Hardware

Ask something
Question Locked

Windows XP Boot bass.exe error

0 helpful
11 replies

by sherre w

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.
Trying to get Granddaughters Sony Vaio to boot. She does not have original XP disk. I made a boot.ini disk and can get to a Windows XP screen, flashing curser, and then get an error Bass.exe and computer shuts down. She has restore files in a partition on her hard drive but I don't know how to get Windows started so I can either repair problem or restore. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving.

11 replies

by tintoman

The F10 key during the start up process and you should be able to get to the recovery environment

by seanferd

You'll need to scan the system for spyware/viruses.

It is quite possible that this error is occurring because malware has been removed, but Windows still thinks that it is a needed file (stupid? yes.).

Basically, there is a registry entry calling for this file, but it may now be missing. That entry needs to be removed.

If tintoman's suggestion fixes this, then great. If not, perhaps you can still get into safe mode, and remove this registry entry (probably nuder Winlogon.)

by sherre w

I used the F10 and got to start windows screen. I tried to start in safe mode to see if I could fix anything. I got a new message as follows:

The Bios in this system is not fully ACPI compliant. Please contact your system vendor or visit http://hardware-update.com for an updated BIOS.

If you are unable to obtain an updated BIOS or the latest BIOS supplied by your vendor is not ACPI compliant, you can turn off ACPI mode during text mode setup. To do this, simply press the F7 Key when you are prompted to install storage drivers. The system will not notify you that the F7 key was pressed - it will silently disable ACPI and allow you to continue your installation.

Technical information:
***STOP: 0x000000A5 (0x00000011, 0x00000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

Now I'm not sure what to do. I got to this screen twice buy now can't even get it to boot at all. I've never loaded a BIOS and can you do it to one that will not boot? I also haven't checked yet to see if a new BIOS is even available.

by seanferd

I think that Blue Screen message is wrong, and Windows may have been deeply tampered-with. There should be no mention of hardware-update.com, as far as I know.

It may still simply be the original problem showing a different face, keeping you from booting into Safe Mode. Best to try tintoman's suggestion for now.

Microsoft article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314830

You may want to attach the hard drive as a slave, or in an external USB drive enclosure on another computer, and back up all the personal data if there is anything important or irreplaceable stored on it.

I say this as you may, in the end, not be able to do a non-destructive re-install.

Can you post the exact model number of this Vaio? I don't think you need to flash the BIOS (which is a risky process if not done exactly the right way) as the computer had worked just fine previously.

If you can enter BIOS setup (a key or key combination should be shown on the BIOS screen at boot), check any ACPI setting.

Has any hardware change been made to this Vaio?

by sherre w

This is a Sony Vaio Model PCG-7G2L
VGNFS850P/W. It is approx. 2 years old and no hardware changes have been made. My 18 yr old Granddaughter brought it to me when it would boot "sometimes". She said she could keep turning it on and off and it would finally come on. I've had it for a couple weeks and all I get is the blue screen. With the F10 tap, tap, tap...I got to the above message. Prior to this problem, it ran great. I think she probably picked up some kind of bug, but I have to get it started to find it.

by oh smeg

And work on the drive that way.

Only real problem with that is that this is a Vaio and you need to pull half of it apart to get tot he drive.

This is most defiantly some sort of infection and it is most defiantly nothing related to a Corrupt BIOS.

Col

by seanferd

Are those options listed? If you do need to re-install, and there is no XP CD, I would hope you could re-install from a recovery partition.

If you happen to need any Sony software for your model you have to do a re-install from a retail copy of XP, here they are:
http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/swu-list.pl?mdl=VGNFS850PW&LOC=3

Or Sony may be able to provide you with system CDs for a small fee, if needed.

If you want to fix it by other methods, you can either attach the drive to another system as previously mentioned, or you'll need a Live CD of some sort with offline registry editing tools, or simply the ability to replace the registry files with backups.

Something like these would work:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_bart_cd.html
(This one, you need to email a request for a fortnight trial or buy it.)

Choose a one of these paths, and we can try to help you where you have trouble.

by sherre w

I made a boot.ini cd. It now only gets me to the screen that says Sony vaio and Intel/Phoenix. I do have a recovery partition on the hard disk. Is there any way I can get to this partition and have the system start from there and do a full system recovery? I do have a copy of an Emachine XP recovery disk and I also think I have one from my toshiba laptop. Could I use either one of these to try to start it or would that totally wreck it? Could I use one of them with the ubcd4win? It says you need an XP CD to use it. All she wanted from the system were her Itunes and most are on her ipod so she would just be losing about 1000 if I can't save her stuff. She's ok with tha

by rob miners

F10 key continually as the Notebook is booting up, it should show the Recovery Screen. You can then follow the prompts to reinstall the Operating System to Factory settings. This is assuming that there is a Recovery partition.

Some Notebooks suggest creating a Recovery CD/DVD when you first logon.

by seanferd

I would suggest the easiest method is to attach the drive to another machine with one of the previously mentioned methods. You'll need to do this anyway if you want the files off of that drive. This keeps the installed and broken Windows out of the equation. (And USB drive enclosures are dirt-cheap, if you can't attach the drive to another computer as a slave drive.)

For fixing the drive, you should not need to boot into Windows to access the Recovery Console, as that would defeat the whole purpose. You should be able to access this by pressing F10, or another key if shown on the BIOS startup screen.

As to the UBCD, here is a pre-compiled image you can download, rather than building one yourself:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/
The site has full tutorials for burning the CD and using the troubleshooting software.
Note that you can use this to try and fix the installed OS, but is not necessary to save the old files.

Removing the drive:
See the Sony link I posted previously. The manual is listed as "VGN-FSxx Series Hard Disk Drive Replacement Instructions".

Important! You will need to rescue those files needed from the drive before doing a recovery! The recovery will likely destroy this data, from what I've read. But Sony is not very clear, so let us know what recovery re-install options are offered from the F10 menu.

This discussion is closed to new replies.