XP "Skipping"
Captain-Chemistry
North Carolina
Hello. I am here because I have a problem </obvious> with Windows XP and am having a hard time figuring out the problem. The computer in question is only ~2.5 years old, and I have had no problems with it to this point. I have never had this computer connected to the internet, and only occasionally take files home from work. Virus scanning being what it is at my job, I thought the chances of this problem being the result of a virus to be pretty low.
A day or so before the catastrophic failure, my monitor settings dropped to the lowest resolution at the lowest bit setting. I got no warning that this was about to happen, and it took several attempts to get it back to where it was previously. Even after I got it back to my preferred settings, it spontaneously dropped one setting in resolution. I didn't bother with trying to force it back -- this setting was sufficient for my need. Unfortunately, this is not the BIG problem. I mention it because it happened so shortly before the catastrophic failure hit.
I was working on my computer Saturday. I double-clicked an Open Office file. Instead of opening the file (or giving me the error message that OpenOffice sometimes does), the computer crashed and began to reboot. This wouldn't have been such a problem, except that the computer will no longer complete the boot process. My motherboard will boot, and the Windows XP logo will follow, but instead of seeing my folders and wallpaper, the screen goes blue for a fraction of a second and the process starts over. It will do this until I shut off the computer. During the instant of blue, the only text on the screen is:
STOP: Vmm (as near as I can tell -- the screen is literally not up long
enough for me to read all eight or so characters in one
try)
Thinking this might be a virus, I plugged in a new hard drive and tried to reinstall Win XP -- hoping to use one HD w/updated virus definitions to clean up the other. I was unable to get XP loaded on the new HD. Invariably, I get a set of messages telling me that a particular file cannot be copied. I skip them, only to reach a point where the computer crashes and reboots. Sometimes I appear to get to the end of the install process where it will tell me that it's setting up windows. Often, I do not. The particular files it won't copy vary from install attempt to install attempt. I have cleaned the surface of the CD and even blown out the inside of my DVD drive with canned air. I can't find any other reason why it may be skipping files.
I have also tried running the repair disk feature on the old HD from the CD. A chkdsk scan told me that there was likely an unrecoverable error on the disk. I ran the bootconfig and the other boot command (bootrecord?) to eliminate any problem with the boot sector on the disk. I then reran chkdsk with the /r switch to "fix" the problem with the disk. Another chkdsk scan failed to turn up a problem. That did not solve the problem. Another attempt to reboot the HD ended exactly the way all the others had -- skipping.
I ran the repair utility again, and discovered that the config.sys and autoexec.bat files both had 0 kb of memory assigned to them. The filenames appeared, but could not be read with the "MORE" or "TYPE" commands. I have read that Windows is trying to get away from using those two files. I have the 2002 version of Windows XP, so I didn't know whether this was normal or not. Could a virus have deleted their contents? If so, what do I need to enter to restore those files and can it be done from the the repair utility?
Also -- what I'm wondering at this point -- is this really a software issue, or is it a hardware issue? During the motherboard startup, the RAM check will sometimes fail. Sometimes, it won't fail and will count all the way up to the correct RAM volume count. Then again, this problem only seems to occur after I've changed the boot order in BIOS, and tends to settle down if I leave BIOS alone.
I have tried starting the computer in safe mode, and *almost* got it running that way in the first few reboot attempts. Since then, even safe mode just leads to the BSOD, with a variety of error messages, one of which is:
BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO
Why can't I get WinXP on the new HD? What happened to my old HD?
If the computer/HD is lost, is there still any way to recover my data?
Also, what's the meaning of all the letters in the file attributes you find when you run the repair install utility? (e.g., d--ha---, etc.)
Other misc. that may be helpful: Pentium system, 2.4GHz processor, 512Mg DDR RAM (one chip)...I don't remember other system specs off the top of my head, but I can probably find them, including motherboard brand names, etc. (Sorry if I'm getting too detailed, but I don't know what won't help)
Thanks alot,
Andrew
A day or so before the catastrophic failure, my monitor settings dropped to the lowest resolution at the lowest bit setting. I got no warning that this was about to happen, and it took several attempts to get it back to where it was previously. Even after I got it back to my preferred settings, it spontaneously dropped one setting in resolution. I didn't bother with trying to force it back -- this setting was sufficient for my need. Unfortunately, this is not the BIG problem. I mention it because it happened so shortly before the catastrophic failure hit.
I was working on my computer Saturday. I double-clicked an Open Office file. Instead of opening the file (or giving me the error message that OpenOffice sometimes does), the computer crashed and began to reboot. This wouldn't have been such a problem, except that the computer will no longer complete the boot process. My motherboard will boot, and the Windows XP logo will follow, but instead of seeing my folders and wallpaper, the screen goes blue for a fraction of a second and the process starts over. It will do this until I shut off the computer. During the instant of blue, the only text on the screen is:
STOP: Vmm (as near as I can tell -- the screen is literally not up long
enough for me to read all eight or so characters in one
try)
Thinking this might be a virus, I plugged in a new hard drive and tried to reinstall Win XP -- hoping to use one HD w/updated virus definitions to clean up the other. I was unable to get XP loaded on the new HD. Invariably, I get a set of messages telling me that a particular file cannot be copied. I skip them, only to reach a point where the computer crashes and reboots. Sometimes I appear to get to the end of the install process where it will tell me that it's setting up windows. Often, I do not. The particular files it won't copy vary from install attempt to install attempt. I have cleaned the surface of the CD and even blown out the inside of my DVD drive with canned air. I can't find any other reason why it may be skipping files.
