Serial Mouse Not Installed; Err Msg: STOP 0x0000001E (149983)

SYMPTOMS

After you change the OverrideHardwareBitstring in the registry, the serial mouse is not installed during the boot process and the following STOP error message appears in Windows NT:

STOP: 0x0000001E : (C0000005, 80118C84, 00000000, 0061008C)
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

NOTE: The parameters may not all be exactly the same.

CAUSE

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 102990 defines the OverrideHardwareBitstring as follows:

OverrideHardwareBitstring REG_DWORD 0x1 or 0x2 This entry is not usually present. When present, it specifies that regardless of whether it was actually detected, a serial mouse is present on the system. Add this value to tell the driver to assume the serial mouse is on COM1 (specified by the value 0x1) or COM2 (specified by the value 0x2). This entry is useful if the serial mouse has not been automatically detected.

Windows NT expected the mouse to be present.

WORKAROUND

Remove the OverrideHardwareBitstring from the registry, or make sure the mouse is connected to the computer when Windows NT starts.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious, system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved.

Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT version 3.51. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.