Dell Dimension 9150 cannot boot from hard drive or CD

Julius:

Let's start with the error, before you consider restoring your operating system. Please write down and post the exact error message.

It is the standard blue screen message that starts with "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your compter", etc, that contains the text about inactivating antivirus programs, checking the configuration of hard disks and running the command "CHKDSK /F".

The exact error message is:

"STOP: 0x00000024 ( 0x001902FE, 0xF78CA3DC, 0xF78CA0D8, 0x8A76A805 )"

Julius

Julius:

That error indicates your NTFS file system is corrupt. This could be a hard drive issue, so the first thing to do is run the Dell diagnostics. You can run it from the Dell resource disc. In order to boot to this disc, you'll need to set your CD drive as the first boot device. Boot to system setup (F2) and go to boot devices. Set the devices as CD first, then hard drive. Put the resource CD in the drive and exit system setup and it should boot to that disc.

Run the extended test on your hard drive.

I don't have the resource CD. I bought the computer from my employer, so I don't have the full collection of CD:s.

One question of interest is why I cannot use an installation OS CD or a Bart Pe CD to boot the computer if the problem lies in the local hard drive or NTFS file system.

Julius

The Dell bios searches for Dell OEM (original equipment manufacturer) CDs. You cannot boot from retail or non-Dell CDs unless you boot from a floppy disk.

The installation OS CD that I used is an official Dell CD, even though I didn't buy it on the same occasion as when I bought the computer.

Julius

Chris -Is that really true?? I've booted from an ISO CD with an Acronis image of my hard drive...

Julius - Does the CD have the same version of Windows that's on the hard drive, eg XP Home or XP pro, etc?

Are you sure the boot sequence in BIOS is set to boot from the CD first? Put the WIndows CD in the drive and close the drawer, reboot and quickly press F12. Select Boot from CD and see what happens...

Ron

EDIT: And if that doesn't work and you have 2 optical drives, try the Windows CD in the other drive.

Julius - Does the CD have the same version of Windows that's on the hard drive, eg XP Home or XP pro, etc?

Hard drive: Windows XP Home Edition SP3.

CD: Windows XP Professional.

Are you sure the boot sequence in BIOS is set to boot from the CD first?

I did reset the BIOS to the default settings in an attempt to correct the problem. My idea was that the cause of the problem might be a corrupt BIOS. But the problem and behaviour is still the same.

Current boot sequence:

1. Floppy Drive ( not present )

2. SATA Hard Drive ( not present )

3. IDE Hard Drive ( not present )

4. Intel Array

5. CD Drive

6. USB Device ( not present )

Put the WIndows CD in the drive and close the drawer, reboot and quickly press F12. Select Boot from CD and see what happens...

That is exactly the way I did it ( when I was booting from the CD drive - and it works for a while before the blue screen appears ), before as well as after the resetting of the BIOS to default settings.

And if that doesn't work and you have 2 optical drives, try the Windows CD in the other drive.

I have only one CD drive.

Julius

Ron:

You're correct. I can boot from any number of bootable CDs, including the Acronic program disc, and a bootable Ghost image disc.

Ron: You're correct. I can boot from any number of bootable CDs, including the Acronic program disc, and a bootable Ghost image disc.

Then why cannot I boot from any CD that I have tried ( not even from an official Dell CD ) ?

If the problem lies in the hard drive or NTFS - which may be the case - I should at least be able to boot from the CD drive ( and if there is a problem with the CD drive, then why does the CD drive work for a while before the blue screen appears ? ).

I have learnt that I can run the Dell diagnostics, from the Dell resource disc. If I buy the resource CD, what more can I do with it except running tests? Can I for example run some program that will fix a NTFS problem ( or fix something else ) ? If not, is there some other maintenance/repair CD that I can buy?

Then let's hope that I can boot from such a CD.

Julius

You shouldn't have to buy the Dell Resources CD. If you're in the US and are the registered owner of this system, Dell will typically send you a free set of the CDs for your system after you submit this form.  If you're not in the US, contact Dell in your country to see if they'll provide the CDs.

Look at the list of SATA drives in BIOS setup and make sure SATA0 correctly identifies your hard drive. It shouldn't be "not present" as indicated in your boot sequence list. That makes me suspect your hard drive may have failed. Reboot from the hard drive (eg without the XP CD in the drive), and look at the 4 diagostic LEDs on the rear of the tower. If they're not all green, look up the error code here. 

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Legally you shouldn't be using a Dell XP pro CD with a system that has Dell XP home installed on it. And I don't know if that CD is looking at your hard drive and deciding that this isn't legal and halting the installation.  Or maybe you got a "bum" CD that claims it's a Dell OEM version? OEM versions of Windows check the system so, for example, Dell's OEM version of XP will only install on a Dell system...

Ron

My bad... the diagnostic LEDs on this system are on the FRONT panel. :emotion-10:  #11 in this figure

Ron

Ron, thank you for the information. I will check it up. And yes, I am the registered owner of the system.

But I am still concerned about the CD drive. You said: "I don't know if that CD is looking at your hard drive and deciding that this isn't legal and halting the installation". But if that is the case, then at least I should be able to boot from, or use, a Bart Pe CD ( like I said, it starts normally and runs for a while, before the blue screen appears ).

And I still would like to know if there is some maintenance or repair CD available.

Julius

The only CDs Dell offers are their Windows Reinstallation CD, the Resources CD (drivers) and Utilities CD (hardware tests).  But if you can't boot from a CD, those disks won't be much help.

You need to figure out if your hard drive is being correctly detected by BIOS and you need to find out if your CD drive has failed too. Do you have a CD drive that you could swap into this system or a way to test this CD drive on a different system?

As Osprey said in his post, STOP: 0x00000024 means there's an NTFS file corruption issue on the hard drive which may suggest that the hard drive failed.

Reboot and immediately press Ctrl-Alt-D all at the same time. See if that launches the hard drive diagnostic tests.

Ron

Look at the list of SATA drives in BIOS setup and make sure SATA0 correctly identifies your hard drive. It shouldn't be "not present" as indicated in your boot sequence list. That makes me suspect your hard drive may have failed.

It looks like SATA 0 correctly identifies the hard drive - but I am not sure.

Reboot from the hard drive (eg without the XP CD in the drive), and look at the 4 diagostic LEDs on the rear of the tower. If they're not all green, look up the error code here.

When the boot process stops at the blue screen none of the lights are green.

As Osprey said in his post, STOP: 0x00000024 means there's an NTFS file corruption issue on the hard drive which may suggest that the hard drive failed.

Yes, and when I try to boot to Safe Mode the blue screen error is: STOP: 0x0000007B

Reboot and immediately press Ctrl-Alt-D all at the same time. See if that launches the hard drive diagnostic tests.

The result was:

Drive 0: WDC WD2500JS-75NCB1 - Pass

Drive 1: No device

Drive 2: WDC WD2500JS-75NCB1 - Pass

Drive 3: No device

Drive 4: HL-DT-ST DVD +/- RW GWA4164B    -    Diagnostics not supported

Drive 5: No device

Julius