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Windows XP: STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
Mark
by comicfan - 12/11/05 5:01 PM In reply to: It sound like by mrkhlpHe initially tried doing a fresh install of XPpro from a previous XPhome but it won't complete or finish enough to get his WinXP up and running. From what I can see, he has been told to go into CMOS which the ,del, key and others didn't work. I had told him to try F12 which for Dells and some HP laptops this key will get into CMOS. He got an error code, which was from holding the key down, not tapping it. He still has the option to press F2 to get into setup when he did this though. Personally I think he may have a faulty hard drive. Usually when an installation goes good, then suddenly crashes, from what I have seen, it's usually the hard drive has bad sectors and will cause errors. He thought he had a dodgy XPhome which may in fact been the hard drive all along. What's your take? This is the best I can figure for his problem.
take care, Paul
Paul
by mrkhlp - 12/13/05 5:40 PM In reply to: Mark by comicfanI tend to agree with you. What kind of computer is this? I didn't recall seeing it mentioned anywhere. And usually when a drive dies you'll hear some head clacking not always though. But before I gave up the ship the cd was mentioned possibly being bad. BUT i would get my hands on an external usb cd drive or swap the drive in the laptop if it's possible to borrow one and run the setup from a different cd drive. I have seen where the cd drives just don't read right. Then if the installation goes ok he knows his CD drive sucks. If it still bombs I would agree with you that the drive is bye bye. But a least this will be a good test. Could just try cleaning the CD drive also.
Mark
Oh if it's a newer dell f2 for setup f12 brings up a menu.
CD? no no no
by comicfan - 12/14/05 5:59 AM In reply to: . by maju2305We were talking about a hard drive. That is your main drive that holds the OS and all your info. Or did you mean Hard drive? I don't want you to be confused on this, as it makes a night and day difference here. If your pc is making noise, please try to describe the best you can what noise it is making. Let me know.
Paul
Yes! The hard drive...
by maju2305 - 12/17/05 5:19 AM In reply to: CD? no no no by comicfan... is what I was talking about too, though I've actually realised it's not really making any peculiar noises...
With all the trying out different keys to bring up the BIOS... Once I'm there, and having been unable to see any 'autodetect' or similar function for the hard drive... Is there anything I should be looking for in particular?
similar problem
by IPFREELEY - 12/21/05 3:48 PM In reply to: STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error} by maju2305I seriously doubt the problem is the hdd itself or its detection. I'm having a similar problem, and it's driving me berserk. I've been building my own systems for 5+ years, and suddenly I'm an infant.
the problem occurs on clean install, reinstall, and attempted repair installations. all of the files copy onto the fresh partition with no problem. the system reboots. having left the cd in, I allow it to boot from the hdd with the files I've just copied on there. the initial windows xp logo comes up. during some attempts, the blue screen of death comes quickly. other times. more recently, it happens just as the screen transitions from the black xp page to the blue welcome/config screen. there error is usually the same: C000021a.
after a lot of googling and some fruitless ms knowledge basing, the problem is supposedly with a device driver incompatability. I've ruled out a system memory problem with memtest. I've even tried disabling the l1 & l2 caches (and of course bios shadowing and all the fancy stuff in bios that MS advises). no dice.
the system is a a Mach Speed K8M8MS microATA mb (via k3m800 north bridge, vt8237 south bridge chipset[s]).
cpu: amd athlon 64 3700+ clawhammer. bios identifies it with no problems.
2 sticks of ddr400 memory
hdd is parallel ata100 (120g seagate). I've had similar problems with sata drives so I tried this. anyway, sata has been disabled in bios. this is only hdd. didn't help.
one dvd optical drive on a separate channel.
one fdd.
unplugged all front cass usb/audio connections. onboard audio & video. so only the devices on the back panel of the mb are active.
aspire x-qpack microATX case.
the only hardware that isn't brand new on the entire system (including cables) are the dvd drive and floppy drive. concerning the dvd-rom, I've swapped that out with a few others (used - spare), and the result is the same.
oh yeah, I also have two brand new xp pro discs/serials that I'm trying to use (never actually make it to the 'cd key' step though). one is OEM the other is Full Retail.
sim problem II
by kloppy - 1/15/06 6:07 PM In reply to: similar problem by IPFREELEYI have the exact same mainboard and cpu and just my luck the same problem. Any luck fixing your problem? I am ready to pull my hair out.
