My system just crashed

F

farmerjohn1324

Member
My system stopped responding and I was forced to turn it off by just using the power button.

When I tried to restart, it wouldn't start XP until the 3rd or 4th try. It gave me a message saying....

"Memory write/read failure at 1FFF0000, read FFFEFFFF expecting FF10FF10 Memory address line failure at 1FFF0000, read FF10FF10 expecting 00000000
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility"

...and...

"Windows could not start because the following file is corrupt:
system32\DRIVERS\pic.sys

"You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM.
Select 'r' at the first screen to start repair."

What's going on? Is there any way to reload XP without having the disc?
 
Is there a recovery partition on your hard drive? When you see your BIOS splash screen does it tell you which key to press for a recovery installation of XP?
 
As soon as you turn on the laptop you should see a screen with the manufacturer logo on it. At the bottom of that screen (and it only appears for a few seconds) it may say something like 'Press F1 for setup' and/or 'Press F10 for recovery' (for example).

BUT, XP suddenly dying on this laptop gives you a great excuse to upgrade to something better. As we have said to you, get a refurbished laptop. You needn't spend more than $300 on it. You WILL be better off.

So personally I wouldn't bother with this laptop anymore. Forget about it and throw it away! :cool:
 
Well you said your laptop had actually been assembled from old parts so you probably son't have the recovery partition that I mentioned.

So you will need an XP disc unfortunately because that is the only way to reinstall it otherwise. :(

You could try Ubuntu or another Linux on here for the time being: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop/thank-you?country=GB&version=14.04.1&architecture=i386 it's free so download the ISO, burn it to a CD, boot off the CD and install it. Ubuntu is another operating system in case you're unsure.

It won't run amazingly well on your system but it should be OK as a temporary fix.

If you like it you can install it on your new machine when you get it (but you'll want the 64-bit version). You can install VLC Media Player on this to play DVDs. :good:
 
Well if you haven't got the means to reinstall XP how are you going to do it?

And no on this occasion it's not because of a lack of RAM. It looks like pic.sys file got corrupt (somehow) and is preventing Windows from booting up.
 
Oh, well XP eventually restarted. That's how I'm on it right now. Can I download a new pic.sys from somewhere? Can you send me yours? Want my email? Does it work that way?

How could it have got corrupt? I have antivirus software and I don't download anything that I shouldn't.
 
If it now works fine I wouldn't worry. I don't run XP anymore so I couldn't send you one.
 
It would be pci.sys not pic.sys. it's a system driver. Could be the beginning of ram failure.
 
I have always used Windows operating systems. Do you think other ones, such as Linux or Ubuntu, are better? Would they run all my programs such as MS Office, etc.?

Is there any place you know of that I can download pic.sys?
 
The error you got doesn't necessarily mean that the file listed is what causing your issue. The system just errored on that file. Like I said, this is most likely a ram issue.

Since the system is working fine now, there really is nothing to do. Start saving your money for a better machine.
 
If you used Ubuntu you wouldn't need MS Office because Ubuntu comes with LibreOffice.

But if your system [XP] is now working again then don't worry about it. Keep using it until you can get a new machine.
 
I will probably buy that $200 system that was suggested. It has 4gb of RAM.

Is that enough to run a browser with 8 tabs, one of them playing a video, play a dvd, run Google Earth, a kik emulator, and MS Excel at the same time?

I just need to be sure my machine will still be with me in extreme conditions.

If not 4gb, how much RAM would I need to do a thing like that?
 
I reckon 4GB should be fine. If not then you can probably upgrade that machine to 6GB or 8GB, but I don't think you'll need to.

Although the Core 2 Duo Dell should be OK, if you wanted to future-proof yourself a bit more you could get one with an i5 and 4GB of RAM (quite a bit faster than the Core 2 Duo): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...atitude_i5_refurbished-_-34-300-054-_-Product

But if you can't afford it then the $200 Core 2 Duo one will still be a huge upgrade for you.
 
Put you windows cd in the computer
Open command prompt as and admin
Type
sfc /scannow
Hit enter and let it finish
Restart and fully update windows
 
If you got windows operating again, start getting your important files that you want to keep off that computer. Copy it to a cd or dvd if you have a re-writable or get a flash (pen) drive to get the stuff off. Just is case.
 
Yes, I got all my important files on an SD card.

So is there any way to reload XP or run sfc /scannow without having the disc. I think the disc is at my cousin's house in New Jersey (I am in Florida), so I could probably get it if I absolutely have to.
 
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