BSOD

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Guest

Today I was trying to format a floppy disk on my Domain Controller, service
pack 4, and the format worked the first time. I tried to reformat the disk
again and this time the system blue screened on me and performed a memory
dump. I wish I could remember what it said exactly but it had something to
do with the FAT system on the floppy. After restarting the server I had to
wait quite a while for the OS to get itself back together. When the drive
activity indicator light settled down I restarted the system one more time
and things pretty much went back to normal with some exceptions.

When I try to view files in Windows Explorer I can view all folder contents
except for Program Files and Winnt. When I try to bring them up the program
freezes and I have to use Task Manager to close Windows Explorer. Also
double clicking on Network Places will not display the usual contents, my
network connection indicator in the system tray has disappeared also.

Does this sound like a corrupted explorer.exe file among others?

Thanks for any suggestions out there.
 
I really don't like the sounds of this.

\Winnt and \Program files both have desktop.ini files, so it is
indeed possible that these are corrupt, or that explorer isn't able
to interpret them correctly.

I think you should first try an in-place upgrade reinstall of Windows
Server from the CD. This will correct any missing registry entries
or corrupt/missing core Windows files. (It will also take you back
to the update level of the service pack that is on your installation CD,
so you'll need to re-update after you do this.)

But before you do the reinstall, you should boot to the recovery
console and run a chkdsk /p on the C: partition to force a disk
check.

If the reinstall doesn't do it, you could have a corrupt user profile or
corrupt entries in the machine registry. A system state restore
from a pre-crash backup from DS restore mode should take care
of that. This would be authoritative or non-authoritative depending
on whether you have other DCs.

This kind of failure makes me think there is likely a hardware
issue with your server. You may want to run diagnostics and
replace the floppy drive and cable proactively if you really
believe that was the source of the initial crash.

Steve Duff, MCSE, MVP
Ergodic Systems, Inc.
 
I really don't like the sounds of this.

Nor I, my friend. I was truly shocked. I've had tape drives do this to me
but this is a first for a floppy drive, especially on a Dell. At least with
the tape drive so many years ago on NT 4 everything came back up after I
disconnected the drive. This must have happened just at the right time to
really do some damage.

I tried logging on to the Administrator profile but the same thing happened
there, too. I can't access Winnt or Program Files in that profile. Nor can
I fully access the Recycle Bin. The window comes up but the window contents
will not. All I get on any of these is the hourglass with the cursor. When
I close them the notice that the program is not responding pops up and I can
have the choice of ending the task now or waiting. I end the program the
screen goes completely blank and then the desktop icons pop back up after a
second or so. I think I have a wounded box for sure.

Thanks for pointing out the fact about the service packs. I thought I'd
probably have to re-apply it. It's been years since I've had a blue screen
incident on a server so these things don't always stick in your head.

If I perform the repair/reinstall will I also need to recreate my DNS, DHCP
and other services on this server? This server runs it all.

What's even worse is the fact another DC at another campus I manage died
yesterday, too. I was making an ERD on this server here at my office for
that one when it blue screened. The other server will definitely require a
re-install as all I can get on it is the banner screen and then the BSOD with
the error notice "Inaccessible boot device" - even in Safe Mode with Command
Prompt.

Is there any way that recent W2K Server updates could provide a background
for this? The other server gets its updates automatically but I don't let it
load them and restart until I get there. Generally it's just idling as no
one is on campus during the summer. The principal wanted me to keep it
running even though I tried several times to get permission to shut it down.
He and a few others wanted the Internet once or twice over the summer. I ran
a full scandisk

I'll let you know how it comes out. I won't get to my server here until
tonight as it's still limping along and the other is flat on its back.

Thanks,
Dana
 
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