Shoutbox

I've got this same problem now and found this topic via yahoo search. I'm using someone else's computer to speak here.

Now, like an idiot, I installed a custom theme patcher (UX Theme Patcher by SP3 or w/e) and it screwed my whole pc, causing the whole c000021a fatal system error.

Again, like an idiot, I figured out that psapi.dll was the culprit file that needed to be dealt with, but instead of figuring out how to replace it with a properly functioning psapi.dll file, I deleted it. >_>..

My question is, how can I use the OS Recovery Console to add in a new psapi.dll to my c:\windows\system32\ directory?

I know the command, but I don't know what the location of the psapi.dll on the diskette is to copy it to c:\windows\system32...  ( i.e., copy [from disk psapi.dll] c:\windows\system32\ and press enter. )

...hopefully I make sense. o_O..  HOPEFULLY SOMEONE CAN HELP ME .__., .. !

Thanks for reading!

Hello every1 ,

Well i couldn't keep still when I fixed this one so i decided to register and help you out (for windows XP SP 2 users only )

So basically, it is possible to access the system in safe mode, and open the minidump file and find out which driver or file causes this blue screen "c000021a".

WHY AND HOW
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The faulty file is called "ntoskrnl.exe" and is part of the windows operating sytem. What happened is this: Basically, whenever you go online (Switching your pc on and it connects to the internet OR you plug in your cable/internet connection etc) the OS downloads updates from the internet and tells you later "updates ready for installation". Usually this goes fine, but sometimes it might cause problems. Sometimes updates clash with other software or are downloaded incorrectly due to internet network bandwidth instability or other issues that might cause the download to be corrupt when it download.

HOW TO FIX
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1.) Firstly, start the machine in safe mode. To do this, start the PC up and keep pressing "F8" to open the "Advanced Boot up options" screen. Then select "Safe mode" from the list. Your pc should then start in safemode.

2.)When on the desktop after loading, navigate to
"C:\Windows\prefetch" and delete its entire contents.

3.)Navigate to your "C:\Windows\minidump" directory , change the view to "Details" , and sort the window by "Date Created" so that the recent minidump.dmp file is on top of the list. Then compare the dates of the minidump files and find the last one in the list that has the same "size" as the first one.

4.)Then, open your control panels and open "add and remove programs".

5.)Check the checkbox "Show updates".

6.)Scroll down to "Windows Upates" and find the entry/installation where the date installed is close to the creation date of the mindump files that you have observed in step 3.

7.)Uninstalled said update, there are likely more then 2 (I had to uninstall 12 updates) and confirm requests of system and remember to check the checkbox "Do not restart now" so that you dont have to restart every time when you uninstall one update.

8.)When you are done with all that uninstalling of the updates you will notice (or maybe not) that one installation will have included the "ntoskrnl.exe" file removal which should indicate to you already that you have won

9.)Navigate back into "C:\Windows\Minidump" and delete all the samesized minidump files exept one ,because they contain the same info on the same file/issue.

10.)Now, restart your machine BUT use "F8" again to get to the "Advanced options" like in step 1 with the only difference being that NOW you select "last known good configeration", and let the machine boot in like that now

PREVENTION AND NOT-HAPPEN-AGAIN
===============================================
Well the updates as said cause the problem. If you do manual update from the windows update site, it should work fine OR have a CD that already has an updated service pack 3 or 2 that you need.

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Originally posted by Joshua

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Originally posted by coven08

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Originally posted by nimicitor

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Originally posted by coven08
Look for C:/Windows/minidump

When do I type that?

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Look for the folder titled 'minidump' in 'C:/Windows'

The files inside tell you what caused the errors.

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I can't access my computer either cause it just restarts on it own when the wallpaper shows up.

Lots of other people solved this problem by changing RAM do you think it might work?

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If the computer is low on ram, then it MAY work. But if it is another problem, it may not really work..

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My RAM is 512 MB.

