Fatal System Error

[Douglas]

Right after the CMOS screen and before the Windows XP loading screen comes up,[/b'] press F8. Then select "safe mode".

I selected safe mode, pressed enter, a bunch of stuff came up for about 10 seconds, then the machine shut down, leaving the original error message. so I can't get into safe mode.

 

Thanks for the help.....any other ideas???

[5614]

If you give the full error message I can run more successful searches to find out about your problem... although if you've already done that there's not so much point.

 

You say you know what your problem is but you need to boot into windows to fix it.

 

Well, it's hard to comment without the knowing the problem nor the fix.

 

All I can really say is that you need to boot into windows. You can't boot in normally or under safe mode. Knowing only this you cannot fix your computer. Have you got a winXP CD that you can reinstal windows from?

[Douglas]

Here is everything I've done so far..............

 

Dell dimension 2350

Operating System:Windows XP-SP2

Operating System Version professional

 

I have not made any changes intentionally. However, I have windows automatics updates, Norton automatic updates, Dell automatic updates and Spybot (memory resident). Also have ad aware

 

Problem Description:

When I boot the computer, and after I get through the Xp logo loading screen (scrolling dashes),the screen turns black for an few seconds, I hear a click, then the screen turns blue with an error message as follows:

 

"STOP: c000021a (fatal system error) the session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc000026c (0x00000000 0x00000000) the system has shut down"

 

The blue screen with error message remains as it is.

 

I Then booted to the "advanced options menu (F8)", and tried booting from the "safe mode", and I get the same error as above.

 

I again booted to the "advanced options menu (F8), and selected "Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked" then pressed "enter", I got the same blue screen and message as described above.

 

I then checked the 4 led's "A", "B", "C", "D" on the back of the computer, they are all green.

 

I then booted to the "boot menu" F12, and ran IDE drive diagnostics, I get the following:

 

PRIMARY IDE

 

.......DRIVE 0: WDC WD600BB-75CAA0..... -PASS

 

........DRIVE 1: NO IDE DEVICE

 

SECONDARY IDE

 

......DRIVE 2: SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-61 -DIAGNOSTICS NOT SUPPORTED

 

.....DRIVE 3: SAMSUNG CD-R/RW SW-24 -DIAGNOSTICS NOT SUPPORTED

 

What should I do next????????????????? Thanks

[Aronathas]

Have you recently installed a windows update? A quick search has placed blame on one "# 890859" update. Several people have claimed success by uninstalling the hotfix, but that of course requires you to use the Recovery Console..hope you have the WinXP cd and not just a restore-to-factory-defaults cd that companies insist on providing?

[Douglas]

Have you recently installed a windows update? A quick search has placed blame on one "# 890859" update. Several people have claimed success by uninstalling the hotfix, but that of course requires you to use the Recovery Console[/b']..hope you have the WinXP cd and not just a restore-to-factory-defaults cd that companies insist on providing?

Yes Aronathas, I saw the info on Win update 890859. I checked my laptop (which I'm using now) and 890859 was installed last april. I was going to uninstall it, couldn't find it in "add/remove", so let it go for now. Do you happen to know how to uninstall it??

 

What do you mean by using the recovery console?? (in bold above).

 

The win xp cd that I have is labeled "reinstallation cd windows xp pro including sp2

[Aronathas]

You can follow the uninstallation instructions on the following link: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/spuninst.htm

 

I have never had to do this so I dont really have any other "helpful" tips, but if that doesnt fix the problem or if it doesnt make sense, say so here and we can continue the search for a cure to the common OS.

[5614]

If your problem is caused by a Windows update then reinstalling windows would do the job.

 

I know I've said it a lot, but I just love it, its soo useful and easy, just pop in the winXP CD, boot off it, select instal winXP, it detects current version so offers a repair job, you say yes and it reinstalls winXP. (note the order it came in!)

 

You lose no data and no settings (other than your personalised theme which you can just save before the reinstal and then load after it, that is if you don't use the default one) and it takes not very long.

 

Only disadvantage is that you then need to redownload/instal all the winXP updates.

 

But I'd definately try that link Aronathas posted first.

[Douglas]

You can follow the uninstallation instructions on the following link: http://windowsxp.mvps.org/spuninst.htm

 

I have never had to do this so I dont really have any other "helpful" tips' date=' but if that doesnt fix the problem or if it doesnt make sense, say so here and we can continue the search for a cure to the common OS.[/quote']Aronathas, thanks for the link. I may try it on my laptop which I'm using now. I can't get on my desktop with either the "start up" option or the CD rom. It looks like I may have to format the hard drive and reinstall everything........and I don't know how to format....yet.

[Douglas]

But I'd definately try that link Aronathas posted first.

5614, I have to get on my computer to uninstall the hotfix. I've tried booting from safe mode and the CD, nothing works.

[Douglas]

I came across this site

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;305595&spid=1173&sid=global

 

Looks like a boot floppy...wonder if it will work

[5614]

OK, 2 things Douglas:

 

1) Recover Console:

 

Me thinks you can access it but you're doing it the wrong way. To access the console through the CD-ROM means you turn on your computer and it DOESNT load Windows at all whatsoever, it loads the CD... windows is not at all involved.

