BSOD and Reboots

[mcp6453]

A notebook tries to boot into Windows but hits a BSOD and then reboots.
There are many posts on the Internet about this all-too-common problem,
but the solution is not apparent to me. It must be that there are
multiple causes of the problem.

When the computer is first started, it goes to the Safe Mode/Last known
good configuration screen. Selecting any option, including Safe Mode
with Command Prompt, results in a BSOD and a reboot.

1. The suggestions that I disable reboot on error in Windows are not
useful since I cannot boot into Windows.
2. No new hardware or software was installed prior to the problem.
3. No updates or service packs were applied prior to the boot.
4. With the drive installed in a desktop as a secondary drive, a chkdsk
does not report any disk errors.
5. An image of the drive using BING was successful and did not report
any drive read errors.

My next step is to try Alex Nichol's "Possible Fix by reconfiguring
boot.ini using Recovery Console", unless someone here has a idea that
the problem lies elsewhere. (Alex's fix assumes that ntldr or
ntdetect.com is corrupt and that boot.ini needs to be rebuilt.)

Are there any other suggestions for solving this problem? A repair
install would be my last option since I have had mixed results doing
them. Thanks!

 

[Dave B.]

If you use the F8 boot menu is there an option to disable automatic restart?
If so use it. There is no way to advise a fix if we don't know what the
exact BSOD error is.

--

 

[mcp6453]

If you use the F8 boot menu is there an option to disable automatic restart?
If so use it. There is no way to advise a fix if we don't know what the
exact BSOD error is.

I did not know that the option was available with F8. I'll give that a
try and report back. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Dave B.]

Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't, you may not have it.

--

 

[mcp6453]

Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't, you may not have it.

It's not there.

I tried the techniques I mentioned, but I cannot start the recovery
console. It rejects the Administrator password, which is blank. (The
bootable Linux CD used for password changes confirms that the password
is blank.)

What next?

 

[PD43]

It's not there.

I tried the techniques I mentioned, but I cannot start the recovery
console. It rejects the Administrator password, which is blank. (The
bootable Linux CD used for password changes confirms that the password
is blank.)

What next?

Have you tried to enter Safe Mode via the F8 options?

What was that about an image being successfully created? How long
ago? Can you restore from that image?

 

[mcp6453]

Have you tried to enter Safe Mode via the F8 options?

What was that about an image being successfully created? How long
ago? Can you restore from that image?

Nothing has worked. I was finally able to boot into the Recovery Console
using a CD made from an ISO I got from somewhere. (This factory
installation of XP Home was apparently created with Sysprep so I cannot
log into the Recovery Console with a regular XP installation CD.)

I copied ntldr and ntdetect.com to the boot drive and rebuilt boot.ini.
The computer has two memory modules, so I tried to boot with one at a
time, in case one is defective, but I got the same results.

Is there a way to turn off automatic reboot without being able to boot
into Windows? The option is not listed with F8.

I'm getting ready to boot with a BartPE CD to see if there is a hardware
issue. Other than that, I'm out of guesses. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.

 

[PD43]

Is there a way to turn off automatic reboot without being able to boot
into Windows? The option is not listed with F8.

Not to my knowledge

I'm getting ready to boot with a BartPE CD to see if there is a hardware
issue. Other than that, I'm out of guesses. Any suggestions would be
appreciated.-

Ain't got any here.

 

[John John]

Nothing has worked. I was finally able to boot into the Recovery Console
using a CD made from an ISO I got from somewhere. (This factory
installation of XP Home was apparently created with Sysprep so I cannot
log into the Recovery Console with a regular XP installation CD.)

I copied ntldr and ntdetect.com to the boot drive and rebuilt boot.ini.
The computer has two memory modules, so I tried to boot with one at a
time, in case one is defective, but I got the same results.

Is there a way to turn off automatic reboot without being able to boot
into Windows? The option is not listed with F8.

*** Build your Bart PE disk and include a registry plug-in with it.
When you boot with it open the System hive of the broken installation
and change the AutoReboot REG_DWORD value to 0 at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSetnnn\Control\CrashControl

The hive will be in the %systemroot%\system32\config folder. The hive
you want to load is the SYSTEM hive (without an extension). You will
not see a "CurrentControlSet" when you edit an offline registry, you
will only see ControlSetnnn, as ControlSet001, ControlSet002,
ControlSet003... To determine which one of the ControlSetnnn will load
when you boot the installation go to the "Select" key and note the
reference number in the Default: REG_DWORD, then edit the corresponding
ControlSet. If the Default: REG_DWORD is "0x1" then edit
CurrentControlSet001. You can edit all of the ControlSetnnn sets if you
want, it wont hurt anything to have the AutoReboot disabled in all
ControlSets.

