Hardware-malfunction messages are caused by a hardware condition detected by the processor. The first one or two lines of a hardware-malfunction message may differ depending on which company manufactured the computer. However, these lines always convey the same idea, as shown in the following example for an x86-based computer:
Hardware malfunction. Call your hardware vendor for support.
The additional lines in each manufacturer's message screen also differ in format and content. Therefore, before doing what the sample message recommends, contact a technician within your own organization to run hardware diagnostics on your computer. The information provided below the first two lines will help your technician decide which hardware diagnostics to run. For example, for x86-based ISA bus computers, information is displayed that indicates whether this is a memory-parity error or a bus-data error. On x86-based EISA computers, if the hardware problem is in an adapter, the adapter slot number on the system board is displayed.
If you then still need to find help from outside your organization to interpret the information on the screen, contact the hardware vendor for your specific brand of computer, adapter, or peripheral device.