 

To do this you need to change the settings in your BIOS so your computer starts from the CD and not from your HDD (hard drive disk) ie. Windows. To get into your BIOS when the computer starts up you want to press F2 or it used to be press the Del button, see here:

https://iomega-eu-en.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/iomega_eu_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=673

(all you're looking at is what button to press, the rest of that page is kinda irrelevant)

ahh, you've got a dell 2350, so yeah, when you turn the computer on and you get that Dell sign at the very beginning then just press F2 or Del button, this will take you to the BIOS.

 

There you want to look for an option called "Boot sequence" or "boot order" something like that, highlight it (arrow keys) and press enter. Then you want to make sure that your CD drive is at the top of that list (using + and - keys to move highlighted thing).

 

Now CD drive is at the top, quit & save options and restart the computer (make sure the winXP CD is in the CD drive) and your computer will start up from the CD. (from within the CD you can access the Recovery Console)

 

2) Floppy disk to access an NTFS HDD:

 

To put it simply you cannot access your computer's HDD through DOS because of some technicalities, so what you do is download NTFSDOS which is like DOS and allows you to access your HDD.

 

NTFSDOS Details:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/NtfsDos.html

 

NTFSDOS download:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Files/NtfsDos.zip

 

Download file

Unzip

Open file

Inset floppy

It does it all for you

Go to BIOS and make sure that you are botting from the floppy drive

Insert floppy

Turn on computer

 

I dunno if this will help, but you mentioned a bootable floppy so thought I'd throw this in!

[Douglas]

5614, thanks for the info, I appreciate it. I'm reading your post wondering what to do next. If I'm able to boot from a floppy, and assuming I have to format the hard drive, can I retreive all my unbacked up info from the hardrive before formatting ?

[5614]

If you format the HDD it means you delete everyone on your HDD and start again with NOTHING.

 

If you just reinstal Windows then you lose NOTHING (except window's updates).

 

I'd say reinstalling windows is your best option.

 

Read post #13 (by me!)

[Douglas]

5614, I re-read your post 13. So if I can get on my computer using your instructions on post 36 (recover console), then I will be able to re-load windows..........Am I reading this right??

[Douglas]

5614, I did as you requested, I booted to the "boot menu" by pressing and holding F2, I then selected CDROM (instead of floppy) for my #1 priority on the boot menu, I hit "exit", selected "save changes", then shut down. I inserted the windows CDROM, rebooted and got the same message as before.............what now???????

[5614]

5614, I re-read your post 13. So if I can get on my computer using your instructions on post 36 (recover console), then I will be able to re-load windows..........Am I reading this right??

No!

 

Aronathas posted a link which was about "How to uninstall a hotfix or Service Pack via the Recovery Console ?" which is why I posted info on how to load the Recovery Console... you only want the Recovery Console if you are going to try and follow the instructions on the link he posted. If you're reinstalling Windows forget the Recovery Console.

 

=======

 

Reinstalling Windows:

 

If the computer is starting from the CD then you won't get the problem because the problem is with Windows, not the CD.

 

You set the "boot menu" to load off the CD-ROM first... saved/quit... inserted winXP CD... turned on computer... computer will load CD... it will NOT load Windows at all what so ever, if you see the Windows screen then something went wrong. You should NOT see the "Xp logo loading screen (scrolling dashes)" it should go straight to the CD.

 

Is this what you did & what happened?

[Douglas]

See my post #40

[5614]

That's why I posted that! It's impossible! Unless the CD itself has the same error, which it can't because you don't put Windows updates on it.

 

What you have is a problem with Windows because of an update.

 

There is no problem with the CD.

 

So if you do NOT load windows and DO load the CD only then it will work, assuming you do it properly. So I guess the purpose of that post was to just go over and make sure you are doing it right.

 

When you are booting off the CD it does not involve Windows (on the hard drive) at all, so it won't load and you won't get the problem.

 

The only way you can properly try to boot off the CD and get the same error would be if you have a hardware error, because then nothing would load no matter what. If your problem is with Windows then the CD will work.

[Douglas]

Yeah 5614, the problem was on my end. The 1st 2 times I tried to boot from the CD, I wasn't looking looking at the moniter, the 3rd time (after I posted #40), I saw "hit any key to continue" for about 3 seconds, then the XP logo screen came on resulting in the same error.

The 4th time, I hit a key, and sure enough, I was able to boot from the CD.

 

Now, here's the kicker.....In the meantime while I'm doing all this stuff, I'm communicating with Dell by E-mail, explaining the problem and giving the results of all my troubleshooting.

 

My computer is almost 3 years, and I almost shit when I received an email yesterday telling me they were sending a new hardrive and mother board to a local Dell tech and he would install it for me FREE OF CHARGE.

 

Sooooo, I'm reluctant to re-install windows in case it fixes my problem.

 

5614, maybe you can help me with this problem. I have an old computer with windows 98 2nd edition. Can I take the hard drive out of my broken computer and install it in my old computer to retrieve some stuff I have in "my documents"??? Or is this something the tech can do for me (for a few bucks) when he installs the new parts??

