BSOD 90 (CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED): causes and diagnosis

Status / error code:		Category:

Constant name:
Source:		Operating System:
Description: CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED

Could be also:
Constant	Type	OS
EMSGSIZE	errno	Linux
EIDRM	errno	Mac
ELOOP	errno	Solaris

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PINBALL_FILE_SYSTEM	SET_ENV_VAR_FAILED

CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED

CRITICAL_SERVICE_FAILED is bug check 0x5A. Microsoft's public bug-check page only states that it appears very infrequently and gives no parameter table or specific service name. The stop name therefore is not a license to blame an arbitrary Windows service shown in Event Viewer.

The dump must identify the path

Use !analyze -v, the stack, current thread, and loaded modules to determine what Windows considered critical at the failure point. Preserve the four raw stop arguments even though their public semantics are not documented.

What not to do

Do not disable random services to make the code disappear; the bug check does not identify the service in its symbolic name.
Do not copy troubleshooting from CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED; that is a different bug check.
Correlate boot/service-control events only after the dump gives a concrete component or initialization path to investigate.

References

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