Microsoft KB Archive/174830

= NMI Error Message on Blue Screen May Be Garbled =

Article ID: 174830

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Enterprise Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

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This article was previously published under Q174830



SYMPTOMS
When you start your computer, the following symptoms may occur:


 * You receive a blue screen with garbled or random characters.
 * Your screen flickers.
 * Windows NT stops responding (hangs).



CAUSE
This problem can occur if there are more Non-maskable Interrupt (NMI) error messages being generated than can be processed by the CPU. As a result, the error messages cannot be displayed properly.



RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

NOTE: This fix only causes the NMI error messages to be displayed properly. It does not resolve the error messages. To resolve the error messages, you should correct the hardware problem that causes them. This fix prevents the initial error message from being overwritten by subsequent error messages so that you can determine the hardware problem.



STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 4.



MORE INFORMATION
When Windows NT starts, it uses a multitasking environment during error processing. While error processing is occurring, it is possible for multiple processes to detect problems. When this occurs, one error message can be overwritten by another.

When physical memory, the system bus, or input/output (I/O) devices detect parity errors, an error message is sent to the CPU using an NMI.

Keywords: kbhotfixserver kbqfe kbbug kbfix KB174830

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