John

 

[mcp6453]

*** Build your Bart PE disk and include a registry plug-in with it.
When you boot with it open the System hive of the broken installation
and change the AutoReboot REG_DWORD value to 0 at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSetnnn\Control\CrashControl

The hive will be in the %systemroot%\system32\config folder. The hive
you want to load is the SYSTEM hive (without an extension). You will
not see a "CurrentControlSet" when you edit an offline registry, you
will only see ControlSetnnn, as ControlSet001, ControlSet002,
ControlSet003... To determine which one of the ControlSetnnn will load
when you boot the installation go to the "Select" key and note the
reference number in the Default: REG_DWORD, then edit the corresponding
ControlSet. If the Default: REG_DWORD is "0x1" then edit
CurrentControlSet001. You can edit all of the ControlSetnnn sets if you
want, it wont hurt anything to have the AutoReboot disabled in all
ControlSets.

John

Since I'm new to BartPE, I just learned how to build it with plugins,
and now I'm trying to learn how to use the Registry Editor plugin. The
one I picked is from SourceForge. For some reason, it is not opening the
registry. I'll try another one later tonight.

 

[mcp6453]

*** Build your Bart PE disk and include a registry plug-in with it.
When you boot with it open the System hive of the broken installation
and change the AutoReboot REG_DWORD value to 0 at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSetnnn\Control\CrashControl

The hive will be in the %systemroot%\system32\config folder. The hive
you want to load is the SYSTEM hive (without an extension). You will
not see a "CurrentControlSet" when you edit an offline registry, you
will only see ControlSetnnn, as ControlSet001, ControlSet002,
ControlSet003... To determine which one of the ControlSetnnn will load
when you boot the installation go to the "Select" key and note the
reference number in the Default: REG_DWORD, then edit the corresponding
ControlSet. If the Default: REG_DWORD is "0x1" then edit
CurrentControlSet001. You can edit all of the ControlSetnnn sets if you
want, it wont hurt anything to have the AutoReboot disabled in all
ControlSets.

John

Problem sort of solved. I got into the registry and set the machine so
that it did not automatically reboot. The error code was
session5_initialization_failed. Apparently a virus or application
trashed ntoskrnl.exe and/or ntdll.dll. I expanded and restored them from
i386.

There are other problems that will probably cause a reinstall, but it
has been a good exercise. Thanks for all the help!

 

[John John]

Problem sort of solved. I got into the registry and set the machine so
that it did not automatically reboot. The error code was
session5_initialization_failed. Apparently a virus or application
trashed ntoskrnl.exe and/or ntdll.dll. I expanded and restored them from
i386.

There are other problems that will probably cause a reinstall, but it
has been a good exercise. Thanks for all the help!

You're welcome.

John

 

[mcp6453]

You're welcome.

To make matters worse, it also now appears that the hard drive is bad.
Maybe that's the source of the original corruption. It started clicking
when I was updating the AV. When I tried to image the drive, I got a
corrupt stream error with BING. I'm trying again to get a good image of
the drive, since the drive is intermittent.

My wife doesn't understand why I spend so many hours when I already have
almost all of the data off of the drive, but I have REALLY learned a lot
with this exercise. Interestingly enough, John John, some of your posts
elsewhere helped me (as well as your posts here.)

 

[Ron Martell]

To make matters worse, it also now appears that the hard drive is bad.
Maybe that's the source of the original corruption. It started clicking
when I was updating the AV. When I tried to image the drive, I got a
corrupt stream error with BING. I'm trying again to get a good image of
the drive, since the drive is intermittent.

My wife doesn't understand why I spend so many hours when I already have
almost all of the data off of the drive, but I have REALLY learned a lot
with this exercise. Interestingly enough, John John, some of your posts
elsewhere helped me (as well as your posts here.)

Have you tested the drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic utility?
Most drive manufacturer's have free ones you can download from their
website.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."