What is a bad pool header and how do I fix it?

Anonymous

Windows has been taking 30 or so minutes to start. I've tried repairing it but nothing seems to work and now I'm getting a blue screen that says "bad pool header".

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Anonymous

Hi,

Have you made any changes to the computer prior to the issue?
Do you get any specific error codes?

A pool header issue is a problem with Windows memory allocation. Device driver issues are probably the most common, but this can have diverse causes including bad sectors or other disk write issues, and problems with some routers. (By theory, RAM problems would be suspect for memory pool issues).

Method 1:

Disconnect any external devices connected to the computer except the mouse and keyboard, check what happens.

With Windows 7, you can run a check disk from system recovery options using command prompt.

Refer the article mentioned below:

What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/What-are-the-system-recovery-options-in-Windows-7

Method 2:

If the above step fails follow the steps:

Step 1:

Restart computer in safe mode and check if the issue persists. Follow the steps in the link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

Step 2:

If safe mode works restart computer in clean boot and check if the issue persists.Follow “step 1” in the link to enable to clean boot:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Follow the step 7 from the article to “Reset the computer to start as usual”, after performing the clean boot troubleshooting.

Method 3:

If the above step fails follow the steps in the link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Resolving-stop-blue-screen-errors-in-Windows-7

Hope this helps.

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49 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-06-07T12:05:36+00:00

If you have AVG instealled try removing it.
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Anonymous

2016-04-02T23:37:03+00:00

I read all 3 sections about the bad pool header and all I read was about Win 7, 8, 8.1, and win 10 so did Microsoft remove all the answers concerning Win XP Pro w SP3 off line.

I mean that didn't have to answer any more question but good grief what harm would there have been to let the answers ride along with the later versions.

Dang I have Vista ultimate, Win 7 ultimate, and a legal copy of Win 10 that I particularly do not care for. I have Win 7 ultimate of my 2 laptops that I play with getting used to the program.

Heck when Win XP pro came out I was still using Win 98 for 1 or 2 years before I made the complete switch to Win XP and sorry Microsoft but my main unit that has a I-7 chip on a DH87MC MB with 16 gigs memory on it and yes I have 4 extra HD's one of which has Win 7 Ultimate that I boot up once in awhile.

So does anyone have a copy of removing the bad pool header that I can get from anyone here?

I would appreciate it very much.

Thanks
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Anonymous

2015-04-25T08:45:00+00:00

i use windows 8, but i did the method you said and it worked. thanks
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Anonymous

2015-03-24T03:58:07+00:00

Same here, windows 8.1, nothing change before, was playing, the spec are: Dell N5420, 6Gb RAM, 1 Gb VRam, auto update windows, auto update virus (Microsoft n MBAM), but machine was not updating.

When I run memtest, Processor tests, all, all come out w/ Some of time detected as some bad sectors, but some of times nothing...
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