Win7 Installer fails with BSOD & error code: STOP: ...

[Dwarfboysim]

Hi everyone,
I just bought an Electronic download verison of Windows 7 Professional from http://www.itsnotcheating.com.au to upgrade my system from Windows XP Pro SP3. The setup starts and gets past creating a user account, setting a computer name etc and then restarts and looks like Windows 7 is going to startup and then I get a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH with:

STOP: C000021a [Fatal System Error}

The intial session process or system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0x00000000 (0xC0000001 0x00100400)

It then mentions about dumping the memory out to disk and reboots. If i press F8 and attempt to boot SAFE MODE I get a requester saying that setup cannot be completed in Safe Mode. If try the startup recovery the first time it says it fixed a problem and wants to restart again but it has fixed nothing. Next time the startup recovery just runs and doesn't appear to finish. I have run the Windows Memeory Diagnostic within the setup and memory checks out fine. I initially thought the onboad audio chipset was the issue and disabled that but it made no difference. I did get one successful installation but it eventually crashed and burned with the same error after approximately 12 hours.

I have posted another article regarding this on Microsoft Answers and was advised that I have corrupt install files by the MVP Moderator.
I have re-downloaded the installer again and tried again with the same result. I have been trying to work this out for the last 5 days. I have also tested my install files on another box and they work faultlessly so there is nothing wrong with those.

I have found one common element another forum user on Microsoft Answers has listed a VERY similar problem (see link to forum article): http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-IE/w7itproinstall/thread/7a4d570e-b0af-4a58-956f-66e14cdb4e4a

The common element is that we are both running the following motherboard:
DFi LANPARTY 925x-T2

Has anyone else tried this mainboard with Windows 7? The board is flashed to the lastest BIOS version offered on DFI's website. The board has worked faultlessly under Windows XP. I have included my system spec's below.

DFi LANPARTY 925x-T2 Motherboard
Intel Pentium 4 3.2Ghz Processor
4 Gig RAM (comprising of 4 x 1 Gig sticks of DDR2)
3 x 120 Gig Western Digital Hard Drives connected via SATA
1 x LG Dual Layer DVD Burner connected via SATA
NVidia Geforce 9400GT (1 Gig Model) PCI-Express
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (have tried without this in the machine same problem)
Windows XP SP3 Operating System with all the latest updates

Please Help

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

 

[torrentg]

Out of curiosity, what do you have your ram voltage (vdimm) set at in your mobo bios?

And do you know the exact brand and model number of your memory?

That error could be in relation to DVD drive. Try creating a USB install key and install from that while the DVD drive is not connected. If it installs, play with it for a day or so to test.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

Also if you want highest chance of install success, you might want to also remove 3 of those ram sticks and go with only 1GB. You can replace them after you're satisfied the install went right and stable.

 

[Dwarfboysim]

Will have to check that am currently imaging system so I can have another play. I think it is all set to Auto to let the MB Handle it. Is there a suggested/recommended voltage?
The memory consists of 4 x 1 GB Modules all DDR2 533. 2 of them are brand new:

Corsair VS1GB533D2 Value Select

The other 2 I am not currently sure of the brand but are also DDR 533. The motherboard only seems to acknowlege in the BIOS 2.8Gig though. Have flashed the BIOS and tried varying combinations of RAM, even all the same brand and no difference. I have tested all sockets individually and they all work. Have ran MemTest over them and they all pass. XP has worked faultylessly on this machine.

In regards to the install files I downloaded them to a USB Hard Drive and then copied them up on to the C: drive of the XP machine that I am attempting to install it onto. I have also tried having the files on DVD with the same result.

 

[torrentg]

Yeah, there is a voltage spec on those. It's default 1.8v so that's fine.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...+(Desktop+Memory)-_-Corsair+Memory-_-20145525

 

[torrentg]

Found this about your motherboard:

LANPARTY 925X-T2 Upgrades - DFI LANPARTY 925X-T2 LANPARTY 925X-T2 Intel Pentium 4 Motherboard

"Motherboard supports PC3200, PC2700, PC2100 ECC/non-ECC, but do not mix b/w the two. Memory must be installed in pairs."

So if you try to install with less memory, make sure you have 2 identical sticks installed.

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[Dwarfboysim]

My fellow worker has just 2 sticks of the same brand/speed etc and he is still getting the BSOD's as well. It is really annoying to buy this and then have so many problems.

