Member Avatar for Jaaroma

Hi all, and thanks for reading.

This is my 1st post, I'm not an expert at pc's, but do like to try to fix them, but now I give up!! lol

I have a Samsung GT9000 laptop, win xp pro, SP2. I was doing a defrag, and seleted "shut down when done", only to find the dreaded blue screen when i woke up saying Bad Pool caller. I have seen this before and have normally found a way through it, but this time is different. I can't even get into safe mode, can't format the drive, can't boot from disc, i just don't know what to try next. Or should I just throw the thing out the window?? lol

Any suggestions would be grately appreciated

Jane

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by nav33n

Dani AI

Generated

A compact, practical checklist that builds on the helpful replies from , and — written so someone who finds this thread years later can act quickly and safely.

First priority: recover important files before you reinstall or repeatedly run repair tools. Remove the laptop drive and attach it to another machine with a USB–SATA adapter or boot a Linux live USB and mount the disk read-only to copy files. If copying fails because of bad sectors, make a sector-level image with GNU ddrescue and work from the image instead of the failing disk:

# quick pass (no scraping)
ddrescue -n /dev/sdb /mnt/backup/drive.img /mnt/backup/ddrescue.log
# follow-up pass to retry bad areas (3 retries)
ddrescue -d -r3 /dev/sdb /mnt/backup/drive.img /mnt/backup/ddrescue.log

Next: isolate hardware. Run a full memory test (memtest86+) for multiple full passes — even a single error usually means bad RAM. Check the disk’s SMART health (from a live USB):

smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl -t long /dev/sda   # then check -a again for results

If tests show RAM or disk errors, replace the failing part before attempting a reinstall. If hardware looks OK but the installer still fails, verify the install media (checksum the ISO), recreate the installer on USB (prefer USB over old CDs), and try switching the BIOS SATA mode to IDE/compatibility for older OS installers that lack AHCI drivers.

Quick troubleshooting order to follow: (1) stop writing to the drive and recover files, (2) run memtest, (3) run SMART/long test and clone the disk if needed, (4) test with a known-good drive or RAM, (5) recreate verified install media and try again. If data is critical and disk cloning fails, consider a professional recovery service. Regular backups and a small USB toolkit (memtest, smartctl, ddrescue, a live Linux/WinPE image) prevent most painful outcomes.

Recommended Answers

All 17 Replies

Member Avatar for nav33n

Welcome to Daniweb Jane. I guess the problem is with the harddisk. Bad sectors maybe! Cant boot from a disc ? Have you changed the boot order in the bios ? Check this . This might be of some help to you !

Cheers,
Naveen

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

Well, I finally changed the bios so it boots from CD. I have tried to reinstal windows, it loads files, comes to the main install screen, no matter what i chose, install or "R" for recovery, nothing!! I still get the bsod and it shuts down.

Still can't get into safe mode either.

I'm pulling my hair out now.

Any suggestions?

Member Avatar for nav33n

Check this link. I dunno if this will solve your problem. But you can give it a try!

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

Thanks for that. I do know how to get into recovery mode and what to do, but its just the fact I can't get into it, everytime i try i get the bad pool caller screen up again and have to restart.

Thanks for your help :o)

Jane

Member Avatar for nav33n

:S oh!

Member Avatar for Serunson

What's on the BSOD message?
The code starting with 0x0000... would be particularly helpful.

Member Avatar for willcomp

If you have 2 sticks of RAM, try booting with one at a time. For a single stick, try to borrow one and swap memory.

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

The code is Stop:0x000000C2

It only has 1 stick in there, i did try another one but it wouldn't boot up at all

Thanks for replying guys, i do appreciate it!

Member Avatar for Serunson

"0x000000C2: BAD_POOL_CALLER
A kernel-mode process or driver incorrectly attempted to perform memory operations. Typically, a faulty driver or buggy software causes this."
This means that one of the drivers for some of your hardware is outdated or wrong. Check that all your devices that are USB (mice, keyboards and other peripherals for example) and any sound cards and graphics cards have the latest drivers installed.

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

I know this may sound like a silly question, but how can i check the drivers are up to date if i can't turn the laptop on or get into safe mode?

There was nothing and is nothing attached to the laptop via usb and wasn't at the it happened, it was doing a defrag, would that do it??

Thanks
Jane

Member Avatar for nav33n

If you have a startup disk(win 98 startup disk), you can boot from floppy, use fdisk to delete the partitions, create new partitions and reinstall windows xp.

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

I did make a xp pro boot disc, hoping that might work, but it got half way thru disc 2 when i got an error message saying it can't continue

\ntkrnlmp.exe error code 7

any idea what this means??

Member Avatar for willcomp

Since you can't boot from CD, it's not a driver issue.

Create a UBCD and run memtest 86+ to test memory. If you cannot boot from the UBCD, it is a hardware problem.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

Ensure that boot sequence has CD drive as first boot device.

Member Avatar for willcomp

I thought you couldn't boot from XP CD.

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

i couldn't, but i managed to change boot order in bios

Member Avatar for Jaaroma

Just wanted to say thanks for everybody that has replied to my very 1st post here.

I have managed to reinstall windows xp, lost all my files, but hey ho, thats life, but its up & running again.

Thanks again everyone

Jane

Member Avatar for nav33n

Congrats !

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