If you are running XP Examine the “System” and “Application” logs in Event Viewer for other recent errors that might give further clues. To do this, launch EventVwr.msc from a Run box; or open “Administrative Tools” in the Control Panel then launch Event Viewer.
See if anything shows up there.

Quite often this error number 0x0000008e signifies a hardware compatiblilty issue. Have you installed any new hardware OR updated any drivers lately?