Wimamp is a great audio application. There are many people (for instance the author of this post) who seem to be addicted to it. I especially like the earlier versions that didn’t have all the fluff of today’s multimedia apps but, unlike them, could play a clear sound.

I have been living under Linux for many years and I certainly don’t miss Windows. I do miss certain applications but fortunately almost all of them have been ported to Linux or have a decent substitute.

For many years I used for audio files XMMS, the Linux Winamp. But after a recent reinstall, I was unpleasantly surprised that it didn’t work on my computer anymore. I had to look for a substitute.

Out of the numerous audio/video players for Linux, it wasn’t hard to select a bunch. However, the application I liked best was Qmmp because it felt just like XMMS and Winamp, of course.

I am running an Ubuntu derivative, so I didn’t have to go an extra mile to download and compile Qmmp because it was readily available via the Synaptic Package Manager. Many other distros (not only the Debian ones) also include Qmmp in their repositories, so chances are that you just need to install it.

Qmmp plays many formats – MPEG, Ogg Vorbis, Native and FLAC to name a few – and in my humble opinion the sound quality is better than that of other audio players. Another advantage of Qmmp is that there are tons of skins for it, so if you are bored by the default one, you don’t have to stick to it.

Give Qmmp a try and tell me what you think.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the about:config command in Firefox opens the door to many useful tweaks. Probably there are hundreds of useful settings among them and it might take a life time to try them all, but if you run a slow computer, here is a tweak you can use:

1. In the address bar, type about:config and when it opens, type: network.http.max-connections
2. Double click the property and change the value to a lower setting – i.e. 15-20 should do but if you notice that you need more connections, go back and increase it. The limited number of simultaneous connections could lead to more frequent error messages that the server/page is not found but it will certainly speed things up. When fewer connections are active simultaneously, there are more resources for each of them.
3. You can also limit the max number of connections per server (use network.http.max-connections-per-server and set it to 10 or lower), the max number of persistent connections per proxy (use network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-proxy and set it to 10 or less), and the max number of persistent connections per server (use network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server and set it to 6 or less).
4. To further speed things up, you could disable auto refresh. Auto refresh is by default done when the computer is idle, so it shouldn’t be that much of a burden for you but still, if your resources are very limited, disabling it could help. Use the browser.cache.check_doc_frequency setting and set it to 2. In this case the page will refresh only when you explicitly reload it.

There are additional settings that could also speed browsing but let’s start with these ones and see what their effect is.

Every time I reinstall my PC, one of the first things I rush to do is make Firefox show an unlimited number of tabs. When I browse, I usually open new tabs all the time and soon my Firefox gets cluttered with tabs. The situation gets really unpleasant when the tabs don’t fit on one screen anymore and I need to scroll horizontally in order to find the tab I want.

Don’t you find this irritating? If you do, the fix is just some clicks away. In the address bar, type:

about:config

This will give you access to the hidden settings of Firefox. Find browser.tabs.tabMinWidth and double-click on it. This will open a dialog, similar to the one below:

Now, type 0 (zero) and press OK. Great – you now have no minimal width requirement for tabs and you can open as many of them as you need.

about:config is a great way to fine-tune your Firefox. You can perform tons of things from there, such as set Firefox tabs opened from links to appear at the end or backup and restore your Firefox. Just be careful not to break something by accident.

Rather, the news from the latest ComScore survey on mobile trends is that Blackberry is going down further and now it is the third largest player, overtaken by iOS. With Android at the top with 36.4% (up from 31.2% in January), followed by iPhone with 26% (up from 24.7% in January) and Blackberry with 25.7% (down from 30.4% in January), the market is getting more and more interesting to watch.

Microsoft and Palm come fourth and fifth respectively with 6.7% (down from 8.0% in January) and 2.6% (down from 3.2% in January).

What can we say? The battle between Android and iOS will continue but isn’t it a lost battle? I mean for iOS, Android is in top shape and advancing like crazy. Well, maybe if Nokia didn’t choose Microsoft for their OS, then the leadership of Android would have been even more clearly expressed but even without Nokia on their camp, Android devices are doing pretty well and gaining more and more market share.

