A typical Windows XP stop message, like the one above, is divided into four parts, and actually does display some helpful clues as to what caused its appearance. Reading a BSOD is not an everyday task, but if we take a moment to dissect it, you'll see it can help us to resolve the conflict which is stopping Windows from operating correctly.

The bugcheck information shows the number of the stop error (in hexadecimal format), information on why the system has stopped and the friendly (text-based) name for the stop error, in this case "DRIVER_IRQI_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL."

The second section, 'recommended user action,' is pretty generic and contains advice for the user on possible troubleshooting steps.

This tends to be the same for just about every stop error, though the main advice 'try restarting your computer' is the best possible first step to take.

The third section, 'driver information,' may contain vital info. If an actual driver file is associated with the blue screen, it will be listed here. This can give you something to work on in the case of a reoccurring error. More on this later in the article.

The final part of the stop error screen is the 'debug port and status information' section.

Windows XP will attempt to dump the contents of system memory either to a file on the hard drive or to one of the COM ports in the case of a stop error. This section shows information about the procedure. Next up we look at what causes BSODs in the first place, and how to fix them!