intermittent blinitializelibrary failed 0xc0000001

[GrandOiseau]

So for the last few months I have been getting intermittent "blinitializelibrary failed 0xc0000001" on starting up a desktop PC.

It's running Windows 10.

Sometimes when I boot up I get "blinitializelibrary failed 0xc0000001" and then I have to press the start butting which ends start up abruptly. If I then press the on button again invariably the PC will boot up fine. I think once or two it has taken two goes. Probably a third of the time it starts up first time.

Not sure if it's related but I think it may have started happening at the same time. When booting up when the screen is black there is a cursor that flashes jumping around the left hand side of the screen maybe 10 times. It happens whenever I boot but the above failure occurs just after this.

When I google the error it seems there are a multitude of possible causes but many seem to relate to boot up problems - corruption, order, contention. And the solutions seem to be quite complex. What I don't want to do is work through a whole bunch of fixes.

Questions:

#1 Any idea how it might be possible to get a more accurate idea of what the problem might be?

#2 Is there any tool or utility that can perhaps fix or debug a boot up issue like this?

#3 Anyone have any other thoughts on what the problem could be?

[PrincessB]

There's no harm in checking the memory by seaching for 'windows memory diagnostic' in the search bar next to the windows start icon at the lower left of the screen.

It's unlikely to show any problems, but that's one thing eliminated. I once had a duff stick of memory that was causing random problems and I replaced just about every other component before I diagnosed it.

B.

[ReformedCharacter]

So for the last few months I have been getting intermittent "blinitializelibrary failed 0xc0000001" on starting up a desktop PC.

Questions:

#1 Any idea how it might be possible to get a more accurate idea of what the problem might be?

#2 Is there any tool or utility that can perhaps fix or debug a boot up issue like this?

#3 Anyone have any other thoughts on what the problem could be?

I spent a while searching for that error message and didn't find much. So the answer to #1 is probably No.

The intermittent nature of the problem doesn't help diagnosis. Was anything changed with the PC before the problems started? Such as changes to the BIOS or hardware? PrincessB's suggestion is good, I'd suggest looking for anything that might be loose, including the monitor connection. Inside, try reseating the memory modules and checking that the drive power and data cables are tight. Other than that it could be a failing PSU or maybe a motherboard going bad. How old is the PC?

RC

[GrandOiseau]

So for the last few months I have been getting intermittent "blinitializelibrary failed 0xc0000001" on starting up a desktop PC.

Questions:

#1 Any idea how it might be possible to get a more accurate idea of what the problem might be?

#2 Is there any tool or utility that can perhaps fix or debug a boot up issue like this?

#3 Anyone have any other thoughts on what the problem could be?

I spent a while searching for that error message and didn't find much. So the answer to #1 is probably No.

The intermittent nature of the problem doesn't help diagnosis. Was anything changed with the PC before the problems started? Such as changes to the BIOS or hardware? PrincessB's suggestion is good, I'd suggest looking for anything that might be loose, including the monitor connection. Inside, try reseating the memory modules and checking that the drive power and data cables are tight. Other than that it could be a failing PSU or maybe a motherboard going bad. How old is the PC?

RC

Definitely no BIOS or hardware changes.

PC is a few years old - let's say 5.

Might take the side off the box and check everything is tight though. It get's moved around a little.

[monabri]

I tried googling the fault.

The same error msg was discussed here!

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 6858142cd1

Now all one needs to do is use nerdtranslator to have a chance of understanding the answer!

[PrincessB]

Now all one needs to do is use nerdtranslator to have a chance of understanding the answer!

It's safer to ignore the link as it is gibberish.

B.

[PrincessB]

I've been musing and making some assumptions (guesses) on your hardware.

If you have an old style hard drive rather than an SSD, there's a chance that once in a while it misreads a file associated with Windows boot up. This explains the intermittent nature of the problem and as that flakey file is unlikely to be read a second time once the system is up and running.

If you've done the memory test, we can largely rule that out.

ReformedCharacter suggests the power supply which is also possible but if that is on the way out, I doubt the system would remain stable.