Will we see Android devices grabbing more than half or even two thirds of the market, or do iPhones and Blackberries have their devoted fans, who won’t ditch them for Android for dear life?

I am NOT a fan of Flash sites, but I do have to admit that sometimes a Flash site rocks. Besides, many users like Flash sites and are eager to have one. What do you recommend them? To find a Flash developer? Could be, but I myself recommend my friends and acquaintances to try the free Wix website builder.

With it, they can create a Flash site relatively easily and painlessly and what is more important – without being dependent on a Flash developer.

I can’t say I am proficient in Wix – I just don’t need to – but my first impressions are that this is a really nice website builder. In my opinion, it is also a beginner-friendly one, which isn’t to underestimate when you are recommending to non-technical people.

In the past I had some projects revolving around website builders and free templates and this is why I got familiar with this type of software many Web designers despise. Something like this will never replace a real web developer, though. A machine can’t replace a human with artistic sense.

I can’t speak for all website builders out there, but Wix is very flexible. It allows to customize many (or maybe any but I am not sure because I didn’t test it myself – takes too much time) aspects of your pages and site as a whole and seems pretty easy to use.

I have promised myself to devote some time to walking around Wix, so when I do it, I will keep you posted.

Let’s start with the good news first. The two new major features are Quick Photo and Stats and they alone are enough to make your day. Quick Photo, as the name implies, allows to catch the moment and blog it instantly. Here is how Quick Photo Looks like:

Image Credit: http://wpiphone.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/quick-photo-walkthrough.jpg

The Stats feature is also very useful because every serious blogger and webmaster is stats-obsessed. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it – this is why Stats are important and it is great that you can access them from your mobile, too.

The third major feature are the new localization packages. There are language packages in 10 languages. If you want to learn more about what’s inside WordPress for iOS 2.8, check their official announcement.

The new features sound exciting but don’t get the wrong idea that this is a full-fledged blogging application. It still misses major features, so if you were dreaming of blogging only from your mobile, this won’t be the case. When more of the essential features are added, then you might start thinking of throwing out your PC and blogging exclusively from your mobile. Till that moment comes (if ever), you’d better stick to your PC for the heavy work and use your mobile only when you really have to.

Table of Contents

• Introduction


• Turning the Machine On


• The Operating System Takes Charge


• Windows


• Linux

Introduction
Have you ever asked yourself how many steps your computer performs from the moment you press the power switch to turn it on till the moment your favorite desktop wallpaper shines in its full glory in front of you? Well, there are many steps that the computer performs in order for you to be able to enjoy your powerful hardware and your slick software. When a step or two fails to execute and you can’t access the contents of your computer, you become more and more interested to know what exactly happens when you boot your computer and what could have potentially gone wrong to turn your ultra high-tech computer into a useless piece of metal and plastic.

Besides being interested to know what exactly happens when you boot your computer, being familiar with the basic steps that are executed during system boot can help you troubleshoot problems on your own, rather than depending on Technical Support for minor issues, like an unplugged power supply cable, for example.

If you are in Technical Support, then certainly it is a must to know the boot sequence of the type of machines you are supporting. Truth be told, if you are in Technical Support, you definitely need to know more about booting than what is presented in this article but I believe that even experienced Technical Support maniacs can learn something new from this article.

Although there are slight differences between the way different systems boot, generally the process can be divided into two areas — booting the hardware and starting the operating system. Basically, all PCs follow the same routine and if there are differences (mainly in the BIOS-related steps), you may want to check your vendors documentation before you take any steps to troubleshoot it further. Differences in the way the operating system boots are also possible and I have mentioned them occasionally. Also, though it is hardly possible to make an exhaustive list of all possible problems and their solutions for each of the stages, I have tried to suggest some of the reasons things go wrong and ways to fix the problem.

Turning the Machine On
The following is a detailed step-by-step break down of the hardware side of the boot sequence.

1. Switching on the power. When the power supply is switched on, its first task is to perform a self-test to ensure that power is stable — all voltages and current levels are normal. The self-test takes less than a half second and if you didn’t know about it, you would certainly never notice it, unless the computer freezes at this point. If the power supply does not pass the power self-test, this means that either the power supply unit is faulty, or that the voltage and current levels are not normal. So, when you turn on your computer and it just does not make any noise at all, one possible reason is a problem with the power supply. However, this does not necessarily mean that the power supply is dead — a more common reason can be an unplugged power supply cable.
   
