From: Ben Myers on
DaveJohnson12(a)nomail. wrote:
> It's an Optiplex 755 with Windows XP pro SP2.
> I get a blue screen saying Windows has detected an error and is shutting down to protect the
> computer. The screen did not list any drivers as causing an issue.
>
> I called Dell tech support. They had me run diagonostics. No hardware problems.
>
> The computer boots in safe mode. For some reason there are no restore points though it's set up to
> use 18GB of space for restore points. ;-) Dell recommends reinstalling the OS.
>
> Any suggestions on correcting the problem would be appreciated. :-)
>
> I was going to burn data to DVDs but Nero cannot find any DVD burners, probably because it only runs
> in safe mode. I have backups but they are so disorganized that it would be much easer to copy what
> data is on the computer now.
>
> I'm planning to buy another hard disk, install Windows on it and copy the data from the old hard
> drive to the new one, then reformat and reinstall Windows on the old hard disk if necessary.
>
> I haven't yet found a good place to buy the specific hard drive I want. Please see my other post if
> you have any recommendations about that.
>
> Thank you.

Run the DRIVE MANUFACTURER'S diagnostics, downloaded from the mfr's web
site, on the hard drive. Dell's diagnostics do a quick sanity check on
the drive, not at all thorough. Also run HDAT2, a free download, to
examine the SMART data on the drive.

If you can wait until a new drive arrives, do so, unless the drive
diagnostics show the drive as A-OK. Then copy whatever data possible
from the old drive to the new one, after installing Windows.

Any complaint about unusual performance by one of my clients gets me to
run diagnostics first, screw around with Windows afterward. If one does
otherwise, he is peeing in his own soup, to quote an old Slavic saying.

.... Ben Myers
From: William R. Walsh on
Hi!

> It's an Optiplex 755 with Windows XP pro SP2.
> I get a blue screen saying Windows has detected an error and is
> shutting down to protect the computer.
> The screen did not list any drivers as causing an issue.

A hardware (and file system!) check is in order. You should test both
memory (Memtest86/Memtest86+) and hard disk. (HDAT2 is a good starting
point.)

Dell Diagnostics are usually pretty good and should have caught any
particularly nasty hardware problems.

> The computer boots in safe mode. For some reason there are no
> restore points though it's set up to use 18GB of space for
> restore points. ;-) Dell recommends reinstalling the OS.

Make sure System Restore hasn't been turned off. If it has been turned
off, all restore points are purged.

And then, after *backing up* your data, run CHKDSK /F from a Windows
command prompt. You'll most likely have to reboot so that Windows can
have exclusive access to the volume.

You can always back up your data with another computer. Simply move
the hard disk from the first system into another computer.

William
From: GTS on
Firstly, what exactly is the blue screen error code? The 0x..... numbers -
state the first one and then the next several inside the parenthesis. There
may also be a one line text item in Caps. This is all flying blind and
guessing without this information.

Secondly, since it boots in safe mode run msconfig, put the machine in
selective startup to not load startup items and see if that makes a
difference.

Protecting your data is, of course, paramount. If you have access to
another computer and a USB drive adaptor that would be a good way to
retrieve it without buying another drive you may not need.

It may prove possible, once the problem has been properly analyzed and your
data protected, to performing an in-place repair Windows reinstallation if
all else fails, without having to reformat your drive.
--

<DaveJohnson12(a)nomail.> wrote in message
news:8187d5l6r0bhminj1g6v45j71cs9c85gd8(a)4ax.com...
> It's an Optiplex 755 with Windows XP pro SP2.
> I get a blue screen saying Windows has detected an error and is shutting
> down to protect the
> computer. The screen did not list any drivers as causing an issue.
>
> I called Dell tech support. They had me run diagonostics. No hardware
> problems.
>
> The computer boots in safe mode. For some reason there are no restore
> points though it's set up to
> use 18GB of space for restore points. ;-) Dell recommends reinstalling the
> OS.
>
> Any suggestions on correcting the problem would be appreciated. :-)
>
> I was going to burn data to DVDs but Nero cannot find any DVD burners,
> probably because it only runs
> in safe mode. I have backups but they are so disorganized that it would be
> much easer to copy what
> data is on the computer now.
>
> I'm planning to buy another hard disk, install Windows on it and copy the
> data from the old hard
> drive to the new one, then reformat and reinstall Windows on the old hard
> disk if necessary.
>
> I haven't yet found a good place to buy the specific hard drive I want.
> Please see my other post if
> you have any recommendations about that.
>
> Thank you.

