CompuServe Messages

Gary's right about Parity Errors. There are very few possible causes of a Parity Error: 1. Memory parity check circuitry detects a word in memory whose actual parity and parity bit do not match. This means either bad memory, or bad parity detection circuitry. In either case, the system executes a jump to a ROM routine which displays the PARITY ERROR message and halts the CPU entirely, requiring a hard reset or power cycle. 2. A really messed-up program blows up wildly, branching or jumping to some random data and trying to execute it as if it were valid code, and the data just happens to contain bytes that just happen to work out to a jump to the ROM routine mentioned above, thus "faking" a Parity Error. 3. A prank program carried by a virus or Trojan Horse does the effect of #2 deliberately. As you can see, none of them are good news. #1 is the most likely, with #3 a distant or close second or perhaps surpassing #1 depending on how thoroughly you protect your site from viruses and the like. #2 is _astronomically_ unlikely. You should only consider it as even a remote possibility if you are getting the error on two completely different machines, and you have had your entire site thoroughly screened for viruses and the like by an expert who knows how to find such things even if they're too recent for McAfee's and the like to know about 'em.