   


2. Here comes the CPU. Before the CPU receives the signal and the power is stable, the processor receives continuous reset signals and just waits. After the power supply has made the power self-test, it sends a signal to the processor that the power is OK. The CPU starts operations and the first thing it does is to look in the BIOS ROM for the start of the BIOS boot program. Remember, the BIOS is the Basic Input/Output System that prepares the machine to run other software. It is commonly stored on ROM (Read Only Memory), or recently, flash memory that can be updated. Generally, the start of the BIOS boot program resides right at the end of system memory and usually it is only 16 bytes from the top of ROM memory. Of course, 16 bytes is quite insufficient for the program itself to reside, and there is absolutely enough for a JMP (jump) instruction, which tells the processor the actual address of the ROM BIOS code.
   
   


3. The BIOS POST is next. One of the first operations performed by the BIOS is the power-on self test (POST). The purpose of the POST is to determine if there are any fatal errors that prevent the proper booting or operation of the computer. Since at this time the video adapter is not started yet, all alarms about fatal errors are communicated in beeps. These beeps vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and their meanings can be found in the vendor’s documentation. If you hear your computer scream, try to distinguish the signals, look up their meaning in the docs and see if you can troubleshoot it on your own.
   
   


4. Looking for the video adapter. If the power-on self test is passed without errors up to here, it continues by looking for adapters that also need to load their ROM BIOS program in order to be initialized. After the video adapter has been initialized, you will see on screen all other messages about failed hardware.
   
   


5. POST continued. Besides checking the central hardware and the video adapter, the POST reads the BIOS identification and displays the data on screen. Another portion of the POST is the memory test, which is skipped if it is a warm-startup (warm startup is when you restart the computer, while cold startup is when you have to switch it on). The output of the memory test is displayed on screen — i.e. how much installed memory you have. If you see that the installed memory is less than what you physically have inside the computer box, this could mean that some of your memory might have stopped functioning (i.e. you have 2 blocks of 512MB each, which is 1GB in total but the memory test displays that you have only 512MB, which means that one of the two blocks is not working).  Depending on how many blocks of RAM you have, you might be able or you might be not able to continue booting. If you have 2 or more blocks of memory and at least one of them is working, you will be able to go further, though your computer will be slower because of the reduced memory. This memory scenario is an example of a non-critical error. The other less dire reason for missing memory is with a system uses an onboard video card; it often “borrows” RAM from primary memory to use as video RAM.

Table of Contents:

• What are Processes?


• Windows Processes


• Killing the Bad Guys

What are Processes?
Process is one of the core terms needed to understand operating systems. The simplest but most precise explanation is that a process is a program in execution, a running instance of a program. In the study of operating systems there are several states for a process, such as running, blocked, or terminated, but this is too much detail for an average user who is just eager to monitor what is going on with his or her computer. (For those, who are interested in more detail, Operating Systems: Design and Implementation and Modern Operating Systems by Andrew Tanenbaum are excellent sources of in-depth information about processes and operating systems as a whole.)

Modern operating systems can handle many processes simultaneously, but it is important to know that at any given point the CPU is only running one process. The other processes are waiting for their turn to come. This is why you see a long list of the processes in the Task Manager. New multi-core processors allow more processes to run simultaneously but still this does not change the fact that while there are one (or many) processes that are running, a dozen others are waiting to be executed by the processor.

Many operating systems allow processes to be divided further – into threads. For example, if Program A is running as a Process A, Process A can have the following threads — A1, A2, and A3, all of which execute subtasks that are related to the execution of Program A. Threads are dependent on the process that started them and when the process terminates, they terminate as well. Process management is one of the basic activities of operating systems. When a process consumes too much CPU power, this slows down the whole system, so in order to free some resources, one or more processes can be terminated.

