Windows Vista, even before the advent of SP1, namely as RTM, while it had its sins when it came down to compatibility and support, was extremely stable in comparison to Windows XP. However, given the necessary amount of abuse and the right triggers, Vista reliability can suffer just as much as its precursors. It is the case of repeated hot-unplugs of USB devices, which can easily lead to Vista Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 crashing. A hot unplug refers to the action of disconnecting a USB device from a machine without turning to the Safely Remove Hardware feature.

Windows Server 2008 RTM and SP2 are also affected by this problem, the Redmond company revealed. The software giant indicated that it is sufficient to surprise remove a USB device several times in order to cause a crash of the operating system.

“After you plug the USB device into the USB port in this scenario, the device does not appear in Device Manager. Additionally, the device does not work. If you try to shut down the computer on the Start menu, or if you make additional surprise removal attempts, the system generates the following Stop error message and then automatically restarts: Stop 0x000000FE (Parameter1, Parameter2, Parameter3, Parameter4),” Microsoft explained, emphasizing that Stop 0x000000FE errors could have additional causes.

The parameters returned by such an error message vary from computer to computer, as they are machine-dependent. It turns out that the Safely Remove Hardware feature in Windows can help end users mitigate this issue completely. Otherwise, Microsoft is also offering a hotfix designed to resolve the problem. Users will have to access it directly from the Redmond company, and only if they have come across this particular scenario. “This problem occurs because the USB hub driver (Usbhub.sys) does not correctly handle the surprise removal requests of USB devices,” the software giant added.

Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - Five Language Standalone (KB948465) is available for download here.

Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 - Five Language Standalone for x64-based systems (KB948465) is available for download here.