Fatal System Error at start?!!

[boeingbus2002]

Hi,
A family friend recently had the following blue screen message at startup on her system. She is running a Dell 3Ghz system with Windows XP.
There have been no known changes made prior to this message.

Fatal System Error
Windows Logon Process terminated unexpectedly with status:
xc000005 (Ox000000 Ox00000)
The system has been shut down

There is nothing else she can do. Any ideas guys would be aprreciated.

[Evo]

Is there any more information with this error message? Searching on Google and the MS KnowledgeBase for the error code finds a number of hits for a number of different problems, so I need something to narrow it down a bit.

Can she boot into safe mode?

And with one of the problems that causes this error (and the solution), you just have to wonder WTF...?

CAUSE: The Language bar is in the upper-left area of your screen...
WORKAROUND: move the Language bar to the bottom of your screen

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

boeingbus2002,

Can she boot into Windows in Safe Mode?

Some specs one the hardware other than just a 3Ghz CPU would be helpful.

Take Care,

Richard

[boeingbus2002]

I dont think she can boot into safe mode. (F12 at start?)
This just brings up a list of options (but i think only one was given - to restart) and choosing this just repeats the process.
Once at the screen its dead. There is no other code and no "language bar!"

She doesnt have anything special or extra added on. Just normal Dell Printer. Its a fairly new system..less than a year old i believe. If there are any other details you need, ill try to find them out.

Thanks again

[boeingbus2002]

Turns out she managed to get into safe mode, but only perform basic functions. (As is expected) However she mentioned sometimes it allows safe mode whilst other times it doesnt. Recently while trying to get in again, she got the message but this time with a lot more code. I will try to get the exact details later, but I guess she will have to go to the Dell help line, however I've heard they arent so helpful!

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

boeingbus2002,

If you can get her into Safe Mode, start uninstalling her Drivers. Vid Card, Sound Card, Mobo and then see if you can get into Windows Normally. Then download the updated Drivers and reinstall.

Take Care,

Richard

[boeingbus2002]

Cheers Richard, will give that a try.
Do you have any clues as to what may have caused this to happen from no where?

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

boeingbus2002,

It is possible that a Driver just became corrupted, it had been known to happen.

I am just worried that if she calls dell, that will do a restore on her, wiping her entire Hard Drive.

You might want to try running a repair with the WinXP CD to see if it solves the problem.

Take Care,

Richard

[boeingbus2002]

OK, now you will realise how little technical knowledge I actually have!
Once into safe mode, how do I go about uninstalling the drivers and obtaining the updated ones from the net?
Ill get her to try a repair using the CD first and see what develops.

[Naples Air Center, Inc.]

boeingbus2002,

In order to remove the Drivers, you just use Add/Remove Programs located in:

Start >> Control Panel

Depending on the hardware inside her computer, you could either download the Drivers from Dell or get them from the website of the company that made the hardware. (Example the Video Card was either made by ATI or nVidia it is an AGP Card and if the Video is on the Motherboard then there is a good chance it was made by Intel.)

You can find out exactly what hardware is in her comp on the Dell Website.

Take Care,

Richard