Blue screen system halted message on start up

[Lee MacMillan]

Recently had to replace a failed mobo and do a repair install. All went
well and I've got all the service packs updated. The system runs fine if it
starts but about every 3rd start up attempt (I only use this machine 2 or 3
times a week), as soon as Windows starts to load (after the main screen),
I'll get a blue screen with the message "system halted, contact your
hardware vendor."

I haven't changed any components other than the mobo (an Epox 8KHA+ that was
in my WinXP machine for several years). As noted, if Windows loads, the
sytem runs fine with no indication of a problem. At first I thought my
network card wasn't fully seated but I pulled it out and got the same error.
I have 3 SDRAM sticks (2x256 and 1x512), a Radeon 9250 video card, 1
Seagate 80gig drive, 1 floppy and an HP CDRW.

From my research I assume this is some kind of hardware problem but since
it's intermittant, I don't where to start. All suggestions are welcome.

 

[Dave Patrick]

The repair install isn't guaranteed to cover all situations of hardware
replacement. I'd backup and start a clean installation.

To do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom or setup
disks. The set of four install disks can be created from your Windows 2000
CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the CD-Rom and execute
makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and follow the
prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want
to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very
important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive
controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later
you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver
for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en





--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[DL]

Some motherboards don't like a mix of ram
Check the mobo manual specs for supported ram & compare that with what you
have

 

[V Green]

Lee:

Enable Boot Logging as described here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/202485

Then check the NTBTLOG.TXT file for the last driver that
was loaded. You can then often tell what caused the blue screen
and troubleshoot from there.

 

[Dave Patrick]

But keep in mind that's the last successful driver loaded.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Lee MacMillan]

The RAM is all PC2100 though not all the same brand. I ran all these sticks
in this mobo when it was running XP. Thanks.

 

[Lee MacMillan]

Not sure if this is significant. On my 2nd startup attempt today, I hit F8
then selected safe mode but it just hung at the "starting Windows" screen.
I did a hard reset and then it booted up ok. This was the 4rd try.

I will try this the next time it fails to boot. Thanks.

 

[V Green]

But keep in mind that's the last successful driver loaded.

In my experience, not necessarily. When I had to use it
once, it was this last driver that was refusing to initialize
or something. The driver was loading, but the UI that loads
separately to config it was causing the problem.

No harm, no foul to try it.

And, actually, since he's able to get it to complete the
boot process 66% of the time, he could get a complete
boot log from that and compare it to the boot log of
a failed boot to see what the next driver load will be.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

Lee:

Enable Boot Logging as described here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/202485

Then check the NTBTLOG.TXT file for the last driver that
was loaded. You can then often tell what caused the blue screen
and troubleshoot from there.

 

[Dave Patrick]

Good point the compare might help but I suspect the in-place upgrade just
didn't work and that the controller driver and or acpi and or hal is at
fault. The bugcheck code from the event log may also be of interest.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

 

[Frank Booth Snr]

Not sure if this is significant. On my 2nd startup attempt today, I hit F8
then selected safe mode but it just hung at the "starting Windows" screen.
I did a hard reset and then it booted up ok. This was the 4rd try.

I will try this the next time it fails to boot. Thanks.




if it


or 3

It sounds like a faulty driver. It's unlikely to be a hardware problem
as you are reaching POST successfully on each attempt, ie your BIOS
recognises all your essential hardware. Or does it fail before the
Windows splash screen? When you boot up successfully it might be an idea
to have a look at System Properties/Hardware/Device Manager just to
check whether any device is showing up as faulty. It's also possible a
memory module or the graphics card isn't properly seated which might
explain why there is an intermittent error.

 

[Lee M.]

It sounds like a faulty driver. It's unlikely to be a hardware problem as
you are reaching POST successfully on each attempt, ie your BIOS
recognises all your essential hardware. Or does it fail before the Windows
splash screen? When you boot up successfully it might be an idea to have a
look at System Properties/Hardware/Device Manager just to check whether
any device is showing up as faulty. It's also possible a memory module or
the graphics card isn't properly seated which might explain why there is
an intermittent error.

I see the Windows splash screen before I get the blue screen. I did check
the device manager and the only thing that shows up as faulty is the
multimedia driver. The SDRAM clips are all set as is the AGP card clip but
I will push them all down firmly one more time. Thanks.

 

[Lee M.]

I noted in another post that the only problem in the device manager is the
multimedia driver. The IDE/ATA controller drivers show the VIA busmaster
controller and the Microsoft drivers. I will report back when I have some
more news.

Good point the compare might help but I suspect the in-place upgrade just
didn't work and that the controller driver and or acpi and or hal is at
fault. The bugcheck code from the event log may also be of interest.



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

In my experience, not necessarily. When I had to use it
once, it was this last driver that was refusing to initialize
or something. The driver was loading, but the UI that loads
separately to config it was causing the problem.

No harm, no foul to try it.

And, actually, since he's able to get it to complete the
boot process 66% of the time, he could get a complete
boot log from that and compare it to the boot log of
a failed boot to see what the next driver load will be.

 

[Lee MacMillan]

Today I ran the Windows memory diagnostic test I got from the MS site. It
boots from a floppy then runs 6 different tests. Took about 15 minutes for
all 6 tests to run and it didn't find any memory problems.

The system booted up OK today but it did do a disk check even though it had
shut down normally yesterday. Not sure if that was a result of the floppy
boot or what. In the past, it has done a disk check when I had to kill
power after a system halt.

Thanks for all the help & suggestions. I'm sure we will get to the bottom
of this eventually.

Lee

 

[Lee MacMillan]

These are all the "did not load driver" lines from the ntbtlog.txt file from
a successful Win2000 startup. Not sure if this tells you anything or not.

Service Pack 4 3 3 2008 11:19:54.500

Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\lbrtfdc.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Sfloppy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Changer.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Cdaudio.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\tga.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\parport.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\PCIDump.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\redbook.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\parport.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rdbss.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Did not load driver \Device\mfefeatk01.sys

 

[Frank Booth Snr]

I see the Windows splash screen before I get the blue screen. I did check
the device manager and the only thing that shows up as faulty is the
multimedia driver.

There lies a clue.