Can't even start in SAFE mode!

Here was a Pentium4 running Windows2Kpro for about a year. Today I chose to install Quickbooks on it. We own Quickbooks Pro 99 and Quickbooks 2000 Pro "upgrade," so it was necessary to install the 99 first. It went in OK, then I rebooted. Next I installed the QB2000 upgrade, then rebooted.
Now I just get the BSOD with the message:
"***STOP: 0x0000000A (0xC0088400, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x80438C5E)
***Address 80438C5E base at 80400000, DateStamp 4047db83 - ntoskrnl.exe
Beginning dump of physical memory "
--- So I try to restart in Safe Mode. It says "windows is starting up," then the Blue screen again with the same message.
Was it my Quickbooks install? I use the same version on two other machines and it's licensed for five. What a curse!

 

Boot from your CD to the recovery console and run chkdsk /r and see if that finds and corrects any file/folder/drive problems so you can boot up again.

 

OK, I finally got to a limited command prompt and ran Chkdsk. It was going through great efforts and probably will take 2 hours.. so I went home. More news tomorrow. Thanks Newt.

 

CHKDSK ran last night and apparently found no errors.
I still cannot start Windows, not even in Safe Mode. It gets to the screeen "Windows is starting up" then does a hardware restart by itself.
I also ran the Maxtor utility to check the HD. The first four tests came back OK. The other tests require erasing the drive, so I have not done that.
Any other ideas based on the original error message? Should I try to insert a file in a directory somewhere? TIA.

 

Troubleshooting "Stop 0x0A" Messages in Windows 2000 and Windows NT

 

ntoskrnl.exe is the central kernel. It looks to me like Windows is corupted rather than it being a hardware problem. I'd suggest searching the Quickbooks support pages for a solution, but expect it will take a reinstall of Windows to fix the problem.

 

I worked through a Repair routine from the Windows CD, but it claimed to be unable to copy about 30 system files. Eventually Windows started up almost normal.
I found the file NTOSKRNL.EXE where it belongs, though it is an older version than mine. Seems odd, since both machines get Windows Update regularly. I almost copied my newer version of the kernel file to the troubled machine, but I decided not to.
Now I have some functionality of Windows but I can't ping the other machines on my LAN. The local IP address is OK. ? I am almost ready to wipe the whole HD and reinstall Windows (or LINUX, darnit!).
BTW-- Quickbooks does not believe in supporting four-year-old software, bugs or no bugs.

 

Perhaps I was being optimistic suggesting looking at the Quickbooks pages: I was hoping they might have a knowledge base. However, if they are anything like Sage getting suport information will be a pain.

If you've run a repair, any files "repaired" would have been copied from the original disk. They will be older than any Service Pack or Update files. It might be worth running the service pack before going for the reinstall.

 

Reggie: Good point. I had not even thought about Windows Update during this fiasco, since that machine has had plenty of Updates all along. But it makes sense that I should run W.Update again. Thx.

 

"***STOP: 0x0000000A (0xC0088400, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x80438C5E)
***Address 80438C5E base at 80400000, DateStamp 4047db83 - ntoskrnl.exe

Please note that 99% of the time the kernel is just a victim in these stopAs, of either pool corruption, or bad data from another driver higher in the stack. I do not beleive that this error was caused by quickbooks, unless for some reason they are providing a kernel mode driver to help you manage your checkbook

In order to accurately advise you on what caused the problem, you'd have to get the memory.dmp file analyzed.

Since you've gotten yourself back on your feet, probably not worth the effort, although if it was pool corruption, it will be back! be vigilant about watching for a recurrance, and come back for help if it does.

 

Me again. The affected machine has been running pretty much OK since I last posted. I ran Windows Update and got everything current in terms of critical updates. (This also replaced my Kernel file with the newer one.) Interestingly, after such a traumatic reaction to the Quickbooks installation, Quickbooks actually runs fine on this machine! Go figure. And the machine runs about as well as most, with only about one serious crash a day. So I won't do a total Windows reinstall at this time! Thanks all.

 

Greg - with that many problems still hanging around, you might want to run a Data Dump and let someone take a look.

 

i'd agree newt, good catch this one fell off my radar.

Greg, if you're feeling saucy, try out that dump collection stuff and post it. With any luck we can help you figure out whats causing it.