Hi. I was given a laptop, because it was getting a strange error (stop c00021a unknown hard error). He has a Dell Inspiron 9300, running some version of XP, and that's all that I know.
When you turn on his computer, you see the Dell startup-screen for a second, and then it automatically brings you to the prompt that says "stop c00021a unknown hard error" window. There are obviously 5 options: Safe Mode, SM with Networking, SM with Command Prompt, Last Known Good Configuration, and Start Windows Normally. Each one of those brings me to the blue screen that says:
STOP: c000021 Unknown Hard Error
\SystemRoot\System32\ntdll.dll
I searched on other forums, and it seems that this is what people have done to fix this: either try to Repair Windows, reinstall Windows, manually replace ntdll.dll (if they can actually get into Windows, which I can't), or do something with their memory cards, I'm not sure what.
So here's my question: first of all, are those approaches I listed correct? And 2nd, I don't want to have to mess with my friend's memory if I don't have to...I'm not too much of a tech person. I do, however, have my family's Windows XP Home Edition install CD with me....if I put that into his computer, and try to repair Windows, would that work?
Thanks for the help...if you need any clarification, I'll be glad to give it.
When you turn on his computer, you see the Dell startup-screen for a second, and then it automatically brings you to the prompt that says "stop c00021a unknown hard error" window. There are obviously 5 options: Safe Mode, SM with Networking, SM with Command Prompt, Last Known Good Configuration, and Start Windows Normally. Each one of those brings me to the blue screen that says:
STOP: c000021 Unknown Hard Error
\SystemRoot\System32\ntdll.dll
I searched on other forums, and it seems that this is what people have done to fix this: either try to Repair Windows, reinstall Windows, manually replace ntdll.dll (if they can actually get into Windows, which I can't), or do something with their memory cards, I'm not sure what.
So here's my question: first of all, are those approaches I listed correct? And 2nd, I don't want to have to mess with my friend's memory if I don't have to...I'm not too much of a tech person. I do, however, have my family's Windows XP Home Edition install CD with me....if I put that into his computer, and try to repair Windows, would that work?
Thanks for the help...if you need any clarification, I'll be glad to give it.