I have also tried running the repair disk feature on the old HD from the CD. A chkdsk scan told me that there was likely an unrecoverable error on the disk. I ran the bootconfig and the other boot command (bootrecord?) to eliminate any problem with the boot sector on the disk. I then reran chkdsk with the /r switch to "fix" the problem with the disk. Another chkdsk scan failed to turn up a problem. That did not solve the problem. Another attempt to reboot the HD ended exactly the way all the others had -- skipping.
I ran the repair utility again, and discovered that the config.sys and autoexec.bat files both had 0 kb of memory assigned to them. The filenames appeared, but could not be read with the "MORE" or "TYPE" commands. I have read that Windows is trying to get away from using those two files. I have the 2002 version of Windows XP, so I didn't know whether this was normal or not. Could a virus have deleted their contents? If so, what do I need to enter to restore those files and can it be done from the the repair utility?
Also -- what I'm wondering at this point -- is this really a software issue, or is it a hardware issue? During the motherboard startup, the RAM check will sometimes fail. Sometimes, it won't fail and will count all the way up to the correct RAM volume count. Then again, this problem only seems to occur after I've changed the boot order in BIOS, and tends to settle down if I leave BIOS alone.
I have tried starting the computer in safe mode, and *almost* got it running that way in the first few reboot attempts. Since then, even safe mode just leads to the BSOD, with a variety of error messages, one of which is:
BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO
Why can't I get WinXP on the new HD? What happened to my old HD?
If the computer/HD is lost, is there still any way to recover my data?
Also, what's the meaning of all the letters in the file attributes you find when you run the repair install utility? (e.g., d--ha---, etc.)
Other misc. that may be helpful: Pentium system, 2.4GHz processor, 512Mg DDR RAM (one chip)...I don't remember other system specs off the top of my head, but I can probably find them, including motherboard brand names, etc. (Sorry if I'm getting too detailed, but I don't know what won't help)
Thanks alot,
Andrew
0
Comments
If those come up clean we'll move on to other things.
I downloaded a diagnostic test for the HD, but could not get the computer to access the disk where it was located. Same story for the memtest.
-- CC
Once it's done, set the bios so that your floppy drive is the first boot device and restart the computer with the disk you just made in the drive. Everything after that is automatic.
You will have to extract the files on a friends computer, copy the EXTRACTED files onto a floppy and put into your PC, It is booting far enough along to run the tests, leave for a few hours and then check the results.
Can you boot into Safe mode?
If yes let us know and we will disable the auto reboot function so that you can read the BSOD just before it reboots
The computer won't boot into safe mode, and I've tried to rearrange the boot order in BIOS to accommodate booting to the DVD-ROM drive. I can use this to boot from the Windows install disk, but the C: prompt I can access through the install disk doesn't allow me to view another drive's contents. I have tried to access the HD test program from a CD (the program is too large to fit on a floppy), but the inability to access the drive from my command prompt has kept me from trying that option.
If I allow it to boot into any mode, I get a BSOD that gives only one error code: BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO. There's also some other, unhelpful advice on there about disabling BIOS cache or new hardware, etc.
Whatever memtest does, it has to be able to do it while booting off of a disk -- either the floppy that it's on, or the Windows install disk, as a regular Windows bootup (and the irregular bootups) are inaccessible.
I will give memtest a shot, and get back to you.
Thanks....
What the others are attempting to help you do is to check/diagnose your RAM memory. Your computer does make it past the POST BEEP. You can go into BIOS and change settings and the computer remains functional but you are telling us that if you go any further...such as trying to boot the operating system into any mode...you get a BSOD.
Memtest is a DOS based program. The system will boot off it first. The software on your hard drive (operating system) does not come into play. Memtest is a simple program that runs tests on your RAM to check its functionality.
If, for example, a RAM module has died then this would be the RAM that's scrambling all the data...thus your OS (PC) is BSOD'ing.
If you have a two or more sticks in place then MEMTEST will tell you what stick is bad. It's a good idea to pull the good stick and do the test again with the bad stick to confirm it has died. Then put the good stick in all by itself and run the test again to ensure that it is good.
You may find that with just the good stick in place your PC, if the os hasn't become totally scrambled, may boot just fine.
Yes, the computer does make it past the POST beep. I also have plugged a diagnostic card into the motherboard which displays the BIOS hexagesimal codes during the bootup. The final code indicates a successful boot.
Here are a few other things I've tried:
I have tried to boot off the Memtest floppy. The computer will not boot off the floppy, and won't even recognize it. I get a disk error when I try to boot from the floppy.
I have tried to access the floppy and my HD test program from the Windows XP Install Repair screen. I am able to look at the directories this way, but cannot make the programs run. All I get is a message that says those commands are not supported/allowed. For example, if I try to run:
C:> A:\install.bat
from the Install Repair screen, I get nothing but error messages. Is there another way to access a command line prompt?
I have also gone as far to get a new, duplicate RAM stick (same memory size, DDR, ECC, & speed config.) and tried to boot with the new RAM stick plugged in. The outcome is the same. I am fairly certain that the RAM is not the problem.
A friend of mine suggested this might be the result of a faulty drive controller or memory bus. Any thoughts?
Thanks again,
-- CC
What do you mean by, "warm boot?"
Picturing winter footwear,
-- CC