Windows XP forum: STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}

i take it by doing a fresh install you formatted the hard drive its just that this error usually occurs
when theres problems in your registry so wouldnt be that .

can you get into your bios settings at start up and see if hard drive is being recognised

also did all the files copy properly when first reinstalling

post back dan

Generally you will see options for entering BIOS when you cold boot a computer, eg, switch off, wait ten seconds, (To allow the hard disk to stop spinning), then switch on again.

You have to watch out for it though. On my Dell, the function keys to enter BIOS are displayed top right of the (black) screen very soon after the monitor starts to display, and disappears soon after that.

Mark

hi when your system firsts boots up you should see a screen which says press a button usually F2 or delete or escape to enter cmos setup usually near the bottom of the screen as soon as you see this press the button
should now see a new window with your settings on. be careful not to change any of the settings, look for " auto detect drives or harddrives " click on it, see if your bios is picking up the hard drive you should be able to see the name of your hard drive and info on it capacity etc
press escape to exit without saving any changes just in case

post back dan


also which file format did you use fat or ntfs ?
did you do a quick format or a full format ?

So far none of the keys did anything, except the ESC key, which brought up a Boot Menu list... I'm guessing this isn't it?

OK, tapping the F12 key on the laptop brought up a screen which displays the following (have no idea what to make of it):

****
PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0
etc etc..

System Software Version P001<BIOS 00.03.05, KBC 3.02)
CPU=Intel Celeron 500MHz
636K System RAM Passed
127M Extended RAM Passed
128K Cache SRAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS shadowed
Fixed Disk 0: IC25N020ATDA04-0
Mouse initialized
Event Log messages, enter Setup to view
WARNING
ERROR
0210: Stuck Key

Press <F1> to resume, <F2> to Setup
****

Is this totally irrelevant information?

I thought so...

When I've pressed F2 it's gotten me into some screen showing the PhoenixBIOS Setup Utility. Is this where I"m supposed to be? It has different tabs for all the different settings...

If you are setting up XP Pro why are you formating and setting up partitions? It also sounds like you have multiple OS's on the drive since you said when you hit ESC you get a boot menu which if your setting up partitions is possible, unless you want multiple OS's. What kind of menu? XP Pro is simple to setup as long as you have the pc boot from the cd first. Put the CD in the drive let it boot to it and run setup, answer the questions it will do the formating and partition according to your answers. You want to do a new install.

Mark

he was doing all this manually. Thats why I asked about the CD because as you say it asks all those questions. I misunderstood.

Mark

I 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.

We 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

I 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).

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.

it 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

2 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

I 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!!

knowledge 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