Toubleshooting STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}

[pimpo]

Hi,

The other day we found a computer giving this error and continuosly resetting:

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Windows Logon Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000135 (0x00000000 0x0000000)
The system has been shutdown

We reviewed kb156669 and it says some causes:

•Mismatched system files have been installed: "No as far as we know"
•A Service Pack installation has failed: "No as far as we know"
•A backup program that is used to restore a hard disk did not correctly restore files that may have been in use: "No as far as we know"
•An incompatible third-party program has been installed: "No as far as we know"

We resolved the problem copying the folder system32 from a new computer to the old but the question is if someone know how to troubleshoot this and to know exactly the cause.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Windows being what it is, it's just one of those many things which happen from time to time.

However, you may want to test the hard drive with the drive maker's diagnostic software for DOS which loads from a bootable CD (you can't test drive containing Windows with Windows-based software).

For WD hard drives, the link to the CD image is here: http://www.smartestcomputing.us.com/topic/63494-looking-for-western-digital-data-lifeguard-iso/

For other makes see links here: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
(The WD link on the above page is only for creating a floppy-disk image, hence no good for many PC owners nowadays).

When you've created the CD from the relevant CD image, boot the computer from it to access the testing software.