 

[torrentg]

Eh, you can't really go by what happened with your co-worker. Unless he/she has same exact hardware.

In the last year+, I've watched many people on here remove memory and complete successful installs. Especially when all slots have been populated.

I'm not saying it will fix it for you. Removing it as a possible cause can only be helpful though.

Yeah, I hear ya though. If it was me, I'd be frustrated too. Hopefully you'll be up and running soon. You may want to pm H2SO4 for help on this. I don't mean to involve him in this for him as could do it himself lol, but he's awesome. I recommend outta respect.

 

[Dave76]

Welcome to Seven Forums Dwarfboysim,

Looks like you and torrentg have done some good trouble shooting already.

Are you installing Windows 7 Professional 32bit (x86)? Or 64bit?
Did you start the install from XP, then Custom install? Or Custom/Clean install? Or dual boot?
Any Over Clocking of the RAM, CPU or GPU? If yes, return all to defaults.
I would try to keep using the USB stick for installation, we've seen a lot of errors with burned DVDs. What speed did you burn the DVD at?

It's been found that most if not all Student versions are Full versions and not Upgrade versions.

Did you run the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor before starting the installation?

If you get Win7 working long enough, Run the Windows Vista setup log file locations, this says they're for Vista but will work in Win7. Hopefully we can get H2S04 to look at them.

If it's an Upgrade version, People are having luck with this method Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version. Many reports that the upgrade version can be installed same as a Full version.

Check this GoBack causes a Stop error C000021a, this is irrelevant if XP is gone.

As torrentg was saying about the RAM, try with one memory card, we've seen this work and several times when it's in slot 4. The rest can be added after the installation is complete.

Get the free program SIW - System Information for Windows, it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about your computer, including the RAM manufacturer and date it was made.

Since you used the installation files on another computer, this points to a hardware problem.

Let us know how the install is going.

 

[H2SO4]

@Dwarfboysim: I feel your pain, I really do. You're obviously methodical and analytical, and to have this happen after you go and do the right thing by buying the student version is highly unfortunate. I don't yet know whether anybody outside of MS or the people who designed your mobo and wrote its BIOS code can fix this, but we can at least try...

For what it's worth, I think you'd do very well to follow the suggestions from torrentg and Dave76. Beyond that, I've only got one suggestion for now:

Can you please use the XP install to get to the \Windows\Minidump folder of the failed Win7 installation, and to upload (here) the zipped-up DMP file(s) which will hopefully be in that location.

 

[Adrian]

Error Message: Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error} The S

Review the resolution for NT:
Issue/Symptoms: When you start your Windows NT 4.0-based computer, you may receive the following error message:
Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000017 (0x00000000, 0x0000000) The system has been shut down.


After you receive this error message, your computer may restart so quickly that you are unable to obtain the details of the memory address. This symptom may prevent Windows NT from being able to write a valid Memory.dmp file. You may be unable to resolve this issue by disabling all third-party services, or by repairing your Windows NT installation by using an ERD.
Cause: The error message that is listed in the "Symptoms" section of this article is often caused by pending file-rename operations that are scheduled in the Windows NT registry, but that cannot be completed.

Resolution:

1. Create a parallel installation of Windows NT.For additional information how to do so, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 259003 (How and Why to Perform a Parallel Installation of Windows NT 4.0 ) How and Why to Perform a Parallel Installation of Windows NT 4.0
2. Start your computer to the parallel installation of Windows NT, and then start Registry Editor.
3. On the Window menu, click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Local Machine.
4. On the Registry menu, click Load Hive.
5. Type the path to the System hive of the prior installation, typically %systemroot%\system32\config\system, and then click Open.
6. When you are prompted for the name of the key, type TEST, and then view the following registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\TEST\Select
7. Note the setting for the Current DWord value in the preceding registry key. This is typically 0x1, and is represented as CURRENT:Reg_Dword:0x1. This value indicates that the "CurrentControlSet" for your original Windows NT installation corresponds to ControlSet001 in this window. A value of 2 would indicate that the "CurrentControlSet" for your original Windows NT installation would correspond to ControlSet002, and so on.
8. Locate the following registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\TEST\ControlSetXXX\Control\Session Manager
   where XXX is the CurrentControlSet that you identified in the preceding step.
9. Under the Session Manager key, note and then delete any PendingFileRenameOperations entries.
10. Click the TEST hive, and then click Unload Hive on the Registry menu.
11. On the Registry menu, click Load Hive.
12. Type the path to the Software hive of the prior installation, typically %systemroot%\system32\config\Software, and then click Open.
13. When you are prompted for the name of the key, type TEST2.
14. Remove any PendingFileRenameOperations entries in the following registry keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\TEST2\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
    
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\TEST2\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnceEx
15. Click the TEST2 hive, and then click Unload Hive on the Registry menu.
16. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart your original installation.

