General troubleshooting for an error message that you may receive randomly in Windows XP: "Stop 0x0000008E"

When you run Windows XP, you may receive a "Stop 0x0000008E" error message on a blue screen. This error message may appear randomly. You may receive this error message during the Windows XP Setup program or after Windows XP is installed.

Possible causes of this error may include the following:

• Hard disk damage
• General hardware configuration problems with the BIOS, the memory, the hard disk, or with other devices
• Incompatible device driver
• Incompatible software

General users

Method 1: Use the Windows Error Reporting tool

You can use the Windows Error Reporting tool to send the error report directly to Microsoft, and the tool reports back if a fix or a workaround is available. To use this tool, follow these steps:

1. When you are prompted to send the error report to Microsoft, click Send Error Report.
2. If a fix or a workaround is available, click More Information to obtain the fix or to obtain information about how to resolve the issue.

Method 2: Remove any hardware or any software drivers that you recently added

Unplug any new external hardware devices, and then try System Restore. Start System Restore as appropriate for your situation.

• If Windows XP does not start
  
  For more information about steps to take if Windows XP does not start, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
  304449  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/304449/ ) How to start the System Restore tool at a command prompt in Windows XP
• If Windows XP starts
  1. Log on to Windows as Administrator.
  2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Restore. System Restore starts.
  3. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an earlier time if it is not already selected, and then click Next.
  4. On the Select a Restore Point page, click the most recent system checkpoint in the On this list, click a restore point list, and then click Next. A System Restore message may appear that lists configuration changes that System Restore will make. Click OK.
  5. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous Windows XP configuration, and then restarts the computer.
  6. Log on to the computer as Administrator. The System Restore Restoration Complete page appears.
  7. Click OK.

Method 3: Run Windows Update, and perform a Microsoft OneCare full service scan

1. To run Windows Update, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com)
2. To perform a full service scan with Windows Live OneCare, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
   http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm (http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm)

If the problem is still not resolved, you can use the "Advanced users" section to try to resolve the issue.

Advanced users

If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to ask someone for help or contact support. For information about how to contact support, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

Method 1: Use the Last Known Good Configuration feature

For more information about how to use the Last Known Good Configuration feature, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 2: Use the Roll Back Driver feature

For more information about how to use the Roll Back Driver feature, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 3: Use the Windows XP System Restore feature

For more information about how to use the System Restore feature, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 4: Use Recovery Console

For more information about how to use Recovery Console, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Method 5: Examine newly installed hardware

If you added any hardware device after Windows XP was installed, remove the newly added device to see whether the "Stop 0x8E" error message stops occurring.

If you remove the newly added device, and this resolves the problem, use one or more of the following methods to troubleshoot the problem:

• Obtain updated drivers for the device if they are available.
• Contact the device vendor to see whether there are any known issues with the device.
• Run diagnostic tests to make sure that the device is working correctly.
• Examine the logs Event Viewer to determine whether there is any event information that can help you determine what device or driver is causing the problem.

Method 6: Contact the hardware manufacturer

Contact the manufacturer of your computer or of your hard disk. The manufacturer may have a utility that you can use to perform a more detailed scan for damaged areas of the hard disk. However, be aware that the damage to your hard disk may be serious. Sometimes this means that your only solution is to replace your hard disk. 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 about the "0x0000008E" error message in Windows XP, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: If the articles listed here do not help you resolve the problem or if you experience symptoms that differ from those that are described in this article, search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for more information. To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Then, type the text of the error message that you receive, or type a description of the problem in the Search Support (KB) field.