Stop message (n)~ A character-based full-screen error message displayed on a blue background. A Stop message indicates that the Windows kernel detected a condition from which it cannot recover. Each message is uniquely identified by a Stop error code (a hexadecimal number) and a string indicating the errors symbolic name. Stop messages are usually followed by up to four additional hexadecimal numbers enclosed in parentheses which identify developer-defined error parameters. A driver or device may be identified as the cause of the error. A series of troubleshooting tips are also displayed along with an indication that if the system was configured to do so a memory dump file was saved for later use by a kernel debugger.