Cannot get past start up - 0xc00000e9

[DesperateMike]

hello...this is where my nightmare begins. I turned on my pc, and it would not let me get past start up, saying
file :\Windows\system32\ntkrnlpa.exe
status : 0xc00000e9 Info:
Windows failed to load because the kernel is missing, or corrupt

I tried a few things, mostly the startup repair option that it would (recommend) to me next to the start windows normally option. this did absolutely NOTHING, and the problem continued. so I said ok, I give up, and decided to back up everything and completely reformat and reinstall windows....I did this, it installed successfully so I was happy....then the real nightmare started.....IT DIDNT FIX THE PROBLEM!!!!!!!!! I couldnt believe it...even after completely reformatting, I could not get past start up...the syste repair option still does nothing, even with the disc in...and im starting to lose all hope. tried reinstalling it a bunch of times....but now it wont even do that correct all the way through, keeps coming up with errors talking about files either missing or corrupt...so my pc is stuck in limbo...i wiiped partitions and tried again alot of times....but nothing...now it doesnt even recognize windows 7 as being installed at all.......SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!!! :'(

 

[marsmimar]

Hello Mike and welcome to Seven Forums. Sorry to hear you're having this problem.

Can you boot into Safe Mode? If yes, you might try running a System File Checker scan. If any problems are noted you should run the scan 3 times rebooting between each scan. (I'm not very optimistic about this correcting the problem because it sounds more like your installation media might be damaged or the hard drive is failing.) But we could start with this and then see what happens. Also, it would help if you posted your system specs and told us what kind of media you're using (OEM disk, full install disk, upgrade disk, etc.)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/69585-safe-mode.html

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[DesperateMike]

thanks I will try this and report back ASAP. thank you

I am using a HP a1730n computer, and a Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade 32 bit disk

 

[DesperateMike]

ok just to let you know, when I boot from HDD it says BOOTMGR MISSING press ctrl+alt+del to restart...and thats all I can do...
the only way for me to access Command prompt is from the repair option on my disk. I remember trying the scannow thing and it came up with some crazy BS error message.... Im currently trying to install windows again so I will try what you say once its done FAILING AGAIN

 

[marsmimar]

Since you're using an upgrade disk take a look at this tutorial, particularly the warnings. There may be something that jumps out at you that you should have done but didn't, or didn't do that you should have done.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/31402-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[DesperateMike]

at first glance none of these even seem applicable to me because for one, I never recall even seeing the "activate windows automatically when im online" button, nor do i ever get the chance to even activate anything at all, ever
I will post again once this install attempt is complete and keep you up to date on the situation. thank you so much for the help even if it doesnt lead to anything I truly appreciate it

 

[DesperateMike]

failed again to no surprise....this time it got all the way to the update part then said it has been cancelled blah blah blah something about online locale then an error code...alot of times it will stop before that part talking about corrupted or missing files.
I will now try the scannow thing and report back

 

[DesperateMike]

ok, so the only way I can possibly get to safe mode is with the cmd tool because running msconfig is obviously not an option, and I cannot get to advanced startup using F8 during boot. However...it doesnt look like safe mode is an option at all. because the steps you use to get to it with the cmd tool are to type bcdedit /enum in and a list of info is supposed to come up....well mine doesnt...it just says "The boot configuration data store could not be opened. The system cannot find the file specified"

 

[DesperateMike]

and for the scan thing...i get to cmd prompt and type sfc /scannow and it says begining system scan. this process will take some time.

There is a system repair pending which requires reboot to complete. Restart Windows and run sfc again.

so I run it again, and the same thing pops up...

and as far as the advanced way to to that listed here http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/139810-sfc-scannow-run-command-prompt-boot.html ...I dont have any more luck

you see...at step 5 at that link my thing is completely blank!!!!!! there is no correct drive!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

:'(

 

[marsmimar]

This is definitely a puzzler. :banghead:

Just out of curiosity, when you try to reformat/reinstall do you have any external devices plugged in like printer, external hard drive, etc? Sometimes those devices can interfere with a reinstall.

You could also see if any of these Microsoft help articles pertaining to your error code 0x00000e9 offer any additional thoughts.

Search The Knowledge Base

 

[DesperateMike]

nope...nothing except monitor mouse and keyboard...I will go to that link..thank you

sigh...nothing on that link is helping...thanks for trying tho

 

[DesperateMike]

wow this is crazy...how can the error messages I get while trying to re install windows 7 be different? 0.o

this time it said "Setup cannot continue due to a corrupted file. Contact the vendor of your windows installation disc or your system administrator for assistance"

-_-

 

[DesperateMike]

also worth noting, the default text right before where i type in command prompt is "X:\Sources"

wtfffffffff

 

[marsmimar]

Assuming the installation media disk is in good shape (in other words, it wasn't used as an ice scraper or a frisbee for your dog ) I'm leaning more and more to a hard drive failure. About the only way I know to verify if a disk works is to find another machine and see if it will do the reformat/reinstall. You'd want to make a system image of that test machine so it can be returned to it's original condition. Or you could try to borrow someone elses install DVD and see if it works on your machine.

 

[DesperateMike]

Once again thanks so much for advice Well when I back up my data i took my hard drive out and put it in a friends computer to take the files off it and it worked fine on his computer to do that. I had another friend suggest that maybe i should re install some other windows like xp or something with a legit copy, then use the upgrade (this is how i got windows 7 in the first place is by doing that)

I will report back once I have tried these things

 

[DesperateMike]

question, how could I use someone elses install DVD if the serial number isnt meant for multiple computers? or could I just use the serial number from my copy?

 

[marsmimar]

As long as the 25 digit product key that came with your upgrade disk is valid, you'd use that key to activate your Windows 7. Doesn't matter whose install media you use. One caution: as I understand things, your 25 digit product key will be tied to a specific version of Windows 7. If your key came with 7 Home Premium (for example) you'd have to use a 7 Home Premium disk - not a Pro or Ultimate.

 

[DesperateMike]

ran hard drive diagnostics, heres the result

Test Result: FAIL Test Error Code: 06-Quick Test on drive 1 did not complete! Status code = 07 (Failed read test element), Failure Checkpoint = 65 (Error Log Test) SMART self-test did not complete on drive 1!

 

[DesperateMike]

wow I must be really screwed. downloaded and burned to CD the official HDD diagnostic tool from WD, and ran the quick scan from boot. this almost automatically failed, then asked if I wanted to do a full media scan so i said yes.....took a break, watched the final episode of Lost (which i think could have been better) and came back to check on it and it literally just says

Too many errors found - please contact technical support error / status code: 0225

is there anything else i can possibly do?

 

[marsmimar]

My usual disclaimer: I'm not an expert at anything.

Under the circumstances, and considering everything you've tried, I think the hard drive is pretty much a goner. It would be real easy to suggest replacing it. But there's always a possibility (however slight) that other major components in your computer could also be damaged and might have even contributed in some way to the HD failure. Not saying that's the case but just something to consider if you're going to spend good money money for a new HD.

There are some products like SpinRite that can bring a hard drive back to life (I've used it and it worked great.) But these kinds of products are meant to able to retrieve data. Not to be a magic bullet to keep a HD spinning for a few more years. Eventually a drive will fail so bad that even SpinRite won't work. And it costs more than some 500GB internal HDs.

So having said all that I think it's time to replace your hard drive but to also have your machine thoroughly checked for any other problems. But that's just my personal opinion.