Win2k won't boot, starts, then reboots

[Dave M]

Suddenly, Win2k won't boot--no system changes. It starts,
the splash comes up, the status bar goes all the way up,
then the system simply reboots. If I try booting in Safe
Mode I get the following BSOD:

*** STOP: 0x0000000A (0xF6919354, 0x000000FF, 0x000000001,
0x80464109)

*** Address 80464109 base at 80400000, Date Stamp 44925809 -
ntoskrnl.exe

Does this mean ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt? Thx.

-Dave

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Suddenly, Win2k won't boot--no system changes. It starts,
the splash comes up, the status bar goes all the way up,
then the system simply reboots. If I try booting in Safe
Mode I get the following BSOD:

*** STOP: 0x0000000A (0xF6919354, 0x000000FF, 0x000000001,
0x80464109)

*** Address 80464109 base at 80400000, Date Stamp 44925809 -
ntoskrnl.exe

Does this mean ntoskrnl.exe is corrupt? Thx.

-Dave

Instead of Safe Mode, try Last Known Good Configuration.

 

[Dave M]

Instead of Safe Mode, try Last Known Good Configuration.

That yields the same round-robin behavior.

I've swapped RAM, CPU, P/S, and the other DMA channel--none
of which made any difference. I've tried several HDDs w/
the following results:

The W2k drive from that machine starts loading Windows, then
reboots perpetually, unless I try Safe Mode, then BSOD;

Two other W2k drives that work in other machines give BSOD
(INACCESSIBLE BOOT DISK);

I was able to fully boot an XP drive in Safe Mode (I didn't
try booting normally, and now it's asking to be activated
before it will let me log in again, but it does get as far
as the log-in screen);

A Win98 drive booted fine.

WTF is going on?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

That yields the same round-robin behavior.

I've swapped RAM, CPU, P/S, and the other DMA channel--none
of which made any difference. I've tried several HDDs w/
the following results:

The W2k drive from that machine starts loading Windows, then
reboots perpetually, unless I try Safe Mode, then BSOD;

Two other W2k drives that work in other machines give BSOD
(INACCESSIBLE BOOT DISK);

I was able to fully boot an XP drive in Safe Mode (I didn't
try booting normally, and now it's asking to be activated
before it will let me log in again, but it does get as far
as the log-in screen);

A Win98 drive booted fine.

WTF is going on?

You cannot move hard disks from one machine to another.
In most cases you end up with the "Inaccessible boot device"
error. In other cases Windows simply won't start. If you
succeed in getting a WinXP disk to start then it will ask for a
new product key, because its existing key is linked to the
PC it was originally installed on.

DOS and Win9x installations are not subject to these
restrictions.

 

[Dave M]

You cannot move hard disks from one machine to another.

In most cases you end up with the "Inaccessible boot device"
error. In other cases Windows simply won't start.

DOS and Win9x installations are not subject to these
restrictions.

That's exactly what's happening. Seems like I used to be
able to pull a drive from one machine and at least get it to
boot in another. In fact, I have several old W2k HDDs
kicking around which DO boot in 2 older computers I have
(PIII vintage), but not in the one that's giving me trouble.

I tried a fresh W2k install on a spare drive in the "broken"
machine and the install went fine (no errors or blue
screens), and the computer boots w/ the fresh install, so I
guess the hardware is OK. Must be a Windows problem. Can I
salvage the troubled drive? Can I repair the Windows
install? I'll be a way most of this week, but next week I'm
gonna need that box. I'd love to get it working w/out
wiping it clean and starting fresh because I have a ton of
music production software that would take a long time to
reinstall.

Thanks for your help.

-Dave

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

That's exactly what's happening. Seems like I used to be
able to pull a drive from one machine and at least get it to
boot in another. In fact, I have several old W2k HDDs
kicking around which DO boot in 2 older computers I have
(PIII vintage), but not in the one that's giving me trouble.

I tried a fresh W2k install on a spare drive in the "broken"
machine and the install went fine (no errors or blue
screens), and the computer boots w/ the fresh install, so I
guess the hardware is OK. Must be a Windows problem. Can I
salvage the troubled drive? Can I repair the Windows
install? I'll be a way most of this week, but next week I'm
gonna need that box. I'd love to get it working w/out
wiping it clean and starting fresh because I have a ton of
music production software that would take a long time to
reinstall.

Thanks for your help.

-Dave

These might help:

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q249694
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314082
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q292175.ASP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271965

 

[MicroSoft]

Once you get going again, save yourself a lot of heartache over losing
stuff: Learn to archive and back up! If you really have "production' data
saved, you're flirting with disaster by not backing it up somewhere.

Think upgrade, I think.

 

[Dave M]

These might help:

How to Move a Windows Installation to Different Hardware
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q249694
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314082
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q292175.ASP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;271965

I was away for a few days, but now that I'm home I've got to
get back to troubleshooting that computer; I'm gonna need it
next week. I'll check out those links. Thanks.

 

[Dave M]

Once you get going again, save yourself a lot of heartache over losing

stuff: Learn to archive and back up!

I do back up, though I'll admit, not as frequently as I
should. Regardless, that's not the issue now; I haven't
lost any data, the system just won't boot.

Think upgrade, I think.

Well, I've been putting off "upgrading" to XP because, for
one, I despise it. It's got too many bells and whistles,
menus, wizards and auto features: "What do you want Windows
to do?" I want Windows to quit asking me what I want it to
do, and just let me go ahead and do it! And, until now,
I've had a very solid, good-working system. There was no
real reason to upgrade, from a performance standpoint,

Also, the more software I get, the longer it takes to
install it all on a new machine. It's a real time killer.
Plus, now that I'm going to switch to XP, I'll have to spend
the next few weeks turning off of the extra crap that it
comes with.