page_fault_in_nonpaged_area even in safemode - is recovery possible?

[michaelrepucci]

Please pardon the length of this post, but I've already tried many things, and I just want to give all the information that I have gathered. Thank you for taking the time to read and help me. I appreciate it very much!

In short: Windows XP refuses to boot in any mode, despite good hardware, giving only the blue screen (BSOD) message page_fault_in_nonpaged_area.

The full story: I'm running a dual boot Windows XP SP2 (OEM), and Ubuntu Linux 9.04, on a Lenovo/IBM ThinkPad T60. My hardware (and XP drivers) have not been changed in almost a year. The software was stable for at least 6 months prior to the first BSOD, though the most recent Windows updates were installed about a month ago. I rarely use Windows, and typically boot into Ubuntu instead.

About 3 months ago, while in Windows, I had strange behavior (pop ups telling me my computer was unprotected), and discovered that I had some malware running (forget which one at this point). I Googled it, removed it completely, and haven't had a problem with it since. But about a month ago, I started noticing some other strange behavior, including a sort of hijacking of my browser (Firefox 3.0.15), whereby I would Google something, but when I clicked on any of the search results, I would be redirected to a string of (presumably suspicious) websites. I figured I had more malware/trojans or whatever, but didn't have the time to address the issue. Besides, I wasn't often booted into Windows anyway.

Then last Saturday morning, I booted into Windows, did some work (ignoring said odd behavior), and upon shutting down, Windows hung. I gave it plenty of time, but eventually had to just power off. Later that day, I tried to boot into Windows again, but received the BSOD with the message page_fault_in_nonpaged_area (STOP 0x00000050). No file was listed as the culprit. The same error was produced when I tried safemode (aka, safe mode), but the last file listed before safemode BSOD'd was mup.sys.

I proceeded to spend the entire weekend trying to fix this, Googling for tips/answers, but to no avail. The list of things I've tried are numerous, so I may not remember them all, but here goes. It's not the RAM, since fundamentally Ubuntu is running fine, but I checked it anyway with Memtest86+. Same goes for other hardware, which all runs fine in Ubuntu, and passes all hardware tests I have available, including (most importantly) that chkdsk (via Windows Recovery Console) reports no problems.

I read that Windows update KB971486 had caused this problem for some people, so I uninstalled that (again via Windows Recovery Console), but no change. I created a bootable USB stick with UBCD (this tool is awesome btw!), then analyzed the Windows XP partition for ad/mal/spyware and virus/worms/trojans. A couple trojans (win32.agent.msv and virtumonde) were found, and removed, neither of which would appear from reports to have been the cause of BSOD. But still no change.

Finally I chose to repair the Windows installation with the original XP CD, but this didn't change anything, except that once or twice I received system_thread_exception_not_handled (STOP 0x0000007E) instead of the page fault BSOD. Again, no file was mentioned, and mup.sys was the last file to load in safemode. This error eventually, and inexplicably, reverted to the page fault.

I think that's about everything. Had the system been changed more recently, I would suspect a device driver, or something, given that mup.sys tends to indicate a hardware issue. But again, Ubuntu works fine, and hardware passes all tests. It was fine for several reboots, and the malware, while bad, don't seem to be the cause of the problem. So what gives? Any thoughts? BTW, I'm not concerned about the data, per say, since I not only have a recent backup, but can access it all from Ubuntu. But the system had lots of work-related software installed and configured that would be a real pain to redo.

Sorry if I've left out anything that you might find important. I'd be happy to keep an active discussion on this. And thank you very much to anyone who offers to help! May all your computers run smoothly, and without hassle.

Michael

[MrChris-]

I was also getting page_fault_in_nonpaged_area error when i asked my friend he told me that it might happen because some hardware has being added to the system or it might happen that existing hardware has failed, in that case i would suggest you to remove or replace the faulty component and at teh same time try to run hardware diagnostics supplied by the system manufacturer.

[timon]

Its looks like your windows having really bad time now with repair i hope you have tried chkdsk .so if that problem is due to windows first i will suggest you to disable extra hardware from bios then try to boot with safe now if problem is viruses there is less hope to start normal but you can try else better to go with formatting or scan your hard drive with good antivirus on your friends computer ,connecting your hard drive as secondary this will be helpful also check here for Stop 0x0000007E error check here

[Calvin K]

This Stop message occurs when requested data is not found in memory. The system generates a fault, which normally indicates that the system looks for data in the paging file. In this circumstance, however, the missing data is identified as being located within an area of memory that cannot be paged out to disk. The system faults, but cannot find, the data and is unable to recover. Faulty hardware, a buggy system service, antivirus software, and a corrupted NTFS volume can all generate this type of error.

[michaelrepucci]

Hi Everyone. Thank you for responding. Unfortunately none of the suggestions have helped. I have checked all hardware, and none is faulty. I've scanned the drive for viruses/malware, and removed it. And while I understand what the error indicates, there appear to be no system logs of what has ACTUALLY triggered the fault, even if I choose boot logging or debug mode. Any other thoughts?

[WMBrown]

I think your registry files might have been corrupt. Try Free Windows Registry Cleaner, it is an easy-to-use application that can scan and remove registry errors from your system. Registry errors occur for many reasons, including references left behind after uninstallation; incorrect removal of software; missing or corrupt hardware drivers; or orphaned start-up program

[Terndrew]

I had a similar issue this past weekend after being infected with sysguard2009 (Trojan:Win32/Fakespypro). Although for me Safe Mode always worked fine (usually I just used F8), but Windows XP boot always failed with 0x00000050. I was eventually able to clear it by going into Windows XP repair mode (although I had done fixboot a number of times this weekend I am not sure if this helped or hindered the resolution; my system is running SP3 but my Windows XP disk is an OEM SP1a.)

To clear the fault I booted from the Windows CD, chose Repair and at the C:\Windows prompt I ran a chkdsk /P which told me there were some errors on the disk. I then ran a chkdsk /R which took about an hour but fixed the errors. Windows still failed to boot fully at this point, so I went into Safe Mode again (with networking; not that this probably mattered) and ran the Defragment check. Although Windows only said that Fragmentation was at 8% a number of the system restore files were in a fragmented state.

After I defragmented the PC I was able to successfully reboot Windows XP. Be sure to check Pop-up settings and remove any extraneous "ads" URLs that may have been added unbeknowst to you. Good luck.

[michaelrepucci]

Glad you were able to recover things Terndrew. I had already tried everything suggested and more, to no avail. I finally took the path of least resistance, and re-installed. Thanks for the feedback!