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Win 2K keeps destroying it self! Update can now read error message.

M

Matt L

Senior member
This is strange. I've installed Win 2k many times with out a problem, It's been really stable for me. I'm updating an older machine that has an Aladdin 5 motherboard and every time I load Win 2K on it it works fine for awhile then it will lock up and reboot, at that point it cannot find the boot record. I get a very brief BSOD that I cannot read, I can't pause it, and the system reboots. If I attempt to repair the installation Windows reports that it cannot find anything to repair and I must reinstall.

The system was working fine and I added Service Pack 3 and it died. I've reloaded any number of times and this happens with even a basic install. I've looked for a BIOS update but it has the most current 12/98. Is this system just not going to work with Win 2K or is it something else like bad memory. I'd like to get this system back to it's owner but not in this shape. Any ideas??? 😕

Thanks,
Matt
 
If the BSODs are random and unpredictable, you almost certainly have a memory problem. Get memtest86 to test it.

If you only get them during/after SP3 install, don't use SP3. Install SP2, then apply hotfixes until you start getting BSODs, then simply exclude that one.
 
The BSOD are not random they always occur during a reboot. This happens with out any SPs installed as well. I'm going to plug a new stick of memory in and see if that does the trick.
 
could be a hardware issue, Aladdin chipsets work decently, but were always built on REALLY poor quality boards, so I would suspect that first.

Also, if you say it only happens after SP3 is installed, then why are you installing SP3?
 
Turn off auto reboot in the startup/shutdown options in the advanced tab of System control panel.

That way you can see what the BSOD is. And that can lead to a resolution.
 
Oh yeah: and turn off virus protection in the mobo's BIOS. This can prevent setup from writing the master boot record, which could lead to the problems described when the machine reboots.
 
OK, here is the error message:

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.

I did a search on MS and found a referance to this problem with a SCSI drive but I don't have one. MS also said they could not duplicate the problem. Great.

Any other ideas out there????

🙁

PS. Thanks Noggin for the tip about the reboot option.....
 
Originally posted by: Matt L
OK, here is the error message:

STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SOFTWARE
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt, absent, or not writeable.

I did a search on MS and found a referance to this problem with a SCSI drive but I don't have one. MS also said they could not duplicate the problem. Great.

Any other ideas out there????

🙁

PS. Thanks Noggin for the tip about the reboot option.....
Click to expand...

Ouch. That's a bad one. Typically, it means you've got disk problems. Check the system event log for indications that there's filesystem or disk problems.

Sometimes doing a chkdsk /p from recovery console will fix this.

I'd advise doing a system state backup daily. When you do this, the backup copies the local registry to a local file on the hard drive and if this happens again you can import the last backup of the registry from recovery console.

Ultimately, though, if this is a common occurrence, I really think you've got disk and/or filesystem issues.

 
I've done 3 or 4 clean installs using either NTFS or FAT, but this still happens. The BIOS recognizes the Samsung 20G hard drive, so I don't think it's a problem with using a large HD. I've even tried setting a smaller partition and not formatting the rest of the disk, still no luck.

I can usually figure these problems out but this one sure has me stumped, hate to let it go though....
 
I've seen something similar to this, try clearing the mbr with debug (not the same as using fdisk)... boot from a win98 boot floppy and type the following, when I put <ENTER> tha means hit the enter key, don't actually type it:

F9000 L 200 0 ,ENTER>
A <ENTER>
MOV dx, 9000 <ENTER>
MOV ES,DX <ENTER>
XOR BX,BX <ENTER>
MOV CX,0001 <ENTER>
MOV DX,0080 <ENTER>
MOV AX,0301 <ENTER>
INT 13 <ENTER>
INT 20 <ENTER>
<ENTER AGAIN>
G <ENTER>
Q <ENTER>

Then reboot and try re-installing....

Good luck

 
Abzstrak, Tried your method but I keep getting an error message at the first line:

F9000 L 200 0 <Enter>

It says error reading drive G Retry, Abort, Fail

I booted using a Win 98 boot disk with CD rom support. I split the drive into 3 partitons C at 10G D at 8G and E at 1.7G. I think RAM drive is F and CD should be G, correct?

Should I do this with an unpartitioned disk? I've loaded Win 2K so many times a few more won't matter, but I'd like to get it right one of these times....
 
thats odd really, C: is your boot partition right? if so it should work fine... I gotta go to work, but I'll look some stuff up when I get back
 
A damaged MBR won't cause a STOP 0xc0000218.

A damaged filesystem or bad blocks on the disk will. Which is why I asked if you reformatted. If you did a full format (not a quick format) when you reinstalled, the OS should have written to every sector and mapped out the bad sectors so they wouldn't be used. And, of course, reformatting lays down a new filesystem as well so any corruption would be overwritten.
 
Noggin, all my installs have been clean. Delete all partitions, set new partitions of various sizes and then format in either FAT or NTFS. Everything loads fine and Win 2K works OK for awhile. It doesn't matter what I have installed the second or third time I reboot I get the same error message.

This computer has had some serious virus infections, but I can't believe that repartitioning and reformatting wouldn't wipe them out.

I've also had it set up in dual boot mode with Win 98SE. I loose the Win 2K but not the Win 98. If all else fails I may have to use 98, but 2K has been so stable for me that I recommend it to everyone.
 
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