waiting. Driver, heat, power, or a dying card.
• 0x00000124WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERRORThe hardware reported a fatal error directly. The most hardware-specific stop code there is.
• 0x00000133DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATIONA driver hogged the CPU past a hard deadline. Storage firmware and SATA drivers cause most of them.
• 0x00000139KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILUREA kernel integrity check caught corruption and halted deliberately. Parameter 1 says which kind.
• 0x0000013AKERNEL_MODE_HEAP_CORRUPTIONThe kernel heap manager caught corruption. Parameter 1 names which kind, precisely.
• 0x00000154UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTIONMemory compression hit an error it couldn't handle. Check the drive before the RAM.
• WHEA-Logger 17A corrected hardware error has occurredHardware reported an error and recovered. One is noise. A burst of them is a warning.

Diagnostic guides

• GuideUsing Driver Verifier SafelyThe tool that names a bad driver. Plus the boot-fail flag that makes it safe to use.
• GuideFinding Your Crash History in WindowsBuild a timeline of every crash the machine recorded. The pattern beats any single dump.
• GuideHow to Read a Windows Crash Dump FileInstall WinDbg, open the dump, run one command. Fifteen minutes, and it usually names the driver.
• GuideHow to Test Your RAM ProperlyTwo different questions: is a module defective, or are your settings unstable? Different tools.
• GuideLiveKernelEvent: Hardware Errors Without a Blue ScreenReliability Monitor's 'Hardware error' entries. No crash, real dump file, poorly documented codes.

How to use this site

Search the exact code Windows gave you, including the 0x prefix. If you only have an Event Viewer entry rather than a blue screen, look under hardware errors instead: those are the events that get logged while the machine is still running.