0x0000007B blue screen error installing Win XP on my Dell XPS 600

Hi all. Thank you for taking time to read this post. This is my first post to this group and I hope I can find some help as Dell has not been able to help me thus far. I've looked at previous posts on similar errors but those haven't helped me. Thus, I'll try my own post so I can answer questions specifically on my situation.

I just got a Dell XPS 600 desktop. I don't know all the exact specs, just what I can see opening up the box.

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2

Motherboard:
CPU Type DualCore Intel Pentium D 830, 3000 MHz (15 x 200)
Motherboard Name Dell Dell DXG051
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce4
System Memory 2048 MB
BIOS Type version A09 (original factory install)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI Radeon X1900XT 512MB


You see, I can't actually boot Windows on it to get the exact specs. It was a system that the original owner tried to format the HD and reinstall Windows Media Center. The installation seemed fine, but when it goes to boot up, we get the following blue screen message:


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:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed
hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive
to make sure it is properly configured and terminated.
Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and then
restart your computer.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x0000007B (0xBACC3524,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)


Since getting it, I have tried multiple things to get it working:

1) Full reinstallation of Windows with the original Dell factory discs on the original SATA HD from Dell

2) Full installation of Windows with the original Dell factory discs on a brand new SATA HD I purchased

3) Run DXG51A09.exe from DOS, the original BIOS for the system from Dell.com

4) Run DXG51A11.exe from DOS, the newest BIOS for the system from Dell.com


None of these have helped. I still get the same BSOD, always right after the Windows XP logo with the status bar underneath begins moving. At this point, I can't even get onto Windows to run any installations or programs to fix the system.

My next step is trying to run R103150.exe, which is the motherboard chipset driver for the board I have. However, since I only have access to DOS, it doesn't work ("this program cannot be run in DOS mode.") Same goes for R118451.exe, which is the ATI Radeon X1900XT drivers from Dell.

Does anyone have any further suggestions of what I can do to fix this system, or perhaps how I can make it so I can run the motherboard chipset drivers? I'm only moderatly computer literate so a lot of these things are over my head but I'm trying to learn and do on the fly. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

Did you try the KB article ideas yet? (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324103)

 

I am having the exact same problem. did u find a solution? PLEASE HELP?!

 

I am having the same problem with the same computer as well. Tried to install XP Media Edition, tried formatting it even. The Dell Cd should have the SATA drivers since my other XP CD won't even acknowledge that the disk exists. Interestingly I can install Ubuntu with no problems. So, it's absolutely a Windows problem.

If anybody has solved this please say how.

 

I'd be interested to learn why so many are suddenly reinstalling Windows to Dells and if all posters have the same model?

The Dell will have been shipped with 2 partitions. The main Windows one and a hidden Dell partition. If your reinstallation antics has corrupted this hidden partition, recovery is not possible from Dell disks. If this partition is intact recovery is a matter of deleting all other partitions and starting again. The software on the Dell disk will identify Dell hardware and the necessary permissions from the hidden partition. No activation will be necessary and you may not even need to enter a Windows key.


Incidentally the Windows partition will be partition 2, the hidden one is partition 1.

If you are installing to SATA you have to load the SATA drivers at the appropriate point when instructed by Setup. These drivers are not on the Dell O/S disk they will be on a separate recovery cd and may have to be copied to floppy or pendrive and entered that way.

Please all post with sufficient detail of what you have done, why you are reinstalling.
The statement 'Full reinstallation' is not sufficient - the devil is in the detail.

See also my comments in this thread, particularly post#8

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=145860

 

"If your reinstallation antics has corrupted this hidden partition"

Curious as to why you would state that someone reinstalling windows as an antic. I don't think it is really relevant WHY someone was reinstalling just that they were. :major

The problem was that Dell fails to provide clear and intuitive instructions for such a case. And if you are outside of the warranty period you have to pay them additional money to tell you what needs to be done.

Here was the solution I found. The drivers were available on the Dell support site but you had to get to a computer to download them, unzip the file and then copy the files to a floppy disk. Making sure that the OEM text file was included. Make sure to hit the F6 key during installation to install 3rd party drivers. The other problem was that you must use a serial keyboard and mouse on the reinstallation or it will keep failing. I also reformatted the hard drive. I set the RAID array to striping and put both drives on the array. I didn't see the purpose of having the second hidden drive if it is not accessible on a failure. I suppose it should also work if you mirrored the RAID drives.

I had to piece all this information together from various boards. Dell support should have this solution available and easy to find. Or simply provided the floppy disk with the drivers. It is ridiculous that I would have to pay $40 for them to tell me I could not use the keyboard and mouse that came with the computer to reinstall windows.

Oh the drivers were on the Resource CD provided by Dell but there were so many and at first I didn't know which one to use since they are numbered and you don't know what they are for. I found the correct one to use in the drivers sections of Dell Support for my system. Luckily I had a 2nd computer to access all this. If you are working on your sole computer source you will need to get access to another.

Neither of my partitions were corrupted by my "antics". The BSOD was caused by the USB keyboard and mouse.

But thanks for your pleasant assistance.

 

Thanks for the extra insights, Julia - and well done for sorting it yourself. I had forgotten about the usb keyboard problem till after I had posted.

Actually, although buying with Dell is a bit of a maze, they have the best availability of data of any manufacturer I know. The EuroDell website is superior to the American parent in this respect. If you look carefully (as always with Dell) you generally have a choice of Zip or HTML or straight files to download.

The main problems are that it is not clear and obvious to tick the box to get the recovery disks when you first buy a pc. And also that you have to positively ask for a floppy drive as they are no longer standard.

 

I sorted out my problem as well. I had to dig up a floppy drive from the spare parts bin so I could use the drivers on the Dell website after hitting F6 on the install. Dell informed me that I should have been sent the disk with the drivers and it's on the way now, heh.

As for the why I had to reinstall, here is all the details I really have. I was getting an error with Firefox (didn't bother to even document it). I restarted Windows (XP) and it ran chkdsk. It said that it corrected some errors found and then never booted again... until I did the above. So not sure if I did something that caused the errors with Firefox, there was no new software installed, I use an AV I get Windows updates, and no new programs have been installed, so I generally don't act foolish but still ended up in this mess.

My original problem was that I was a black screen with active mouse pointer and never a windows GUI. It seemed logical to use the disk they gave to try to repair, not quite as logical that I had to search for extra drivers for it.

 

Thanks for the information folks.

We seem to be experiencing an lot of malware leading to stop errors (or even failure to start errors) at the moment.

Just remember to look after that 30 MB partition and clone it over as well if go for a bigger hard drive in the future.