Turning on Special Pool Feature Causes Bugcheck, Preventing Creation of Memory Dump (260174)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 SP4
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 SP5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 SP6
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 SP6a
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP4
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP5
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP6
  • Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 SP6a
This article was previously published under Q260174

SYMPTOMS

After you turn on the special pool feature, the system may reboot to a bugcheck. This may occur upon every reboot and at any phase of the reboot process, preventing access to the system and the ability to complete a successful memory dump. Common memory access stop codes include, but are not limited to: Stop 0x00000050, Stop 0x0000001E, Stop 0x0000001A and Stop 0x0000000A.

CAUSE

When the special pool features are used to isolate pool damage, the system bugchecks immediately if a driver attempts to corrupt the pool. If the driver attempts to corrupt the pool during the boot process, the system bugchecks. If a driver consistently attempts to corrupt the pool during boot, the system is not able to boot with the special pool feature turned on.

RESOLUTION

Use the following technique to allow the system to boot and complete the memory dump. In some situations you may have to start by removing the pool tags as in step 6, or by manually editing the registry and then proceeding with step 1.

  1. Verify that the crash recovery options are set correctly to ensure successful capture of the memory dump.For additional information on memory dump, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    235496 How to Enable a Memory.dmp File Capture Using the Graphical User Interface or the Registry

  2. Turn on (or in some cases, turn on again) the special pool as necessary.
  3. Restart the computer and do not log on.
  4. Let the computer crash and complete the dump of contents from memory to the pagefile. You will see this on the screen.

    Once this is complete, restart the computer. The computer will restart automatically if set to do so in the crash recovery settings.
  5. When the computer restarts, use the "last known good" configuration option to start the computer. This will remove the registry changes set by the special pool feature, restore the computer to its previous state, and allow the computer to complete the startup process. This should allow the pagefile write operation to complete and result in a successful memory dump.

MORE INFORMATION

To use the "last known good" configuration, follow these steps:
  1. Start the computer and select the proper boot menu entry on the OS Loader screen.

    You will see the following message displayed on the screen for a few seconds: "NTDETECT V4.0 Checking Hardware".
  2. Press the SPACEBAR when you see the next message, "Press spacebar NOW to invoke Hardware Profile/Last Known Good menu." This will bring you to the default Configuration menu, which allows you to select different hardware profiles.
  3. Press L to switch to the "last known good" configuration menu.

    Original Configuration is selected by default.
  4. Press ENTER.
For more information on how control sets and last known good configuration are handled by the registry, see the "Windows NT Workstation Resource Kit," Chapter 36, Pages 1051 - 1053.

REFERENCES

For additional information on this issue, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

188831 How to Use the Special Pool Feature to Isolate Pool Damage

250453 Determining Special Pool Tagging Options When Debugging

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/13/2004
Keywords:kbenv kberrmsg kbprb KB260174
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