The Stop 0x7B message indicates that Windows Server 2003 has lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup process. There are several circumstances that can cause this:
• A hard disk or disk controller has failed.
• A Boot.ini file is configured incorrectly. This often occurs when disks or controllers are added and change the ARC mapping of existing disks.
• Incorrect disk controller device drivers are installed. This might happen because incorrect drivers were loaded during Setup, or you are using a system image created by using different hardware.
• The disk subsystem device driver is faulty.
• The system has a virus infection.
Interpreting the Stop 0x7B Message
This Stop message has four parameters, as listed below.
Parameters for the Stop 0x7B Message
Parameter Description
Parameter 1 The address of the device object that could not be mounted, or the Unicode string of ARC name.
Parameter 2 This value is 0x00000000 (zero).
Parameter 3 This value is 0x00000000 (zero).
Parameter 4 This value is 0x00000000 (zero).
The value of parameter 1 determines whether the parameter is a pointer to an ARC name string (ARC names are a generic method of identifying devices within the ARC environment) or a device object, because a Unicode string never has an odd number of bytes, and a device object always has a Type code of 0003.
Troubleshooting the Stop 0x7B Error
The following sections list the most common sources for this Stop error and suggest some troubleshooting solutions.
Hardware issues
During I/O system initialization, the controller or driver for the startup device (typically the hard disk) might have failed to initialize the necessary hardware. File system initialization might have failed because of disk or controller failure, or because the file system did not recognize the data on the boot device.
Adding new disk hardware
Repartitioning disks, adding new disks, or upgrading to a new disk controller might cause the startup information in the Boot.ini file or Boot Manager to be become outdated. If a Stop 0x7B error occurs after you install new disks in your system, edit the Boot.ini file or adjust the Boot Manager parameters to allow the system to start. If the error occurs after you upgrade the disk controller, verify that the new hardware is functioning and correctly configured.
Firmware, disk controller, and driver issues
Verify that the system firmware and disk controller BIOS settings are correct and that the storage device was properly installed. If you are unsure, consult your computer’s documentation about restoring default firmware settings or configuring your system to use automatically detected settings. If the error occurs during Windows Server 2003 Setup, the problem might be caused by unsupported disk controller hardware. If you are applying a system image created on another computer, this Stop error might be occurring because the destination computer has a different disk controller installed. In some cases, drivers for the newest hardware are not in the Windows Server 2003 Driver.cab driver library file, and you need to provide additional drivers to complete Windows Server 2003 Setup successfully. If this is the case, follow the manufacturer’s instructions when installing drivers. Periodically check for driver and firmware updates.
Hard disk issues
Hard disk corruption can also cause this Stop error. For more information about checking hard disk integrity, see the instructions provided in “Stop 0x00000024 or NTFS_FILE_SYSTEM” earlier in this chapter.
Other suggestions
In addition to the potential causes listed above, viruses can cause the 0x7B Stop error. Problems that cause 0x7B errors might also cause Stop 0x6B or Stop 0xED errors. For more information about 0xED Stop errors, see “Stop 0x000000ED or UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME” later in forum.
