Windows XP BSOD

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I have an XP media center sp3 that starts to boot, goes to a BSOD. It will not boot safe mode or even get to recovery console. Prior to BSOD I lost the ability to connect to the internet.

Some reading I did put the problem to hardware or virus. I have an old XP hard drive I put back in the laptop, and it boots fine, connects to the internet fine. I’m using it now.

I’ve used antivirus boot discs, no viruses found. I’ve tried a repair installation to no avail. But that is a Media center CD with Update rollup 2. Might I need to slipstream to SP3 for success?

I’d not worry about it, but have a couple promotional free programs I can’t get now without purchase, and others I need to deactivate so I can reinstall.

What is the best way to troubleshoot this problem, and hopefully get the OS to boot?

Thanks for any advice you might have.

Here is the BSOD error:

STOP: 0x0000008E (0xC0000005, 0x00000000, 0xB84CAFAC, 0x00000000)

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Corrupt Registry it seems.
If somehow you can save the files you need from an external program or a recovery utility that “opens” the HD to look for your files, save them then re-format and re-install XP.

The XP’s are slowly running bearings on their HDs….I’ll be migrating soon to maybe Win 7 Pro with a “anti updater to Win 10”
To borrow a cliche, “if ya last one out of the XP room, remember to switch the lights off”
:rolleyes:

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Old HD will boot and all is fine.
Current HD won’t boot.

Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

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STOP 0x0000008E: KERNEL_MODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
Usual causes: Insufficient disk space, Device driver, Video card, BIOS, Breakpoint in startup without having a debugger attached, Hardware incompatibility, Faulty system service, 3rd party remote control, Memory

The ‘Usual causes’ listed above are in order of likelihood, most likely > > > > least likely.

The subtype (0xC0000005, 0x00000000, 0xB84CAFAC, 0x00000000) is : STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION indicates that a memory access violation occurred, which, I think, probably rules out the drive full scenario and fits a (Device) driver being at fault much better.

If you can fit the drive into another computer to access, zip and upload the dump files, there’s a chance that we can take troubleshooting a few steps further – but – XP is still a right pain to debug, more guesswork, false flags and blind alleys than with the later Windows versions.

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The ‘Usual causes’ listed above are in order of likelihood, most likely > > > > least likely. The subtype (0xC0000005, 0x00000000, 0xB84CAFAC, 0x00000000) is : STATUS_ACCESS_VIOLATION indicates that a memory access violation occurred, which, I think, probably rules out the drive full scenario and fits a (Device) driver being at fault much better. If you can fit the drive into another computer to access, zip and upload the dump files, there’s a chance that we can take troubleshooting a few steps further – but – XP is still a right pain to debug, more guesswork, false flags and blind alleys than with the later Windows versions.

First of all, thanks everybody for all the replies and feedback. And sorry, I should have given more info. I’m using an old Dell e1705, so drive access is easy. I’ve not used a drive test, but have been able to access any file I need. Shortly after it stopped booting, I did a full backup of the drive, so access to the data is not an issue, just the programs that I’d have to purchase or deactivate to re-install. I don’t think reinstalling XP or restoring an old back up would be a problem, but I will test the drive to make sure. I have two caddies for the computer, one has the older version of XP I’m using now. The reason I have it is I cloned the drive several years ago when I upgraded to the currently non-booting 1G drive, and set it aside. I also have a Windows 7 caddy, and have the same issues connecting to the internet with it that I had with the non-booting XP drive. They both had that problem start about the same time which made me think about a virus. Have scanned both the non-booting XP drive and the Windows 7 drive in an external caddy, no viruses found. I’ve had memory access violation errors in the past with this system, but taking it apart and cleaning out the dust bunnies seems to help. Sometimes it seems to happen for no reason I can fathom, but is been so infrequent I’ve ignored it. I did tech support for Gateway on XP, but never really got to the point of digging around in the guts of XP before they laid us off and closed the call center in Sioux Falls, SD. If you can point me to some good resources, or tell me the proper steps to take, I’m game to dig a bit further.

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You may have a bad hard drive; or maybe Windows got hosed on the questionable hard drive, and there isn’t actually anything physically wrong with the drive. You could test this by hooking up the questionable drive in another computer as the secondary drive. If you can access the data on it, then the drive isn’t bad.

If, however, the drive is bad, it could be that the drive’s circuit board is bad. If you can find an identical hard drive, try swapping the circuit boards on the two drives. If the drives aren’t identical, this won’t work.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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You may be able to access the files using the File Transfer Wizard by putting it back in the machine after creating a Paragon Rescue Disk and booting up with that.

https://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-free/

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If both developed the problem at about the same time, don’t discount the possibility of a hardware issue.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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