INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" error

  • Thread starter Thread starter Malcolm Hegarty
  • Start date Start date
M

Malcolm Hegarty

My friend has a problem with his Dell Inspiron 7500 laptop running Windows
2000 SP4 plus latest updates.

It started reporting the following error every time it tried to resume from
hibernation "The system could not be restarted from its previous location
due to a read failure". He ran Accessories/System Tools/Disk Cleanup but
this didn't resolve the problem.

A few days later he removed the share from the root of his C: drive (the OS
partition) and the root of the D: drive (data partition). Now the computer
gets part way into Windows 2000 boot and then blue screens with an
"INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE" error.

I've run the Dell diagnostics on the machine and all the hardware tests out
OK, including the hard drive and memory. I'm pretty sure this is a Windows
problem, probably caused by him removing the shares from the root, but I
wondered if anyone else had come across anything similar.
 
I've got a IBM Thinkpad T30, and I had that exact error when my hard drive
gave out in it. Along with some other ones. Try putting the hard drive in
another machine and doing a scandisk.
 
Thanks for your reply. I haven't got another machine to put the hard drive.
However, it passed all the Dell diagnostic tests which are more detailed
then a scandisk (e.g. read, write and verify to every sector) so I'm happy
it isn't the hard drive.
 
Can you boot the installation with the Recovery Console? If yes at the
Command Prompt do:

chkdsk /r

then do: fixboot

This from NT4 Resorce Kit offers a good description of why the error
might happen. Fixing it is another story altogether! A paralell
installation might fix the disk structure without affecting the original
installation. From NT4 RK:

Symptoms

When you restart your computer, you may receive one of the following
error messages:
• STOP: 0x0000007B Inaccessible Boot Device

• Setup has encountered a fatal error that prevents it from continuing.
Contact your software representative for help. The following status
codes will assist them "0x4, 0, 0, 0"

Cause

This problem may occur if one or more of the following conditions exists:

1. Your computer is infected with a boot sector virus.

2. A device driver required by your boot controller is not configured to
start at boot time or is corrupt. If during a WINNT /B installation no
mass storage device was detected.

3. A resource conflict exists between the boot controller and another
controller in the system or between SCSI devices.

4. Drive translation is not being performed or was changed.

5. The boot volume is corrupt and cannot be mounted by Windows NT.

6. Information in the Windows NT registry about which device drivers
load at start up is corrupt.

7. N/A ....

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/winntas/support/topntqa.mspx?mfr=true

Or pick through this:

http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&s6=on&q=INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE

John
 
Thanks John.

I thought Recovery Console was Win XP not Win 2K? If Recovery Console can be
run with Win 2K can you point me in the direction of any info on this?

The rest of your post gives me plenty to go at, many thanks.
 
It (the Recovery Console) was developed and released with Windows 2000.
You need your Windows 2000 CD to start it and you have to know the
administrator password. Basically, just boot the computer with the cd,
choose to repair the installation and follow the on screen instructions.
See:

Description of the Windows 2000 Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=229716

Start the computer and use the Recovery Console
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...13ee-4352-8e1b-bbb59bc15b961033.mspx?mfr=true

How to troubleshoot "Stop 0x0000007B" error messages in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822052

How To Replace a Driver by Using Recovery Console in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313670

How to perform a parallel installation of Windows 2000 or Windows Server
2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=266465

How to perform an in-place upgrade of Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/292175/

Good luck!

John
 
Many thanks for this John.

I ran the Recovery Console from the Windows 2000 CD and then ran chkdsk /r
on C: Chkdsk repaired some errors and then the machine booted successfully!

Case closed and thanks again for your advice.
 
Your welcome.

John

Malcolm said:
Many thanks for this John.

I ran the Recovery Console from the Windows 2000 CD and then ran chkdsk /r
on C: Chkdsk repaired some errors and then the machine booted successfully!

Case closed and thanks again for your advice.
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