do the F8 thing i said earlier, bash6656.

when the pc restarts, hit f8 repeatedly. then select "disable restart on system failure", or something like that. Then you should be able to see what the BSOD error is.

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

PFN_LIST_CORRUPT

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any new installed hardware or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x0000004E (0x0000009A, 0x00027003, 0x00000006, 0x00000002)


Collecting data for crash dump...
Initializing disk for crash dump...
Beginning dump of physical memory.
Dumping physical memory to disk 100
Physical memory dump complete.
Contact your system admin or technical support group for further assistance.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above is what I was able to retrieve, using the suggested F8 and changed setting, from the blue screen of death once the computer locked up again and began it's reboot.

I have no Idea what the PFN_LIST_CORRUPT is never seen that before since this is the only computer I've ever had that did this.

<<I feel in my bones we are getting closer>>

Ok a little research, (its wonderful to own many computers) lead me to #1 maybe a driver problem in the Vista O/S writing bad pages, #2 a Driver trying to access pages it has no authority to access, #3 bad memory blocks in the memory sticks that cannot accept/record what the driver is writing. Most likely, since this occurs either while trying to access... ie when opening a program window in explorer and/or turning on the computer which is another form of accessing memory pages, it must be, but not limited to, a system driver error. How do I isolate the bad driver and remove it / replace it?

the last few drivers that you installed should be reinstalled by doing the f8 thing and selecting safe mode, then go into device manager (in start menu, type "device manager" without the quotes in the search box). In the device manager, select the last drivers that you think were installed, open the properties box, and select roll back drivers. If you need anymore help, send me a private message and i'll give u detailed steps.

Dear forumdude123

I dont know if you helped fix the bash guys pc with the whole vista loop issue, but after much trawling i came across this thread.

I would realy appreciate the help. I think i have the same problem. It wont load past the vista scrolling bars loading thing then it will crash. I have used my windows vista disc to repair my pc but to no avail, it seems not do much at all and the problem keeps on persisting.

I did the f8 thing as u suggested and stoped it rebooting after it gives you a sub-one-second flash of the blue screen (blue screen of death, hate it). It then freezes on the blue screen which has the following information on it:



STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannnot load the hive (File):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\COMPONENTS
or its log or alternate.
It is corrupt,absent, or not writable.

Collecting data for crash dump ...
Initializing disk for crash dump ...


That is all the information on the blue screen.

I hope you can help because i am realy stuck and i have valuable data on the pc which i would prefer not to loose through reinstalling vista.

Cheers
T.Szmidel

Mate, you need to start a new topic post, as a) this a very old posting and b) your issues are unrelated. If you start a now topic, will guide you through it

Thanks anyway, i did a total wipe of Vista, Cheers