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Page 2 of 5  Very often the symbolic name of the stop error is shown near the stop error number. Symbolic names are pretty cryptic and some of the most common ones sound like “PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA”, “BAD_POOL_CALLER”, or “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL” but sure there are a bit easier to understand than a stop message in hex format. 
Another common section for all Windows versions is the recommendations section. It gives general advice about how to proceed. Sometimes the listed suggestions for recovery are exactly what is necessary to do in order to avoid new Blue Screens (for instance, if you have recently changed hardware or have updated drivers, disabling or removing them can be the solution). A general tip is to restart in Safe Mode. This also frequently helps, unless your Windows is so messed up that it is not possible to start it at all and there is only one remedy left – to reinstall it. 
The last section lists data about the debug port and dump status. If neither of them is enabled, you will not see this. When memory dump file saves are enabled, the progress of writing it (in percentage) is displayed. 
Besides the sections in a typical Blue Screen, many of the stop messages are the same (or similar in meaning and troubleshooting, though the words might vary a little) for Windows 2000, XP, and 2003. I am certainly not going to list messages here, especially having in mind that one stop error message number actually can mean several different things, when the hex parameters in brackets are different. The best place to look for explanation of the stop error message code is the site of Microsoft – as they say, get information from the horse's mouth. What is Different in BSoDs on Windows 2000, XP, and 2003? Well, the first obvious difference is the “design”. Its artistic advantages are outside the scope of this article but if you are interested in seeing several varieties of BSoDs, check here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_screen_of_death. There are examples of BSoDs for all Windows flavors but 2003, including veterans like Windows 3.x, NT, and 9.x when BSoDs were certainly more frequent than in 2000, XP, or 2003. Another difference is the stop messages that are specific for only one version of Windows (or for a given version of Windows (e.g. XP) and a particular Service Pack (e.g. XP with SP2)). Therefore, when you encounter a stop message, have in mind to check its meaning and suggested troubleshooting for the version of Windows you are running. At the end of each support page for a particular stop error, Microsoft states for which versions of Windows it applies, so you will always know at least this. One place you can get a list of error messages and explanation from is the site of Microsoft. For Windows 2000 – check here; for Windows XP – look here and here are the stop messages for Windows 2003.
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