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General discussion

FATAL SYSTEM ERROR

May 29, 2005 9:31AM PDT

hi my system not booting & is saying -c000021a FATAL SYSTEM ERROR status of oxc 0000135(0x00000000 ox 00000000) system has been shut down .
how do i repair this problem. my system has window xp installed.

Discussion is locked

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looking for same wisdom
Dec 23, 2006 9:50PM PST

I have an HP Pavilion--getting to be a few years old now, 19GB, 512 RAM, and recently, I started getting the same fatal error as you are. I can get into Safe Mode and most of my stuff appears to be fine. I run every diagnostic I can get my hands on, but no luck. Sorry that I don't have an answer for you, I was hoping by adding my appeal a wizened PC pro might help us out. I have another fun catch: I can't seem to find my original Windows XP Pro CD since I moved--any possible way to fix this without it? Many thanks and happy holidays.

Colby

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Try This
Dec 24, 2006 1:23AM PST

Have you tried booting with safe mode? Press F12 before your operating system loads. If this works you should be able to get on your computer. Once on the computer, go to Start > Run... (or Windows Key + R on the keyboard) and type in "C:\WINDOWS\fixboot" (without the quotes of course) and then press OK. Now try to turn on your computer normally.

I hope this helps Happy

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Appreciated but not my lucky day!
Dec 24, 2006 8:28AM PST

Again, I appreciate that you took the time to respond. Unfortuately, without the CD I cannot get into the Boot Recovery Console and thus, that command does not get me anywhere...How's this for a kicker too: just recently, one of the pins in the attachment to my external CD burner broke, thus rendering it broken. So, I am afraid that I have no way to "shuttle" my important files off of this computer now...

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Do you have another computer you can use?
Dec 24, 2006 11:58PM PST

If so, you can disconnect the hard drive from your computer and connect it to the other computer as a slave. You won't be able to boot off of your hard drive, but you will be able to browse its contents and backup any important files before proceeding. Keep in mind that you will need to take ownership in order to access My Documents, but this is doable. Just use that computer's CD burner to save your files or even store them temporarily on that computer's hard drive.

As to the BSOD issue, do you have Norton GoBack installed? (It's a known issue.) Are you on a network? Have you installed any new hardware or software recently? Have you scanned your computer for malware? Have you tried pressing F8 during boot and selecting Last Known Good Configuration? Have you tried performing a System Restore to a time prior to when the problems began? Look into each of those and let us know.

Good luck.
John

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answers
Dec 25, 2006 9:50PM PST

Hey John,
Thanks so much for the suggestions. First, in reply to your questions: 1) No, to Norton Go Back (but glad to know about it now), 2) No, not on a network here at home, 3) I have tried Last Known Good Config to no avail, 4) Restore Points are turned off because I had less that 200MB free, 5) I have done multiple Malware scans (recently) and did have to clean quite a bit of stuff off, and 6) I have had some new installations of late.
Probably the best bet will be enslaving my drive to another computer. I do have access to one (although the owner would probably be made nervous by this proposal, she is out of town for a week, so as long as I'm really careful...)
Thanks...I'll let you know.

Craig

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me too
Jun 5, 2007 12:47AM PDT

I have the same boot problem. I have the drive that won't boot as a slave with my other hd drive booting up. Unfortunately, I have an Admin password on original hd drive. How do I remove or access that pw to gain access to my files? I there a program that can do this?
btw: I have Pentium 4, win XP Pro, 2.53 Gb processor, 384 Mb ram 40 Gb hd drive (good one), 80 Gb hd drive (not booting)

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it works!!
Jun 5, 2007 1:31AM PDT

Thank you John!! The link you provided is good. The process works easily. I now have access to all my files.