Hard Drive and CD-ROM Boot Problem

[Serendipiter]

I have a Dell Latitude E6500 laptop. One day I turned on the power and got a blue screen with STOP: 0x0000007B. I was able to re-boot the machine with a bootable flash drive. I have not been able to get the hard drive to boot (same blue screen error). Also, I have not been able to boot with a Windows XP installation disk (it starts loading and then crashes the same way as when attempting a boot with the hard drive - blue screen).

I can boot from the Windows disk using another computer. Also, If I connect the laptop SATA hard drive (removed from the laptop) using a SATA Wire cable to the USB port of another computer I can read/write the hard drive.

So, with the laptop I can boot with the flash drive, but not with the Windows XP DVD/CD-ROM drive or the hard drive. Any suggestions?

 

[kjv1611]

Things to think about:
1. Did you make ANY changes to the BIOS before this occurred?
2. Can you think of any possible way either or both the hard drive and dvd drive have been jostled so as to not be connected properly (very doubtful this is the issue, honestly)
3. Checked the memory? You can download a memory scanner, or an all-in-one cd that includes a memory scanner, and scan the RAM for errors. Also, along those lines, try running with only one stick at a time, if you have more than one piece of memory, if that is a possibility. On occasion, a memory scan won't show errors, but the system will have stability issues with one piece of RAM when it begins to fail.
4. Overheating? I wouldn't think so, since it will load from a flash drive, but just another thing to consider.
5. Have you tried ANOTHER CD to boot the system? Maybe a Linux Distro or two?
6. If you pull the hard drive out all together, so physically remove the hard drive, are you then able to boot with the Windows CD?

Sounds like a pain of an issue to track down, but these are some initial thoughts I could think of in case you missed any.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[goombawaho]

All the above, memory test then hard drive test. The drive could be starting to get toasty even though you can see data when connected via usb. I'd get your data backed up if you don't have a good recent backup and then continue troubleshooting. I would say it's a 75% chance that you have bad memory or a bad HDD.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Serendipiter]

Response to kjv1611 - Thank you for the suggestions.

Item 1 - No change to BIOS. I was the only user. I had used it the day before for standard e-mail, word processing, etc.
Item 2 - Not likely. I had not moved the laptop for a while.
Item 3 - I could do more memory tests, however, I did check the memory and found no problems. And, after booting with the flash drive the computer functions normally.
Item 4 - I doubt that there is any issue with overheating. It works fine when I boot with the flash drive. And, after booting with the flash drive I can leave it powered on for a long time and there are no problems.
Item 5 - I am able to boot with a different CD. The CD that I can boot with is Hiren's BootCD. Also, the flash drive has the same Hiren's BootCD files on it.
Item 6 - I tried booting with the Windows XP CD with the laptop hard drive removed and it still didn't work (blue screen).

 

[Serendipiter]

Response to goombawaho - Thank you for your suggestions.

I've already re-formatted the hard drive at this point and I'm using a different computer with my backed-up files. If I knew for sure that the problem was with the hard drive I'd just get another hard drive and give the laptop to my wife or daughter. The fact that the laptop doesn't boot with the Windows XP CD makes me think the problem is elsewhere. All memory tests that I have run have passed. I am running memory tester software now, continuously (it doesn't stop, it just keeps running the tests) and all tests pass.

 

[goombawaho]

What memory test did you use? Recommend memtest 386+

http://www.memtest.org/

This doesn't make much sense because if it boots from Hiren CD then I don't understand why it would pick on windows XP CD.

What is the blue screen message exactly?
What is the sata controller set as in the BIOS? (AHCI, IDE, RAID)
Have you tried booting to built-in Dell diagnostics if the partition is still there?
>Restart the computer.
>As the computer boots, press < F12 > when the Dell Splash Screen appears.
>When the Boot menu appears, highlight the Boot to Utility Partition option, or the Diagnostics option and then press < Enter > to start the 32-bit Dell Diagnostics.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Serendipiter]

I installed non-Windows software (Hiren's Boot) on the hard drive and I am able to boot with the hard drive. So, I can boot from DVD/CD drive, flash drive and hard drive with non-Windows software, but not with Windows XP software.

In response to goombawaho:
The blue screen message is STOP: 0x0000007B (0xF78D663C,0xC0000034,0x00000000,0x00000000)

I've tried Dell Diagnostics and not received any test failures. There was no Boot to Utility Partition Option

 

[goombawaho]

The following two items can both cause blue screens.
What is the sata controller set as in the BIOS?
Try booting from the XP cd with the setting in ATA

Link

look in the BIOS under System Configuration - SATA operations. ATA is the standard old style and AHCI requires new drivers. IRRT is Intel's Rapid Restore Technology and is the latest option.

Standard XP installed (say from a CD) will run fine using ATA, AHCI will require 3rd party storage drivers to be loaded, and I think IRRT will too.

If you haven't done a hard drive test, that is the next thing to do.
It will be available for your hard drive on the following CD (Mirror Sites further down the page: Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Serendipiter]

BIOS offers ATA, AHCI and IRRT. All cause the same problem.

 

[goombawaho]

Are you using a generic cd labeled windows XP or a Dell Windows XP? What version of XP - SP3? The generic windows XP CD probably does not have the correct drivers as many posts talk about. The Dell CD would.

1.Download and extract this file "Intel_Rapid-Storage-Technolo_A04_R264761.exe" from
Link
2.Put files on internal or external USB floppy drive
3.Make sure you are in ATA mode before you boot with XP CD
4.Hit F6 when prompted during XP CD booting
5.Point to drivers on floppy, try each one until you hit a winner

OR if you don't have a floppy driver you'll have to slipstream the drivers into a Windows XP CD
Link



"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Serendipiter]

Windows XP SP1 on a DELL CD.
I probably won't get to try the suggestion until after I get back next week from traveling.

 

[goombawaho]

You should probably just take the time to slipstream that CD into an XP SP3 CD WITH the drivers I noted added to it. It will take care of the 20 minute SP3 install.

On another note: When are you getting off XP. This is a lot of work to do for an obsolete/unsupported O.S.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Serendipiter]

Do you know if Windows 7 or 8 will run well on this older, slower computer?

Also, I have some old software that I still need and I haven't been able to get it to run on a computer running Windows 7.

 

[goombawaho]

I just loaded Windows 7 64-bit on a customer's Dell Latitude E6500 with 4GB RAM and it ran just fine. It DID have a hybrid hard drive ($79 at New Egg: Seagate ST1000DX001) which would make it run a bit faster than a straight spinning drive. But that would be a good upgrade to keep your machine going for a while.

Run this first to see what in your system is NOT Windows 7 compatible
Link

As to program compatibility, you'd better figure that out first. Download and look at this:
Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[kjv1611]

If you have a disk already of Win 7 or Win 8 (or wanted to download the beta of Win 10 and burn to disk, that would be a good test, whether you used them or not.

Also, wouldn't hurt installing say Ubuntu Linux for a while and see if you get issues there.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[Serendipiter]

I can try more things when I get back home next week.

 

[Jeepix]

Did you try booting from the XP CD and going to command line mode (Recovery Mode)?:

Use FIXBOOT and FIXMBR (use /? to see the switches).

I've recovered hard drives that bombed the boot sector and gave me that error using the above.

-Jeepix