Windows unexpectedly restarts or you receive a Stop error when you play or start Microsoft games

This article describes what to do if Microsoft Windows unexpectedly restarts or you receive a stop error message when you play or when you start any of the Microsoft games listed in the "Applies to" section.

A stop error message occurs when Windows stops responding. Hardware or software malfunctions can cause stop error message or an unexpected restart of the computer. Contact your computer manufacturer or Microsoft Windows Support to diagnose and troubleshoot stop errors.

Games are programs that rely on the hardware and drivers that you have installed on your computer. If any of these devices do not function correctly, Windows displays an error message and ends the game. It may appear that the game generated the error message but Windows informs you of the crash. Contact your computer manufacturer to obtain the latest hardware device drivers (sound and video card drivers) and the latest available version of the system BIOS. Also, install the latest antivirus signature updates and then scan the system for viruses. For information about how to contact your hardware manufacturer or Windows Support, see the "References” section.

You must turn off the automatic restart option to view the error message details. To turn off the Automatically Restart option, follow these steps, as appropriate for the operating system that you are running.

Microsoft Windows XP

1. Click Start, and then right-click My Computer.
2. Click Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
4. Under System failure, click to clear the Automatically restart check box.
5. Click OK, and then click OK.
6. Try to reproduce the error message.

Windows Vista

1. Click Start
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   , click Control Panel, click System and Maintenance, and then click System.
2. Click Advanced System Settings.
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   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
5. Under System failure, click to clear the Automatically restart check box.
6. Click OK, and then click OK.
7. Try to reproduce the error message.

After you gather the error message details, contact your computer manufacturer or Windows Support to continue to troubleshoot the issue. If no specific cause of the failure can be located, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article. For more information about how to troubleshoot this kind of problem, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For information about how to contact the hardware manufacturer, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information. For more information, visit the following Microsoft Web site: If you are an advanced user, and if you want more information about how to troubleshoot this problem, use one of the following methods:

• Visit the following Microsoft Web site:
  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/support/nostart.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/support/nostart.mspx)
• Click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  315263  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315263/ ) How to read the small memory dump files that Windows creates for debugging

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding the performance or reliability of these products.