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All those of you who re Windows users, may be pretty
familiar with the blue error screen that Windows pops
up now and again.Ilegal Operation errors, Exception
errors and Kernal errors are a common sight. The problem
with these common errors is that they provide the user
with very little info on what caused the error to occur
and why the hell did the application or Windows crash.In
order to diagonise the reasons behind the crash or error,
we need to be able to understand what Windows is trying
to tell us through the weird difficult to understand
error messages it provides us with.
There has been
a lot of talk about Windows being a lamer's machine
and a real uberhacker uses a Linux box and everything
else...well I do not agree with it. There is a common
belief amonst people that Windoze is very insecure and
it sucks but then on the other hand Red Hat too is not
so great in the security sphere. There are nearly 50
known exploits to get root on a Linux box. The reason
why hackers have found so many holes or bugs in Windows
is due to the fact the Windows is the most widely used
OS in the world and the largest number of Hackers have
access to Windows and the largest number of people have
a go at Windoze's Security. The only thing that is in
support of Linux is the fact that it is free and the
concept of Open Source and wel performance. So what
I think is that there is nothing wrong in Using a Windoze
box for Hacking. Yes Linux does provide you access to
some kewl hacking tools from the various shells but
for Windows there are many third party freebies that
allow you to do the same thing. Linux does make hacking
easier but there is nothing wrong in using Windows for
Hacking.If you are able to understrand the entire Windows
system then believe me, it is great.
Anyway, lets
get down to what this manual is actually meant for.
Errors
Many people go
real panicky when they see the blue error screen or
the blue death, they really don't know what to do, some
even start calling tech support saying that their computer
is infected with a virus. Well there is no reason for
a user to dread Windows error messages. They can be
used usefully and for diagonising problems or roots
of the problems, and answer questions like What exactly
caused an error to occur and When does an error occur
and What sould I do to rectify this error.
There are three
general types of error messages you may encounter when
working with applications under Win-dows. These are
Exception errors, Illegal operation errors and Kernel
errors.
Exception
Error
An exception
error signifies that something unexpected has happened
within the Windows environment, typically an improper
memory access. For example, an application or a Windows
component might read or write to a memory location that
has not been allocated to it, potentially overwriting
and corrupting other program code in that area of memory.
Fatal
Errors
Fatal exception
errors are typically of the form: 'A fatal exception
<Xx> has occurred atxxxx:xxxxxxxx.
Fatal exception
errors are codes returned by a program if access to
an illegal instruction has been encountered, invalid
data or code has been accessed, or the privilege level
of an operation is invalid.
When any of these
errors occur, the processor returns an exception to
the operating system, which in turn is han-dled as a
fatal exception error. In many cases, the exception
is non-recoverable, and the system must be restarted
or shut down, depending on the severity of the error.
In the fatal
exception error 'A fatal exception <XX> has occurred
at xxxx:xxxxxxxx, the <XX> represents the actual
processor exception from OO to OF. The xxxx:xxxxxxxx
represents the 'code segment pointer:actual address
where the exception occurred'.
Illegal
Operation errors
Illegal Operation
errors or 'program crashes' are actually invalid page
faults (IPF). The error message is similar to:
'This program
has performed an illegal operation and will be shut
down. If the problem persists, contact the pro-gram
vendor.' If you click Details, the following error message
appears:
'<Application>
caused an invalid page
fault in module
<module name> at <address>.' After you click
OK, the pro-gram is shut down.
An invalid page
fault also occurs when a program or a Windows compo-nent
reads or writes to a memory loca-tion that is not allocated
to it. Kernel errors are also similar.
The first clue
to the cause of an IPF is in the IPF error message that
is dis-played. Note the module name that is listed.
If you can gather clues about the component that is
causing the IPF, then you can target the specific cause
of the problem.
Sometimes, removing
and rein-stalling the file mentioned in the IPF cor-rects
the problem. Mso, noting when the error occurs can help
determine the cause of the problem. For example, if
the error occurs when you try to print a doc-ument in
Word, the problem could be with the printer driver rather
than Word itselL
A key part of
troubleshooting IPFs is to determine how widespread
the problem is. Try to answer the following questions:
- Is the problem reproducible (can you make it happen
whenever you want), or does it occur at random?
- Does the problem occur only in the current application
or in other applica-tions as well?
- Are there specific, known issues about the application
that describe your problem?
- Does the problem happen only with a particular file
handled by that applica-tion?
- Does the problem occur only at a par-ticular time,
such as while printing?
If, when trying
to reproduce the problem, the error does not occur again,
you can assume you have solved the problem. If the error
occurs in other applications, most probably the fault
is not with the application but with Win-dows, a component
of Windows or a piece of software that is running in
the background. Check with the program vendor's site
if there are known issues with the application that
may cause IPFs under specific circumstances. If the
IPF is specific to a certain file opened by this application,
the file may be too large, or damaged.
Well I hope
know you know how to face Windows error messaages and
make use of them to get rid of roots of crashes and
prevent them.
Ankit Fadia |
