Unable to boot - Safe Mode stops after crcdisk.sys

I've been getting a few computers having this problem.

After searching and trying for hours I descided to reinstall windows.

This actually works fine and while having the "windows.old" folder there's no need to spend hours trying to backup files as you can just copy-paste it from there.

this IS a vista problem. I have never had such a problem using Windows 7.

I have a similar issue with my vista 32 bit laptop hanging after the crcdisk.sys in safe mode. My interest is also about your statement re: "windows.old". Is this created by installing the OS afresh? This is important to me as I have not backed up a lot of very important recent files.

Any help from the community in clarifying this much appreciated.

David

I've also got the crcdisk.sys hanging problem, on a Vista64 system. In my case, it was a combination hardware/software problem, as failing drive sectors took down the driver, I believe.

The drive is fixed, but the driver is still broken. In recovery console, I've tried the auto-fix, I've tried the bootrec commands, chkdsk, and now the remote SFC command. SFC was not able to repair all problems, and the CBS.log is too large to read via DOS in situ to find out which ones.

I think what I need to do is manually replace the crcdisk.sys file offline. Does that sound right? And where would I pull it from. It would have to be an alternative place from the same drive.

I've been getting a few computers having this problem.

After searching and trying for hours I descided to reinstall windows.

This actually works fine and while having the "windows.old" folder there's no need to spend hours trying to backup files as you can just copy-paste it from there.

this IS a vista problem. I have never had such a problem using Windows 7.

Thank you for your reply. I was just about to run the MRT. I checked the date. It is indeed the August 2011 tool, timestamp 2011-07-30 10:40:34 am, Digital Signature is 12:44:15 pm. I have also noticed something that may be the reason that the Windows Updates refuse to run--despite the fact that the Action Center reports nothing amiss/no action needs to be taken; AND the C:\HOTFIX folder contains files with dates no later than April---which means that although my list of installed updates in Control Panel shows 70 updates installed since 9/1, NONE of them have actually taken effect for some reason---most likely due to the certificate validation/timestamping error mentioned in a previous posting. Please pardon the runon sentences and circuitous thought processes, but what I have noticed is that .NET and Visual Studio are completely screwed up in several ways; chiefly among them are timestamping issues and "Compatability" and "Compatability Data". I had an error message in Event Viewer (I had to go scrounging for it; it was hard to find!) that "the 'flavor' or version of Microsoft Visual Studio did not match". When I looked closer, I discovered that I have Visual Studio 2005 and 2008, but data from Visual Studio 2010; with product versions 10.0.30319 and 10.0.30319.1. (Both numbers are product versions; not a product version and a file version) Each is the same for 32-bit and 64-bit. For all this mess, Permissions granted are  'Read' and 'Execute' to IIS_IUSRS (Anonymous Web users)  Granting the Anonymous web user Read and Execute privileges to .Net and Visual Basic applications and data on a machinecan't possibly be a good idea! Correct me if I'm wrong...

(I have no web server enabled on this machine, no remote access applications; it's a standalone system with no home network; built specifically without a wireless card) There is a very long list of such privileges having been granted (not by me!) by the time I received the machine. I noticed something on the new 9/1 HD that wasn't on the OEM Dell HD from 8/16: SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition, which I have read in the bulletin boards as having conflicts with .NET,Visual Studio...I have seen so many conflicts ---including numerous I/O and Memory Resource Conflicts between key system devices that my teeth hurt from all the jaw-clenching!  :-( 

There are also cryptographic applications running that I did not configure; which could indicate to me that I may be 'locked out' of portions/partitions?) of my own hard drive? I have 409 GB free of 452 available GB, on a 500 GB HD--brand new; with basically no data on it yet. I know I'm not going to get every single kb of storage out of this 500GB HD, but how much space can an OS take up?? Certainly not close to 100 GB--there are no on-board backups, and only the Dell diagnostics, etc--which I wonder would even be effective. Kaspersky and TrendMicro Housecall report nothing unusual going on. It's only due to prior experience with oddly-dated timestamps/DigSigs that I even had reason to go snooping aroung. In the earlier case, I had a Vista machine with RunDll32, Consent.exe, et. al with 1969 dates, and MS Visual Basic with a 1904 date. FSUtil.exe had a date of AD 1601. There were other examples on that machine of JDLR--Just Doesn't Look Right---and that machine NEVER went online...Keeping it offline was the only way to prove to the mfr and to the retailer that these "hacks" (for want of a better word) were not the result of "Stupid Human Tricks". Kaspersky picked up 4 critical vulnerabilities on that machine; including a "suspicious' svchost.exe; with 16 month old virus definitions and signatures. I'm not a programmer, but I'm not so much of a neophyte that I can turn a blind eye to these anomalies. I'm a statistician by training, and all of these add up to much more than coincidence!

I'm going to try the Dell Diagnostics and the MRT-- in that order. It may be time to once again ask Dell to 'pretty-please-stop-fannying-about' and provide some of their stellar customer service... I really do appreciate your input. You've given me something to go on---and some hope!

The 1969 dates are really strange ....

Those files should be located under System32 folder.

Mine have 2009-07-14 03:39 as time-stamp which looks reasonable for me. If a rundll32.exe, svchost.exe etc. is found outside System32 folder it is imho a ad-ware, virus or some other usefulness stuff.

If it was a real clean installation without internet access than only the source (DVD) is infected which would be a shame for DELL ...

No updates: You may run a registry clean-up ... Something is really strange on your machine.

Try:

1. Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (MRT.exe - Aug 2011 - timestamp: 2011-07-30 10:40)
2. Install MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) and run a full scan

Good luck!