After installing new hardware or corresponding device driver in Vista, you might get the Machine Check Exception next time when you will boot your PC. This error message occurs with some hexadecimal values in parameters. The error message is as follows:

STOP: 0x0000009C (0x00000004, 0x00000000, 0xB2000000, 0x00020151) "MACHINE_CHECK_EXCEPTION"

Windows shows this error message at the startup of the OS in blue screen and forces the user to restart PC. It is not a common error and includes long term effect. You should fix this error immediately as it appears first time.

What Machine Check Exception occurs?

The Machine Check Exception mostly occurs because of installation of incompatible hardware that the CPU is unable to process as accessing and reading values. When CPU detects any fault or problem in hardware unit it throws Machine Check Exception to the user. This error might also appear due to hardware failure or overstressing or hardware components.

How to fix Machine Check Exception Error?

In order to fix Machine Check Exception error you need to remove the recently installed hardware or change the corrupted hardware. Sometimes after uninstalling the recently installed hardware, this error remains. It happens due to corrupted registry values. When any hardware installs it edit the values in registry file that CPU reads at the startup of the PC. But once the blue screen appears it prevents the user to access OS as well as any other OS components like registry file and so on.

If uninstalling the hardware doesn’t fix this error, then probably you will have to go through some other way to fix this error. Installs fresh OS instead of corrupted OS and fix this error permanently. However, it will cause data loss situation but it is not a major problem and can be easily recovered after formatting the PC with data recovery vista utility. Once scanning is completed you will see the list of all the deleted items. Now recovery is quite simple. Select one or entire file and click the button to recover the items.