 

Thanks for the help...I appreciate it.

[5614]

Grey = Don't bother reading

 

Replacing hard drives:

 

Most of below is kinda irrelevant (skip to bold/blue part below) but I've typed it all now so it may as well stay!

 

What you are describing is possible... whether you can do it, well, with some help I'm sure you can, the tech guy should be able to.

 

Basically the problem with your computer is that you cant start it up because windows is corrupt.

 

So if you stick the HDD into a different computer and use that windows to boot up it will work fine. Then you can access your 'currently broken' HDD through the other computer. Because afterall there is nothing wrong with your HDD, only that you cant load windows to do stuff with the HDD. Using a different computer to load Windows and then access the HDD is a common backup method for emergancies.

 

You just unplug the HDD from your current computer, plug it into the new one and all should be fine... with one exception.

 

Currently your HDD is set to Master or Primary HDD... this means it's the 'Daddy HDD' meaning it has the OS (operating system) ie. windows on it. On your old computer that HDD will also be the Master HDD (ie. it has Windows)... if you put both of these HDDs with their Master setting into 1 computer the poor compuer will get confused!

 

So you need change the jumper to make the 'currently broken' HDD a Slave or Secondary HDD.

 

Jumpers are these thingies:

http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/ata/hardware/01_jumper.html

or here:

http://www.harddriveupgrade.com/jumper_pins.shtml

 

Knowing which combo to use isn't always so simple. Sometimes it will say on the HDD itself, which is useful. Sometimes you'll get a manual. Sometimes it'll be on the manufacture's website.

 

There doesn't really seem to be a standardised setting as each HDD company (and there are many) use their own, and even within a company it varies between different HDD models.

 

At the end of the day just use trial and error and guess... it can't go wrong and cannot harm the computer. It will either work or it wont!

 

Generally if it doesn't work then check out:

http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/ata/give_up.html

 

Ah, wait, noooooo damn. Your winXP HDD will be NTFS and win98 can only read FAT32 and FAT... meaning if you are using win98 you cannot 'see' a HDD which uses winXP because they have different formats.

 

It's like some things for Windows don't work on a Mac, winXP HDDs don't work on win98.

 

=====

Continue reading here:

 

Sooo, after all of that...

 

I spose you could use what I said in post #36 about NTFSDOS which will allow you to access your NTFS HDD (thats a winXP HDD)...

 

You could but your 'broken' HDD into another computer using winXP, that would work...

 

err, otherwise reinstalling Windows which you can now do will fix your problem (it will make windows just like new, it cannot go wrong if your problem is with windows), replacing the HDD will certainly cause a loss of data... unless he doesn't take away your old one, which would be nice of him!

 

The fact that Dell are sending you a mobo/HDD free, well, maybe they know something about your error that I don't, I'm working on a 'you have error due to Windows update' and if this is the case they could easily send out a tech guy to reinstal Windows for you. So either they are being weird and non-sensible (in sending you a mobo/HDD) or they know something we don't about the error.

[Aronathas]

Well, even if they are sending such things, now that you can boot from the cd, can you not continue with what you were doing and uninstall that particular hotfix? At the very least you would know if that is whats really wrong or if another problem is lurking. Of course, if all else fails, theres the good ole reinstall windows...but I'd still prefer to uninstall the hotfix first, just to find out.

[Douglas]

So you need change the jumper to make the 'currently broken' HDD a Slave or Secondary HDD.

 

Jumpers are these thingies:

http://www.seagate.com/support/ts/at...01_jumper.html

or here:

http://www.harddriveupgrade.com/jumper_pins.shtml

5614, you've given plenty of food for thought right here....I'm gonna try it.

 

Will respond to the remainder of your post later, still digesting. Remember, I'm pathetically unknowledgable about computer problems.

[Douglas]

Well, even if they are sending such things, now that you can boot from the cd, can you not continue with what you were doing and uninstall that particular hotfix? At the very least you would know if that is whats really wrong or if another problem is lurking. Of course, if all else fails, theres the good ole reinstall windows...but I'd still prefer to uninstall the hotfix first, just to find out.

Aronathas, since Dell is giving me the freebie, I don't want to do anything to change my computer. If I try to re-install windows, and it changes the problems that I've described to Dell, I might be in trouble.....I don't want to upset the applecart. Right now, I'm just concerned about retrieving some stuff off my old hard drive.....just in case the Dell tech wants to keep the drive.

[Aronathas]

Yes, but what I am suggesting is simply removing that one hotfix to see if it is the cause of all your troubles. Why would you want replacements if yours can be easily fixed? Personally I prefer to exhaust all other options before resorting to calling tech support..I'm sure there could be more than a few people here who think that is a bad idea, but thats how I am. And I've never had to call any sort of tech support..so you see, I am the kind of person who prefers to fix all problems, no matter how long it takes me

 

Just saying, it would be best in my opinion to know what the problem is. After all, if you get the replacement and then have the same problem..Well, yeah. At the very least, see if the person being sent out to replace the parts knows what is wrong?

[Douglas]

It's possible that re-loading windows will fix the problem....then where am I at??