Stop Error/Disk Problem ?

[Echy]

Hello

I have encountered an "Inaccessible Boot Device" stop error 0x0000007B
on my desktop computer. The computer (in normal & safe mode) will not
progress past the blue stop screen.

It is an Acer PIII computer with Windows 2000 and was running fine
with no warning signs of this impending problem. I have current data
back ups thankfully.I run up-to-date anti virus software and Ad-Aware,
Spybot, CCleaner, SpywareBlaster.

I have not installed anything new in the way of hardware or software. I
have checked that all cables are tightly connected & have used a boot
floppy disk to run chkdsk & scandisk. When I run scandisk it says all
is OK but it cannot be checking anything I don't think as it finishes
in two seconds. Same for Chkdsk.

I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an operating system
etc on it, disconnected my drive and connected this one. I get exactly
thesame error message ??

Wondering if there a definitive help source or if anyone can offer any
thoughts on the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Echy

 

[Rod Speed]

I have encountered an "Inaccessible Boot Device" stop error
0x0000007B on my desktop computer. The computer (in normal
& safe mode) will not progress past the blue stop screen.

It is an Acer PIII computer with Windows 2000 and was
running fine with no warning signs of this impending problem.

I have current data back ups thankfully.I run up-to-date anti virus
software and Ad-Aware, Spybot, CCleaner, SpywareBlaster.

I have not installed anything new in the way of hardware or software.
I have checked that all cables are tightly connected & have used a
boot floppy disk to run chkdsk & scandisk. When I run scandisk it
says all is OK but it cannot be checking anything I don't think as it
finishes in two seconds. Same for Chkdsk.

I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an operating
system etc on it, disconnected my drive and connected this one.
I get exactly the same error message ??

That suggests something has died with the hard drive controller.

Wondering if there a definitive help source or
if anyone can offer any thoughts on the problem.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000pro/proddocs/progs/pgsappb.mspx

 

[kony]

Examine the motherboard for popped capacitors. A very
instable system can exhibit seemingly unrelated problems.

Also check the drive cables.

Is the drive NTFS or FAT32?
You might try pulling up a directory to see if the drive
contents are shown. Might also run the HDD manufacturer's
diagnostics on it.

How'd you run those other windows softwares if the system
isn't booting to windows?


You might start up a repair install and see whether it shows
an existing installation... and maybe even let it try to
repair it.



Since you have a second drive, you might try temporarily
installing Win2k to it, booting it then. Or, boot from the
windows CD or a bootable floppy and see what the system can
see sitting at DOS prompt or whatever interface you're left
at after booting a CD.

That suggests something has died with the hard drive controller.

Nope, with the second drive it could suggest what we already
knew, you can't migrate an existing WinNT/2k/xp installation
to another dissimilar system (different OS drive controller
in this case).

It could be a bad cable or drive controller, but those are
less typical than what I wrote above.

 

[Rod Speed]

Examine the motherboard for popped capacitors. A very
instable system can exhibit seemingly unrelated problems.

Also check the drive cables.

That wont produce that particular error.

Is the drive NTFS or FAT32?
You might try pulling up a directory to see if the drive contents are
shown. Might also run the HDD manufacturer's diagnostics on it.

Cant be the hard drive, he gets the same result with a different drive.

How'd you run those other windows softwares
if the system isn't booting to windows?

He presumably means that those were used before he saw the stop error.

You might start up a repair install and see whether it shows
an existing installation... and maybe even let it try to repair it.

Pity that he gets the same stop error with a different drive.

Since you have a second drive, you might try
temporarily installing Win2k to it, booting it then.

He just said that it has that already.

Or, boot from the windows CD or a bootable floppy and
see what the system can see sitting at DOS prompt or
whatever interface you're left at after booting a CD.

Wont help when he gets the same problem with two different drives.

Yep.

with the second drive it could suggest what we already knew,
you can't migrate an existing WinNT/2k/xp installation to another
dissimilar system (different OS drive controller in this case).

You dont get a "Inaccessible Boot Device"
stop error 0x0000007B if that is the problem.

It could be a bad cable

Nope, that doesnt produce that error either.

or drive controller, but those are
less typical than what I wrote above.

Wrong again.

 

[kony]

That wont produce that particular error.

I agree, a damaged one won't, but which message will come up
if a known, previously detected drive were reintroduced as
the OS drive?

Cant be the hard drive, he gets the same result with a different drive.

He gets a similar message, but there may be a known cause
for this with the 2nd drive, not same for the first.

He presumably means that those were used before he saw the stop error.

So he was trying lots of things just before this? If so,
why? What leads one to suddenly do this? What was the
prior indication of a problem?

Pity that he gets the same stop error with a different drive.

