Anybody good with computers that might be willing to help before I have to take my PC to the shop?


I try to start my PC and this is what pops up:





A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Disable or uninstall any anti-virus, disk defragmentation or backup utilities. Check your hard drive configuration, and check for any updated drivers. Run CHDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then restart your computer.

Technical information:

***STOP: 0x00000O24 (0x00190203,0x86F84220,0xC0000102,0xO0000000)





I've restarted my computer numerous times, only to have the blue screen pop up once again.

Anybody that can help here, I'd greatly appreciate it.


Thanks,
Andy
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Unplug it for a few hours, it may just be borked from a stack dump, especially if you had a power outage. Then start/restart till you're blue in the face and unplug it again for a few hours.
Once you get to the splash screen, if you do, let it grind their for a good long time.
Then start with the unplugging and restarting crap some more.
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I've had it turned off for about two weeks until today, but haven't actually unplugged it. I'll try unplugging it and see. Thanks Scott.
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Do you have your install disk? If so try booting with that and run the repair utility or restore to an earlier date.

Also try booting into safe mode and then restore to an earlier date.

The first set of numbers is an indication of windows system file damaged or missing.


Ron
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It's unplugged right now, but it won't let me start up in safe mode. I can choose the option, but it still goes to the blue screen. Can I use install disk if Windows won't actually start up?


Forgive my ignorance here. I'm just not very tech savvy.
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0x24 is the file system Andy. Boot from the OS install CD, choose repair, select recovery console, run chkdsk /r.

You can also run hard disk manufacturer diagnostics from a boot cd to see if there is a physical disk issue and, if so, possibly remap or zero out those sectors and replace with spares.

Google "STOP: 0x00000024" for more information and maybe some specifics for your unspecified OS.
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The second half of your post is Greek to me, Adam.:-) I got the first part though.:-)
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I'll have to find the install CD. I'll let y'all know when I find it and run it, Ron and Adam. Thanks.
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(See the 3rd paragraph I added since you quoted the post.)

The second part entails
-determine what brand of hard disk is installed in your system
-go to that manufacturer's website
-find the diagnostic and repair tools.
-download the bootable CD image of the tools
-burn the cd
-boot from the cd
-run the full diagnostics (sometimes called full surface scan)
-if it finds physical errors, you can choose to have it repair them (it will do the remap and zero part for you - I should have just said "repair" rather than the explanation of what it would do)
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Short answer is "yes".

When you boot from the disk you are using the files located there and not on hard drive.

Good luck with this.


Ron
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Update:

I've found the OS disk and put it in the drive. Blue screen popped up again so I shut the system down. Now when I attempt to restart it, it seems to be stuck in some sort of loop. It attempts to start up, shuts down, reattempts to start up, shuts down, reattempts...etc, etc.:-)
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Sounds like it's not booting from the OS cd.

Try accessing the bios to change the boot order.

When you first turn the computer on do you see anything like "XX for BIOS" or "XX for Setup" - typically at the bottom of the screen?
XX could be just about anything, but the following are the common ones (off the top of my head):F2, F8, F10, F12, DEL. Typically, this info can be found on the system or motherboard manufacturer's website.

When you get into the BIOS, change the boot order so that the optical drive (CD, DVD) is first. Some BIOSes are quirky and you need to actually disable booting from the hard disk to get them to boot from the CD/DVD.
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One more question:
If I use the OS disk, will it erase all the files/documents/pictures on my hard drive? I've got too many family pics to just dump all of them.
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It doesn't even have time to startup the screen, so I can't see anything other than the blinking lights on the CPU.

Sorry if I'm being a pain in the @$$ here.:-)




BTW,the computer is a Dell XPS of some sort. Other than that, I don't really know much more.
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Assuming that the drive hasn't failed, only if you reformat the drive.

Dell XPS - try the F2 key as soon as you see the Dell logo. Or, alternately, from a cold boot, just start punching the F2 key repeatedly.

If you can find the service tag sticker on the back, PM the code on there and I'll look up what the exact sequence is.
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He should get a disk failed or not found error if it was that.


Yeah - pretty sure it's the F2 key or secondly the DEL key.

Andy - unplug anything you may have attached: printers, scanners, etc - everything but your monitor, keyboard and mouse. Remove the CD from your drive.

Turn the computer off, then turn it back on. As soon as you turn it on immediately start tapping the F2 key (heck, start tapping before you turn it on even). If you hear a series of quick beeps/tones you can stop. Try it several times if need be. (Note: those little beeps/tones you hear at start-up actually mean something and can help identify problems sometimes.)

Every computer with a software problem should be able to at least access the bios. Computers with hardware, i.e. motherboard problems may not be able to.

Ron
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Ok, thanks for being patient with me. I let it sit for an hour or so. I managed to get the computer to come back on. Screen says:

Alert! PCI Express card is operating in x1 mode.
Stike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.

For the benefit of the doubt, I pressed F2 and am now in the setup utility menu, but don't know where to go from here.

Adam, PM incoming.
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BTW, the OS disk is out of the drive. Not gonna put it back in unless one of you two give me the ok.:-)

Thanks for all the help. I seriously need to make it up to both of you, Ron and Adam, even if all of this doesn't work.:-)
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Ok. No wait! I didn't mean ok to put the disk in the drive - just okay as in good.

:-)

At the top of the screen you should see "Boot" or "Boot Sequence". Use the arrow buttons to highlight it and then press enter. Use the up and down arrows to move through the list, press the space bar to enable or disable. Disable everything except the CD/DVD drive and the hard drive. Use the + and - buttons to move the CD/DVD drive to the top of the list.

F10 to save and exit - agree with the okay to exit. The computer should reboot.

You can insert the OS disk now. Reboot. It may ask you if you want to boot from the CD. Normally press any key. Follow along the prompts to either try to repair or restore. Just don't allow it to format, i.e. reinstall the OS. So read carefully.

And oh yeah - it could take a while for the repair or restore so just let it do it's thing.


Ron
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So if I do a repair it shouldn't erase any of my files/documents/pics, right?
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