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BSOD when Windows loads in all modes except Last Known Good.
I have a customer's pc which blue screens after the Welcome to Windows message. There is no error message, just the usual 0x00007 (...). No file is identified as a problem.
Pc is a Dell Dimension 2400. All 4 led's at the back are solid green. The strange thing is that safe mode will not work - produces the same screen - but Last Known Good boots Windows normally.
What I have tried:
System restore - gone back well beyond the date when this began to happen;
Chkdsk /r - no errors reported;
Memtest - ran it for several hours...no errors;
Virus scan - ran Bitdefender online scan...found no infection. The pc has Norton a/v installed;
Cleared ALL temp. files via Cleanup - no change;
What is puzzling me is that this kind of BSOD usually means hardware, but Last Known Good works. So why can I not restore the registry to the same config as the config loaded by Last Known Good...?
Pc is a Dell Dimension 2400. All 4 led's at the back are solid green. The strange thing is that safe mode will not work - produces the same screen - but Last Known Good boots Windows normally.
What I have tried:
System restore - gone back well beyond the date when this began to happen;
Chkdsk /r - no errors reported;
Memtest - ran it for several hours...no errors;
Virus scan - ran Bitdefender online scan...found no infection. The pc has Norton a/v installed;
Cleared ALL temp. files via Cleanup - no change;
What is puzzling me is that this kind of BSOD usually means hardware, but Last Known Good works. So why can I not restore the registry to the same config as the config loaded by Last Known Good...?
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SOLUTION
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ASKER
OK. Thanks for that. I'll work on this and report back...
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you can also try to run sfc /scannow from the run box
solid green lights? arent they the USB lights that tell u when something is plugged in?
it sounds as though the closure of the USB ports isnt working on shutdown.
recommended course of action, uninstall the drivers for the usb ports. restart normally.
same error then it sounds like the ports have had it. if it is the usb ports lights then the chances are it a motherboard set (seeing as its dell and all) and that sounds like dell hardware is at fault. I have had alot of trouble with dell lately (my laptops up the creek and my dads dells on board sound is too).
2 final things to try.
reinstall windows on a blank hard drive (save the customers to one side). if it works after that then you know to reinstall windows.
if that doesnt work, replacing the USB part on the motherboard but frankly i dont like meddling with on board equipment so id replace the entire board. (if you can disconnect it by the way please do and try that)
it sounds as though the closure of the USB ports isnt working on shutdown.
recommended course of action, uninstall the drivers for the usb ports. restart normally.
same error then it sounds like the ports have had it. if it is the usb ports lights then the chances are it a motherboard set (seeing as its dell and all) and that sounds like dell hardware is at fault. I have had alot of trouble with dell lately (my laptops up the creek and my dads dells on board sound is too).
2 final things to try.
reinstall windows on a blank hard drive (save the customers to one side). if it works after that then you know to reinstall windows.
if that doesnt work, replacing the USB part on the motherboard but frankly i dont like meddling with on board equipment so id replace the entire board. (if you can disconnect it by the way please do and try that)
ASKER
"...solid green lights? arent they the USB lights that tell u when something is plugged in?..."
Er...no, they are the 4 diagnostic led's that tell u when something is wrong with your hardware.
Er...no, they are the 4 diagnostic led's that tell u when something is wrong with your hardware.
i never thought that leds would tell you that on the back of a pc, anyways i googled it
taken from http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/LinuxHardwareInfoDellDimensionXPS
BIOS: The password reset jumper block is in between the front pannel connector and the serial ATA connectors to the hard drive, and is marked "PASS". The color of the backlight LEDs in the front panel can be changed in the BIOS, under the "Onboard Devices" menu rather than "System" menu as documented in the Dell manual. There are also four helpful diagnostic LEDs on the back of the machine, which can report a plethora of hardware issues should such arise. The most common one in my use so far has been a PS/2 keyboard extension cable connector, which results in the BIOS hanging with {green, orange, orange, green} status on the LEDs. This status is, amazingly, not documented in the Dell manual. It appears that the nonstandard keyboard provided by Dell will not work on any sort of PS/2 extension cable. Replacing it with a standard IBM Model M keyboard, everything works fine.