When processes are forcibly terminated, this often results in loss of data. However, given the choice between a hung system and a killed process, loss of data might be acceptable. There are processes that can not be terminated because their execution is vital for the functioning of the whole system. Also, killing processes arbitrarily is a bad idea (even if the operating system allows you to kill a process of your choice). The right approach to killing processes is to first identify which program started the process, then identify what resources it is using and finally to proceed with termination. Killing the bad guys, i.e. problematic processes, is described in the last section of this article.

Windows Processes
Now that we have had a brief explanation of what processes are, let’s see how they relate to Windows. Windows, as most of the modern operating systems, supports multitasking and multithreading. So, when you press CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up the Task Manager, you will see something like this:

You see an Image Name column, where all processes for the currently logged in user are listed. If the Show Processes From All Users checkbox were checked, this list would have listed processes from all users. The name of the user who owns the process and data like the CPU and Memory usage of the particular process are listed next. Some of the process names are self-explanatory (firefox.exe) but others are a bit cryptic. Don’t worry that you can’t guess what a particular Image Name stands for–there are good online references, such as http://www.processlibrary.com or http://www.what-process.com/lists.aspx, where you can check what program a particular process represents.

However, it does not hurt to know the names of a couple of the essential Windows processes. There might be differences in the list of essential processes between the various versions of Windows but the major ones are as follows:

• System Idle Process


• explorer.exe


• winlogon.exe


• svchost.exe


• lsass.exe


• services.exe


• spoolsv.exe


• smss.exe


• csrss.exe


• taskmgr.exe

Usually several instances of Svchost.exe are running. This is usually normal because not all of them will be owned by the same user. What is not normal is that the same process — svchost.exe — has been registered both as a legitimate Windows process and as a trojan and backdoor. But more on this later. Svchost is a system process, which handles processes executed from DLLs. This is one of the most important processes in Windows and if you terminate it, your computer will become unstable. I am not going to explain all the processes here, so if you are interested in learning more about them, go to the above links, the lists there are very thorough.

I have used words like important and essential to describe the processes, but not all processes are equal. You can make one process more important than another through prioritization. By default all processes have a Normal priority. If you are running a very special program that requires more processing power, or it is important for the program to be processed as soon as possible, you can change its priority from Normal to Realtime, High, or Above Normal. Alternatively, if you would like a given process to have a lower than normal priority, select Below Normal or Low. Set priorities by right-clicking the process in the Image Name column and from the context menu selecting Set Priority. From the list of priorities, choose the desired one. You can change the priority for most of the processes, but not all. (System Idle Process is one of the few exceptions because it is a vital process that users should not be allowed to modify).

If you want more in-depth data about a particular process, for instance to see the whole process tree, the threads in the process, its network connectivity, or handles and DLLs, Windows Task Manager will not be useful. Instead, you can download a free program – Process Explorer by Mark Russinovich and see all this and a lot more information about the processes on your computer.

Killing the Bad Guys
When you right-click a process in the list of processes, you will see the End Process and End Process Tree commands. Choosing the first one terminates the process and the second – the process itself, along with all of its related processes. You will see a warning that terminating a process that way might cause system instability, but if you are killing a program that is not responding anyway, you might actually gain some system stability (or at least processor time). Killing a process through the Windows Task Manager is worth it only if the program has hung and you need to free resources.
Browsing through the processes in Windows Task Manager might also give you a clue if you have viruses, spyware, adware and other types of malware on your computer. If you notice a strange process in the list of processes, check to see which program it belongs to and if it is malware, take the appropriate measures (i.e. launch your antivirus or spyware programs).

Keep in mind that the fact that you don’t see any suspicious processes in the list of processes does not mean that your computer is clean. Most of the advanced malicious programs are written in a way that allows them to remain hidden and they will hardly show themselves in the processes list. Often, malicious code is hidden behind perfectly legitimate processes or uses the same name (the example with svchost.exe) as a Windows service or a popular program. It is therefore unlikely that you will notice it in the processes list of Windows Task Manager. But even if the malicious program shows in the list, stopping the process will not remove it from your computer. You need to take additional measures to clean it completely. Still, occasionally having a look at what processes are running at your computer is a good habit to have.

