Here is the short story, I bought a new computer and I was in the process of restore my older computer back to "zero" so-a-speak so, I can give it to my daughter.

Now, I put in XP Pro to do install a clean verison and things started off good but, when the computer restated and it runs "hardware capiablities" I get this blue screen of death telling me that I possibly have a virus or my harddrive is bad. On the same screen this message appears "problem is: 0x0000007B (0xf7c7a524,0x00000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)


What does this all mean?? Thanks.

did you reformat the drive first?

was it running XP pro to start with?

is it an OEM version of XP?

I was running XP home and I wanted to to a clean install. I went into the BIOS and had my boot set up for the CD-ROM and it starts but, I get that error. I can't even format. Heck, matter of fact when my computer restarts it showing to OS XP Home/XP PRO. Even when I chose just Home it gets are far as sign on screen then all it does is restart. Dunno. Maybe I have a bad sector??

The hard drive manufacturer will have a bootable diagnostic on their web site.

For floppy or CD (if you haven't a floppy drive).

If you do not know the manufacturer enter the BIOS Setup and it should be identified if it is detected.

You said it starts with the CD but gets the error - at what point? If you tell the system to boot to CD, there's no reason at that point for the system to look at that HD. It should boot to the CD and from there, your can redo your partitions and reformat.

Originally Posted by Digerati

You said it starts with the CD but gets the error - at what point? If you tell the system to boot to CD, there's no reason at that point for the system to look at that HD. It should boot to the CD and from there, your can redo your partitions and reformat.

Yes, you are right. Damn didn't think of that. Okay, yes my BIOS are reconfigured to boot from CD and it starts good. I see the files being loaded then when it says, "starting windows" then right after that is when I can't get error messages. Did that help?

"can't" get error messages? I assume you mean you start to get them.

One scenario at this point is that it does boot to CD but because that is a Windows install CD, it immediately starts looking for a HD to install to, then fails.

How old is this HD? How big? What's on it now? You might try putting it in a working machine as a slave, format with that Windows, then put back in yours.

Stop 7 messages during install can be difficult because there's not much evidence there yet for clues. Check MSKB 324103.

I would also check your RAM. I recommend MemTest86+. Select Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win). Unzip the file to a convenient location, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, double-click on install.bat to install. Then, with the floppy in the drive, reboot the computer. The computer should boot to the floppy and start testing your RAM. Let it run for several passes or even overnight. You should have no reported errors. A CD version is available. An excellent how-to guide is available here.

I prefer the floppy version - just another reason I feel floppies are not dead, yet - but the CD version might be good for you because you end up with a bootable CD - If you are not able to boot to that CD too, then my guess would be controller/motherboard issues.

Yes, sorry, I meant to say, I receive error messages. Your right when it trys to put the files on the HD is when I get the messages. I will get that memory tested shorty and post my results. The HD is over 2yrs old. Brand is Westgate something like that and I think 160GB.

You mentioned putting it in a working machine and I do have a new computer to do so. The HD is SATA so, I just plug it in a slot and the BIOS should do the rest as far as master slave. My current computer has one DVD/CD RW "lightscribe" in one SATA and my HD inother slot.

When I connect it to my current computer then I should try reformating right, then install back to old one?

SATA? That changes everything. There is no master or slave with SATA. And your motherboard must support that type of drive, and you must have the 3rd party driver for that controller during Windows install (when it says to press F6) for the SATA controller on that motherboard - another reason floppies will be around for awhile.

First, yes my new computer is all SATA. I have no IDE controllers at all. Funny things is, my computer has a 34pin IDE for a floppy drive but no slot on the computer for the floppy. So, would I still need a 3rd party driver for that HD if my MB does support SATA. My BIOS as shows RAID support.