# STOP C000021a {Fatal System Error} on Start-Up



## angelfoxblue (Jan 13, 2008)

My parents recently purchased a new computer that came with Vista Home pre-installed. Everything had been going smoothly until yesterday when, on starting the computer, it got to the Windows logo screen and reset itself. It then gave the option of going into Repair Mode; however, this resulted in a message that the computer was unable to fix itself.

Reviewing the log showed this:



> Problem Event Name: StartupRepairV2
> Problem Signature 01: AutoFailover
> Problem Signature 02: 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6000.16386
> Problem Signature 03: 6
> ...


After getting this message, I tried booting the computer in Safe Mode to turn off the auto-reset of failure option. Doing so let the computer boot, but it ended a blue screen with this message:



> STOP: C000021a {Fatal System Error}
> The NT Initial Command Process system process terminated unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000001 (0x00000000 0x00000000)
> The system has been shut down.


I have tried everything I can think of to remedy the problem including unplugging all USB devices, but nothing seems to work. Also, there are no System Restore points to return to, making it even harder.

From memory, no Service Updates have been installed either.

The computer has the following stats:



> AMD Athlon 64x2 Dual Core Processor 4400+
> 1024MB DDR2
> 320GB 3G Hard Drive
> NVidia GeForce 8400GS


Any advice or support would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.


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## jcgriff2 (Sep 30, 2007)

I know that MS Vista updates came in on Jan 10 & Jan 11 - 










Is it possible that you do not have Automatic Updates turned on?
Left-click Start button >> Control Panel >> Security










>> Windows Update "Turn automatic updating on or off"









This is my setting. . .









You also mentioned that there are no restore points for the System Restore. This system upon Vista setup defaults to restore. Therefore, it should be on. You may have gone into "System and Maintenance" >> "Backup and Restore" which is a user defined backup rather than a System Automated Backup.

Keep me posted, please... Thanks


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