Hello, I recently received an old computer from my friend. I'm hoping
to just use it for internet/itunes but I consistently get the following
message: "Microsoft Windows detected and recovered from a device
failure. Please save your work and reboot to restore full
functionality."

After this message it goes into Safe Mode and I have to restart. I have
no idea what is causing this. From Googling the message it seems that
this can be related to video drivers, BIOS and/or viruses/anti-virus
software... but I'm not sure which is my problem or how to find that
out. I do know that there was once a debilitating virus on this machine
that caused my friend to have to have a new hard drive put in, maybe
it's something related to that? If anyone has any ideas or can give me
steps on how to troubleshoot this I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Here are the details on the system:

Dell Latitude
Intel Pentium III processor.
996 MHz
256 MB of Ram
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Version 2002
Service Pack 1

To see if it is a hardware problem, open Device Manager...
Win key + Pause key | Hardware tab | Device Manager button

Look for a black exclamation point (!), a red "X", a blue "i" or a green
question mark "?" next to any problem device.

Troubleshooting Device Conflicts with Device Manager
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;310126

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:1136224409.446700.227320@g43g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com,
shannon <shannoneconnolly@gmail.com> hunted and pecked:
> Hello, I recently received an old computer from my friend. I'm hoping
> to just use it for internet/itunes but I consistently get the following
> message: "Microsoft Windows detected and recovered from a device
> failure. Please save your work and reboot to restore full
> functionality."
>
> After this message it goes into Safe Mode and I have to restart. I have
> no idea what is causing this. From Googling the message it seems that
> this can be related to video drivers, BIOS and/or viruses/anti-virus
> software... but I'm not sure which is my problem or how to find that
> out. I do know that there was once a debilitating virus on this machine
> that caused my friend to have to have a new hard drive put in, maybe
> it's something related to that? If anyone has any ideas or can give me
> steps on how to troubleshoot this I'd really appreciate it.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Here are the details on the system:
>
> Dell Latitude
> Intel Pentium III processor.
> 996 MHz
> 256 MB of Ram
> Microsoft Windows XP Professional
> Version 2002
> Service Pack 1

hi wes, thanks for your reply. i checked out the device manager as you
suggested and found one exclamation point - under "other devices" "pci
modem", which i believe is related to the dial-up modem card that was
in the computer that i removed (because i only use the ethernet
connection). otherwise, the only thing that looks strange in here is
that there is a lot of duplication, e.g., there are 4 default monitors,
7 system boards (under sytem devices). is there anything else you think
i should do from here?

sorry - the icon by the pci modem was a yellow question mark, not an
exclamation point. i didn't see any exclamation points.

shannon,

The only referece to...
Microsoft Windows detected and recovered from a device failure. Please save
your work and reboot to restore full functionality.
at Microsoft were these...
http://support.microsoft.com/search/...=a&x =11&y=10

related to a game, but they suggest video drivers as the problem. You may
want to have a look. <shrug>

Look in the Event Viewer and see if you can find any related errors. Look
at Application and especially System.

To open the Event Viewer...
Start | Run | Type: eventvwr | Click OK |
Click on System and look around.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;308427

Event Viewer overview
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...erview_01.mspx


--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In news:1136242749.175595.321190@g14g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com,
shannon <shannoneconnolly@gmail.com> hunted and pecked:
> sorry - the icon by the pci modem was a yellow question mark, not an
> exclamation point. i didn't see any exclamation points.