FATEL exception OE has occured at 0167:BFF87164 typical is 9x platforms Not fun to say the least. I have this vxd error occure on my parents system intermitantly for several years now. Can't nail it. But I can give you some quick fixes that may help. 1) Hold down the 1 button on your keypad when booting up the system, until you finaly arrive at a windows destop. 2) Remove the windows Splash screen at starup. If you cant do it manually download a utility such as: customizer 2000 that will do it for you. 3) Leanup the startup group in msconfig 4) Use Registry Mechanic or some sort of registry cleaning utiliy. 5) Reserve 64 kbps of DMA Buffer in Device Manager under system devices\direct memory access controller. 6) Run tracks eraser pro or clean out system cache from: *.tmp *.bak *.old hosts ect.. 7) Set Hardware acceleration to full in display properties\settings\advanced. 8) Install VXD Patch from www.freepctech.com 9) Buffer IRQ with ram 1024= 1 meg in system.ini for display adapter If you don't know irq number find it in device manager. formula for sysedit if irq were 14 is: IRQ 14=5120 for 5 megs of RAM *** In MY Opinion *** The main issue for this type of vxd error is due to graphic card instability. If an onboard graphics card is acting up; driver I/O device has been changed or altered irq has changed ect.. then a pci slot type card can be installed! The last resort is to f disk /mbr and format c: ***Microsoft doesnt really have any support for this type of error you will find similar conflictions with NT system support however. Check back for future postings of this type or google 0167:BFF87164 from time to time. You are not alone! Good Luck

Re (8) The VXD patch (although harmless) is based on a misconception and has been discussed in great detail on here many times. All you need to do is save your own particular copy of Vmm32.vxd onto a floppy. If you run into trouble you just copy it back into c:\windows\system. Derek.W