A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown ... Solved/Closed

Question

Hello,

I use windows xp sp2 on computer and am unable to boot it up successfully. I am at a loss for what to do.

This is what happened.  My computer became infected with a nasty virus so I tried to boot up in safe mode using F8.  However I got a blue screen with an error message that said:
 
"A PROBLEM HAS BEEN DETECTED AND WINDOWS HAS BEEN SUT DOWN TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER.

IF THIS IS THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE SEEN THIS 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 MAKES SURE IT IS PROPERLY CONFIGURED AND TERMINATED. RUN CHKDISK /F TO CHECK FOR HARDDRIVE CORRUPTION, AND THEN RESTART YOUR COMPUTER. 

TECHNICAL INFORMATION:

STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7B6D528, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0X00000000) "

Every attempt to boot up in safe mode brought me to this screen.  I then tried booting in safe mode through msconfig.  I still received the blue screen error message.  However now I receive it no matter how I start windows.  Specifically when I try to boot up I am brought to a black screen with the message stating: 

"We apologize for the inconvenience but Windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this.

If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose Last Known Good Configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked.

If a previous startup attempt was interrupted due to power failure or because the power or reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose Start Windows normally.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with Networking
Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Last Known Configuration
Start Windows Normally"

I tried using last known good configuration as well as booting up normally but  ever since I tried booting in safe mode with msconfig everything brings me to the blue screen error message.  My best guess is that windows is now stuck in trying to boot up in safe mode but thats based solely on the course of events. I don't have a windows disk, only Microsoft Windows Recovery Console installed. I'm in much need of help and any insight would be very appreciated.System Configuration: Windows Me!
Firefox 2.0.0.20

Jonjon · Accepted Answer

I just solved the same problem.
I connected the laptop hdd on another pc via a usb to pata/sata adaptor and perfomed chkdsk.

windows93 · Answer

Use Drive fitness with UBCD your HDD is probably dead.

vatul · Answer

It doesn't seem to be the drive.  In fact I thought I had fixed it for a second.  My hunch was correct as far as windows being stuck in safe mode and safe mode being rendered inoperable by a virus.  I used the recovery console and the bootcfg /rebuild command to rebuild the boot.ini.  That made windows boot normally instead of in safe mode and I was able to logon to windows.  I immediately scanned for viruses and found a boatload.  Seems I got a trojan downloader originally.  All signs of anything nasty disappeared (popups, strange running processes) and I could restart my comp normally just fine.  But my windows firewall wouldn't function, and safe mode still brought me to a blue screen error.  

I should have figured a virus was still present but, frustrated at this point, I tried to fix it directly.  I found that msconfig wasn't where it should be (c:\windows\pchealth\helpctr\binaries) but found a backup in another windows folder through file search and moved it. I tried starting in safe mode with f8 again, but again, was met with the blue screen stop error.  But this time when I tried to boot normally I received the "A PROBLEM HAS BEEN DETECTED AND WINDOWS HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER." error screen, so I chose last good configuration that worked.  The windows xp logo pops up, the screen goes black and the cursor pops up, then suddenly before reaching the desktop it automatically reboots.  It doesn't give me the "A PROBLEM HAS BEEN DETECTED" screen this time and just brings me to the blue screen of death.

It now continues this way, error detected - last good configuration - automatically reboots - blue screen.  Or I choose to boot normally and get the blue screen. Rebuilding the boot.ini doesn't work.  Neither does checking the disk for errors.  I should mention the stop error code is slightly different now from what it was originally.  Instead of 0xF7B6D528 that part is now 0xF7AAD528.

I think a virus is infecting my mbr or it's otherwise screwed up, but I'm afraid to mess with it.  I read you could end up with an inaccessible drive, especially if it there is a virus.  At this point I'm wondering if I can get a virus program that I could run from a bootable cd.  Or if a windows installation cd could help somehow, like repairing windows installation or something, and if so, if I can use any since I never got a windows xp cd with my computer.

Again, any help or insight would be appreciated.  Thanks for your time.

midazolam · Answer

if you are still around vatul, I have the same problem

I think I got a virus/trojan of some kind while in the process of changing antivirus software. The new software wouldnt load properly and wanted to delete certain files in safe mode. I used the boot.ini function in msconfig
and now I get the same blue screen as you, whether I start in safe mode or full mode etc

STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF7B38524, 0xC0000034, etc)

how did you get out of this? what is the recovery console and bootcfg/rebuild command?

can anyone help, please

midazolam

midazolam · Answer

I have managed to get back on by scouting the internet 

1. insert windows xp disk 
2. enter bios setup 
3. change order of startup to cdrom as first and harddrive as second 
4. enter recovery console from the disk 
5. at c: windows prompt enter bootcfg /rebuild 
6. y 
7. Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 
8.  /fastdetect 
9. exit 

restarting should work

spd · Answer

Hi Vatul,

I am in big troubles. The exact same problem than you has happened to me yesterday. I also got the Dell XPS M1210 for almost 3 years. Running Windows XP SP2. Never had any problem up to now. 
Not sure about I caught a virus or not like you but my windows suddenly got dead and would not start in safe mode or any other mode. 