Klop
my suggesestion try a Knoppix live cd
by rwp_17 - 1/15/06 11:11 PM In reply to: sim problem II by kloppyit is a cd you burn just pop it into the cd drive and run
no installation neccessary
multi purpose
troubleshoot windows
back up hard drive
troubleshoot hardware
that is just 3 purposes
if you liked what you saw and/or experienced look into getting some distrobution of linux
and dual booting it with windows that way you have access
to a back up plan if windows fails again
oh and by the way knoppix is a distrobution of linux
knoppix live cd
by tribble11 - 1/16/06 6:48 PM In reply to: my suggesestion try a Knoppix live cd by rwp_17Hi I have a similar problem with a sony vaio I received the same blue screen after formatting hd before windows xp loaded. I thought it was the touch pad which gave me trouble before i wiped the hd. I went into setup but could not find how to disable the touchpad. i disabled all else but then safe mode screen popped up giving me page_fault_in_nonpaged_area with a stop 0x00000050. I was able to load a windows xp upgrade version but it would not accept the laptops key code for activation. any ideas? if you tell me where i can find this knoppix live I have never used linux os before. I don't know what type of mb i have since i have not performed internal surgery on this machine. thanks for any help
google for it
by rwp_17 - 1/16/06 7:49 PM In reply to: knoppix live cd by tribble112 options
run a google search for ''knoppix live cd'' and see what comes up
or
here might be a decent place to look
"http://www.linuxiso.org/distro.php?distro=44"
free download
it's likely hw
by IPFREELEY - 1/16/06 8:52 AM In reply to: sim problem II by kloppyI swapped the mb/cpu for an asus/p4 - install went smoothly. there's something on the MS board or bios that windows can't handle. but I know it's been installed successfully too. On newegg feedback, someone said something about having to fiddle with jumpers. maybe deactivating some onboard functions because the bios does recognize all the hardware, and it's nothing exotic.
re: knoppix...I didn't try any live installations, but I did try ubuntu (for amd 64). it locks up too - before it can automatically boot into kde. or even give a bash prompt. I don't know enough about it to freeze the scroll and look at what failed to boot though.
my only advice is to make sure you disable all stuff on the board that you can.
Stop error
by Bill Boulton - 2/1/06 11:02 PM In reply to: it's likely hw by IPFREELEYI have done many installations but after setting up a new system XPSP2 all was OK & all the programs were working until I downloaded the critical updates, all 34 of them, then I got the stop error Coooo21a.
Not wanting to fall for the trick of putting in all my usual programmes & having the BSOD again I just did a full format & reinstall.
All OK until I downloaded the updates & yep BSOD, it seems to be a problem with the critical updates?
HELP!!
Since it's a laptop...
by R. Proffitt
- 2/2/06 5:38 AM
In reply to: Stop error by Bill Boulton
Be sure that you contact them for latest firmware, drivers and what other items they have. A fine example was the Toshiba's that would BSOD even without XP updates. Toshiba had issued a new motherboard driver for a memory issue, but updates are far from automatic and most owners don't know to look or call in the issue.
Microsoft on their part just supply the OS so we get to sort it out.
Bob
After a lot of googling and some fruitless ms
by Cursorcowboy - 2/2/06 5:17 AM In reply to: similar problem by IPFREELEYknowledge basing, the problem is supposedly with a device driver incompatability.
Besides using the WinXP CD do you not have a mainboard CD with tools and device drivers?
1. The article [Q303980] describes how to modify the nonvolatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM) by using the Bootcfg.exe command-line tool. This tool can be used to configure, query, change, or delete the boot entry settings in the NVRAM. Specifically, the /addsw /so: switches that is used to display the names of each device driver while loading.
2. The ''Device Console'' (devcon.exe), is a command-line tool (refer to the ''Examples'' hyperlink) that displays detailed information about devices and lets you search for and manipulate devices from the command line. DevCon enables, disables, installs, configures, and removes devices on the local computer and displays detailed information about devices on local and remote computers. DevCon is included in the Microsoft® Windows® DDK in the \tools\devcon directory. There are separate versions for 32-bit applications for Windows (\tools\devcon\x86) and 64-bit applications for Windows (\tools\devcon\ia64) systems. All users can use DevCon to search for and display information about devices. However, to change the status or configuration of a device, the user must be a member of the Administrators group on the computer.
3. The article [Q884018] describes the situation concerning a corrupted security database and warns that when you try to add a Windows component (long list provided) after you first install XP or after installing Service Pack 2 with a built-in Atheros wireless network device or when you then try to install a Bluetooth device, you cannot add the component and you may receive a message as follows that occurs even though the file already exists in the C:\Windows\I386 folder or even if you provide the path of the file, the error message reappears:
Files Needed
The file 'file_name' on Windows XP Professional CD-ROM is needed.
Type the path where the file is located, and then click OK.
4. Supplemental reading:
a. ''How Windows Determines the Most Suitable Device Driver to Install During Setup (Q279112).''
b. ''How to Enable Verbose Logging in Windows 2000 GUI-Mode Setup (Q243996).''
4. When you start Windows, dozens of programs are already running - many of them invisible and running in the background. ''AutoStart Viewer'' allows you to see every autostart on your system, all on the one screen. In addition, it gives you complete control over the autostart references, and allows you to modify or delete them at will. Key features are:
• Over 50 different autostart locations monitored!
• Right-click menu allows you to take complete control over each autostart
• Add New Autostart feature allows you to add new programs to automatically start
• Save/Print functions allow you to take snapshots
• Resizable, easy-to-use interface that shows every autostart on the one display
• All sizes, positions and settings are remembered
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