0x0000007E in every mode and no files listed in error.

[B Trevathan]

I don't know if this information will help anybody but I ran DSRFIX and this is what it showed:

Disk 80 found, master device at port 01F0
48-bit user secs : 156250000 (80 GB)
48-bit max secs : 156250000 (80 GB)
i13/48 use secs : 156250000 (80 GB)
disk clys/hds/secs : 9726/255/63

alert : boot code does not match dell mbr.
good : pbr descriptor 1 is type DE.
good : pbr descriptor 2 is type 07.
alert : pbr descriptor 3 is type 00, not DB.
info : pbr descriptor 4 is type 00.
good : pbr1 is fat16, label is DellUtility.
fatal : pbr3 is not fat32.
alert : reference partition table not in sync.

From the Dsrfix instructions:
Good: These are characteristics that will pass DSRcheck's review.
Alerts: These characteristics will cause DSRcheck to fail, but are relatively easy to fix.
Fatal: These characteristics will cause DSRcheck to fail, but are not easily fixed.
Info: These characteristics are not relevant to DSRcheck, but can help the user analyze his/her system.

Every time I try to boot to the Dell Utility partition it just tries to load Windows.


I also run PTEDIT and this is what it showed:

PowerQuest Partition Table Editor

Hard Disk : Drive 1 (76293MB) 9726 cyl, 256 heads, 63 sectors per track

Type Boot Starting: Cyl Head Sector Ending: Cyl Head Sector Sectors: Before After
1. DE 00 0 1 1 3 254 63 63 64197
2. 07 80 4 0 1 1023 254 63 64260 15676785
3. 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4. 00 00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Partition Information
,31 MB

 

[kevinjhaag]

I'm thinking Hardware Failure.

Have you ran a checkdisk? I would try a known good hard drive that I have for testing purposes and install it in the computer and install the operating system and drivers. If it still blue screens then most likely you have a hardware failure of some sort. Reset your BIOS/CMOS to factory defaults. I would also run diagnostics on the original hard drive to make sure you have no errors or bad sectors. Use a good program like MHDD to check it and not chkdsk. I would make sure the computer is not possibly overheating too. I'm thinking you have a failing motherboard if the hard drive turns out fine and the cpu is not overheating. Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

Kevin

 

[coco3_man]

You could always clone the drive then repair the MBR on the clone. Will give you more flexibility playing around with it.

Have you connected the drive to a USB adapter and scanned it from another computer for viruses?

 

[Mottster]

Here's a few things that might help..

Here's a link to MS for that stop error:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330182&sd=RMVP

Since my office runs Dells, here is a process that we've used before..

1) Made a backup of the HD (Just to be safe).
2) Booted up from the Original XP Install CD.
3) Selected to "Install" (Not "Repair").
4) Next Screen it detected that a previous instance existed and ask if I wanted to "Repair" it. I agreed to the "Repair" option here.
5) Let it run throgh the installation (will have to re-enter the License).
6) When it was all done, I installed XP SP3.
7) He can download and install any additional updates himself, but I warned him not to do any Drivers provided by MS.

Also, you might want to ask if any Windows updates were recently installed? Could be an update issue potentially. As stated here from Microsoft Answers.

HTH

 

[ATTech]

This is a Dell computer, I STRONGLY recommend you do NOT rewrite the MBR on Dells because it will damage the Dell custom MBR and not be able to boot to any of Dell custom partitions like the Dell Utility partition and Dell System Restore partition.

If you want to read more:
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/dellmbr.shtml

Easy Compromise: Backup the MBR using mbrfix, then rewrite it.

 

[B Trevathan]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and the time. The customer has already come and picked the computer up.

Have you connected the drive to a USB adapter and scanned it from another computer for viruses?

I ran antimalware programs from live CDs and AV rescue CDs but the malware that they found and removed did not look like anything that would stop Windows from loading its GUI and I also checked to see if I could find malware, I found in a run key in the registry with a entry to run a malware .dll file so I removed that entry and the .dll file did not exist, I also found the entry for userinit.exe had a value of userinit.exe so I changed it to C:\Windows\system32\userinit.exe,.

Also, you might want to ask if any Windows updates were recently installed? Could be an update issue potentially.

That was one of the first things I thought of, maybe its a bad update or one like the KB977165 update that caused some 0x0000007E stop errors about a year ago. Checked updates but no recent updates most where dated before 11/11/10 and no sign of update KB977165.

Easy Compromise: Backup the MBR using mbrfix, then rewrite it.

Does mbrfix copy and restore custom MBRs like the ones on Dells? I ran antimalware programs offline from CDs it looks like they would have picked up a infected MBR and the system was get all the way to the Windows start up screen it looks like if the MBR was damaged it wouldn't get that far.