[antconsig]

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 ruinning Windows XP. I have not added any new hardware and have actually never had a BSOD that restarting didn't fix. Now I have one I cannot get beyond. It won't let me load in any of the safe mode or recovery options and I am stuck. I also don't have my XP disc but it is a legit copy

The technical information on the BSOD is

*** STOP: 0x00000007e (Oxc0000005, 0xF7371fc0, oxF794D528, oxF794D224)

*** iastor.sys - Address F7371FCO base at F7302000, Datestamp 40608c73

PLEASE HELP!!!!

[Advertisements]

Also, the PC I am posting from is my fiance's dell inspiron 1525 with windows vista. I tried to put thevVista disk in, just to see if it would even load it, and it doesn't load, it just goes to safe mode options and then BSOD

[antconsig]

Also, the PC I am posting from is my fiance's dell inspiron 1525 with windows vista. I tried to put thevVista disk in, just to see if it would even load it, and it doesn't load, it just goes to safe mode options and then BSOD

[antconsig]

somebody please help if possible. Normally I can fix minor issues on my own, but not being able to get into any safemode or the cursor is making it impossible

[Broni]

I tried to put thevVista disk in, just to see if it would even load it, and it doesn't load

Is it full version Vista DVD?
Is CD drive listed in 1st position, in BIOS boot order?

[antconsig]

no her's is the dell version. I even tried downloading xp pro boot disk and that wouldn't even load. I went into Dell setup app and think HD was first and cd second in boot order

[Broni]

no her's is the dell version

I'm sorry. I meant XP, not Vista.
I assume, it's some kind of recovery CD?

Try this: http://support.dell....o...&doclang=en

[antconsig]

i downloaded from microsofts site the xp pro bootdisk, it's about 5mb but it never even read the cd

[Broni]

Did you read my link?

[antconsig]

i did. same result. I go hit safe mode, it scrolls through a bunch of drivers and always stops at the same one agpcpq.sys. Also before I get there it dell flashes a Loading pbr 2" i think screen, which i never saw before

[Broni]

Start with changing BIOS boot order, so CD drive is listed first.

Then, I want to see, if you can get into recovery console:

If you have Windows CD...(if you don't have Windows CD, scroll down)

1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD and assure that your CD-ROM drive is capable of booting the CD.
2. Once you have booted from CD, do NOT select the option that states: Press F2 to initiate the Automated System Recovery (ASR) tool.
You’re going to proceed until you see the following screen, at which point you will press the “R” key to enter the recovery console:



3. After you have selected the appropriate option from step two, you will be prompted to select a valid Windows installation (typically number 1).
Select the installation number, and hit Enter.
If there is an administrator password for the administrator account, enter it and hit Enter (if asked for the password, and you don't know it, you're out of luck).
You will be greeted with this screen, which indicates a recovery console at the ready:



4. There are eight commands you must enter in sequence to repair your problem..
NOTE. Make sure, you press Enter after each command. Make sure, all commands are exact, including "spaces".
These commands are as follows:

CD..
ATTRIB -H C:\boot.ini
ATTRIB -S C:\boot.ini
ATTRIB -R C:\boot.ini
del boot.ini
BOOTCFG /Rebuild

Note about the above command.
BOOTCFG /REBUILD command which searches for pre-existing installations of Windows XP and rebuilds sundry essential components of the Windows operating system, recompiles the BOOT.INI file and corrects a litany of common Windows errors.
It is very important that you do one or both of the following two things:
A.) Every Windows XP owner must use /FASTDETECT as OS Load Option when the rebuild process is finalizing.
B.) If you are the owner of a CPU featuring Intel’s XD or AMD’s NX buffer overflow protection, you must also use /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN as an OS Load Option.
For the Enter Load Identifier portion of this command, you should enter the name of the operating system you have installed.
If, for example, you are using Windows XP Home, you could type Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition for the identifier (it's not crucial, however what the name is, as long, as it's meaningful).
Here is your computer screen:



5. Following command verifies the integrity of the hard drive containing the Windows XP installation. While this step is not an essential function in our process, it’s still good to be sure that the drive is physically capable of running windows, in that it contains no bad sectors or other corruptions that might be the culprit:

CHKDSK /R

6. This last command writes a new boot sector to the hard drive and cleans up all the loose ends we created by rebuilding the BOOT.INI file and the system files. When the Windows Recovery Console asks you if you are Sure you want to write a new bootsector to the partition C: ? just hit “Y”, then Enter to confirm your decision:

FIXBOOT

7. It’s time to reboot your PC by typing
EXIT
and pressing Enter.

With any luck, your PC will boot successfully into Windows XP as if your various DLL, Hive, EXE and NTLDR errors never existed.



If you don't have Windows CD...
Download Windows Recovery Console: http://www.thecomput...om/files/rc.iso
Download, and install free Imgburn: http://www.imgburn.c...hp?act=download
Using Imgburn, burn rc.iso to a CD.
Boot to the CD...let it finish loading.
When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
Then, follow instructions from Step #3 above.

[antconsig]

okay i'll try now. does it matter if when i make cd drive first, only the number 1 appears? if i go to hd and hit space it becomes 1 and cd becomes 2, cd only stays 1 when it is only option selected

[antconsig]

okay so i got the order right, and got to the recovery console, but two things. First it says home edition and I have professional, is that okay? Second, my c: prompt is not followed by 'WINDOWS" and is just C:\

[antconsig]

also, the only way I can get it to prompt me to boot from disk is if I only have cd drive selected in the bios order, once i add in hd as #2, it never asks and goes right to the safe mode menu

[antconsig]

scratch the last comment. bios order is cd first and then HD. I loaded CD, hit R, but it never asked for a number like in your example and c prompt is just that, only c not :\windows. I tried entering first command and it says the command is not recognized

[Broni]

Yeah, that's because with iastor.sys file missing, or corrupted, computer can't see your hard drive.
I'm thinking, what would be the easiest way for you to solve this issue.
Do you have any important data on that drive?