Hopefully you've got a backup of the system? If you don't it is well worth investing in a backup drive of some sort. Should you not already have one, they are a useful addition to any computer junk drawer and readily available from places such as Argos and Tesco. Amazon and Ebay sell them too - No financial link to any companies mentioned.

Once you've cloned your hard drive over, a process that might well highlight any gremlins on the original hard drive, you're not going to lose your data so you can be more heavyhanded with the existing equipment.

Backup in place, you can decide if you're willing to open the machine up and start swapping components (this is relatively easy on a full sized desktop and a pain on the smaller units) or whether you want to see if the local PC repair centre can fix it.

Given that the machine is five years old, is a new machine (or a new old stock machine) worth considering?

B.

[GrandOiseau]

Getting on the machine is a little but limited because my wife works on it in the day and my son likes to use it in the evening. I'll do a bit of digging later using the info above.

It is as 250GB SSD with the OS on and a 1TB HDD for data storage.

Whilst it is a few years old it wasn't a cheap rig.

[PrincessB]

It is as 250GB SSD with the OS on and a 1TB HDD for data storage.

Whilst it is a few years old it wasn't a cheap rig.

It would be useful for me to have a more detailed spec of what is knocking about inside your machine.

There's a useful program called 'Speccy' which does a decent job of identifying what makes it go. I've cut and pasted the specs from my little Dell to give an idea of what would help:

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i3 @ 3.60GHz 31 °C
Kaby Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
4.00GB
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0D02VH (U3E1)
Graphics
DELL P2214H (1920x1080@60Hz)
VG240Y (1920x1080@75Hz)
Intel UHD Graphics 630 (Dell)
Storage
465GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (SATA (SSD)) 28 °C
Optical Drives
PLDS DVD+-RW DU-8A5LH
Audio
Intel Display Audio

Essentially, you're a bit stuck at present as your problems could be hardware getting jittery, or Windows doing whatever Windows decides to do when there's a full moon or an 'r' in the Month.

Have you got a spare hard drive anywhere you could press into service as a temporary replacement for the SSD - You could clone to the SSD to it and see if the problem persists.

If you are digging about inside the case, would be useful to know what it says on the power supply - You could have anything from an overspecced unit by a known brand to a cheap as chip unbranded item which would be well worth replacing anyway.

[GrandOiseau]

There's no harm in checking the memory by seaching for 'windows memory diagnostic' in the search bar next to the windows start icon at the lower left of the screen.

It's unlikely to show any problems, but that's one thing eliminated. I once had a duff stick of memory that was causing random problems and I replaced just about every other component before I diagnosed it.

B.

No memory errors detected.

[GrandOiseau]

PC Spec:

Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 4690 @ 3.50GHz 43 °C
Haswell 22nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 799MHz (11-11-11-28)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. Z97-E (SOCKET 1150) 110 °C
Graphics
VP2770 SERIES (2560x1440@59Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (NVIDIA) 44 °C
Storage
232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB (SATA (SSD)) 35 °C
931GB Western Digital WDC WD1003FZEX-00MK2A0 (SATA ) 32 °C
Optical Drives
ATAPI iHAS124 E
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

[Infrasonic]

How was it originally specced?
With both drives, the SSD as boot, or did you add the Samsung 850 and clone the W10 partitions over from the WD HDD and make it the boot drive?
Samsung have their own SSD software app to check for wear levelling/smart issues et al, might be worth running that to check the integrity of the drive. Evo 850's have a five year warranty too, so if purchased separately you could possibly get it replaced FOC if it's on its way out. (I've had them replaced even outside warranty.)

If all the hardware checks out you could do an in place repair of W10 via the MCT USB method, if there's any potential corruption issues with the boot files that might sort it out.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/163 ... grade.html

[GrandOiseau]

How was it originally specced?
With both drives, the SSD as boot, or did you add the Samsung 850 and clone the W10 partitions over from the WD HDD and make it the boot drive?

It was specced with both drives in and the SDD as boot.

Samsung have their own SSD software app to check for wear levelling/smart issues et al, might be worth running that to check the integrity of the drive.

Thanks will try to check that.

