Software

Weird Error Messages

By · November 12, 2009, 9:18 PM PST

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  • Not all error messages are helpful. Some are just plain weird!

    When something goes wrong in Windows, you would hope that the error message dialog box would contain some helpful information to assist you in finding the solution to the problem. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. In fact, sometimes the error messages are downright confusing or at the very least, simply weird. In this gallery, we’ll take a look at 24 confusing or weird error messages.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic

  • Abort, Retry, Fail?

    Of course we’ll start with a classic DOS error message. DOS displayed this error message when it was unable to read data from a drive. The user is prompted to hit either A, R, or F.

    Abort - Aborts the operation. Retry - Tries to read the data again. Fail - Tries to continue without the data. Fail was never a real choice as it immediately redisplayed the error message?

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  • No keyboard present

    If you’ve been using computers for any length of time, chances are that you’ve booted up a computer and come across this error. Hopefully it was just an instance where you forgot to plug in the actual keyboard and not something more catastrophic.

    However, chances are this one caught you off guard as you pondered how to press any key, let alone the F1 key, if there was no keyboard.

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  • Test does not exist

    This AVG Anti-Virus error message appears to have been generated when running a scan on your computer while at the same time encountering a rupture in the space-time continuum.

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  • Help and Support

    Where do you go for assistance when Help and Support has stopped responding?

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  • A problem with Problem Reporting

    What are you supposed to do when the program that is designed to report problems, itself has a problem?

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  • An error with an error report

    In another case of an error reporting feature encountering an error, Live Meeting clashed with the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature for Windows and generated this message.

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  • Nothing to do

    This sounds like it’s coming from a bored teenager. This error message actually goes all the way back to Windows 98 and occurs when you attempt to delete a folder with a name that includes an extension from inside a compressed folder.

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  • A successful error

    This conflicting error/success message pops up in a lot of places in the Windows operating system and has for some time. In fact, users have reported seeing this one going as far back as Windows 98.

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  • Its own worst enemy?

    In Windows XP SP2, the operating system introduced the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature to help prevent damage from viruses and from other security threats. However, as the operating system got older, it appears that paranoia set in and Windows became suspicious of itself.

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  • That’s what you call a strong password policy!

    As you can imagine, users of Windows 2000 systems that were logged onto an MIT Kerberos realm were flabbergasted when they attempted to change their password and were informed that the new password must be 18,770 characters long and must be different from their last 30,689 passwords. Fortunately, the error wasn’t that common and was corrected in Windows 2000 Service Pack 3.

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  • Now you’ve done it!

    If it should never fail, then why prepare an error message and put it in the operating system?

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  • Deleting Error

    The solution offered within this error message appears to be an impossible impossibility.

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  • As opposed to an expected error?

    The Microsoft Data Link application delivered this surprising error message along with an amazingly intuitive suggestion for finding the solution.

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  • The infamous BSOD

    If you have been using Windows for any length of time, it's a sure bet that you have encountered the Blue Screen of Death at some point. They appear abruptly and offer almost no discernible information as to the cause of the problem.

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  • Is the Red Screen of Death more serious than a Blue one?

    While you may have come to occasionally expect the Blue Screen of Death at some point, imagine the surprise on Windows Vista Beta testers’ faces when this red version first popped up.

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  • Can’t you see I’m busy!

    Every once in a while, Windows may want to be left alone so that it can continue working and will display this error message when you attempt to shut down. It’s usually caused by some misbehaving application that is stuck in an infinite loop.

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  • Worse than a standard failure?

    A catastrophic failure can occur in any application and is generally a bad thing. Considering the application in which this error occurred, would it be referring to the movie itself—as in it’s going to be a box office flop?

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  • Busy window

    This surprising error can appear in Internet Explorer 7 when you close a window that is locked up. It’s usually caused by a runaway script on a Web page.

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  • Unresponsive Task Manager

    When you have an application that locks up, you know that you can use Task Manager to locate the application that is listed as Not Responding and then click the End Task button to safely end the task. But, what are you supposed to do when Task Manager stops responding?

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  • Operating system amnesia

    Back in the old days, some users attempting to uninstall Option Pack 4 from Windows NT Server 4.0 received this amnesic error message.

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  • Held hostage

    Excel 97 could refuse your request to exit the application if you pressed F8 at the wrong time.

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  • Error misdirection

    Was Microsoft Money 98 trying to hide something, like maybe a misappropriation of funds, by creating errors that canceled each other out?

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  • Help! I’ve fallen and I… oh never mind…

    If the Help system is out of commission, what would happen if you clicked the Help button?

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  • Whodunnit?

    This gem appeared in Microsoft’s ill fated operating system Windows ME.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic

Not all error messages are helpful. Some are just plain weird!

When something goes wrong in Windows, you would hope that the error message dialog box would contain some helpful information to assist you in finding the solution to the problem. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. In fact, sometimes the error messages are downright confusing or at the very least, simply weird. In this gallery, we’ll take a look at 24 confusing or weird error messages.

Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic
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By Greg Shultz

Greg Shultz is a freelance Technical Writer. Previously, he has worked as Documentation Specialist in the software industry, a Technical Support Specialist in educational industry, and a Technical Journalist in the computer publishing industry.

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