Rootkits can be named the most technically sophisticated form of malicious code (malware) and one of the most difficult to discover and eliminate. Of all types of malware, probably viruses and worms get the most publicity because they are generally widespread. Many people are known to have been affected by a virus or a worm, but this definitely does not mean that viruses and worms are the most destructive variety malware of. There are more dangerous types of malware, because as a rule they operate in stealth mode, are difficult to detect and remove and can go unnoticed for very long periods of time, silently gaining access, stealing data, and modifying the files on the victim’s machine.

An example of such a stealthly enemy are rootkits — a collection of tools that can replace or change executable programs, or even the kernel of the operating system itself, in order to gain administrator-level access to the system, which can be used for installing spyware, keyloggers and other malicious tools. Essentially, a rootkit allows an attacker to gain complete access over the victim’s machine (and possibly to the whole network the machine belongs to). One of the known uses of a rootkit that caused significant loss/damage was the theft of the source code of Valve’s Half-Life 2: Source game engine.

Rootkits are not something new — they have been around for years, and are known to have effected various operating systems (Windows, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, etc.). If it was not for one or two mass occurrences of rootkit incidents (See the Famous Examples section), which drew public attention to them, they might have again escaped awareness, except by a small circle of security professionals. As of today, rootkits have not unleashed their full destructive potential since they are not as wide-spread as other forms of malware. However, this can be of little comfort.

Basically, there are two types of rootkits: kernel level rootkits and application level rootkits. Kernel level rootkits add code to or modify the kernel of the operating system. This is achieved by installing a device driver or a loadable module, which alters system calls to hide the presence of an attacker. Thus, if you look in your log files, you will see no suspicious activity on the system. Application level rootkits are less sophisticated and generally are easier to detect because they modify the executables of applications, rather than the operating system itself. Since Windows 2000 reports every change of an executable file to the user, it makes it more difficult for the attacker to go unnoticed.

Generally, application level rootkits are less dangerous and easier to detect. But if the program you are using to keep track of your finances, gets “patched” by a rootkit, then the monetary loss could be significant — i.e. an attacker can use your credit card data to purchase a couple of items and if you don’t notice suspicious activity on your credit card balance in due time, it is most likely that you will never see the money again.

Compared to kernel level rootkits, application level rootkits look sweet and harmless. Why? Because in theory, a kernel level rootkit opens all doors to a system. Once the doors are open, other forms of malware can then slip into the system. Having a kernel level rootkit infection and not being able to detect and remove it easily (or at all, as we will see next) means that somebody else can have total control over your computer and can use it in any way he or she pleases — for instance, to initiate an attack on other machines, making the impression that the attack originates from your computer, and not from somewhere else.

A recommended way for detection of the presence of a rootkit is to boot from an alternative media, which is known to be clean (i.e. a backup, or rescue CD-ROM) and check the suspicious system. The advantage of this method is that the rootkit will not be running (therefore it will not be able to hide itself) and the system files will not be actively tampered.

There are ways to detect and (attempt to) remove rootkits. One way is to have clean MD5 fingerprints of the original system files to compare the current system files fingerprints. This method is not very reliable, but is better than nothing. Using a kernel debugger is more reliable, but it requires in-depth knowledge of the operating system. Even the majority of system administrators will rarely resort to it, especially when there are free good programs for rootkit detection, like Marc Russinovich’s RootkitRevealer. If you go to his site, you will find detailed instructions how to use the program.

If you detect a rootkit on your computer, the next step is to get rid of it (easier said than done). With some rootkits, removal is not an option, unless you want to remove the whole operating system as well! The most obvious solution — to delete infected files (provided you know which ones exactly are cloaked) is absolutely inapplicable, when vital system files are concerned. If you delete these files, chances are that you will never be able to boot Windows again. You can try a couple of rootkit removal applications, like UnHackMe or F-Secure BlackLight Beta, but do not count on them too much tobe able to remove the pest safely.

It might sound like shock therapy, but the only proven way to remove a rootkit is by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system again (from a clean installation media, of course!). If you have a clue where you got the rootkit from (was it bundled in another program, or did somebody send it to you via e-mail?), don’t even think of running or isntalling the source of infection again!

