System Crashed

Can you tell me what the BSOD error was?

Can you also tell me what the rest of the error message is when you boot up.


There is a chance that you might have bad memory and it has corrupted your hard drive.  You could also have a bad hard drive.  Tell me the errors and then we can go further from there.

Thank you for your reply buckeyes33!

From what I can remember, I quickly read "Disable BIOS Memory" such as caching before I shut down!

The rest was:
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original setup CD-ROM, select r at the first screen repair.

Tried doing that ,but, nothing happened after several times of trying, that's when the XP Home install was used!

Marine660331

Can you tell me what file is missing that windows will not start?

I read:

Missing or corrupt:
windows\system32\config\system
and when I tried to boot up I saw won't start up on black screen.

Marine660331

Ok I think that you should run one of these programs according to who the manufacturer of your hard drive is.


Maxtor/Quantum http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/products/index.htm
Fujitsu http://www.fcpa.fujitsu.com/download/hard-drives/#diagnostic
Samsung http://www.samsungelectronics.com/hdd/support/utilities/utilities_index.html
Seagate http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools/index.html
Western Digital http://support.wdc.com/download/
www.westerndigital.com 
IBM and Hitachi http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT


The utlity that you will download will create a bootable floppy you can then boot to the floppy and the software will run some test on your hard drive to see if it is bad.

Thank you buckeyes33, appreciate your help more than you know, the utility I will need is for Western Digital.

Will let you know how the test turned out soon!

Marine660331

Just ask if you have any questions about the utility.  WD is one of the easier ones.

I will also give you a link to a memory testing software.  If there are no errors from your hard drive you can try this.  To see if your memory has corrupted something.


http://www.memtest86.com/#download1

download the 3.1a windows version and unzip the file. Then format a floppy drive and leave it in and run the memtest program.  This creates a bootable floppy drive.  You then need to stick it in the computer and boot up.  It should boot to the floppy and run the program.  This program is not 100% so if errors are not returned it does not mean that you don't have bad RAM.  The only way to do that would be to test known good modules.  However, that is hard for you to do since your boot sector seems to be corrupted.  Fixing this will be the easy part, figuring out why this has happened twice will not be that easy.  In fact you might not figure it out at all.


Did you ever use Fdisk to reformat the hard drive or did you use the XP disk to do this?

No, I've never did the above, if you could give me a step by step process, that would be most helpful.

I did, however, download the test info to a floppy disk, but, couldn't execute or start  the test because the DLGDIAG Window would close in a few seconds, also, I was going to ask if I should remove the XP that is running now before, that is, when I figure out how to reformat the drive?

You don't want to download right to the floppy.  You need to download to your computer and unzip first.  then follow the read me files.

what have you not done?

the memory test or the hard drive test?


The memory test, when you download and unzip it there is a read me file that will give you a step by step help.

Sorry, got it backwards, will try the test that way.

I've done neither yet, have to reinstall AV to go back online to download the test, don't want to get infected and have another problem on my hand's, i'm using my other PC to contact you.

you can use the computer you are on now to get the correct software to the floppy.  There is no need do it on the computer that crashed.  Is that what you are doing?  I thought it crashed?   Are you able to get into windows without the pc hooked to the internet?  

The system crashed while using XP Pro and I couldn't get it to start up, as I tried to explain before, to get it running, I installed XP Home to see if the system or computer would open windows and it did, now, what I want to do is unistall XP Home and, if I can, reinstall XP Pro!
I just tried to run the test and received this message:
A:\DLGDIAG.EXE
C:\DOCUME~1\LONEGR~1\LOCALS~1\Temp|. \a \temporaray file needed for initialization could not be created or written to. Make sure that the directory path exists, and disk space is available.
Choose 'Close" to teminate the application.

Was I suppose to be in safe mode to run this test or just run it as is?

You have to run the test, both of them, as self substained programs.  Which in short means they run themselves in dos.  So you need to after you get your floppy created, restart your computer and the program will run.  At least it should if you have done everything correctly.


So I think I am a little confused now.  You are running XP home and you can boot up to it just fine.  Is that correct?   So when you try to put to run the install program for XP pro you get an error, correct?  


Maybe we could opt for a complete Fdisk of your hard drive and start with a blank drive.    Run the hard drive test first and if it does not bring up any errors then we can go from there.

I saved all that came with the download from the web site to my computer, then, stored it on a  floppy disk in my A drive and created the test program like the message said when it was completed, I then removed the floppy, rebooted, put back the floppy and like I said before the initialization could not be created!!

Yes, I'm running XP Home and it boots up, when my system crashed  the first time, I was running XP Pro and received the BSOD message of memory dump, I then tried to use the XP Pro disc to repair what caused the system to crash, but, it would not start up to do so because of the "won't start up" message I saw, I then installed the XP Home by using the disc that came with my other computer and it worked!

