About This Book

This is the printed guide to most of the error and system-information messages generated by the Windows NT operating system. Some messages generated by applications or device drivers have also been included. An online database with additional messages is also provided and includes a run-time version of Microsoft Access® with a customized graphical user interface.

This book and its accompanying database are not intended as an exclusive reference. You may find other sources, such as online Help, more immediately helpful for network error messages. If, for example, you encounter one in the command prompt window, you can find help for the network problem by typing net helpmsg and the message identification number.

Context-sensitive as well as procedural Help is provided on using the database and its graphical user interface. If you have any questions about an option or command, select the item and then press F1 to display Help information. A glossary of common terms used in messages, and some possible user actions, are included in Help as well as in this book.

Chapter 1, "Common Message Terms and User Actions," provides in-depth discussions, including both definitions and examples, of many technical terms that you may encounter in messages. The printed book also contains some additional reference information that is not available online. For example, Chapter 2, "Windows NT Executive Messages," discusses in detail the various types of messages generated by the Windows NT Executive, and categorizes them by their type and severity and also by possible user action. It also includes basic information on how to set up and use the Windows NT debugger program. Chapter 3, "Network Reference Tables," contains two numerically ordered lists of network error messages.

Chapter 4, "Message Reference," contains the error and system-information messages, which have been organized as follows:

• Messages are presented in alphabetical order. However, messages that begin with a replaceable parameter are alphabetized at the beginning of the list by the variable name used to replace that parameter. For a complete list of the variable names used in the Messages database, see the following section, "Variable Names List."
• Variable names appear between arrow brackets in the online Messages database and in italics in the printed book. Otherwise, the text is formatted the same in the book as in the online Messages database, which reflects the formatting used in the on-screen messages.
• Messages are normally followed by a description of the circumstances that might generate the message and, if appropriate or needed, by a suggested user action.
• Some self-explanatory or simple messages are available only in the online Messages database and not in the book. Most status messages that require no user action are not documented.
• Where possible, each message is associated with one or more components of the operating system, such as Notepad or File Manager.
• Network messages are included in the alphabetical list along with their network message ID number. Two numerically ordered lists of network messages are also provided in Chapter 3, "Network Reference Tables."