Similar to the case with Sony, but when it was not necessary to be connected to the Internet, is the case of Norton SystemWorks. It is true that both cases cannot be compared from an ethical or technical point of view because while Norton’s rootkit (or rootkit-like technology) modifies Windows system files to accommodate the Norton Protected Recycle Bin, Norton can hardly be accused of malicious intentions to restrict user’s rights or to benefit from the rootkit, as is the case with Sony. The purpose of the cloaking was to hide from everybody (users, administrators, etc.) and everything (other programs, Windows itself) a backup directory of files users have deleted, and that can later be restored from this backup directory. The function of the Protected Recycle Bin was to add one more safety net against quick fingers that first delete and then think if they have deleted the right file(s), providing an additional way to restore files that have been deleted from the Recycle Bin (or that have bypassed the Recycle Bin).

These two examples are hardly the most severe cases of rootkit activity, but they are worth mentioning because by attracting attention to these particular cases, public interest was drawn to rootkits as a whole. Hopefully, now more people not only know what a rootkit is, but care if they have one, and be able to detect and remove them!

If blue is your favorite color, maybe there is a guaranteed way to start hating it — by seeing it five times a day, accompanied by really charming messages that gently inform you that any unsaved information might be lossed or that there was a hardware failure and so on. Can you guess what I am talking about? Blue Screens of Death, of course. The effects of Blue Screens can vary from causing slight irritation for the user, to real disaster for the data on the computer, to having to rushing the computer shop for buying new hardware, etc. I was joking about the negative feelings towards the blue color because of frequent Blue Screensm but if you really want (or have reasons — for instance if you are color blind), you can open the system.ini file and change the Screen of Death to be in a different color. More information about what to do after you open the system.ini can be found here.

Anyway, colors of Screens of Death vary across devices and operating systems — from yellow (Mozilla XML parsing errors), to green (TiVo devices), to black (OS/2 and Windows), so it’s up to you to decide if you’ll keep it blue or change it. And as rumor goes, in Windows Vista there will be a red Screen of Death, too — for really serious stop errors. Nice color — a reminder for the one that has been used for centuries in corrida. Let’s just hope that users do not react like bulls.

Some humor (or sarcasm) certainly helps but now let’s get serious about the topic and start exploring why Blue Screens appear and what to do when you frequently see them.

• 
  

  drivers

  
  
• 
  

  hardware or harware overheating

• 
  

  conflicts between programs

  
  
• 
  

  file inconsistencies or registry errors

It is not normal for Blue Screens to happen often. In fact, Blue Screens are not supposed to be a “feature” of Windows. So if you see them often and you are still able to boot Windows, you’d better pay them attention before they force you to do it and above all — try to figure out what causes them. If you have recently made hardware changes, this is one possible reason for Blue Screens. Physical failures in all kinds of hardware — memory, disks, cards, etc. — can be a reason for blue screens.

The latest versions of Windows, like XP and 2003 are more stable and can recover after a couple of Blue Screens but sometimes even a single Blue Screen can make your Windows unbootable and you will have to reinstall your operating system. Generally, the information in a Blue Screen helps identify the possible reasons and sometimes even the exact reason (if you see a driver listed in the Blue Screen text message then you can be almost certain that this driver is the suspect) but there are also many cases when the text messages of the Blue Screens are so vague that it’s not possible to guess what went wrong. Have a look at the troubleshooting sections of this article for suggestions how to deal with Blue Screens.

What Is Common in BSoDs on Windows 2000, XP, and 2003?
Although there are some specifics in the occurrence, appearance, and dealing with Blue Screens on Windows 2000, XP, and 2003, there are many common things that are valid for all of them. For instance, one of the things they all have in common is the information they provide. The exact text of the messages differs but generally there is technical information, which includes data like the stop error number, some additional parameters in hex format, the name of the module (if applicable) that caused the error, and the memory address where the error occurred, as shown in the first screenshot below.

Very often the symbolic name of the stop error is shown near the stop error number. Symbolic names are pretty cryptic and some of the most common ones sound like ” PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA” , ” BAD_POOL_CALLER” , or ” IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” but sure there are a bit easier to understand than a stop message in hex format.

