c000021a Fatal System Error

Today when I started up my computer, after the "Dell" prompt screen & the XP prompt screen, it says something about "autochk program not found - skipping autochk", then goes to a blue screen that says:

Code:

STOP: c000021a {Fatal System Error}
The Session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpectedly
with a status of 0xc000003a (0x00000000 0x00000000).
The system has been shut down.

It started up earlier today, and updated a bunch of the anti-virus/spyware stuff on the older desktop. I've been at school so every few weeks I come home when I have time and update the anti-virus stuff on the family computers. I then tried to uninstall the really old Norton program on the system, which didn't really work so I downloaded a Norton Removal Tool from Norton's site ( http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039) and when it finished it said it needed to restart, which I did and promptly got this error message.

I've tried starting from last known configuration & safe mode and got another BSOD. I do have the reinstallation CD, but don't really want to reinstall just yet because I have some important files that I never backed up (I know, I know, stupid of me). Is there anything else I can do or try? Or can I take out the hard drive, put it in another computer to copy the data, then reinstall XP, if so how would I go about doing that?

Not sure what I did wrong but I need some help. Thanks!

 

If you have the WIndows XP CD try the repair option first - Boot with the CD, then select Repair (versus install). That will check the files etc and replace any that got corrupted. (duh - my bad, thinking of the Vista repair feature)

 

I went to the repair option, then it said to choose the path (1 - C:\Windows was the only option), when I clicked that it just brought up a command prompt (unless I'm missing something), and I didn't know how to proceed from there.

 

Try this link for a couple of solutions. May want to look at ways of recovering your data and re-installing. Looking thru various solutions on the web, most of them end with re-installing the OS.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=406596

 

That's what I was afraid of, don't really want to lose the data. Does anyone know how easy it would be to copy it to another computer (if possible at all)? If so how would you go about doing that?

I'll check out that link tomorrow, getting too late tonight to start messing with stuff. Thanks.

 

Check out Puppy Linux (rescue OS) that runs solely in your RAM. Loads and allows you to recover your data by transferring it to another hard drive. It's an option if the repair options don't work.

 

That is because you chose Repair Windows using the recovery console--choose the other option--install windows--then windows will search your drive for windows installations and ask you if you want to repair the existing installation or install a totally new one.

Before doing that, however....

At that prompt that you have in the previous post, type

chkdsk /f
< enter >

let it run,

reboot.

Still no joy, tap f8 and choose LAST KNOW GOOD CONFIGURATION.

Most of the time this error results from malware infecting your logon key in the registry, but it can occur with file system corruption as well.

If both of those fail, THEN do the repair outlines above.

 

Thanks guys, I'll try those suggestions when I back home next weekend.

Thanks again.