Solved Laptop hangs at "Starting Windows" or getting "Error 0xC0000225"

[borito]

Laptop hangs at "Starting Windows" or getting "Error 0xC0000225"

Hi,

I have a Toshiba r700-181 (PT310E) work laptop. It is running Windows 7 x64 Enterprise.

It has one 4GB stick of ram which is PC3 10600. Windows works fine with this.

I have obtained a 4GB stick of ram which is PC3 12800. With just this one in, Windows works fine.

However, if I have BOTH sticks put in, the BIOS recognises that there is 8GB installed, but Windows fails to boot.

It gets stuck at the "Starting Windows" screen. If I restart it asks me if I want to start windows normally or to run the Windows repair. If I try that I get the message: "Error: 0xc0000225. The boot selection failed because a required device is inaccessible."

I tried using a Windows 7 System Restore disc but that doesnt work...

If I try either of the sticks in the laptop one at a time, then Windows 7 boots up fine.

Is this just down to the laptop not being compatible with the mixture of speeds? I thought that if they were mixed it would just use the lower speed by default?

So confused

 

[Gator]

Hello borito, Welcome to SevenForums!

Is this a laptop provided by a company you work for by any chance?

 

[Britton30]

The mis-matched RAM shouldn't cause a no boot, I suspect one RAM slot is bad.

Try the RAM test first, it will take a few hours.
Hard drive(s)test(s):

Pick one for your HDD brand or use Seatools.
7 Free Hard Drive Testing Software Tools​

RAM (memory) test:

This will require memtest on a bootable CD or USB stick.
RAM - Test with Memtest86+​

 

[borito]

Hi,

Yes this is my laptop provided by my work place.

I've just tried a 2GB PC3 10600 stick of ram with each of the 4GB sticks of ram (10600 and 12800) and it powers on fine with the total of 6GB ram, Windows loads fine, but for some reason it just doesnt like the 2x4GB sticks.

The documentation says that the laptop can support 8GB ram and I know others at work that have upgraded theirs to 8GB so it should work...

 

[borito]

I will start the memory tests now.

 

[Gator]

Borito,

Since it is a company laptop, you should take it into your IT department and have it fixed. They probably know the hardware better than any of us since they issued it to you.

 

[borito]

Well this is embarrassing, I actually work in the IT department as one of the engineers.

I ran memtest twice (once with each of the 4gb sticks in separately) and they passed.

I can use the 4gb PC3 12800 with a 2gb PC3 10600 in the R700. I have swapped the ram in the other slots and that also worked.

I can use the 4gb PC3 10600 with a 2gb PC3 10600 in the R700. Again same as above it works fine.

I am unable to use the 4gb 12800 and the 4gb 10600 together. It just gets stuck at the "Starting Windows" screen now and looks like it freezes before the animation starts. The R700 has the latest BIOS and I have previously tried 8GB in there before which worked without any problems. It recognises in the bios that it has 8GB installed.

I have tried memtest with the 4gb sticks together, it starts the test then the screen goes blank.

I have tried putting in a spare hard drive in the R700 and booting from a Windows 7 Pro disc to see if I can install it, it gets to the stage where it says "Windows is loading files" and the progress bar gets to the end then the screen goes blank.

On a separate note, I also have a Toshiba R840 (running Win 8.1 Pro x86) and tried both of the 4GB sticks. This boots Windows as normal and it recognises that it has 8GB installed.

So far it looks like its more a hardware issue than Windows issue... Could it be that the R700 has some kind of fault and needs to be replaced? What tests could I run on it?

 

[Britton30]

Have you tried using any one of the RAM sticks for memtest?

 

[borito]

Yep, did one stick at a time with Memtest which passed, then both together which caused the screen to go blank once the test started.

Screen also goes blank when trying to reinstall any version of Windows once the progress bar completes at the "Windows is loading files".

I have a friend who has an R700 (but an i5 version) and the memory works fine in their laptop, they are running Win 8.1 if that makes any difference so I cant see any problem with the memory if it works in the R700-i5 and my R840 but just not my R700-i3.

I read online somewhere that Toshiba laptops could have a problem with memory of different densitys? One 4gb ram is 1xR8 and the other 4gb stick is 2xR8.

But I have tried 4gb 1xR8 and a 2gb 2xR8 and that still works in the R700-i3. But not the 4gb 1xR8 and 4gb 2xR8.

I just cant see why it wont work in this laptop

 

[Britton30]

Following the tutorial did you try each single stick in each slot too?

 

[borito]

Yep. Both seem to be fine.

I'm absolutely stumped.

 

[Britton30]

The best thing would be to get a matched set of RAM, 2X4GB, 2x2GB, etc.

 

[borito]

I was worried you might say something like that

 

[borito]

Got 2x4GB Crucial memory and it is now working fine with 8GB ram.

I guess it can be temperamental if the memory is from two different manufacturers.

 

[andrew129260]

Got 2x4GB Crucial memory and it is now working fine with 8GB ram.

I guess it can be temperamental if the memory is from two different manufacturers.

Yes, speeds vary as well as if its ddr2 or 3 etc.

It is always best to get ram in matching pairs, and if ram is replaced, it is much better to swap out all ram with new matching sticks then just installing new ram.

But you can sell your old ram on amazon or ebay to help make up for the cost