What happened:
The only thing I did is installing Opera the day before yesterday. Thereafter, I started having messages on desktop whilst running any applications telling me that there is a windows file corrupted and I must run CHKDISK (note that I always sent my system into hibernation not full shutdown). As the problem persisted yesterday, I decided to restart the computer (full restart) before scanning the disk to see if problem solved. The course of events from this point on is 100% the same than you. Just the same exactly with the blue screen and same error you got appearing at each attempt to boot the system.

What I did:
I must say I got panicked. As I said, had a few laptops before but no major problem with my XPS M1210 for 3 years.
After shutting down many times via power button and getting the same blue screen following any attempt to start windows in each and every mode, I pressed F12 and run the Dell Diagnostics software which took quite a whilst and reverted that there is no single issue with my hardware and disk.
Still could not start though.
So I called Dell support in Singapore (I bought the pc in Singapore but live in Vietnam).
I described the above, inform the error including all the digits showing on the screen. Bottom line, they told me that indeed there seems to be no hardware problem, it is software related and since I can't start windows XP even in any mode, the only thing I can do if I have never formatted the disk (and therefore still have windows on partition there) is launching the system restore by pressing Fn and F11 on booting, which will unfortunately delete all my data !!! 
I told them about I have no backup for my data, especially my emails (MS Outlook 2003) and they simply advise me to find a computer shop that can help me with retrieving my data before restoring the system.
So I decided that I will do that this Monday and today I find your message on internet.
100% the same issue than me.


I do hope that you have managed to solve your problem. I saw the message of Midazolam but like you I did not receive a disk with my computer on purchasing, the system (XP professional) being already pre-installed on my machine. The only CD I got is for installation of mediadirect drivers.

I got plenty of data on my C drive, especially all my emails that are very much crucial for my work. Please let me know what you did in the end. Thanks in advance.

Bee · Answer

Had similar problems with my husband's computer, all of a sudden would not boot normally and the blue screen of death window flashed briefly and then the computer went into a boot loop.  I was able to boot in safe mode with networking and when looking at the error log it showed that a lot of boot start drivers were not able to load.   After reading a lot on the internet, I decided to run check disk which took forever.  No problems found on the HD.  I had already done a registry cleaner and that did not fix the boot up.  Today, I did what one person had suggested, take out a stick of memory and see if it boots. Obviously, I must have taken out the right one, because the computer finally booted normally!  One stick of memory had gone bad and looking back, I realize that probably happened when we had a power sag days before.  Hopefully, this will help someone out there!

Anonymous User · Answer

Let me help you out in driving away this problem.  This trouble may happen when the boot.ini file is missing or corrupted or damaged.  Troubleshooting this problem is quite easy and for that you need the operating system disk. If you have it, then it's cool.  Let's start it right now and fix the problem.

Let me walk you though some simple steps, kindly follow that.

    First you need to change the Boot priority of your computer, in order to boot from CD\DVD or Hard Disk. Normally by Default that will be HDD (Hard Disk). Now to change the Boot Priority you need to go to BIOS page.
    First restart your Computer.  At the time when it starts, start tapping F2 or Delete key or F8 which ever key  assigned by your computer manufacturer to enter into BIOS.
    Once when you are on BIOS, just use the keypad arrows to navigate. You may see a tab named as Boot. Go there and you may find the Boot priority set, just below the Boot tab.
    Now in that page just select the Boot priority 1 to CD\DVD Drive and and then hit  F10 to save and exit.
    Now the system reboots.  Before that, you should have inserted the OS disk on to the disk drive, so that on restart it may check for disk to boot form.
    Once when it is restarted and the disk is in.  It may ask you to press any key to boot from Disk.  At that time tap enter.
    So that the Computer starts to boot from the OS CD.
    When you receive a welcome message displayed, Press R, to start the Recovery console that may take you to an command prompt. Where it also asks for the Administrator username and the password. After you key in the Administrator username and the password, press enter.
    Now on the command prompt screen type in as,  bootcfg/list which may list all the boot.ini files.
    Then type in as bootcfg/rebuild.  When you do this, it searches' the entire file system and it rebuilds the boot.ini, with the suitable files that may be missing or corrupted. So this is one method of solving the problem .

The another method is also the same as this one but you need to run a repair installation, which may checkout for the affected areas and then it replaces it with actual one..

Hope this will finally solve the problem.

A problem has been detected and windows has been shutdown ...

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