Windows Error: exception: access violation reading 0x00000160

I am very new to Python and am running a program to send and receive ethernet packages with a Nexys3 board. I open the pointer to the ethernet device in the init method, store it in a global variable, and then access it in both send and receive methods. In both methods, I get the error:

WindowsError: exception: access violation reading 0x00000160

I've done a lot of research and discovered that this Windows error means that the restart operation failed, but I don't know what this means or how to go about fixing it.

I'm not able to post my code, so I'm not looking for a quick and easy fix. I am just wondering if anyone has ever come across this error before and what it might mean or indicate about my code. Thank you in advance for your help!