" Tried the Recovery Console - brings up the same message " and "I've seen recommendations to delete my "C:\partition" and create a new one from the unpartitioned space that results, then format it (NTFS Quick Format) and continue with the installation....but I can never get that far as part of clean XP install (I get stopped at step 5 - the msg appears again)"
Which 5th step are you referring to? and does the error message comes up when u try to access recovery console.
Assuming thats true, it points out to faulty RAM chips.Additionally you may want to check Harddrive and the Winxp CD as well
Understanding the problem just showed up out of the blue so to speak on a routine bootup, was there any type of power outage or "blip" preceding the appearance of the problem. As has been suggested, eliminating your installed RAM as a source of your problem would be the first thing I'd try also, either through a diagnostic - if you can run it, or as suggested, reseating it, or better, removing or swapping out/replacing one bank of RAM at a time.
I may have missed it in your posts but would help to know if this is a circumstance where your system was functioning OK and then on your next normal/routine boot up the error just showed up. As for the error code, here's a list of error-stop messages and troubleshooting solutions that includes the STOP Error 0x00000051 you're experiencing that may help point you in the right direction (or not...), noting you have apparently searched MS Knowledge Base for the error code.
This is one of the most dreaded blue screen messages which even tech support dreads but if you follow the steps its solved in a jiffy.But remember all data on your hard drive will be lost
1)
a.Run the 90-90 test to see if your hard drive is in good condition also run the system diagnostics
beststarsign
55 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 00:00
soccer77,
wat do u mean when u say
" Tried the Recovery Console - brings up the same message " and "I've seen recommendations to delete my "C:\partition" and create a new one from the unpartitioned space that
results, then format it (NTFS Quick Format) and continue with the installation....but I can never get that far
as part of clean XP install (I get stopped at step 5 - the msg appears again)"
Which 5th step are you referring to? and does the error message comes up when u try to access recovery console.
Assuming thats true, it points out to faulty RAM chips.Additionally you may want to check Harddrive and the Winxp CD as well
soccer77
5 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
beststarsign
55 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
soccer,
Try reseating the RAM chips and harddrive and try again
But if u still get it , as i said earlier looks like a Bad Ram. Alternatively u can start system with one RAM chip at a time and see what happens.
Run the diagnostics on RAM but tweak it to multiloops.
If you are under warranty just call dell and have them replace parts
soccer77
5 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
soccer77
5 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
VCraig
2 Intern
•
2.1K Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
VCraig
2 Intern
•
2.1K Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
soccer77
5 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 01:00
VCraig,
Was working fine until a recent reboot
Navin kurian
526 Posts
0
October 31st, 2004 11:00
Hi Soccer
This is one of the most dreaded blue screen messages which even tech support dreads but if you follow the steps its solved in a jiffy.But remember all data on your hard drive will be lost
1)
a.Run the 90-90 test to see if your hard drive is in good condition also run the system diagnostics
How do I run 90-90 Hard Drive Diagnostics (Dell Hard Drive Confidence Test Utility) on Dell™ OptiPlex™ and Dimension™ computers? scroll down to Running the BIOS Hard Drive Diagnostics
if you cannot run the 90-90 run the 32-bit dell diagnostics from the resource cd.
b. FA1040310 "How do I use the Dell™ Dimension™ ResourceCD to run system diagnostics(32bit) on my computer?"
RG1032494. "What is the Dell Dimension ResourceCD and how do I determine which revision I have?"
How do I use the Dell PC Restore by Symantec Utility?
or you would need to do a debug install which is listed in the link below (detach all the external peripherals before continuing)