OK

1. download the file to your computer, the file you need is DLG Diagnostic  
2. unzip the program
3. put a blank formated floppy in your floppy drive
4.  start up the diskette creator program
5.  let it do its thing
6.  restart the computer

If I'd known about what settings are needed to boot from the A:\ drive, I'm sure the test results would have been much faster!

The test results are negative on both both short and extended using the DLGDIAG!

What's next??

well since the drive is still good and has no errors I think that you should format the drive.  I would try to do this with the XP setup instead of doing an upgrade first.  If that fails then you are going to have to do it the old way.  

So, boot from the XP disk and choose to format the drive.   This should format the drive and then start the setup.  If that does not work you are going to have to use Fdisk to format the drive.

To use Fdisk you first need to go here

www.bootdisk.com

download the windows 98 boot disk.  All the files that you download need to go onto a floppy.

you can then use this link to get you through the process

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=255867&product=w98

I would like to be optimistic, but......just get a new computer !

OK, I did the memory test, ran it for five and a half hrs and found no errors!

Tried to format several time, the first, after booting up and it went through it's paces, just before I was to make my selection, I received the following BSOD message:

A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:
Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any new updates you might need.
If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced startup options, and the select safe mode.

Tech info:
Stop: 0X0000000A (0x07FE9C0B, 0X00000002, 0X00000001, 0X8083E683)

The second time I tried, I made it to the selection screen, which lasted for maybe 45 seconds and received the same message, but, with different tech info:
Stop: 0X0000000A (0X2DD0F478, 0X00000002, 0X00000000, 0X807E6E94)

Should I try it again or just use the Fdisk?

ok, this is really fun isn't it?


I want you to reset your CMOS, just in case you have your memory timings screwed up.  Do you know how to do this?   First unpluged your PS then jump the clear CMOS jumper.  Or you can take the battery out for 10 secs.   After you do this try running XP install.

If you do this and still get an error.   You have one of two problems.   One of your memory sticks is bad or your motherboard has went south.  I find it really strange that this did not happen when you install XP home.


I am leaning more to a bad memory module as bad memory modules will corrupt your hard drive.  However, so can a bad motherboard, sometimes.  


I think that you might want to try loading without one of the memory modules in.  And then the other way around if you get the same error.


Whenever you do get this working, and XP starts to install.  You need to format the drive before XP gets installed.  I am saving Fdisk as a last resort because XP lets you format the drives much easier then Fdisk is.  


This is one of those times i would rather work with the computer right in front of me.  It is hard to convey everything that I am thinking about while I am typing.


the all else fails method:  Take computer to second floor or higher, open window, chuck out of window.  ;)

trying to lighten the mood.

The IRQL problem is a  real chore to track down. I had this for a long time and it turned out to be a flakey IDE cable. Fixed that but then it was a flakey IDE interface on a CD-Rom.

This infor from  http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000365.htm helped me:

-----------------------------
Issue:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

Additional Information:

The IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL or Stop 0x0000000A errors are able to be generated by both software and hardware issues. The message indicates that a kernel mode process or driver attempted to access a memory address that it did not have access to.

These error messages are generally formatted in the following fashion:

STOP: 0x0000000A (0xwwwwwwww, 0xxxxxxxxx, 0xyyyyyyyy, 0xzzzzzzzz)
0xwwwwwwww       The address that was referenced improperly.
0xxxxxxxxx       IRQL that was required to access the memory.
0xyyyyyyyy       Type of access.
0xzzzzzzzz       Address of instruction that attempted to access 0xwwwwwwww.

Cause:

This issue can be caused by any of the following possibilities:

   1. Mcafee VirusScan for Windows NT issue
   2. Windows NT 3.51 upgrade from Windows NT 4.0
   3. Service Pack
   4. Driver issue
   5. Hardware issue

------------------
How many memory banks do you have? Can you try removing them one by one (making sure you keep them in the right slots fo ryour PC to work) as buck said?? Can you remove the plextor and try another CD. Make sure there are no bent pins on your IDE interfaces of your disk and other IDE drives. Replace cables. Get a hammer and bang something (not PC related), shout at anyone around you, drink to excess, take a vitamin B and have a lie down, then come back and start being methodical. It's only a lot of wire and some tin bits.

Tend to disagree with the chuck it out the window option - it is much more useful to save them for boat anchors, door stoppers and something to put under your car when changing a wheel.

Have you got a windows 98 disk? Try loading this and see if you can get past go. It may be a driver in the actual Windows XP not playing with something. With windows 98, you may not get all your hardware installed due to no drivers being present, but it may rule out a hard-disk and memory error.

Good luck and keep smiling.

OK, here's what I've discovered since my last comment, it is definitly a "hardware" problem, it seems that, after the Motherboard, RAM & Video Card were installed, they were incompatable, the tech's that put it together and ran a diagnostic have since skipped town, a new tech tells me that the motherboard is defective!!

With the help of someone in another shop, it was explained to me what I stated above about incompatability and add in a sub-standard version of an AMD motherboard that couldn't operate with a high output CPU!