 

[Dave76]

Nice find Adrian,

Can you post the Link for this?

Looks like a MS help or Knowledge base fix.

I'd like to be able to refer to this.

Cheers,

 

[H2SO4]

Nice find Adrian,

Can you post the Link for this?

Looks like a MS help or Knowledge base fix.

I'd like to be able to refer to this.

Cheers,

Error Message: Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error} The Session Manager Initialization System Process...

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and all kudos to Adrian for the info, but in this instance I fear that procedure won't help. No reason not to try it though, especially given the OP presumably already has a parallel (XP) install to allow him to load the win7 registry hives and modify those values.

Bugcheck 0xC000021A means that one of the "critical" user-mode processes which the OS can't do without has terminated. Winlogon, CSRSS, and SMSS fall into that category. Because further operation without them is pointless (the OS cannot continue to provide basic services), if the kernel should detect the termination of such a process its response is that 0xC000021A BSOD. However, the kernel's own memory dumps are almost invariably devoid of the reason for the user-mode process crash. All that's visible in there is the fact that the kernel detected the demise of a critical user-mode process. (The KB article is technically misleading or even downright incorrect on that point.)

When a 0xC000021A crash is periodically occurring on multiple systems which otherwise run fine, it becomes worthwhile to attach a debugger in such a way as to get a user-mode dump from the crashing critical process before the kernel BSOD kicks in and obliterates the user-mode info.

In this instance, "debugging" is almost certainly pointless though. The machine is crashing during the OS install phase, and the cause will almost certainly be found in some very low-level incompatibility between the BIOS and the drivers included in the Windows install image. The only reason to seek the memory dump is to check whether it's really "vanilla".

 

[Dave76]

H2SO4,

Thanks for the link, information, explanation and your time.

It's beneficial to get input from several people for issues like this one.

A thorough BIOS settings check might find something.

 

[Dwarfboysim]

Hi all,
OK will attempt to answer all questions:

- Trying to install Windows 7 32bit
- Started from within XP and selected CUSTOM
- No overclocking of anything
- Copied the files directly onto the C: drive of XP before doing the install also have tried having the files on one of the other hard drives.
- I have now used these install files on my wifes laptop and also another desktop and they install fine.
- YES ran the upgrade advisor
- Haven't tried removing any RAM yet

I did managed to get a successful install up briefly with one BSOD near the very start of the setup. It had booted fine a few times after completing setup and was able to load the NVIDIA drivers and then the Creative Audigy Driver. After a reboot it then started to BSOD again and then turn off. The logs mention something about:

ACPI thermal zone ACPI\ThermalZone\THRM has been enumerated
_PSV = 346k
_TC1 - 4

BSOD message today was: 0xC0000001 0x001003b8]

I will attempt to attach a memory dump file and also what minidump files I have

 

[Adrian]

Nice find Adrian,

Can you post the Link for this?

Looks like a MS help or Knowledge base fix.

I'd like to be able to refer to this.

Cheers,

Error Message: Stop c000021a {Fatal System Error} The Session Manager Initialization System Process...

I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and all kudos to Adrian for the info, but in this instance I fear that procedure won't help. No reason not to try it though, especially given the OP presumably already has a parallel (XP) install to allow him to load the win7 registry hives and modify those values.

Bugcheck 0xC000021A means that one of the "critical" user-mode processes which the OS can't do without has terminated. Winlogon, CSRSS, and SMSS fall into that category. Because further operation without them is pointless (the OS cannot continue to provide basic services), if the kernel should detect the termination of such a process its response is that 0xC000021A BSOD. However, the kernel's own memory dumps are almost invariably devoid of the reason for the user-mode process crash. All that's visible in there is the fact that the kernel detected the demise of a critical user-mode process. (The KB article is technically misleading or even downright incorrect on that point.)