Another common section for all Windows versions is the recommendations section. It gives general advice about how to proceed. Sometimes the listed suggestions for recovery are exactly what is necessary to do in order to avoid new Blue Screens (for instance, if you have recently changed hardware or have updated drivers, disabling or removing them can be the solution). A general tip is to restart in Safe Mode. This also frequently helps, unless your Operating System is so messed up that it is not possible to start it at all and there is only one remedy left — to reinstall it.

The last section lists data about the debug port and dump status. If neither of them is enabled, you will not see this. When memory dump file saves are enabled, the progress of writing it (in percentage) is displayed.

Besides the sections in a typical Blue Screen, many of the stop messages are the same (or similar in meaning and troubleshooting, though the words might vary a little) for Windows 2000, XP, and 2003. I am certainly not going to list messages here, especially having in mind that one stop error message number actually can mean several different things, when the hex parameters in brackets are different. The best place to look for explanation of the stop error message code is the site of Microsoft — as they say, get information from the horse’s mouth.

Another difference is the stop messages that are specific for only one version of Windows (or for a given version of Windows (e.g. XP) and a particular Service Pack (e.g. XP with SP2)). Therefore, when you encounter a stop message, have in mind to check its meaning and suggested troubleshooting for the version of Windows you are running. At the end of each support page for a particular stop error, Microsoft states for which versions of Windows it applies, so you will always know at least this. One place you can get a list of error messages and explanation from is the site of Microsoft. For Windows 2000 — check here; for Windows XP — look here, and here are the stop messages for Windows 2003.

Delving into the technical details of what is changed in a particular version or service pack of Windows is hardly the stuff that the general user, or even system administrator needs to know. For instance, SP2 for XP introduces changes in memory management and the kernel of Windows 2003 was considerably modified in comparison to previous versions. As a result, applications that were running on Windows XP before the SP2 has been applied or before you upgraded to Windows 2003 might either not start at all, or hang (with or without a Blue Screen). Even if you know that the reason is kernel incompatibility, unless you are the developer who wrote the problematic program, you can hardly modify it to fix it, so you must look for alternatives. The wisest thing you can do is find an updated version (if any), which is tested under the version of Windows you need it for — XP with SP2 or 2003. Or you can choose to remove the problematic program from this machine — for instance SP2 for XP includes a firewall, which is known to have had conflicts with some other firewall software (and not only). Some of the other firewalls are pretty jealous to load first and I personally had a similar case with two other firewalls and Blue Screens on a Windows 2003 machine. The problem was solved only after one of the firewalls was removed.

A very common reason for Blue Screens are drivers. Maybe they are even more common than physical hardware failure. Changes in memory management or the kernel affect drivers more than applications. Third-party vendors generally do not manage to deliver a new driver the moment a new version of Windows or a new Service Pack is released, even when they are making the efforts to do it. And in some cases they just never deliver a driver for a particular version of the operating system!

It seems that hardware vendors largely skip Windows 2003 — even manufacturers of high-end hardware components say that Windows 2003 is not for the general public, so why bother delivering a separate driver for that? And probably from a sales point of view they are right. I could not find precise and up-to-date data about the percentage of installations each of the three operating systems (Windows 2000, XP, and 2003) has but a relatively recent article states that “XP May Catch Up to Win 2000 By Year’s End”, which makes me think that even if XP has already dethroned 2000 as the most widely installed operating system, Windows 2003 is hardly in the game at all and my guess is that it makes hardly 10 percent of so from the overall number of Windows installations.

Anyway, Windows 2003 is a server operating system and is not supposed to be running on kitchen PCs, so it’s not a surprise that hardware vendors are not interested in it very much. The low market penetration of Windows 2003, together with its architectural changes from XP, explain why hardware vendors generally skip Windows 2003 in their driver assortment. And having in mind that Vista is over the horizon, it is not difficult to predict that there will not be many new drivers for Windows 2003 in the coming months. So, if you are running 2003 and have frequent Blue Screens because a driver (even if it is written specifically for Windows 2003) of a device misbehaves, you’d better consider downgrading to XP until Vista (or Longhorn) officially arrives. I’ll be talking more about (the downsides of) this in the next section.