XP SP2 update causes 0xc000021a blue screen and PC unbootable

I tried applying the SP2 upgrade to my XP Pro computer and now the computer
will not boot--even in safe mode. Instead it displays the following error
messages just before the login prompt:

STOP: c000021a Fatal System Error
The system manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly
with a status of 0xaaaaaaaa (0xbbbbbbbb, 0xcccccccc). The system has been
shut down.

The computer then reboots and repeats the process again in an infinite loop.

All of the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles and newsgroup posts I found on
repairing this problem assume that you can boot your computer to make changes
or download updates from the web. My computer does not boot. I cannot run
Windows.

Is there anyway to repair this problem without doing a fresh Windows XP
install? Some articles describe a Windows repair called an "in-place upgrade
(reinstallation)" of Windows XP. If I follow that procedure it sounds like I
will lose my installed applications and will have to re-install everything.

Is there no better way?

hi,

if you have installed "Go Back" software you may encounter error
"0XC000021A. to fix this problem try the following KB.

GoBack Causes a Stop Error C000021a
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316503

if you are not using "Go Back" then you may try system restore feature on
Windows XP.

please let me know if you need further help on using system restore feature
on Windows XP.



Thank You,


Harish.G

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

I have not installed GoBack software of any kind. Running System Restore was
one of my first ideas as well but my computer no longer boots into Windows so
I don't know of any way to run it.

The only solution I know of is to wipe the hard drive clean and start over.
Unfortunately, it takes me about 10 hours to install Windows XP, all the
updates, the latest drivers for everything, setup all the accounts and e-mail
services, configure Media Player, Internet Explorer, etc. and re-install 45
applications.

Please let me know if there is a better way. Thanks so much for your help.

"Harish.G [MSFT]" wrote:

> hi,
>
> if you have installed "Go Back" software you may encounter error
> "0XC000021A. to fix this problem try the following KB.
>
> GoBack Causes a Stop Error C000021a
> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=316503
>
> if you are not using "Go Back" then you may try system restore feature on
> Windows XP.
>
> please let me know if you need further help on using system restore feature
> on Windows XP.
>
>
>
> Thank You,
>
>
> Harish.G
>
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

Hi,

I recommend consider reinstalling operating system as last resort. Even
thought the system is not booting it is possible to run system restore.

Follow the steps given below.
1. Go to safe mode command prompt at bootup.
2. Enter administrator user name and password.
3. run the following command with out using quotes
"%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe"
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to restore to the previous restore
point.

Hope the suggested steps helps! Please let me know if you need further
assistance.



Thank You,


Harish.G

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Thanks again for your help.

Currently my computer will not boot in any mode including:

1. Safe mode
2. Safe mode with command prompt
3. Last known good configuration
4. Debugging mode
etc.

Is there anyway to run System Restore without booting, such as from the
recovery console by booting the Windows XP CD?

Thanks, MarkG

I tried uninstalling SP2 following the instructions in Microsoft Knowledge
Base article #875350. Since I cannot boot Windows XP, I used the Windows XP
CD to launch Recovery Console and try the fourth method described in the
article. It did not work because the uninstall directory
$ntservicepackuninstall$ does not exist in my C:\Windows directory as
described in the article.

I'm hoping to hear back from you today if you have other ideas. If not,
I'll try an in-place repair as described in article #315341 using my Windows
XP CD. If that doesn't work, I'll reformat the hard drive and re-install
Windows XP from scratch.

Please let me know if you think there's a better option.

"MarkG" wrote:

> Thanks again for your help.
>
> Currently my computer will not boot in any mode including:
>
> 1. Safe mode
> 2. Safe mode with command prompt
> 3. Last known good configuration
> 4. Debugging mode
> etc.
>
> Is there anyway to run System Restore without booting, such as from the
> recovery console by booting the Windows XP CD?
>
> Thanks, MarkG