Computer buffs - I am constantly getting this message on my new computer??

Question

"The instruction at "0x042a7491" referenced memory at "0x00000000". The memory could not be "read". Click OK to terminate the program.


I know sod all about computers. my laptop is new and I've never had this on a previous computer, what does it mean? various similar error messages often appear

Answer 1

those instructions mean that a program, or part of the operating system, goofed. There is no point analysing them; that will tell you nothing. The programmer who wrote the program that goofed wouldn't get much from that message either, other than that he/she has screwed up the memory referencing bits.

if it's new, assume something hasn't been installed right. Take it back and tell them to fix, or get a computer whizz to search for patches, bug fixes or updates for you.

it's nothing to do with overheating, by the way.

Answer 2

Remember to always keep Windows updated. Even if you think, "Oh, I don't need that little update right now. I'll do it later." you still gotta do it. There's a reason Microsoft created this update. Secondly, you seen to be doing a good job on keeping up with your scans, but I would recommend you scan once a week, or heck, if you're like me, I scan daily. Also, I'm not a big fan of Spybot S&D or Adaware, what I like to use is Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware. A little note I would like to add: Do not scan all at once. Do it one scan at a time. That's like having two doctors trying to examine you, they'll get just in each other's way. Something that can really help you is a firewall. The one Windows already provides is... okay to say the least, but I would tell you to get a better firewall. My recommendation is Comodo Firewall. Another good thing to do is clean our your unneeded things. I would recommend CCleaner which will get rid of your temporary files, cookies, and all those unneeded things. Simple things like these will keep your computer in wonderful shape. Also, I would like to add that doing a system restore should be the very last resort when you have malware infected on your computer. Take all the steps to try to remove them before you do a system restore.

Answer 3

It is categorically NOT a problem with your computer's memory despite other answers! Programs are not allowed to access certain important parts of the memory that could cause your computer to crash. That error message means that one of your programs (you don't say which caused the error) is trying to reference one of those protected locations and Windows won't let it.

You can work out which program caused it by looking at the details of the error. It will make a reference to "something.exe" where whatever is in the place of something is the program file that's caused the error.

It's almost certainly a null pointer error. Location 0 is part of the bootstrap and is therefore protected. Attempting to modify it will raise a general protection fault.

Answer 4

What this really means is that there is a bug in the program you are trying to use. 0x042a7491 refers to which part of the program (actually which piece of machine code) and 0x0000000 refers to a 'null pointer'. Ie. the program has failed to do something and has been given 0 as the location of something it is trying to access. Address 0 is not in the 'bootstrap' as, assuming you are using windows, in reality it does not refer to a physical piece of memory but is a key used by your computers memory manager to map to a real location.

Cutting out the technical bit, the program you are trying to use has a bug in it. Try re-installing it or failing that contact the supplier.

Answer 5

It means the software you are running is not compatible with your new computer, or with something that's installed on it.

Maybe your laptop has something proprietary (like a Dell laptop with a Dell accelerator, or a Toshiba with a hotkey mapper), which is why it works on your previous computer.

Answer 6

could be some dodgy ram or overheating cpu casing errors.

try keeping the computer a bit cooler, make sure its not covered up with anything and that the air can circualte at the back don't put it too close to a wall or enclosed space.

if that dosent help you might want to get it looked at.

Answer 7

http://mem86.com download and test your memory, could be bad ram, also could be virus/spyware. Go to start run, msconfig and disable all, and restart see if it comes back.

Answer 8

It means you have some nasty, stanky toes! Heee heee, just kidding!

Answer 9

its a problem withy our memory set-up ring cutomer services. and dont buy another pc from dell