Reread what he posted:

"> I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an
operating system etc on it, "

To me that reads like the drive he borrowed, already had an
OS on it. The most likely conclusion here is that 2nd OS
config on the 2nd drive was not correct for his system but
rather the system it was installed on. Maybe not, but
that's how it read to me.

Either way, having the 2nd drive he could just plop in the
windows CD and try installing to it. At worst it's an hour
to do, but mostly automated.

He just said that it has that already.

Not a clean install done on that system? Or if so, this was
not clearly stated.

Wont help when he gets the same problem with two different drives.

Again, we do not know he "gets the same problem".
We know there is the same error message. We also can
speculate that error message is triggered by failure to load
2K, but not that the root cause of failing to load it is the
same.

IF he had done a clean install of Win2k on this 2nd drive,
with it being the only one connected, jumpered as single on
IDE0, we'd be ruling out a lot of variables. So far, we
dont' even know what would happen if he configured the drive
as such and attempted to install. If the attempt was
succeeding past the first reboot, that alone tells us a lot.

 

[Rod Speed]

I agree, a damaged one won't, but which message will come up if a
known, previously detected drive were reintroduced as the OS drive?

Still wont be that particular stop error.

He gets a similar message,

He said he gets the same message.

but there may be a known cause for this
with the 2nd drive, not same for the first.

Unlikely, MUCH more likely the fault isnt in the drive
or the cable but in the controller or motherboard.

So he was trying lots of things just before this?

No, he appears to mean that he ran those routinely before
that stop error showed up, so its unlikely its virus infected.
A virus infection can produce that particular stop error.

If so, why? What leads one to suddenly do this?

The fault showed up.

What was the prior indication of a problem?

Unlikely that he wouldnt have said if there had been that.

Reread what he posted:

No need, I read it fine the first time.

"> I also managed to borrow a working hard
disk with an operating system etc on it, "

To me that reads like the drive he borrowed, already had an OS on it.
Yes.

The most likely conclusion here is that 2nd OS config on the 2nd drive
was not correct for his system but rather the system it was installed on.

Yes, its quite possible that that is what he meant, but JUST doing that
with a working system wont produce that particular stop error message.

Maybe not, but that's how it read to me.

Yes, that is quite likely what he meant.

Either way, having the 2nd drive he could just plop in the windows CD
and try installing to it. At worst it's an hour to do, but mostly automated.

Likely more fruitful to try the hard drive manufacturer's diag on the
original drive. That should show if the drive subsystem, including the
controller etc is viable. Most likely it will howl about a problem.

Not a clean install done on that system?

Yes, he certainly didnt say that.

Or if so, this was not clearly stated.

Yes, he doesnt appear to have intended to say that he did a clean install.

Again, we do not know he "gets the same problem".

Yes, but we do know that he said that he gets the same error.

We know there is the same error message.

Very unlikely to be two different problems when we know that a
drive which has had the OS installed on a different motherboard
doesnt produce that particular stop error message when the drive
is moved to a different motherboard and you try booting from that.

We also can speculate that error message is triggered by failure to
load 2K, but not that the root cause of failing to load it is the same.

Very unlikely to not be due to a fault in what hasnt been changed.

IF he had done a clean install of Win2k on this 2nd drive,
with it being the only one connected, jumpered as single
on IDE0, we'd be ruling out a lot of variables. So far, we
dont' even know what would happen if he configured the
drive as such and attempted to install. If the attempt was
succeeding past the first reboot, that alone tells us a lot.

Makes a lot more sense to test what hasnt been changed
when the second drive was tried by running the hard drive
manufacturer's diag to see if it can see the drive fine. Likely
it wont be able to and that is the proof that its the hard drive
controller on the motherboard that has developed a fault,
maybe due to bad caps on the motherboard or something
as basic as the 12V rail being well below specs etc.

 

[philo]

Hello

I have encountered an "Inaccessible Boot Device" stop error 0x0000007B
on my desktop computer. The computer (in normal & safe mode) will not
progress past the blue stop screen.

It is an Acer PIII computer with Windows 2000 and was running fine
with no warning signs of this impending problem. I have current data
back ups thankfully.I run up-to-date anti virus software and Ad-Aware,
Spybot, CCleaner, SpywareBlaster.

I have not installed anything new in the way of hardware or software. I
have checked that all cables are tightly connected & have used a boot
floppy disk to run chkdsk & scandisk. When I run scandisk it says all
is OK but it cannot be checking anything I don't think as it finishes
in two seconds. Same for Chkdsk.

I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an operating system
etc on it, disconnected my drive and connected this one. I get exactly
thesame error message ??

Wondering if there a definitive help source or if anyone can offer any
thoughts on the problem.

If win2k is on an NTFS partition you cannot run scandisk or chkdsk from a
floppy...
so all you checked was the floppy itself.
Not only that...you cannot use a win2k drive from another system.

