Windows 2000 stop code

There is a document available on the Microsoft web site called the "Hardware Compatibility List" or "HCL". This document lists all of the hardware components that have been certified compatible with Win2K (or whichever OS the list is for). First, get the list for Win2K and see if you can find any or all of your components on this list - specifically you want to include video, sound and/or other components that might be on the motherboard as well as other peripherals. (You should have done this before purchasing the components, actually, but you know what they say about hindsight. Remember this for next time.) If any of the components are not listed, these would be the ones to start with. Remove the suspect component and see if it changes the behavior. If it does, that's the one - either replace it with something on the HCL or at least go back to the mfr. and make sure you have their latest Win2K-compatible drivers. If all components are listed, first make sure that you have the most up-to-date Win2K-compatible drivers for all of them. Then, if the problem persists, you will need to simply start uninstalling things to test which component is causing the problem. If you installed any add-on components after completing theinitial Win2K installation, start with those. This is a tedious process, but it is a way to pinpoint the problem.

The other thing you can try, if you're adventurous, is to look at the minidump file and see if that will give you any more specific information about the driver that's causing the problem. In order to do this, you need a utility called dumpchk.exe and some symbol files. Here are to Microsoft KB articles on the subject of using the dumpchk.exe to analyze a dump file: Q254649and Q254723. Hope this helps!

This seems simplistic - but sometimes the simple things work - have you installed Win2K SP2 on this machine? I know there were some early problems w/Win2K and certain drive controllers, so it might be worth a try if you haven't already thought of it. Another thought to try if you haven't already is to completely wipe the machine and do a clean reinstall. If you've made sure that the motherboard is on the HCL, and/or that you have 3rd party drivers from the mfr., I'm not sure where else you could go except to a different mb. Hope this helps!