<s>
A	O
fatal	B-Error_Name
system	I-Error_Name
error	I-Error_Name
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
system	B-General_Concept
crash	I-General_Concept
,	O
stop	O
error	O
,	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
error	O
,	O
or	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
)	O
occurs	O
when	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
halts	O
because	O
it	O
has	O
reached	O
a	O
condition	O
where	O
it	O
can	O
no	O
longer	O
operate	O
safely	O
(	O
i.e.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
,	O
a	O
fatal	B-Error_Name
system	I-Error_Name
error	I-Error_Name
can	O
be	O
deliberately	O
caused	O
from	O
a	O
kernel-mode	O
driver	O
with	O
either	O
the	O
or	O
function	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
design	O
parallels	O
that	O
in	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Unix	B-Application
kernel	B-Operating_System
panic	I-Operating_System
concept	O
is	O
very	O
similar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
is	O
issued	O
,	O
a	O
crash	B-General_Concept
dump	O
file	O
will	O
be	O
created	O
if	O
the	O
system	O
is	O
configured	O
to	O
create	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
log	O
entry	O
contains	O
information	O
about	O
the	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
(	O
including	O
the	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
code	O
and	O
its	O
parameters	O
)	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
link	O
that	O
will	O
report	O
the	O
bug	O
and	O
provide	O
the	O
user	O
with	O
prescriptive	O
suggestions	O
if	O
the	O
cause	O
of	O
the	O
check	O
is	O
definitive	O
and	O
well-known	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Next	O
,	O
if	O
a	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
debugger	O
is	O
connected	O
and	O
active	O
when	O
the	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
occurs	O
,	O
the	O
system	O
will	O
break	O
into	O
the	O
debugger	O
where	O
the	O
cause	O
of	O
the	O
crash	B-General_Concept
can	O
be	O
investigated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
no	O
debugger	O
is	O
attached	O
,	O
then	O
a	O
blue	O
text	O
screen	O
is	O
displayed	O
that	O
contains	O
information	O
about	O
why	O
the	O
error	O
occurred	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
commonly	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
blue	O
screen	O
or	O
bug	B-Error_Name
check	I-Error_Name
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Windows	O
,	O
bug	B-Error_Name
checks	I-Error_Name
are	O
only	O
supported	O
by	O
the	O
Windows	O
NT	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
corresponding	O
system	O
routine	O
in	O
Windows	O
9x	O
,	O
named	O
,	O
does	O
not	O
halt	O
the	O
system	O
like	O
bug	B-Error_Name
checks	I-Error_Name
do	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows	B-Application
DDK	I-Application
and	O
the	O
WinDbg	B-Application
documentation	O
both	O
have	O
reference	O
information	O
about	O
most	O
bug	B-Error_Name
checks	I-Error_Name
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
WinDbg	B-Application
package	O
is	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
free	O
download	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
installed	O
by	O
most	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Windows	B-Application
DDK	I-Application
is	O
larger	O
and	O
more	O
complicated	O
to	O
install	O
.	O
</s>