BTW I got the fatal system error problem because of a virus, so do you know if changing the RAM might work.

is there anything you can do if you cannot get into command prompt to type things in? unfortunately my cd drive is not working so i assume i'll need to get an external one to fix this.

Hi everyone.
c000021a error can be anything you just can imagine:  hardware, software, driver, update, you name it. In my case it was update “Lela” for Linksys Wireless-G Router WRT54G2 “Linksys EasyLink Advisor”. There is no universal solution to solve this problem. Honestly, this is real pain in the ass. Good luck.

Dear All,
I am having the same more or less problem with the rest of the people here. When booting to windows xp I get a blue screen and a message like this
STOP: c000021a (Fatal System error)
The windows subsystem system process terminated unexpectedly with a status 0xc0000005 (0x7c9106c3 0x0053ec24)
The system has been shut down.

I tried using the safe mode and removing the last program Microsoft SQL Express 2005 server that I've installed and after which I was getting this message but without any success. The system immediately crashes and i get the same blue screen.
People do you have any ideas of what i could do to fix this???
It's kind of urgent so I would appreciate any quick responses.
thank you all again
eveve

quote:

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Originally posted by Alex K
Hi everyone.
c000021a error can be anything you just can imagine:  hardware, software, driver, update, you name it. In my case it was update “Lela” for Linksys Wireless-G Router WRT54G2 “Linksys EasyLink Advisor”. There is no universal solution to solve this problem. Honestly, this is real pain in the ass. Good luck.

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YES. This post is exactly correct. If you got here through google, don't bother, because nobody here is going to be able to fix your problem. Errors like this are almost impossible to diagnose without physical access to your computer.

There are a few general things you can try, though:

- Unplug every non-essential device plugged into your computer (e.g., leave only the screen and power cables connected)

- Download memtest+ on another computer, copy it to a floppy disk, USB drive or CD, and run it on your computer

- Repair windows. If it still isn't working, reformat windows completely. If you can't even get into windows setup, erase your hard drive with a utility like the gparted live cd and then try.

- Take off your computer's case, and pop out the CMOS battery (watch battery) for 30-60 seconds, and put it back in. Then try again.

- Take off your computer's case, and remove any non-essential expansion cards. Take out all the RAM but one stick. unplug any CD/DVD drives or hard drives, other than the ones you're using to install windows.

- Throw out your computer and get a new one

quote:

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Originally posted by ShawnZ

quote:

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Originally posted by Alex K
Hi everyone.
c000021a error can be anything you just can imagine:  hardware, software, driver, update, you name it. In my case it was update “Lela” for Linksys Wireless-G Router WRT54G2 “Linksys EasyLink Advisor”. There is no universal solution to solve this problem. Honestly, this is real pain in the ass. Good luck.

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YES. This post is exactly correct. If you got here through google, don't bother, because nobody here is going to be able to fix your problem. Errors like this are almost impossible to diagnose without physical access to your computer.

There are a few general things you can try, though:

- Unplug every non-essential device plugged into your computer (e.g., leave only the screen and power cables connected)

- Download memtest+ on another computer, copy it to a floppy disk, USB drive or CD, and run it on your computer

- Repair windows. If it still isn't working, reformat windows completely. If you can't even get into windows setup, erase your hard drive with a utility like the gparted live cd and then try.

- Take off your computer's case, and pop out the CMOS battery (watch battery) for 30-60 seconds, and put it back in. Then try again.

- Take off your computer's case, and remove any non-essential expansion cards. Take out all the RAM but one stick. unplug any CD/DVD drives or hard drives, other than the ones you're using to install windows.

- Throw out your computer and get a new one

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I'll try repairing windows first and then if that doesn't work I'll do the formatting..... Let's hope that I won't need to go to the last solution
Let you all,
Thank you

hello all i have a problem with my laptop...i log on to my laptop it showes up my wall paper my icon but not my menu bar the it comes up a blue screen saying stuff




please help me