What to do with stop codes after server crash?

binarysoul

How can I find out what caused a server to crash, e.g. which application/service?

I just logged in to a Win2K3 server and it told me it unexpectedly crashed. There is no specific reason in "Log Viwer". I googled the STOP CODE and couldn't find anything. How can I find the source?

Mishra

Sorry, misread your message. Ignore.

undomiel

Best place usually to check for stop codes is http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.htm

It gives a good general overview of what caused a stop code. After that you can get down and dirty with it using windbg from here http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.mspx

Use that to analyze the memory **** and it will give you all sorts of useful information about what caused the error. It'll point you to a specific program or dll when possible, though sometimes it just notes memory corruption. Do keep in mind though that while it will give you lots of useful information it can sometimes be misleading. i.e. a stick of ram going bad could cause a blue screen pointing towards a specific driver causing the problem, even though the driver isn't the problem at all but the stick of ram. That's why you also need to look for consistency in crash patterns.

dynamik

Might be a driver issue or memory like undomiel said. You might want to make sure everything is up to date and run some diagnostics before you go on a wild goose chase with some random code.

hypnotoad

Could be...bad Driver, bad Memory, Bad HD, Bad Capacitors, Overheating, virus, bad software (i've seen antivirus programs throw blue screens).

ally_uk

Check your event logs and this will usually tell you if a application is involved what time the problem occured just set up console management using mmc.

I would say memtest the machine aswell!