If all the hardware checks out you could do an in place repair of W10 via the MCT USB method, if there's any potential corruption issues with the boot files that might sort it out.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/163 ... grade.html

The intermittency isn't accelerating at the moment - it's consistently inconsistent if that makes sense. For example this morning it booted OK first time, got the error on reboot. Powered off and on again and it was fine after doing the memory check. I can live with it as it is but I don't like loose ends and have concerns there is some underlying problem that may cause issues down the line.

[GrandOiseau]

And thanks for the continued help and ideas - I really appreciate it.

[PrincessB]

The software for Samsung SSDs is called Magician.

I've also got a Samsung 850 in my Dell which, as it only sees significant use now and then hadn't got it installed either. It's a pretty painless process, just search for 'Samsung Magician'

It will give you details of drive health, SMART data and an option to keep data optimised. For some reason, the diagnostic scan does not appear to be supported on that model. A bit of nuisance given the issues you've got.

I'm still a bit 'iffy' about the memory. If you don't mind delving into the BIOS, you could temporarily turn the speed down a notch and see if that solves anything - There might be enough power draw as the machine spins up the fans and hard disk to slightly destabilise something - Unlikely but possible.

Do you have a spare hard drive (one pulled from a dead laptop would do) if you unplugged the two current drives and tried a fresh Windows install from USB, you could reboot any number of times to see if the problem will replicate. Should you try this disconnect from the net while testing.

B.

If you do find yourself inside the case, re-seating the memory won't hurt. While you're in there, see which slots they have loaded with it, for complex reasons the memory (in a four slot motherboard) should be in sockets 2 and 4 - Slot 1 is the nearest to the processor.

[GrandOiseau]

I installed Magician.

It immediately did a firmware upgrade. When I rebooted I got the cursor dancing around the screen but no error but I will have to reboot a few times to see if it makes any sustained difference.

Magician says the Drive Health = Good and Temp = Normal.

Did a Benchmark but no idea how to interpret the result.

There is no over provisioning set.

It gives me the option to Optimise the drive but not sure that is necessary at this point.

I may take off the case at the weekend and reseat stuff.

[PrincessB]

When I rebooted I got the cursor dancing around the screen

Mean to mention this, that weird cursor stuff is just the graphics card booting up.

At the moment, my Nvidia card flashes a cursor in the top left for a few flashes, then flashes in the far upper left for a moment before the system boots properly.

Nothing to worry about.

I installed Magician.

Magician does not seem to be much of a drain on system resources, so I'd just let it do what ever it does in the background. It has not run exhaustive tests on the drive, but at least it thinks that everything is working.

I may take off the case at the weekend and reseat stuff.

Have you turned up a spare hard drive? If you can prove the system is stable with a fresh install of Windows, you can then look at the software end. At the very least unplug the 1TB drive for a few reboots, it is possible that the SSD side of the system is looking for a file on the 1TB drive and depending on whether the drive is ready might make a difference.

B.

[GrandOiseau]

When I rebooted I got the cursor dancing around the screen

Mean to mention this, that weird cursor stuff is just the graphics card booting up.

At the moment, my Nvidia card flashes a cursor in the top left for a few flashes, then flashes in the far upper left for a moment before the system boots properly.

Nothing to worry about.

OK, cool. I don't remember seeing this before but it's quite possible it was happening and I just made a false connection. I'll not concern myself any further.

I may take off the case at the weekend and reseat stuff.

Have you turned up a spare hard drive? If you can prove the system is stable with a fresh install of Windows, you can then look at the software end. At the very least unplug the 1TB drive for a few reboots, it is possible that the SSD side of the system is looking for a file on the 1TB drive and depending on whether the drive is ready might make a difference.

I have a spare hard drive. Will do some work on it over the weekend.

[PrincessB]

I have a spare hard drive. Will do some work on it over the weekend.

This is the second time I've posted this link to a YouTube video that goes through the process of getting a PC running while avoiding setting up another Microsoft account.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYYoCXh2gtw&t=375s

I have no link or affiliation to this site etc. It's just a really useful resource and as I've just built a new machine, I found it very useful.

You'll have the other drives disconnected so there is no danger of messing anything important up and as you'll be installing from scratch, you can finally establish whether you've got a hardware glitch or a software one.

B.

[GrandOiseau]

Still happening on occasion but it's got no worse and other than switching off and on again seem to be no ill effects.