System errors

STOP: d0000017 Unknown Hard Error

Does anyone know what this is?

Yesterday, I tried to open some programs and i got some system errors, So i thought i had hit the wrong things in task manager to end the process of, So i rebooted as most people would do.

And then my problems began.

I got the above error when i rebooted, So i though, Ok my installation has gone corrupt, So in goes the XP disk and install starts, HD formats, Windows system files install and reboot happens so it can carry on the installation.

Computer starts up, Windows loading page starts and i think my problem is solved, Wrong again.

Next i think the hard drive must have crashed and burnt, So this morning i head to town and buy a new one (Maxton 250GB IDE (Lost sata cables so just got IDE again)) and come home, Slap it in and start the XP installation again and the same crap happens, So piece by piece i start stripping parts from the system and finally after getting to one of the CD drives and the 8in1 card reader it seems to load ok for once.

Right now, Im trying a new install....again but the windows install sits at "39 minutes remaining" on the post boot setup.

Anyone know what that error means? (Google doesnt really tell me anything)
Anyone know a solution to this not going past the "39 minutes" part in the installation?

Only good thing to come out of this is that i got a new bigger HD and my old 80 GB probably works so i will now have one drive just for OS and another for storage.

System specs?

You need to run some diags on your core components (CPU, motherboard, RAM) and quit making baseless assumptions (i.e., "Next i think the hard drive must have crashed and burnt, So this morning i head to town and buy a new one (Maxton 250GB IDE (Lost sata cables so just got IDE again" BTW...for lack of a SATA cable you downgraded to IDE???).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by clocker

System specs?

You need to run some diags on your core components (CPU, motherboard, RAM) and quit making baseless assumptions (i.e., "Next i think the hard drive must have crashed and burnt, So this morning i head to town and buy a new one (Maxton 250GB IDE (Lost sata cables so just got IDE again" BTW...for lack of a SATA cable you downgraded to IDE???).

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Can i run diagnostics without gettings into the system? Its stalling on the installation so not accessible.

Specs:

Celeron 2.66Ghz
768 ram (512 & 256)
250GB maxton hard drive (As above)
ATI Sapphire X1550 PRO AGP 512mb
AsRock P4i65G mother board
DVD-RW drive (Use alot)
CD-RW rom drive (Dont use)

As for the hard drive, No downgrade, Had IDE drive before and was gonna get sata but couldnt find the SATA cables so grabbed another IDE drive.

Edit Before it went weird yesterday, Nothing had changed in my system for days. No new software / Hardware etc. So no problems with newly installed stuff as far as i know.

Edit 2

Did a full re-install again and after reload i get;

Code:

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STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Winows system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000354 (0x00000000 0x00000000).
The system has been shut down.

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You can stop trying to install Windows till you track down the hardware problem that's fucking everything up.

Most diag apps are DOS based and don't require an OS to run- however, being an enduser it's unlikely you have access to most good ones.
So...try this-
Inspect motherboard for blown/swelled capacitors.
Remove one stick of RAM (doesn't matter which but you may as well leave the 512) and the unused CD-RW drive.
Clear CMOS and reset BIOS to default.
Try another OS install and see what happens.

Both the "Unknown HARD Error" (the code can vary, more usually c0000218) and the Stop c000021a are often indications of disk access problems.

Since you've replaced the HDD and the lead, the disk itself is unlikely to be the problem.

That generally means that the problem will either be in the motherboard or the memory - either the motherboard is failing to transfer data from the disk correctly, or the contents are being corrupted after it has been loaded into memory.

However, if it was a memory problem I would have expected to see different types of error, not just ones related to the drive access, which leads me to believe that the problem may be motherboard related.

Just to be on the safe side, try running memtest before you go any further.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lynx

... which leads me to believe that the problem may be motherboard related.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by fook3d

AsRock P4i65G mother board

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As soon as I saw the brand of board I was going to call it but decided not to be a grumpy pessimist.

It's probably the motherboard though.

And it's lynx's fault.

Is there something i should know about AsRock? Some american guy i know suggested using AR boards and said they were decent, I get the impression they arent now :dabs:

If AR really are so bad, What do you guys suggest? ASUS maybe?

For regular performance I've always had excellent results with Gigabyte but Asus is favored by many.
You can hardly go wrong with an Intel board either but they tend not to be very feature rich.

I've always regarded the cheaper end of the motherboard market with disdain but if I absolutely must purchase from this price band (tight customers abound, you know) then I usually plump for an ASRock. I find if I avoid the SiS chipset ones they outlast their warranty so I don't get any hassle from my tight-arsed customers.
Everyone selling ASRock gear blabs about it being a part of Asustek; if that's true then it makes you wonder whether Asustek deliberately label the product ASRock because it's inferior to Asus product and would detract from a very highly regarded brand.
ASRock would be hard pressed to have inferior Customer Support, however.

I wouldn't touch anything in an ECS or PCChips box with a bargepole, though.

Next on my list of boards to avoid, after those mentioned by Chewie, would be Jetway and ASRock.

To be fair though, MSI would have been on that list at one time, so there's always chance for them to improve. I suppose the bottom line is that if they are churning out boards at rock bottom prices neither the manufacturers nor their component suppliers can have much money to spend on QC.

Any suggestions on a new board that would take current parts (Ram, AGP graphics card etc, Celeron chip) until i have the cash to upgrade the whole system?

Budget? Uhm...Lets just see what the prices come in at, Im sure i can stretch to a decent level of a board price :)

Preferably an english company so i can visit or one online that accepts paypal as i dont have a credit card.

Since the system is comparatively outdated I would question whether it is worthwhile spending money on anything other than budget components. You may also find you have little choice in terms of availability. Before you go down that route though, you should double check everything possible to make sure that the motherboard is definitely the cause.

If you haven't done so already, remove and reseat everything connected to the motherboard. You'll be doing that with a new board, so you may as well do it with the existing one.

As clocker has already said, try performing the installation with the minimum components necessary. I'd even go as far as suggesting you should use the onboard graphics for instance, anything you can do to eliminate potential sources of errors will either get you to a successful installation or emphasise where the fault lies.

Once you've narrowed down the fault it may be worth taking the system along to a supplier to have it checked. Some will do this for a minimal fee, as long as you buy the replacement parts from them. Check the terms of the deal before you go ahead though.

As to the source, if you are intending visiting somewhere you'll have to give a rough indication of your location. As a mod I can see that your ISP's node is in the Leicester area, but that still covers a large area and since I don't know any dealers in that area I can't help.

There are some good deals on Ebay at the moment though, I've just looked and there are 5 new Asus boards from the same supplier, currently at £5 each with £5 postage, and so far only one of them has a bid. For around a tenner it might be worth a gamble that the diagnosis of the motherboard being at fault is correct. Check the size though, this is an atx sized board, your existing board is micro atx size.
http://listings.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsocm...e=search&fgtp=

Im almost certain its the motherboard as i tested the memory in the system at my parents house (I dont have a secondary except my woman's laptop which i hate, touchpad and different keyboard layout sucks to get used to again) and that worked fine.

I reset the BIOS, Tried the new hard drive and the system is currently consisting of:

PSU (Tried 2 of them too)
Motherboard
Hard drive
1 CD drive (Tried with both CD and DVD drives)
1 of the sticks of memory (Tried with both)
and using on board graphics

Nothing else i can strip to check, So motherboard is the only possibility now i believe, Or am i wrong?

It certainly sounds like you've just about eliminated everything.

I suppose it could be the IDE cable, but I think you'd get a different error so that's not likely.