How can I find out what an error message means?
Unfortunately many programs give unhelpful error messages. Here are some strategies to help find out what they mean, with the best one last.
- browse the index of the manual (definitely best if there is a manual)
- search in the program’s online help
- browse in the program’s online help index
- search in Google (or any other search engine) for the error message in quotes, or using key words from the
error do the same search in Google Groups(this is a collection of Usenet newsgroups and it’s more like searching email than websites. Often you’ll find other people who are asking about the same problem. Take note of the relevant newsgroups as they may be a source of additional information.)