My PC was on with no apps running except iTunes playing. Heard a weird click and pop, and it rebooted. A message came up saying "The system has recovered from a serious error. A log of this error has been created." How do I find the log?Also, I looked in the Event Viewer and found two strange items during the reboot. One talked about emerging from a Bugcheck and the other said something about successfully issuing a Stop code.1 person needs an answerI do too

Hi okieseeker, What is the make and model number of the computer? You may follow the steps from the below link: The computer may automatically restart, or you may receive a "serious error" message or a Stop error message in Windows Server 2003, in Windows XP, or in Windows 2000:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/894278 Regards:Samhrutha G S - Microsoft Support.Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

The PC is a custom built Antec Sonata. I ran a full virus/spyware scan as recommended by the article you referred me to, but found nothing.Could this have been caused by a temporary failure of my power supply?

If your system is not configured to create a crash dump file on a system error, you may not be able to tell what happened.If your system was configured to create a crash dump file on a system error, you have a log file that will tell you what happened.On the screen that says "The system has recovered from a serious error" is also an option to see the data in the report and optionally send the report to Microsoft where it is unlikely you will get any kind of response.If you choose to send the report, you will see some generic canned messages that are really not very helpful. Clicking the button to view the error report or looking in the Event Log for clues is usually not too helpful either since there will not be enough information. As a matter of fact, I would not follow any of the advice that Microsoft offers after sending the report, unless you want to waste a lot of time trying things that might work maybe. You need to do things, not try things. You might get lucky though.If you want to see what the crash dump report says and get some information you can use, do this: Please provide additional information about your system:What is your system make and model?What is your XP Version and Service Pack?Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Symantec, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Panda, Trend Micro, CA, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.Was the issue preceded by a power interruption, aborted restart, or improper shutdown? (this includes plug pulling, power buttons, removing the battery, etc.)Does the afflicted system have a working CD/DVD drive?Do you have a genuine bootable XP installation CD (this is not the same as any Recovery CDs that came with your system)?The next time your system crashes, provide more information about what you see.Here is a BSOD example showing information you need to provide:http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/images/bsod_a.jpgSend the information pointed to with the red arrows (3-4 lines total). Send the entire *** STOP message line since there are clues in the 4 parameters.If there is a file name listed under the STOP message, be sure to include that information too.Skip the boring text unless it looks important to you. We know what a BSOD looks like, we need to know what your BSOD looks like.Now provide more information about your system and information from the most recent crashes.Click Start, Run and in the box enter:msinfo32Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.There will be some personal information (like System Name and User Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted information.Download BlueScreenView from here:http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.htmlUnzip and run it (BSV installs nothing) and let it finish scanning all your crash dump files. If you double click on of the dumps, you will get some information about it (including the Caused By Driver field) and you may be able to spot the problem right away - especially if you see a pattern in the dumps where the Caused by Driver field is the same (start with that driver).Select (highlight) one or more of the most recent dump files by clicking them and holding down the Ctrl key to select multiples files. Try to select just the most recent ones that relate to your issue (maybe five or so dump files to get started).Click File, Save Selected Items and save the information from the dumps to a text file on your desktop called BSOD.txt. Open BSOD.txt with a text editor, copy all the text and paste it into your next reply.Here is an example of the BSV report from a single BSOD that I initiated on purpose that shows the cause of the crash as the i8042prt.sys driver belonging to Microsoft Corporation:==================================================Dump File : Mini062110-01.dmpCrash Time : 6/21/2010 11:51:31 AMBug Check String : MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASHBug Check Code : 0x000000e2Parameter 1 : 0x00000000Parameter 2 : 0x00000000Parameter 3 : 0x00000000Parameter 4 : 0x00000000Caused By Driver : i8042prt.sysCaused By Address : i8042prt.sys+27fbFile Description : i8042 Port DriverProduct Name : Microsoft® Windows® Operating SystemCompany : Microsoft CorporationFile Version : 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2108)Processor : 32-bitComputer Name : Full Path : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini062110-01.dmp==================================================Send the information from the last 5 memory dumps (you do not have to wait for 5 crash dumps - send the most recent). If BlueScreenView does not find any crash dump files, we need to configure XP so that it will create a crash dump file in case you have another one.Do, or do not. There is no try.I decided to save up points for a new puppy instead of a pony!

