supra dan Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 my pc packed up, i thought it was the hard drive so i fitted a new one it still wont work. i get a blue screen when windows starts with the error message PFN_LIST_CORRUPT **STOP:0X0000004C (0X0000008F,0X0005DC46,0X0005DCC6,0X00000000) anyone of you brainy people help? please remember i am a technical numpty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallshinyant Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 sorry i just gotta check, if you swapped the hard drive and still got a blue screen. what is windows loaded on to? 1st step. try getting into safe mode. Once you turn the machine on keep tapping the F8 key about once a second until you get a list of start up options, then choose safe mode. there is a correct point to press the key but its easy to miss. see if that gets you into a working enviroment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra dan Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 i cant get safe mode.it started doing it about a week ago but reboot sorted it. now it wont. as soon as you get the moving bar that windows is loading i get the blue error screen. i tried loading windows from the disc, doesnt help. its xp by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 How many hard drives do you have? Which one(s) did you swap out? If you changed the primary drive and reinstalled windows this would tend to lead to a memory fault. If you can get windows to start run memtest to check the physical status of the memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 You haven't got a USB key/drive plugged in have you? I've seen that do weird things... no CD's in the drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra dan Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 only had one drive. no discs in. i cant get past the loading screen it starts to load then goes to the error screen. thanks for all the help guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 If you can get windows to start run memtest to check the physical status of the memory. It's best if you don't start windows for running memtest86. What you have there, sir, is known as a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD). It's a low level error (that means it's serious enough or occurs early enough in the boot process to cause the computer to completely stop what it was doing). It's probably either a corrupt hard disk, or as Homer suggests broken RAM. RAM can be tested with a free utility called memtest86. Google it, download it onto a floppy disk or memory stick and let it run: no need to specify any options. It'll run until you turn the PC off at the switch. Let it run for at least 1 complete cycle. To check the hard disk I would use something like chkdsk on a DOS boot floppy or bootable CD. If both the RAM and hard disk comes back clean, I would re-install Windows XP from scratch onto the hard disk, formatting it first. This will wipe anything already on there, so we'll need to scratch our heads a bit more if you need any data already on your disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Could be memory. If you can boot into the BIOS there is normally a memtest utility. \run all the diagnostics if you can. Otherwise try removing all the ram and try booting and then adding and rebooting etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkR Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 doh, beaten to it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra dan Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 ok cheers i will try it tomorrow and report back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevie_b Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Just googled the specific error, and came up with this amongst others: http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winxp/t1034931646 Looks like the most common cause is faulty RAM. Let memtest86 run for a few cycles if it hasn't already found any errors (I imagine it'll find error(s) on the 1st cycle). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Well I was coming to what Stevie b posted, but he's covered it in one It's very, very likely to be a RAM issue. Not sure how competent you are with PC hardware, but if you open the case are there one, two or more memory sticks inserted? If there is more than one, can you grab a quick pic and post on here? It's likely that one ram module is faulty, so if you have multiple ones you can do a trial and error test on each one and see if it boots. Once you find the faulty one you can at least get the PC working and order a replacement (or pair of the PC runs interleaved) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gambit Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Blue screen is normally caused by a bad driver or a memory hole (memory failure) if it's memory it's common that a hair has got on the points. remove the memory stick, clean the contacts and clean the slot. old tooth brush is good for the slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamanC Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 As Gabit says try removing RAM (trying 1 at a time if more than one). Memtest needs to run for 48 hours to give a clear indication. Less if it fails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra dan Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 thankyou all guys, was indeed the ram. i took all 3 gig out then just used one and worked first time with the new hard drive. still does it with the old hard drive tho which is a pity but its working again thats the main thing. thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.