Ian Mageau
December 7th 03, 08:58 PM
Done and done.
System is back up and running.
Solution was pretty simple but still unusual. Here's the
rundown:
I upgraded from 512MB DDR266 RAM to 1024MB DDR266 RAM.
When I did so, it caused some sort of problem with
Windows. I got STOP MESSAGE 0x8E as well as some odd
messages from CHKDSK. My guess on this is that the memory
upgrade messed up Windows Virtual Memory management
and/or paging file.
This rendered the system unbootable and also prevented me
from reinstalling without formating the drive first.
I was able to install Windows 2000 Pro on that drive and
recovered all my files.
I then repartitioned the drive and formated.
Ran a clean Windows XP install and all seems good now.
Thanks for your help everyone.
I guess this goes to show that the MSKBID for 0x8E isn't
exactly accurate.
My advice to anyone who's gonna upgrade memory with a
similar configuration then mine, backup everything first
and prepare for a reinstall.
Regards,
Ian Mageau
>-----Original Message-----
>My computer was running ok. But I did have an extra 1GB
>of DDR RAM on the shelf. So I figured I'd install it.
>
>After I did, I booted up and everything went through
POST
>no problem. It loaded Windows XP no problem. And I got
>the welcome screen. I chose my user as normal and
entered
>my password. Then I got 0x0000008E STOP MESSAGE.
>
>I rebooted, and instead this time when I logged in I got
>an error saying "A problem is preventing windows from
>accurately checking the license for this computer.". And
>no option to correct it. Reboot again and let chkdsk go
>through. Now we're back to the STOP message.
>
>I hopped on the MS knowledgebase through another PC and
>found out that error means either 1) Faulty RAM module
or
>2) RAM Configuration incompatible with Windows XP.
>
>I said OK... I tried switching the 2 modules in diff
dimm
>slots. I tried going down to 1x 512MB module. Tested
both
>modules. And since I was getting no results I deviced to
>go back to my original RAM configuration. SAME problem.
>Again same, switch modules, try one by one routing. To
no
>avail.
>
>So I gave up. But I still need some of the information
on
>that disk and I can't get it using this windows
>installation.
>
>So here I am trying to install Windows XP. I've tried
>booting up, selecting repair existing, booting up, new
>install (same path) and new install (new path). And
every
>time... no matter how many times I repeat those steps I
>always end up getting "Setup has made changes to your
>drive, please reboot". And sometimes Setup tries to be
>original and throws in a PFN_LIST_CORRUPT Stop Message.
>Which according to what I could find is a Win2000 error,
>not WinXP.
>
>Any ideas???
>
>Please help. I'm at a loss here...
>.
>
System is back up and running.
Solution was pretty simple but still unusual. Here's the
rundown:
I upgraded from 512MB DDR266 RAM to 1024MB DDR266 RAM.
When I did so, it caused some sort of problem with
Windows. I got STOP MESSAGE 0x8E as well as some odd
messages from CHKDSK. My guess on this is that the memory
upgrade messed up Windows Virtual Memory management
and/or paging file.
This rendered the system unbootable and also prevented me
from reinstalling without formating the drive first.
I was able to install Windows 2000 Pro on that drive and
recovered all my files.
I then repartitioned the drive and formated.
Ran a clean Windows XP install and all seems good now.
Thanks for your help everyone.
I guess this goes to show that the MSKBID for 0x8E isn't
exactly accurate.
My advice to anyone who's gonna upgrade memory with a
similar configuration then mine, backup everything first
and prepare for a reinstall.
Regards,
Ian Mageau
>-----Original Message-----
>My computer was running ok. But I did have an extra 1GB
>of DDR RAM on the shelf. So I figured I'd install it.
>
>After I did, I booted up and everything went through
POST
>no problem. It loaded Windows XP no problem. And I got
>the welcome screen. I chose my user as normal and
entered
>my password. Then I got 0x0000008E STOP MESSAGE.
>
>I rebooted, and instead this time when I logged in I got
>an error saying "A problem is preventing windows from
>accurately checking the license for this computer.". And
>no option to correct it. Reboot again and let chkdsk go
>through. Now we're back to the STOP message.
>
>I hopped on the MS knowledgebase through another PC and
>found out that error means either 1) Faulty RAM module
or
>2) RAM Configuration incompatible with Windows XP.
>
>I said OK... I tried switching the 2 modules in diff
dimm
>slots. I tried going down to 1x 512MB module. Tested
both
>modules. And since I was getting no results I deviced to
>go back to my original RAM configuration. SAME problem.
>Again same, switch modules, try one by one routing. To
no
>avail.
>
>So I gave up. But I still need some of the information
on
>that disk and I can't get it using this windows
>installation.
>
>So here I am trying to install Windows XP. I've tried
>booting up, selecting repair existing, booting up, new
>install (same path) and new install (new path). And
every
>time... no matter how many times I repeat those steps I
>always end up getting "Setup has made changes to your
>drive, please reboot". And sometimes Setup tries to be
>original and throws in a PFN_LIST_CORRUPT Stop Message.
>Which according to what I could find is a Win2000 error,
>not WinXP.
>
>Any ideas???
>
>Please help. I'm at a loss here...
>.
>