Use of these codes requires some amount of investigation and analysis. You need to note both the programmatic and the run-time context in which these errors occur. Because these codes are defined in WinError.h for anyone to use, sometimes the codes are returned by non-system software. Sometimes the code is returned by a function deep in the stack and far removed from your code that is handling the error.[1]
The GetLastError function when many functions fail. To retrieve the description text for the error in your application, use the FormatMessage function with the FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM flag.
The Microsoft Response Codes list is large enough that it causes a slow-down on loading. So we only reference the list from here.