then i went to dells site and found the led info section
Table 3. Power Switch Diagnostic LED Codes from http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx150/en/ug/problems.htm
according to table 4 though
green
green
green
green
Normal operating condition after POST
taken from http://www.penlug.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/LinuxHardwareInfoDellDimensionXPS
BIOS: The password reset jumper block is in between the front pannel connector and the serial ATA connectors to the hard drive, and is marked "PASS". The color of the backlight LEDs in the front panel can be changed in the BIOS, under the "Onboard Devices" menu rather than "System" menu as documented in the Dell manual. There are also four helpful diagnostic LEDs on the back of the machine, which can report a plethora of hardware issues should such arise. The most common one in my use so far has been a PS/2 keyboard extension cable connector, which results in the BIOS hanging with {green, orange, orange, green} status on the LEDs. This status is, amazingly, not documented in the Dell manual. It appears that the nonstandard keyboard provided by Dell will not work on any sort of PS/2 extension cable. Replacing it with a standard IBM Model M keyboard, everything works fine.
then i went to dells site and found the led info section
Table 3. Power Switch Diagnostic LED Codes from http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx150/en/ug/problems.htm
according to table 4 though
green
green
green
green
Normal operating condition after POST
ooooh!
https://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1293941&SiteID=17
you never said it was running xp.
is it vista?? if so is that it?
https://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1293941&SiteID=17
you never said it was running xp.
is it vista?? if so is that it?
ASKER
No, it is not running Vista. The os is WinXP Home SP2.
As I said, the 4 led's are solid green, so it doesn't look like a hardware fault so much as a software/driver issue. However, a system restore ought to take care of that, and it hasn't...
As I said, the 4 led's are solid green, so it doesn't look like a hardware fault so much as a software/driver issue. However, a system restore ought to take care of that, and it hasn't...
have you tried a fresh version of windows on another hard drive?
ASKER
Do you mean replace the hdd and install Windows on the new drive? My customer will not be happy with that!
Have you investigated the registry corruption issue at shut down that I had suggested in an earlier post? It seems to fit the problem as the computer can be started with last known good configuration, but will BSOD on the next boot. Problems during shut down may be indicated here, as all other tests have passed.
ASKER
Yeah, I checked the link in your post.
I don't actuallt received any of the error messages quoted, but \I have run chkdsk /r as suggested, and checked Event Viewer. I'm starting to think this must be a hardware issue, so today I will start checking RAM and taking out devices at startup.
Thanks for your continued input. This is a problem which is not resolving easily!!!
I don't actuallt received any of the error messages quoted, but \I have run chkdsk /r as suggested, and checked Event Viewer. I'm starting to think this must be a hardware issue, so today I will start checking RAM and taking out devices at startup.
Thanks for your continued input. This is a problem which is not resolving easily!!!
did you run sfc ?
ASKER
Sorry nobus, I'm running it right now...
lets see what gives. .
ASKER
OK. Problem solved. It was the RAM.
Sfc /scannow showed no problems, and running memtest off a UBCD4Win disc for about 1 hour also showed no problems. However, when I finally got around to swapping the RAM, it booted fine.
The moral of this story is, I guess, always run memtest overnight. A run of 1 hour showed nothing wrong, so I discounted RAM as the cause of the problem and went off in another direction.
It is still hard to understand why Last Known Good would work, but nothing else would...
I'm going to have to assume that it was simply coincidence as to which area of RAM was accessed when...
Thanks everyone for your input. Once again a simple pc repair contributes to a never-ending learninjg curve...
Sfc /scannow showed no problems, and running memtest off a UBCD4Win disc for about 1 hour also showed no problems. However, when I finally got around to swapping the RAM, it booted fine.
The moral of this story is, I guess, always run memtest overnight. A run of 1 hour showed nothing wrong, so I discounted RAM as the cause of the problem and went off in another direction.
It is still hard to understand why Last Known Good would work, but nothing else would...
I'm going to have to assume that it was simply coincidence as to which area of RAM was accessed when...
Thanks everyone for your input. Once again a simple pc repair contributes to a never-ending learninjg curve...
ASKER