Try this first:
boot from your win2k cd and from the repair console run chkdsk /r

If that does not get your system going...
run a harddrive diagnostic and a RAM test.

as a *last* resort...you can perform a repair installtion

 

[Echy]

Hello

I have encountered an "Inaccessible Boot Device" stop error 0x0000007B
on my desktop computer. The computer (in normal & safe mode) will not
progress past the blue stop screen.

It is an Acer PIII computer with Windows 2000 and was running fine
with no warning signs of this impending problem. I have current data
back ups thankfully.I run up-to-date anti virus software and Ad-Aware,
Spybot, CCleaner, SpywareBlaster.

I have not installed anything new in the way of hardware or software. I
have checked that all cables are tightly connected & have used a boot
floppy disk to run chkdsk & scandisk. When I run scandisk it says all
is OK but it cannot be checking anything I don't think as it finishes
in two seconds. Same for Chkdsk.

I also managed to borrow a working hard disk with an operating system
etc on it, disconnected my drive and connected this one. I get exactly
thesame error message ??

Wondering if there a definitive help source or if anyone can offer any
thoughts on the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Echy

Thanks very much for the replies to date. To clarify a few things:-

- the operating system on both HDD's is Windows 2000 Pro SP4 both with
up to date
patches/updates.

- both have NTFS partitioning

- the programs I mentioned that I use, were routinely run before the
error message
started.

- the borrowed HDD is jumpered as a single drive

- the borrowed HDD was not a clean install at the time of me borrowing
it. It already
had Win 2000 on it & a few programs. It is from my friend's spare
computer, rarely
used, but operating perfectly on that computer.

Re the comment "If win2k is on an NTFS partition you cannot run
scandisk or chkdsk from a floppy... so all you checked was the floppy
itself". That would explain why it took so little time.

Not having ever run a repair/chkdsk /r before, could something be
clarified so I avoid a mistake. I have booted from the original Windows
CD and have the options:-
- To set up Windows 2000 now, press ENTER
- To repair a Windows 2000 installation, press R
- to quit ..... etc

..... what should I do next?

Thanks again to everyone and your further help would be greatly
appreciated.

Echy

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks very much for the replies to date. To clarify a few things:-

- the operating system on both HDD's is Windows 2000 Pro SP4 both with
up to date
patches/updates.

- both have NTFS partitioning

- the programs I mentioned that I use, were routinely run before the
error message
started.

- the borrowed HDD is jumpered as a single drive

- the borrowed HDD was not a clean install at the time of me borrowing
it. It already
had Win 2000 on it & a few programs. It is from my friend's spare
computer, rarely
used, but operating perfectly on that computer.

Re the comment "If win2k is on an NTFS partition you cannot run
scandisk or chkdsk from a floppy... so all you checked was the floppy
itself". That would explain why it took so little time.

Not having ever run a repair/chkdsk /r before, could something be
clarified so I avoid a mistake. I have booted from the original
Windows CD and have the options:-
- To set up Windows 2000 now, press ENTER
- To repair a Windows 2000 installation, press R
- to quit ..... etc

.... what should I do next?

I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic first to see if
there is some fundamental problem with the hard drive controller.

 

[kony]

I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic first to see if
there is some fundamental problem with the hard drive controller.

After running the diagnostics, wipe the new drive and try a
testbed install of win2k on it.

If you have changed any bios settings you might try
resetting them to the defaults.

 

[Echy]

After running the diagnostics, wipe the new drive and try a
testbed install of win2k on it.

If you have changed any bios settings you might try
resetting them to the defaults.

I can't wipe the borrowed drive. It is not mine.

 

[Echy]

I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic first to see if
there is some fundamental problem with the hard drive controller.

"I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic first" .... that
brought me to a new problem !! I cannot remove the HDD. The face of the
screws have been "butchered" by the previous owner (computer is an
ex-corporate one) and I cannot get any leverage. The drive is enclosed
in a cradle that obscures the name plate ....... Doh!

 

[Rod Speed]

"I'd run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic first" .... that
brought me to a new problem !! I cannot remove the HDD. The face of
the screws have been "butchered" by the previous owner (computer is an
ex-corporate one) and I cannot get any leverage. The drive is enclosed
in a cradle that obscures the name plate ....... Doh!

OK, just run DFT, thats a good enough generic diag for this situation.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

 

[Echy]

OK, just run DFT, thats a good enough generic diag for this situation.
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

Hello

Guess what ............ I'm sending this from my Acer desktop !!!

You, Sir, are a Champion. I successfully ran DFT, it asked me to
reboot, scandisk of the C drive commenced and shortly after my desktop
reappeared. All seems to be running fine. Thank you so much.

Thanks to everyone who helped me on this problem.

The value of newsgroups is again confirmed.

Echy
Melbourne, Australia