sooo many problems

Please read I need help bad.

Ok where to start i got my dell did a reformat with my own xp copy, used it for a couple weeks, everythings fine. Turn on my computer one morning windows loads up then freezes wont let me do anything, i restart a few times and nothing. Call dell after runing the diagnostic tesst and geting a bunch of errors related to the hard drive i believe he told me but he says it is fine because my computer would run in safe mode. He wants me to use the dell restore which is gone because i reformated. Soooo i figure i will reformat my drive and re install a fresh copy of xp which i am in the process of doing.

In the reformat i ran through it the first time and something screwed up i got to a screen after the xp logo in startup that said :

Stop: c0000221 {bad image checksum}
the image ntvdm.exe is possibly corrupt. the header checksum does not match the computed checksum.

all of this was using the quick format the ntsf?(not sure). So i figure no prob i will try again with the other format option still ntsf but longer or somthing. So a nice little window pops up saying theres no previous version of windows so i cant upgrade, i dig out a version of windows 95 and fix that. I then choose the second format option and it wont even format it not even 1%.

In conclusion i am on my stupid desktop and i cant even get an operating system on my stupid notebook. It would be great if someone could help. thanks

 

I'd check your RAM first. Google Memtest86 on your desktop. DL it and then follow the instructions to burn it to a CD. Then boot from that CD on your notebook. If you have any RAM problems then get the RAM replaced. This is the easiest first step I can think of for this problem. See the attached link for more solutions from Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=326687

 

You might try reseating the RAM even. The sticks might have gotten lose or something like that.

 

Im not sure if its a comparable test but i have run the memory tests on the dell diagnostic and they checked out but i was getting errors from the hard drive i believe and the dell guy told me to ignore it because it worked in safe mode so i think my ram is fine

 

Trust me, Memtest86 will find errors in your RAM that the Dell diag won't. But, I believe you. Your RAM is probably fine. Your HDD has probably s%$# the bed, but it doesn't hurt to make sure it's not the RAM. Bad RAM can make it seem like the HDD has problems.

I got an idea, test both!!!

You know who made your HDD? If so, goto their website and DL a HDD test that will boot from floppy or CD. If you have a Hitachi, which is what I have, DL from here:
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#Drive fitness

Then run the test. If the HDD is truly fuxxored then call up the Dell guy and tell him that you identified the problem and insist that they send you a replacement HDD shipped next day to you.

Edit: this HDD test software will probably work with any manufacturer's HDD. At least that's what the User's Manual says. I think . . . as long as it's ATA, SATA, or IDE. I don't think I saw PATA drives mentioned.

 

You might also try running the diagnostics of HD Tune.

 

Um Slappy? Did you read his post? He can't get Windows to boot. Sounds like he's stuck after POST. HD Tune can't help him at all as it requires Windows.

 

My error. I did not see that he had not gotten the OS back up.

 

Lets try to help this guy and not attack each other.

You have always been very helpful to NBR, but the personal attacks need to stop.

[edit]
I'm going to move this thread to software since it is a software error. Hopefully, you'll get more users that have run into this problem.

 

I have ran the memtest86 through 2 or 3 passes and everything checked out. Do any of you know how to get the fujitsu hard drive diagnostic to boot from a cd? its an .exe file and it will not boot like the .iso file that the mem test came in.

 

For anyone interested I got the the run around by dell until I got a microsoft representative to confirm that they suck and it was the hard drive. I dont understand why dell would tell me to ignore there own diagnostic telling me the hard drive is screwed and look for software problems. This could have been a one phone call problem instead it turned into 7 hours of tech support and phone transfers. If this doesnt fix it I will cry.

 

that sucks...

I would use their chat program, and just tell them that the diagnostics are saying the HD is wrong and that you want a new harddrive.

Their phone support sucks

 

I am from canada and i dont know if its avaliable here. I did use the microsoft chat support so i dont have to say huh what all the time because i cant understand them. Does any one know if the dell chat support is available in Canada?
By the way thanks for trying to help everyone.