BSOD on start, Startup Repair: Unknown Bugcheck: Bugcheck 3d

We've been getting a BSOD on one of our computers on startup recently. The exact message the BSOD gives varies but often mentions atapi.sys. Having done extensive research we've come to the conclusion that it could be a rootkit or it could be the fact that we have Daemon Tools installed on the computer. The problem is, when the BSODs first started (entirely at random - we'd done no updates and changed nothing, except perhaps to install a game or two, not sure), repeatedly trying to start the computer would eventually make it start (after 4 or 5 attempts) and it would be fine after that, but they've gotten worse and no matter how many times we tried, we've been unable to make it start, safe-mode or otherwise. If only we could get the thing to start up, we could run heaps of rootkit scans.

We'd really rather not do a format and full reinstall, so we're looking for solutions that can be done by hand.

So far, we've tried renaming atapi.sys and copying a fresh (hopefully clean) version from a different computer via Recovery Environment's cmd prompt, but the BSODs still occur. We've tried Startup Repair, but it gives this message:

Code:

Root cause found:

Unknown Bugcheck: Bugcheck 3d. Parameters = 0xfffff88002ffb020, 0x0, 0x0, 0xfffff88000e012b8.

Repair action: System files integrity check and repair
Result: Failed. Error code = 0x490

We have no USB keys plugged in when doing the Startup Repair.

Specs:

Windows 7 Home Premium x64
Intel Core 2 Quad (can't remember the exact model)
4gb Ram
GTX470
MSI MS-7528 Motherboard

We're dual-booting two harddrives. One has Windows XP on it, the other Windows 7. The XP harddrive boots fine, but the 7 drive BSODs every time.

We cannot boot into Windows, safe-mode or otherwise.

Any help would be much appreciated :)

Additional information is required.

1. Download this .BAT file to your desktop

Download


2. Right-click the .BAT file and then click 'Run as Administrator'
3. Locate the .ZIP file created on your desktop, and upload it here in your next reply.

Have you tried a Repair Install?

Repair Install

My apologies, I missed the bit about you not being able to boot Windows 7 at all - I see you've made that bold now.

If you can boot in XP, and navigate to the Windows 7 disk/partition, see if you can locate the latest .dmp file in C:\Windows\MiniDump.

If you can, upload it here and I'll take a look....although I'm not sure what we can actually do about it until you can boot Windows 7. The only thing I can suggest is to run a Startup Repair 3 times...this multiple runs will sometimes fix the errors to allow you to boot.

Reference tutorial if you need it:
Startup Repair

My apologies, I missed the bit about you not being able to boot Windows 7 at all

Ok no worries :)

So basically, we needed (wanted) the PC going now, so we had to resort to formatting and reinstalling. We had had some weird virus-related issues from previously (such as Windows Firewall being permanently disabled and network sharing not working), so we decided it was worth the effort to simply start from scratch.

The really weird thing is - it's doing it again. It started out just fine. All going well, installed graphics drivers, Chrome, restarted several times as necessary. Then installed a few optional updates, including those related to the Microsoft mouse we use, and restarted again (it told us to). BIOS screen, Windows Logo, BSOD. BIOS screen, Windows Logo, desktop.

As a bit of extra information, we've had two hard drives in that PC for some time - one with Win7, the other with XP. Both ~350GB. Too small. So just last week we bought a brand new 1TB Seagate drive to replace the Win7 drive (XP was rarely used). To save time, we decided to simply clone the entire 350GB drive to the 1TB drive and merge the partitions (knowing full well cloning copies over any and all errors in the data). This worked a charm - except that it still got the BSODs. We now assumed it was not a failing drive and that it was corrupted/virus'd data and this is where we did the full format.

That's one reason it's so weird that we're still getting the rotten BSODs. It's a brand new hard drive with a brand new installation of Windows. We now assume it's a hardware issue (obviously). We managed to stop the most recent BSOD long enough to see the error (Disable Restart On Error or whatever it's called) and it once again referenced atapi.sys with an actual error of DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL.

We realised we still had the old 350GB Win7 drive plugged in. It was second in the boot order, with the new 1TB drive first, so we can't see how that could have affected it, but we removed it entirely from the boot list. It then started up first go, but that may well have been a fluke as we only started up once. We're about to restart a few more times to test and report back. If it BSODs again we'll try physically unplugging the old drive. Good tip about running Startup Repair three times - will do if necessary :)

I've asked Steve to stop by here and offer some suggestions.