Hello. I am having some problems with my computer. It's an eMachines PC.

I'm not sure what to tell you guys here, so I'll just post everything I know.
-AMD Sempron Processor 3100+ (1.81 GHz, 1600 MHz FSB, 256 KB L2 Cache)
-Optical Drive ( DVD RW 16x Double Layer,multi-format Drive)
-Hard Drive ( 100 GB ATA Hard Drive)
-Memory (512MB DDR SDRAM)
-Video (nVIDIA GeForce 6100,PCI-Express Slot Available)
-384 MB of RAM

I have Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 2 installed

Now..here are the problems I've been having.

About 3-4 weeks ago, I was on the Internet and all of a sudden the STOP error KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR popped up, then the computer restarted and it didn't let me get to the login screen of Windows..so I figured I had to reformat. It was fine for a while up until Wednesday. The same exact error popped up except it included the file name atapi.sys at the bottom of the screen. But usually it's replaced by Win32k.sys.

And that's not all. I also get a blue screen saying this:

STOP: c000021a Unknown Hard Error
Unknown Hard Error

STOP: 0x000000F46x00000003,0x82571788,0x825718FC,0x805C7478)

Beginning dump of physical memory
A process or thread crucial to system operation has unexpectedly exited or been terminated.

And..whenever I run Chkdsk, it always freezes up on the second or third stage, and the Unknown Hard Error BSoD appears. Sometimes it even freezes on the first stage.

I also tried to do a virus scan to see if that was the problem, and after about 20-30 minutes of scanning for viruses and stuff, the computer either restarts without showing the blue screen, or it'll show me the KERNEL screen.

One last thing: I can't get on Safe Mode. It lists a lot of files in the system32 folder (I think it's mostly the drivers, I can't remember) and just freezes.

Things I've tried: Reformat,virus scan,chkdsk,virus scan in safe mode..

I'm beginning to think it's the RAM or hard drive..What do you guys think?

Run memtest on your RAM www.memtest.org

Run a harddrive diagnostic by utilizing the free diagnostic utility provided by your harddrive manufacturer. You should be able to find it on their website.

Thank you for the reply. Although I'm not quite sure how to use the memtest program on my computer..And I'm not sure how to find out what my harddrive manufacturer is either..or anything. Sorry, I've never had this problem with any computer and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing here.

Here is how to run memtest:

1. Go to www.memtest.org and download the latest ISO version. It is free and perfectly safe.

2. Burn to a CD.

3. Place CD in your drive and reboot with CD in drive. (You might have to place your drive as first bootable in your BIOS) The test will take over.

4. Let it run for a LONG time. The rule is a minimum of 7 Passes. There are 8 individual tests per Pass. Many people will start this test before going to bed and check it the next day.

5. If you have errors you have corrupted memory and it needs to be replaced.

6. Also, with errors you need to run this test per stick of RAM. Take out one and run the test. Then take that one out and put the other in and run the test. If you start getting errors before 7 Passes you know that stick is corrupted and you don’t need to run the test any further on that stick.


* You may want to look at this: http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic62524-2.html Any good burning software will do.




* To find the information you need for your harddrive do a Google search for SIW (System Information for Windows). This neat little utility will tell you all kinds of information about your system. It is free and perfectly safe.

I install it to my desktop. When you click it on it will bring up a screen with a list of different areas you can access concerning your computer Look for storage devices and click that on. When you do, a screen will come up to your right that will say Type -- you're looking for fixed device and then Vendor. Vendor will tell you the manufacturer of your harddrive like Seagate, Western Digital, etc.