From: Ben Myers on
DaveJohnson12(a)nomail. wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:11:03 -0400, Ben Myers <ben_myers(a)charter.net> wrote:
>
>> DaveJohnson12(a)nomail. wrote:
>>> It's an Optiplex 755 with Windows XP pro SP2.
>>> I get a blue screen saying Windows has detected an error and is shutting down to protect the
>>> computer. The screen did not list any drivers as causing an issue.
>>>
>>> I called Dell tech support. They had me run diagonostics. No hardware problems.
>>>
>>> The computer boots in safe mode. For some reason there are no restore points though it's set up to
>>> use 18GB of space for restore points. ;-) Dell recommends reinstalling the OS.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions on correcting the problem would be appreciated. :-)
>>>
>>> I was going to burn data to DVDs but Nero cannot find any DVD burners, probably because it only runs
>>> in safe mode. I have backups but they are so disorganized that it would be much easer to copy what
>>> data is on the computer now.
>>>
>>> I'm planning to buy another hard disk, install Windows on it and copy the data from the old hard
>>> drive to the new one, then reformat and reinstall Windows on the old hard disk if necessary.
>>>
>>> I haven't yet found a good place to buy the specific hard drive I want. Please see my other post if
>>> you have any recommendations about that.
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>> Run the DRIVE MANUFACTURER'S diagnostics, downloaded from the mfr's web
>> site, on the hard drive. Dell's diagnostics do a quick sanity check on
>> the drive, not at all thorough. Also run HDAT2, a free download, to
>> examine the SMART data on the drive.
>
> I downloaded Seatools. It's a seagate hard drive. Unfortunately I could not install it.
> The computer will only boot in safe mode and software can't be installed in safe mode.
> I tried a diagnostic startup and it would not boot like that either.
>
>> If you can wait until a new drive arrives, do so, unless the drive
>> diagnostics show the drive as A-OK. Then copy whatever data possible
>>from the old drive to the new one, after installing Windows.
>
> It looks like that is what I will do.
>
>> Any complaint about unusual performance by one of my clients gets me to
>> run diagnostics first, screw around with Windows afterward. If one does
>> otherwise, he is peeing in his own soup, to quote an old Slavic saying.
>
> lol good one. I never noticed any performance problem or any other kind of problem. I had the
> computer running for a while and when I came back to it the blue screen was there. Thanks.

You need a version of SeaTools that is self-booting and runs under DOS.
Seagate has SeaTools downloads for a bootable CD (ISO file) or a
bootable floppy. Your CD burning software needs to be able to burn an
ISO file correctly. If your system does not have a built-in floppy
drive, an USB floppy drive will do.

For me, a blue screen almost always deserves to have the computer run
hard drive diagnostics. if you look through the descriptions of BSODs
on the Microsoft web site, they are as sketchy as can be. The
programmers dreamt up something to satisfy managers flogging their
backs, but they are rarely of much help... Ben Myers
From: Ben Myers on
DaveJohnson12(a)nomail. wrote:
> On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:47:28 -0400, "GTS" <x(a)y.net> wrote:
>
>> Firstly, what exactly is the blue screen error code? The 0x..... numbers -
>> state the first one and then the next several inside the parenthesis. There
>> may also be a one line text item in Caps. This is all flying blind and
>> guessing without this information.
>
> The error codes look like this:
>
> Technical Information:
> STOP: 0x0000007E (0XC0000005, 0X8981506D, 0XBA4C32CC, 0XBA4C2FC8)
>
>> Secondly, since it boots in safe mode run msconfig, put the machine in
>> selective startup to not load startup items and see if that makes a
>> difference.
>
> Okay.
>
>> Protecting your data is, of course, paramount. If you have access to
>> another computer and a USB drive adaptor that would be a good way to
>> retrieve it without buying another drive you may not need.
>
> I was going to buy another drive anyway. No I only have the one comptuter with SATA. My other ones
> have ATA drives.
>
>> It may prove possible, once the problem has been properly analyzed and your
>> data protected, to performing an in-place repair Windows reinstallation if
>> all else fails, without having to reformat your drive.
>
> Interesting. I didn't know about that. Thanks.

Direct from the Microsoft web site, here is the steaming pile of horse
manure that they think describes the causes of a STOP 0x0000007E:

This issue might occur if a system thread generates an exception that
the error handler does not catch. This exception can be caused by any of
the following:

* If this issue occurs after the first restart during Windows Setup
or after Setup is complete, the computer might not have sufficient hard
disk space to run Windows XP.
* The computer BIOS might be incompatible with Windows XP, or it
might have to be updated.
* The video adapter drivers might be incompatible with Windows XP.
* A device driver or a system service might be damaged.
* If the issue is associated with the Win32k.sys file, it might be
caused by a third-party remote control program.

So let me add to their list, because evidently nobody there really knows
much about hardware:

* The hard drive has corrupted or bad sectors, and the system tried
to execute some invalid instructions in one of the bad sectors.

As William Walsh suggested, run HDAT2 to see the SMART attributes. If
HDAT2 flags any attribute in red, you know the drive needs to be replaced.

Also, download and run the Seatools that runs from DOS... Ben Myers