# Troubleshooting "Instrument Shell has Stopped Working" on the NovaSeq 6000 The "Instrument Shell has Stopped Working" error on the NovaSeq 6000 is a Windows error that generally indicates transient communications issues or hardware problems. This error will manifest as the Control Software crashing, and the pop-up shown below appearing on the screen. **Instrument Shell has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Please close the program.** * **Close the program** * **Debug the program** ![](https://761066130-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FGM9W2DuBTgEXv1ClCm8H%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7e327800e6f3d51b43a8a527e7aa4046c29b660c%2Fimage1.jpg?alt=media\&token=29347d77-e6e6-4cc4-89e6-ab571372af2b) **To Troubleshoot:** * Power cycle the instrument. For further information, search for Knowledge Base article **How to Power cycle the NovaSeq 6000 System**. * Collect the following files: * NovaSeq Control Software logs folder: C:\ProgramData\\\*\Illumina\NovaSeq\NovaSeq Control Software\Logs (zipped) * Windows logs\ \- After collecting the logs, contact Illumina Technical Support () to determine the next steps. \ \ \
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