Fatal exception error

In computing, a fatal exception error or fatal error is an error that causes a program to abort and may therefore return the user to the operating system. When this happens, data that the program was processing may be lost. A fatal error is usually distinguished from a fatal system error[1][2] (colloquially referred to in the MS Windows operating systems by the error message it produces as a "blue screen of death"). A fatal error occurs typically in any of the following cases:.

  • An illegal instruction has been attempted
  • Invalid data or code has been accessed
  • An operation is not allowed in the current ring or CPU mode
  • A program attempts to divide by zero. (Only for integers; with the IEEE floating point standard, this creates an infinity instead)
Not to be confused with fatal system error.

In some systems, such as macOS and Microsoft Windows, a fatal error causes the operating system to create a log entry or to save an image (core dump) of the process.

References
  1. "Fatal error". Webopedia.
  2. "Stop error". Webopedia.


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