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Resolved Blue Screen, cannot reboot.

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by Julian57, 2009/07/12.

  1. 2009/07/12
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Sudden start-up problem. XP Home sp3.
    Started normally but then suddenly after the splash screen i got the blue screen with a load of text. Tried to boot from floppy and CD without luck.
    Tried various F10, Del. commands without any progress. The line "BIOS not loaded/ appeared on each attempt. The final blue screen showed the text, STOP: c000021a Unknown Hard Error.
    The only changes made to the system lately was the installation of Explorer 8 earlier the same day.

    Any suggestions appreciated.

    Jules.
     
  2. 2009/07/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Are you able to check the boot order in the BIOS or Setup as it may be referred to? You will need to look at the boot screen to see which key to press to enter setup or refer to the manual.

    If the boot order is set to hard drive first you will not be able to boot from any other medium. Preferred order is CD > Floppy > Hard drive. I rather doubt that is the case if you have a Dell CD.

    Can you boot to Safe Mode?
    I've not come across this before - possible that the BIOS is corrupted or maybe the CMOS battery has run out of steam.

    You could try removing the battery for a few minutes to reset the BIOS to defaults - check the manual as there may be jumpers which need switching round momentarily to reset in addition to removing the battery.

    Equally well you could replace the battery.
     

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  4. 2009/07/12
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Luckily i have a second PC which had just been packed away as i will be moving , but in response to your suggestions. The order of preference shown was floppy then CD. Will attempt Safe Mode first as i forgot the possibility!
    The PC is not DELL but a ZITECH unit, (Danish).
    Will be back.

    Thanks, Jules.
     
  5. 2009/07/12
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Cannot boot to "Safe Mode ".
    More info. During the process the following msg. appear: BIOS not installed.
    PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable.
    PXE-MOF: Exiting PXE ROM.

    Tried to get it to accept boot from floppy without luck.

    Jules.
     
  6. 2009/07/12
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    My mistake - must have had Del from your first post in mind :)
    Getting BIOS not installed message as computer boots.
    SATA Drives are seen as SCSI - is your OS drive SATA? If so I would check the cable as indicated in the second error line.

    I would also follow my suggestion re the CMOS battery and resetting the BIOS.

    Tied up on another project at the moment - look at this ....

    http://www.google.com/search?q=BIOS...UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLG_en-GB
     
  7. 2009/07/13
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Checked all connections from the Motherboard, nothing untoward visible.
    Started up, msg. "BIOS not found ". Windows started, no problems. Am able to use the pc anyway so will try and figure out about the BIOS. Must have a CD from the day i bought it.
    It has a Serial ATA Raid installed.
    Will enter the BIOS setup and check the setup.
    Fingers crossed.

    Jules.
     
  8. 2009/07/15
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Now getting blue screen with "Stop" inf.

    0x000000F4(0x00000003,(0x89DB4AEO, 0x89DB4C54, 0x805C8C88)

    I was about to attempt recovering my BIOS when the system crashed, only this time i could not do anything as although the screen is black the pc is still running, and i cannot switch off, (pull the plug?). The pilot light is blinking slowly and niether reset or main power buttons are functioning.

    HELP!

    Jules.
     
  9. 2009/07/15
    mickzer

    mickzer Well-Known Member

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  10. 2009/07/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Pull the plug :D
    Not overly helpful and I suspect a lot of hit or miss testing is required.

    Try to reboot the computer - if it fails to boot look to change the CMOS battery - how old is the computer?

    Test the hard drive - most run from a bootable floppy/CD so go for the DOS version (if you have a Toshiba drive you are out of luck here) ....

    Disk Diagnostic Software ....

    ExcelStore

    Hitachi/IBM

    Samsung

    Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum

    Western Digital

    If the disk is OK test the memory ......
    The only satisfactory way of testing RAM is to test the installed RAM in various configurations. If you have a single module swap it around the slots. If you have a pair of modules run each one singly, swapping between slots; then run them in pairs swapping between pairs of slots. If you have 2 sets of matched modules do not get them mixed up.
     
  11. 2009/07/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    mickzer

    Thanks, but I'm not sure that the KB is relevant here - refers to standby and the stop error 0x0000007a: KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR. Jules' error is 0x000000F4: CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION
     
  12. 2009/07/15
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Just restarted, other than the usual "BIOS not installed" it runs. I removed the battery for 3-4 minutes the other day to see if the BIOS would reset, no change. The machine is about 5 years old.

    Thanks, Jules.
     
  13. 2009/07/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I am seeking a further opinion on this BIOS message.....
     
  14. 2009/07/15
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Much appreciated. Will log off now and continue in the morning.

    Jules.
     
  15. 2009/07/15
    mickzer

    mickzer Well-Known Member

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    But Pete, after that it says :

    or
    0x000000F4 (0x00000003, Parameter2, Parameter3, Parameter4)

    Or does the written error message have to be the same? Still learning ..........
    mickzer.
     
    Last edited: 2009/07/15
  16. 2009/07/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Sorry, my bad :( - you are correct in terms of the Stop Error, but the KB does refer to resume from standby mode when XP in on a slave drive which is not the problem here. I guess the drive is jumpered as master as it has apparently run OK for 5 years .
     
  17. 2009/07/15
    mickzer

    mickzer Well-Known Member

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    Pete,
    Thanks for the clarification.;)
    Every bit helps.

    mickzer.
     
  18. 2009/07/16
    Rockster2U

    Rockster2U Geek Member

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    OK, something has changed that is being overlooked. I believe you should be able to access your BIOS by simply dancing on the delete key during startup. If not, watch the screen for a key prompt to enter the BIOS. Reset the boot order and get rid of the boot from network card designation. note - a forced shutdown or power outage could have also changed your BIOS settings if your CMOS battery (most likely a CR2032) was on its last legs. I believe Pete already advised you to replace this. (cost is $2-3)

    The error message you were first getting will become painfully clear after you read what PXE is all about - pre-boot execution environment.

    ;)
     
  19. 2009/07/16
    gabieke

    gabieke Inactive

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    the oxof4 should be a faulti cable ( connection cable ) , or your = mergeide .reg = is faulti , in most cases change the cables and it will be ok
     
  20. 2009/07/18
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    The pc has been operating normally for two days. Loaded the Serial/Ultra ATA Raid drives but have been unable to get the BIOS setup. Will have to go to the other side of town to get a battery but i have just got this msg. on starting up.

    "Procedure entry point not found. Get controller Num@@YAEXZ could not be located in the dynamic link library drvInterface.dll"

    I presume that once there is control the bios should be sortable? I hope.

    Thanks, Jules.
     
  21. 2009/07/20
    Julian57

    Julian57 Inactive Thread Starter

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    Finally got a battery. The usual "BIOS not found ", splash screen ok and windows started up normally. Then the Blue Screen and that was that. The msg. "Procedure entry point not found. Get controller Num@@YAEXZ could not be located in the dynamic link library drvInterface.dll" came up again and "PXE-E61 Media test failure, check cable " also. So i presume that a cable is possibly suspect. Will source one and try again.

    Jules.
     

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