Advanced troubleshooting for “Stop 0×0000007B” errors in Windows XP

This step-by-step article describes how to troubleshoot “Stop 0×0000007B” error…

This step-by-step article describes how to troubleshoot “Stop 0×0000007B” error messages in Windows XP. This article describes issues that can cause this Stop error including boot sector viruses and device driver issues or hardware issues. If you cannot resolve the problem after you review these issues, use the general troubleshooting steps that appear at the end of the article.

This article is intended for advanced computer users. If you are not comfortable with advanced troubleshooting, you might want to ask someone for help or contact support.

When you start your computer, you may receive one of the following error message.

When you start your computer, you may receive one of the following error messages:

• STOP: 0×0000007B (parameter1, parameter2, parameter3, parameter4)
  INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE
• Setup has encountered a fatal error that prevents it from continuing.Contact your product support representative for assistance. The following status will assist them in diagnosing the problem.

  (0×4, 0×1, 0, 0)

  Setup cannot continue. Power down or reboot your computer now.

You may also receive a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message during Windows XP Setup when the Setup program restarts during the installation process. When you receive a Stop error while the Setup program is running, you receive the second error message. To troubleshoot this issue, read the following four sections to determine if any one of the issues applies to you. If none of the issues apply to you, use the following general troubleshooting steps at the end of the article.

Boot-Sector Viruses

You may receive a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message if your computer is infected with a boot-sector virus. If the problem is intermittent and you can start Windows, check your computer for viruses. If you find a virus, also check any floppy disks for viruses before you use them again.

Note You may have to use more than one brand of virus-detection software to detect and remove various viruses.

Important If your computer has been infected, it may be open to additional forms of attack. We recommend that you rebuild infected Internet-facing servers.
If a virus has infected your Windows XP-based computer and a virus-detection program cannot remove the virus and repair the system, you must repartition and format your hard disk and reinstall Windows XP. For additional information about partitioning and formatting a hard disk with Windows XP

Device Driver Issues

You may receive a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message in the following scenarios:

• A device driver that the computer boot controller needs is not configured to start during the startup process.
• A device driver that the computer boot controller needs is corrupted.
• Information in the Windows XP registry (information related to how the device drivers load during startup) is corrupted.

Windows XP requires a miniport driver to communicate with the hard disk controller that is used to start your computer. If Windows XP does not supply a device driver for your controller or if Windows XP is using a corrupted or incompatible driver, you must replace the driver with a valid copy that is compatible with your controller and Windows XP.

During the first phase of the Windows XP installation, Setup displays the following message at the bottom of the screen:

Press F6 if you have to install a third-party SCSI or RAID driver.

Press F6 and then follow the instructions to install a mass-storage device driver from your Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

To determine if your hard disk controller is compatible with Windows XP and to obtain information about drivers that are included on the Windows XP CD-ROM or that are available for download, see the latest Windows XP Hardware Compatibility List (HCL).

If your hard disk controller is not listed on the HCL, contact the manufacturer of your computer, system board, or hard disk controller for information about the availability of a driver. Microsoft does not guarantee that a resolution is available for non-HCL equipment.

If the System hive in the Windows XP registry is corrupted, Windows XP may not be able to load the miniport device driver that the boot controller requires. To resolve this issue, restore a registry backup.

Hardware Issues

You may receive a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message if there is a resource conflict between the boot controller and another controller or between SCSI devices. You may also receive this Stop error message if drive translation is not being performed or if drive translation was changed. To troubleshoot this issue:

1. If an IRQ or I/O port address conflict exists between the boot controller and another controller, Windows XP either stops responding (hangs) or displays a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message. If you recently added new hardware, remove the new hardware or reconfigure it so that it does not conflict with the resources of any other installed controllers.
2. If you are using a SCSI hard disk, check the SCSI chain for correct termination. Remove any unused SCSI devices or make sure that each SCSI ID is unique.

Make sure that drive translation is turned on (if it is required) and that it has not been changed. For example, if you recently switched controllers, this issue may occur.

Other Issues

Other potential causes of a “Stop 0×0000007B” error message include:

• The boot volume is corrupted and cannot be initiated by Windows XP. If the file system is corrupted and if Windows XP cannot initiate the boot volume during the startup process, either move the drive to another computer that is running Windows XP and run the chkdsk command on that drive or try to create a parallel installation of Windows XP on the drive (in a separate folder). The Windows XP Setup program checks the integrity of the volume before it copies files, and it may fix some problems in the process.
• You are installing Windows XP on a mirrored boot partition that was created by Microsoft Windows NT 4.0. Windows XP does not support Windows NT 4.0 Ftdisk volume sets. If you are running Microsoft Windows 2000, you must convert all Ftdisk volume sets to dynamic volumes before you upgrade to Windows XP. If you are running Windows NT 4.0, break any mirrors and back up all the data on the stripe, the RAID5, or the extended volume sets before you upgrade to Windows XP. Ftdisk sets might not be accessible after the upgrade.

General Troubleshooting

If none of the issues that have been described in this article apply to you, use the following general troubleshooting steps:

1. If you receive one of these error messages while you are installing Windows XP, update the computer BIOS or obtain Windows XP drivers for your hard disk controller (from the manufacturer of your computer, system board, or hard disk controller), or do both. For information about how to update your computer’s BIOS or obtain Windows XP drivers, contact your computer manufacturer.

Use the Last Known Good Configuration feature. This may resolve the problem if you recently installed an incompatible device driver for your boot controller.

Use the Repair option with Windows XP Setup

Restore a registry backup.