Hi all, My friend had a problem with her computer today. It was the usual corrupt registry where there was a missing or corrupt file in windows/system32/system. I started the MS fix as per usual, go into the repair console and then follow these directions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/ 307545 I did part 1 but then when I restarted the computer and put it in safe mode I got a BOD with a stop message of 0x0000008E ( 0xc000001D 0x8065c001, etc). I tried booting normally and in last known config and got a stop error of 0x0000007B (0xF8A87528 0xc0000034 0x00000000 etc). I tried chkdsk /r multiple and it said it found and fixed errors every time but I still get the blue screens. Anyone have any ideas of what to do. Should I just do a reinstall of XP, will that delete any of her files or does it just screw up her programs? Thanks all, Matt

Anyone have any ideas of what to do Replace the HDD. Now. Should I just do a reinstall of XP, will that delete any of her files or does it just screw up her programs? There may no longer be any files to delete.

Your Microsoft link does not work, probably because you pressed Enter between the first part and 307545. Corrected: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545 Both your errors produce a lot of "hits" on the web. 0x0000008E E.g. "STOP 0x0000008e" error message during Windows XP setup http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315335 Quote: "This behavior may occur if one of the following conditions is true: • One or more of the random access memory (RAM) modules that are installed on your computer are faulty. • The RAM configuration is incompatible with Windows XP. " Bad ram is RARE. If your ram was working fine previously and you haven't made any changes to it since the computer last worked properely, your problem may merely be it has developed poor connections in it's slot(s). See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated: http://www.computing.net/hardware/w... If you test it with a program or utility such as memtest86, do that AFTER you have tried those things, otherwise any errors it finds may be invalid. 0x0000007B = INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE E.g. "A BSOD can also be caused by a critical boot loader error, where the operating system is unable to access the boot partition due to incorrect storage drivers or similar problems. The error code in this situation is STOP 0x0000007B (INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE)." "How to troubleshoot "Stop 0x0000007B" errors in Windows XP http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103 " ...... " I tried chkdsk /r multiple and it said it found and fixed errors every time but I still get the blue screens." The fact that you keep getting errors after chkdsk has fixed them and the 0x0000007B error may indicate the hard drive is failing. Check the hard drive. See the latter part of response 1 in this: http://www.computing.net/windows95/... "Should I just do a reinstall of XP, will that delete any of her files or does it just screw up her programs?" Try cleaning and re-seating the ram. Try the computer. If it still doesn't work, test the hard drive. If the hard drive is okay...... If she has a brand name system with it's original brand name software installation on it, you don't just re-install XP - it's not that simple. Brand name systems don't normally come with a regular XP CD, and using a regular XP CD on a brand name system software installtion will not give you the Repair Setup option (see below), at least if my experiences trying to do that apply to all brand name systems, which I suspect they do. You have to run a brand name system and model specific Recovery procedure, and as far as I know there is no way of running it in your situation without losing the data already on drive C:. Don't do it except as a last resort. If the hard drive is no good, if she wants all the original brand name software again, if she hasn't made a Recovery CD set using the brand name supplied utility in Programs when the computer was working ok, you will need to order a Recovery CD set specific to the model from the brand name builder (e.g. about $50 from HP) and reload the software with that, on a new hard drive. If she has a system that had Windows installed on it from a regular Windows CD, if the hard drive is okay, you can try running a Repair Setup procedure and she will not lose any data already on the hard drive. An XP Repair Setup will not harm your existing Windows installation, but it can only fix things Windows detects as wrong, and/or replace corrupted or missing Windows files that are on your original XP CD. If running it doesn't cure enough of your problems and/or the problems are caused by things not on the original Windows CD, you will probably have to make a clean install of Windows from scratch. You will need a Windows CD of the same version as the one of your Windows installation, and the Product Key, preferably the one that was used to install it, but it can be one for the same version as the one of your Windows installation. How to do an XP Repair Setup, step by step: http://www.windowsreinstall.com/win...

You might try Start Run SFC. There is one option (/something) that will repair any files that are changed/corrupted. It doesn't always help me, either, but sometimes it does. Not quite as drastic as a full install. A positive attitude won't solve all your problems, but it will annoy just enough people to be worth the effort.

"You might try Start Run SFC. There is one option (/something) that will repair any files that are changed/corrupted. " Assuming she/he can get the computer to run well enough despite the blue screens, if the hard drive diagnostics find the hard drive is physically okay (if it finds only logical operating system problems they can be fixed), yes, she/he could try that. If Windows was installed from a regular Windows CD, insert the CD in a drive. With a brand name system software installation, the required source files normally found on a Windows CD should be found automatically. Start - Run - type: cmd (click OK or press Enter) Expand the window if you want to see more of what is going on while the program is running . Type: sfc /scannow (click OK or press Enter) (note the space after sfc). However, if Windows was installed from a regular Windows CD, and if the hard drive is physically okay according to the diagnostics, a Repair Setup is more likely to do the trick, and it takes only a little more time, and a little less time than a regular Setup from scratch does.

I agree tubesandwires. I would add that she/he should contact manufacturer (if it's a namebrand) and insist/demand a full setup CD-ROM. Often available (somewhere) on their website, tho not obviously. A repair install would do the trick; I've had to do it several times myself. (I think the SFC worked once.) It's too easy to pick up some strange crap from browsing the net, and you usually don't know it until sometime later. A positive attitude won't solve all your problems, but it will annoy just enough people to be worth the effort.

I used the dell diagnostics that was on the computer already and it failed the HDD test...so I assume the drive is dead. Thanks for the help...Hopefully it's still well enough to extract some files from it.