I am attempting to format/reinstall windows xp on this computer, and as soon as I press 'F8' to accept the user liscense agreement I am getting the "STOP 0x00000051 REGISTRY_ERROR". I have tried replacing the RAM with another identical stick, but to no avail, and have removed any non onboard hardware. Thank you in advance. -Ryan 1gb RAM, radeon 9800 pro

Have you reformated that drive before...I ask because that may be a locked in bios installation (from the Dell proprietary school of send it back to be fixed syndrome) Also how are you attempting to reinstal? If by CD then you might try to use an older 98SE of ME boot disc to clean the drive and end the registry issue. In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock

I found this for NT so maybe it will help for XP: Problem 8: An error message appears when restarting into GUI-mode Setup. If the error is hardware related, there may be an error message from the BIOS or from Windows NT in the form of a blue Stop screen, such as any of the following: ***STOP 0x00000080 NMI_HARDWARE_FAILURE ***STOP 0x0000007f UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP ***STOP 0x0000007a KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR ***STOP 0x00000077 KERNEL_STACK_INPAGE_ERROR ***STOP 0x00000051 REGISTRY_ERROR ***STOP 0x0000002f INSTRUCTION_BUS_ERROR ***STOP 0x0000002e DATA_BUS_ERROR ***STOP 0x0000002d SCSI_DISK_DRIVER_INTERNAL Resolution 8: Check your computer for viruses, or for hard disk damage. For a virus scan, please use any available commercial virus scanning software that examines the Master Boot Record (MBR) of the drive. Viruses can infect both FAT and NTFS file systems. These errors may also be a result of hard disk drive damage. If you are using the FAT file system and do not yet have Windows NT 4.0 installed, use Scandisk or another MS-DOS-based hard disk tool to verify the integrity of your hard drive. Note that the Scandisk tool can damage long file names used by Windows NT 4.0 when run from an MS-DOS prompt. If you are using the NTFS file system, or you already have Windows NT 4.0 installed, try to boot to a previous version of Windows NT to run CHKDSK /F /R. If you cannot boot to a previous version of Windows NT, try to install to a parallel folder to run CHKDSK /F /R. Another common cause of the above STOP error messages is failing RAM. Use a diagnostic tool to test the RAM in your computer. Check that all adapter cards in your computer are properly seated. You can use an ink eraser or Stabilant-22 to clean the adapter card contacts. Finally, you can take the computer to a repair facility for diagnostic testing. A crack, scratched trace, or bad component on the motherboard can also cause these problems. Keep us informed as to what developes, In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock

I dont think it has been formatted post-purchase. Would it be easiest to format via bootdisk? Of so, would anyone know where to get a viable boot disk? Thanks again 1gb RAM, radeon 9800 pro

I dont think it has been formatted post-purchase. Would it be easiest to format via bootdisk? Of so, would anyone know where to get a viable boot disk? Thanks again 1gb RAM, radeon 9800 pro

Stop! back the truck up a bit here first. Do you have a restore disc from dell or is it a program from your computer programs reinstalling from a hidden partition? Are you using a genuine Microsoft Installation disc or is it some kind of copied disc from a manufaturer or what. These questions need to be answered first because you could screw up any partitions and the likes from your computer. It is obvious to me that you are tip toeing your way through this and I stronly advise that you really read up on how to use a bootdisc to run fdisc and format and the likes. So I am going to retract my earlier statement and suggest that you look inside your computer and if you have to.... remove the HDD...find out what model and who the manufacturer is. Then go to their website and (either under support or downloads) there will be a disc diagnostic/repair program that is bootable. This program would be much easier for you to use in doing a check and repair on the disc and it will also allow you to wipe it clean and reformat it much better than an old bootdisc. In The Matters Of Style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, Stand Like A Rock

Thanks, I ended up deleting the partition via fdisk, then formatted the drive using another HD with winxp on it. Then I used the dell restore disk to reinstall windows, and it is working fine so far. Used a HD read/write tester before the format and the hd was fine, so the data must have been corrupt. Thanks for the time and help. 1gb RAM, radeon 9800 pro