If your system is not configured to create a crash dump file on a system error, you may not be able to tell what happened.If your system was configured to create a crash dump file on a system error, you have a log file that will tell you what happened.On the screen that says "The system has recovered from a serious error" is also an option to see the data in the report and optionally send the report to Microsoft where it is unlikely you will get any kind of response.If you choose to send the report, you will see some generic canned messages that are really not very helpful. Clicking the button to view the error report or looking in the Event Log for clues is usually not too helpful either since there will not be enough information. As a matter of fact, I would not follow any of the advice that Microsoft offers after sending the report, unless you want to waste a lot of time trying things that might work maybe. You might get lucky though.If you want to see what the crash dump report says and get some information you can use, do this:Please provide additional information about your system:What is your system make and model?What is your XP Version and Service Pack?Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Symantec, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Panda, Trend Micro, CA, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.Was the issue preceded by a power interruption, aborted restart, or improper shutdown? (this includes plug pulling, power buttons, removing the battery, etc.)Does the afflicted system have a working CD/DVD drive?Do you have a genuine bootable XP installation CD (this is not the same as any Recovery CDs that came with your system)?The next time your system crashes, provide more information about what you see.Here is a BSOD example showing information you need to provide:http://techrepublic.com.com/i/tr/downloads/images/bsod_a.jpgSend the information pointed to with the red arrows (3-4 lines total). Send the entire *** STOP message line since there are clues in the 4 parameters.If there is a file name listed under the STOP message, be sure to include that information too.Skip the boring text unless it looks important to you. We know what a BSOD looks like, we need to know what your BSOD looks like.Now provide more information about your system and information from the most recent crashes.Click Start, Run and in the box enter:msinfo32Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the information back here.There will be some personal information (like System Name and User Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just delete it from the pasted information.Download BlueScreenView from here:http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/blue_screen_view.htmlUnzip and run it (BSV installs nothing) and let it finish scanning all your crash dump files. If you double click on of the dumps, you will get some information about it (including the Caused By Driver field) and you may be able to spot the problem right away - especially if you see a pattern in the dumps where the Caused by Driver field is the same (start with that driver).Select (highlight) one or more of the most recent dump files by clicking them and holding down the Ctrl key to select multiples files. Try to select just the most recent ones that relate to your issue (maybe five or so dump files to get started).Click File, Save Selected Items and save the information from the dumps to a text file on your desktop called BSOD.txt. Open BSOD.txt with a text editor, copy all the text and paste it into your next reply.Here is an example of the BSV report from a single BSOD that I initiated on purpose that shows the cause of the crash as the i8042prt.sys driver belonging to Microsoft Corporation:==================================================Dump File : Mini062110-01.dmpCrash Time : 6/21/2010 11:51:31 AMBug Check String : MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASHBug Check Code : 0x000000e2Parameter 1 : 0x00000000Parameter 2 : 0x00000000Parameter 3 : 0x00000000Parameter 4 : 0x00000000Caused By Driver : i8042prt.sysCaused By Address : i8042prt.sys+27fbFile Description : i8042 Port DriverProduct Name : Microsoft® Windows® Operating SystemCompany : Microsoft CorporationFile Version : 5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2108)Processor : 32-bitComputer Name : Full Path : C:\WINDOWS\minidump\Mini062110-01.dmp==================================================Send the information from the last 5 memory dumps (you do not have to wait for 5 crash dumps - send the most recent).If BlueScreenView does not find any crash dump files, we need to configure XP so that it will create a crash dump file in case you have another one.Do, or do not. There is no try.I decided to save up points for a new puppy instead of a pony!

Thank you for the extremely detailed response. I'm going to follow your advice, then print that out and make it one of my reference files in the file cabinet. Sorry for my slow reply; many things going on at work and with some Web design I've been doing. Thanks again.

Heard a weird click and pop, and it rebooted.That doesn't sound good.Was this audio from the speakers or was there an actual physical sound coming from the PC itself?Has the click and pop happened again? Are you aware of any power issues in your home?

The audio was from the speakers. I've heard similar sounds from the PC before if the house electricity went out in a storm, but this time there wasn't even a flicker of the lights. This has not re-occurred but it's the kind of thing that makes me uneasy. No such thing as a good mystery when it comes to system reliability. The only power issues we have are some outdated light fixtures that don't work well; trivial.