I receive the following stop error when trying to install Windows XP: Stop: 0x0000007B

Anonymous

I need help with this error code: Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7C85524,0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x000000000)

I'm a Microsoft Answers noob. I have an old computer I'm trying to reinstall Windows XP on. It's a Dell XPS Dimension 3 (3.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4, 1G RAM). It won't boot normally or in Safe Mode. I have tried using Fixmbr, Fixboot, Bootcfg /rebuild, chkdsk /r, Memtest86, Killdisk. I have tried installing using another hard drive (which leads me to believe it might be a hardware issue). It gave the same error code, I believe, although I didn't write it down. The only thing I've found that I haven't tried is "How to recover from a corrupted registry that prevents Windows XP from starting" since it says that it won't work on OEM devices. The error code is Stop: 0x0000007B (0xF7C85524,0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x000000000). I tried installing Ubuntu on both drives and they installed and worked properly. I don't know what else to try except hardware troubleshooting, although I'm not too good with hardware issues. If you have any recommendations that might put me closer to a resolution I would greatly appreciate it!

P.S. Windows XP actually ran on the second hard drive I tried (which is currently the drive in the machine right now). I installed it and it booted straight into Windows. Yay! I rebooted this setup many times with no problems. But I had an issue with Microsoft Security Essentials updating so I thought a clean install would be better. In retrospect I wish I had tried harder to fix that issue but I didn't. The first hard drive incurred a Windows crash that caused me to upgrade to a Windows 7 machine. This was over 1.5 years ago. I just thought the full back story might help.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

I wanted to post this update to help people that may experience this problem in the future. I finally got it to work. After many combinations and permutations, I ended up having a “NTLDR is missing” error message. I used this link

http://tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm

I followed the instructions, made sure I had a version of Windows XP installed on the hard drive [after using Killdisk many times], and changed the boot preference to Drive>SATA operation>RAID Autodetect/ATA. I booted the FixNTLDRiso disk and after the first run rebooted and VOILA! My computer booted into Windows. Yay!!

After installing all the Windows updates its still working like a charm. Hope this helps!!

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Anonymous

Hi,

I am close to certain (but experience tells me very little is 100% certain), that a generic windows installation CD will install without the need for F6 diskette, provided that BIOS is set to RAID Autodetect/ATA (or possibly 'combination'). AHCI is a more efficient disk access method but does require F6 diskette or slipstreaming. If the CD is already slipstreamed for your PC, AHCI should work without F6. Given that you say your BIOS defaults to RAID Autodetect/AHCI, I would expect a CD targeted specifically for your system to support this, whereas a generic CD would not.

I doubt that they will provide F6 diskette but you never know. If you don't ask you probably won't get.

You can mark replies in this thread as 'Answers'...

...but if memory serves me correctly you can only mark a maximum of 2 'Answers'. I would suggest my final diagnosis (and maybe my first reply) as candidates but this is entirely at your discretion. You may even want to hold off on marking 'answers' until you get another CD from Dell and try it. This also helps other people who are looking at this thread hoping to find a solution to 7B stops.

You can designate any other replies as helpful if you think that it is approriate.

Tricky

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Anonymous

Hi,

Did this PC originally have Vista or Win7 installed?

I have seen the 0x0000007B BSOD caused by trying to install XP to a hard drive whilst BIOS is designating the drive as AHCI instead of IDE. XP does not have native AHCI drivers and the consequence is a 7B stop.

If BIOS is set to AHCI, change the BIOS setting to IDE/ATA.

There are other options but research on the Dell website leads me to suspect that these might prove problematical. Can you confirm whether or not your PC has a floppy disk drive (the Dell picture makes me think it doesn't).

Tricky

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93 additional answers

Anonymous

2012-06-09T20:40:14+00:00
Hi,

I'm afraid that I cannot predict what Dell may offer you. Either 1 or 2 would get the job done. Either may require an F6 dirver diskette but, as I have already said, if they supply option 1, I would expect that it would incorporate the necessary AHCI drivers (because you have stated that this is the default BIOS setting), but this may not be the case.

An F6 driver diskette does not install Windows, it just provides drivers that are not part of the installation CD. You already have one of these anyway but, if you don't ask for one, Dell probably won't give you one. Asking for one does not mean that Dell will give you one.

When you get the CD, because it is a more efficient method of controlling the disk drive, the first thing to try is BIOS set to AHCI. As stated above, if they supply option 1, I would hope that it will incorporate AHCI drivers but this may not be the case and you may have to use your F6 diskette or the one that they provide. If they supply option 2, it will almost certainly require that you use an F6 diskette.

If BIOS set to AHCI does not work, then try (in turn) ATA and 'combination'. Neither should require use of an F6 diskette.

The best installation will be with AHCI set in BIOS but if you have to revert to ATA or 'combination', so be it. What I said for your current installation CD applies equally to whatever they send to you. To prevent stop 7B (if you get it) you must do one of the following...
1. Set the BIOS to ATA
2. Use an F6 driver diskette
3. Create a slipstreamed CD from the new installation CD and the contents of the F6 driver diskette
I should also have said earlier that if you reply to this thread I will pick it up and run with it for you. The best bet would be to post a new question and paste the link to it in a reply to this thread. I will then start replying to the new thread.

Tricky
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Anonymous

2012-06-09T20:27:21+00:00

My answer was perfectly clear. Choose ALL. I do not mean that harmfully or sarcastically. You have received some great advice which should prove to be a learning platform. However, you have gone around the mountain only to end up at the valley.
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