The Stop 0x6B message indicates that system startup failed during Phase 1 of the Executive initialization. During Phase 1, interrupts are enabled, device drivers are initialized, components initialized in Phase 0 continue the initialization process, and those Executive components that were not initialized during Phase 0 are initialized. Executive components initialized in Phase 1 include the power manager and the I/O manager. The progress bar on the startup screen advances during this phase to provide a visual representation of this part of the boot process. This error indicates a failure of one of those components.

Interpreting the Stop 0x6B Message

Parameter Description
Parameter 1 The NT status code that describes why the system initialization failed.
Parameter 2 Indicates the internal debug code where the failure was detected.
Parameter 3 This parameter is reserved (set aside for future use).
Parameter 4 This parameter is reserved (set aside for future use).

Troubleshooting the Stop 0x6B Error

This error can be caused by any part of the disk subsystem, including bad disks, bad or incorrect cables, mixing different ATA-type devices on the same chain, or drives that are not available because of hardware regeneration. It can also be caused by a missing file from the boot partition, or by a driver file that has been disabled on the Drivers tab by mistake.

Verify the hard disk configuration and repair any problems with the storage subsystem. If you get the same message, record the information in the Stop message and contact a Microsoft support technician.