Article ID: 124873 - Last Review: November 16, 2010 - Revision: 3.0

Disabling System Hard Error Message Dialog Boxes

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SUMMARY

By default, you cannot configure Windows to suppress the display of system hard error messages. Under Windows NT version 3.5 and later, system hard error messages can be controlled using a Registry entry.

MORE INFORMATION

To modify the registry entry under Windows NT version 3.5 and later:

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this tool at your own risk.

Run Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE).
From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key:
\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows

Value: ErrorMode

Type: REG_DWORD

Default: 0
Select the ErrorMode value.
From the Edit menu, choose DWORD.
Type 0 (zero), 1, or 2, to configure your system to handle system hard error dialog boxes.

The following table defines the three possible values for ErrorMode:

   Value   Result
   -----   ----------------------------------------------------------------

     0     Errors are serialized and wait for a response.

     1     If the error does not come from the system, then the system
           continues in normal operating mode. If the error comes from the
           system, then it is written to the system log; no user
           intervention is required and dialog boxes are not displayed.

     2     The error is written to the system log; the dialog box is not
           displayed.

System hard errors are always written to the system log. To run an unattended server, use mode 2. The default value is 0.

For more information on what types of errors are controlled by the ErrorMode key, see the Windows NT 3.5 SDK SetErrorMode documentation. The Windows NT 3.5 SDK documentation explains the error types that are classified as hard errors. The ErrorMode registry value controls the same types of dialog boxes as SetErrorMode, and overrides any hard error settings made by applications calling SetErrorMode.

NOTE: Internal components that do not use the internal hard error routines to display dialog boxes are not affected by this key.