Windows Hardware Error Architecture

Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA) is an operating system hardware error handling mechanism introduced with Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 as a successor to Machine Check Architecture (MCA) on previous versions of Windows.^[1] The architecture consists of several software components that interact with the hardware and firmware of a given platform to handle and notify regarding hardware error conditions.^[2] Collectively, these components provide: a generic means of discovering errors, a common error report format for those errors, a way of preserving error records, and an error event model based up on Event Tracing for Windows (ETW).^[3]

WHEA "builds on the PCI Express Advanced Reporting to provide more detailed information about system errors and a common reporting structure."^[4]

WHEA allows third-party software to interact with the operating system and react to certain hardware events. For example, when a new CPU is added to a running system—a Windows Server feature known as Dynamic Hardware Partitioning—the hardware error component stack is notified that a new processor was installed.^[5]

In contrast, Linux supports the ACPI Platform Error Interface (APEI) which is introduced in ACPI 5.0.^[6]

References

^ "Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA) design guide". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.
^ "Components of the Windows Hardware Error Architecture". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.
^ "Introduction to the Windows Hardware Error Architecture". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.
^ Sosinsky, Barrie (2008). Microsoft Windows Server 2008: Implementation and Administration. John Wiley & Sons. p. 11. ISBN 978-0470174593.
^ Mark E. Russinovich; David A. Solomon; Alex Ionescu (2009). Windows® Internals (Fifth ed.). Microsoft Press. p. 441. ISBN 978-0735625303.
^ "APEI Error INJection — The Linux Kernel documentation". www.kernel.org. Retrieved 2020-12-17.

[1] "Windows Hardware Error Architecture (WHEA) design guide". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.

[2] "Components of the Windows Hardware Error Architecture". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.

[3] "Introduction to the Windows Hardware Error Architecture". Microsoft Docs. 14 March 2023.

[sosinsky-4] Sosinsky, Barrie (2008). Microsoft Windows Server 2008: Implementation and Administration. John Wiley & Sons. p. 11. ISBN 978-0470174593.

[5] Mark E. Russinovich; David A. Solomon; Alex Ionescu (2009). Windows® Internals (Fifth ed.). Microsoft Press. p. 441. ISBN 978-0735625303.

[6] "APEI Error INJection — The Linux Kernel documentation". www.kernel.org. Retrieved 2020-12-17.

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Windows Hardware Error Architecture

See also

References