When a 0xC000021A crash is periodically occurring on multiple systems which otherwise run fine, it becomes worthwhile to attach a debugger in such a way as to get a user-mode dump from the crashing critical process before the kernel BSOD kicks in and obliterates the user-mode info.

In this instance, "debugging" is almost certainly pointless though. The machine is crashing during the OS install phase, and the cause will almost certainly be found in some very low-level incompatibility between the BIOS and the drivers included in the Windows install image. The only reason to seek the memory dump is to check whether it's really "vanilla".

H2, a caveat: his article was intended for NT OS.

 

[H2SO4]

H2, a caveat: his article was intended for NT OS.

No probs Adrian. For what it's worth, I think that's a great reference that you found.

KB articles are not always accurately updated with a list of the full range of OSs to which they apply. In this case, the procedure essentially says "C000021A is frequently caused by things interfering with pending operations, so, heck, you might as well test what happens when you deactivate the pending operation."

The info is still just as valid for Win7. I just fear it won't help in this instance because of the specific nature of the issue - 0xC000021A happens during the install phase, which is strongly suggestive of underlying hardware/BIOS incompatibilities. Of course, my pessimism shouldn't stop the OP from trying the procedure. It's hardly likley to make things any worse.

 

[H2SO4]

BSOD message today was: 0xC0000001 0x001003b8]

I will attempt to attach a memory dump file and also what minidump files I have

A trifecta - one crash each for SMSS, CSRSS, and Winint.

Interestingly, the nature of the CSRSS crash allowed an exit status code to be recorded before the thing died: 0xC0000189. That translates to:

0: kd> !error C0000189
Error code: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000189 (3221225865) - A write operation was attempted to a volume after it was dismounted.

Since there are some updated nvidia drivers in there, I'm guessing that the particular dump corresponds to one of the installs where you managed to get a bit farther (far enough to update the video drivers), but it's entirely possible that the install phase crashes are all caused by the same thing.

The "dismounted volume" error could stem from myriad hardware/BIOS causes, but as a suggestion test what happens when you move the drive to a different SATA port/IDE channel, or even use a completely different drive.

 

[Dwarfboysim]

The install that managed to finish did BSOD near the start gave the machine a reset and it continued on. The BSOD message was:

STOP: C000021a (Fatal System Error)

0x000000C0 [OxC0000001 0x00100410]

My DVD media that I also ordered from www.itsnotcheating.com.au has arrived today. Will be picking it up in the morning.

I am currently restoring a ghost image on the machine of my XP system as I have some work to do but will attempt to install Windows 7 again over the weekend.
Will try with the DVD and also try a different Hard Drive in the system and see how we go. Will keep you informed.
Collegue at work gets the above error as well and has the same mainboard but no matter how many resets his installer will not move on. If I can't fix this soon I am very tempted to just go out and buy a new CPU and mainboard but I do like a challenge as well.

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

 

[Adrian]

The install that managed to finish did BSOD near the start gave the machine a reset and it continued on. The BSOD message was:

STOP: C000021a (Fatal System Error)

0x000000C0 [OxC0000001 0x00100410]

My DVD media that I also ordered from www.itsnotcheating.com.au has arrived today. Will be picking it up in the morning.

I am currently restoring a ghost image on the machine of my XP system as I have some work to do but will attempt to install Windows 7 again over the weekend.
Will try with the DVD and also try a different Hard Drive in the system and see how we go. Will keep you informed.
Collegue at work gets the above error as well and has the same mainboard but no matter how many resets his installer will not move on. If I can't fix this soon I am very tempted to just go out and buy a new CPU and mainboard but I do like a challenge as well.

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim

As H2 suggests, and its also worthy to note. There have been some issues with NVDIA cars.
As H@ suggests, remove/replace existing HD and remove the video card and see what happens.

 

[Dwarfboysim]

Hi everyone,
Thanks all for your advice and suggestions. Well it finally got the better of me and my work colleague. I did some more testing but did not have the time to spend on it anymore as I need my computer to do some real work. Anyhow someone gave me another Motherboard and CPU and I can now install Windows 7 without any BSOD and it's running like a dream. Thanks all for your advice and tips. All I can say now is. If you have a LANPARTY 925x-T2 board stay with XP the stress is not worth it.

Thanks,
Dwarfboysim