Vista freezes on boot at crcdisk.sys


Recommended Posts

Yesterday my notebook froze and I did a forced shutdown. When I restarted it, windows froze at the startup progress bar. I attempted to start in Safemode, but it froze at crcdisk.sys.

I tried disabling my various hardware devices in the bios, and eventually came to the conclusion that the cause of the problem is my Intel 3945 wireless card. If I disable this card, windows boots properly. As soon as I enable it, windows fails to boot.

I'm thinking it is a driver issue, but I can't uninstall the driver because it doesn't appear in the Device Manger if the hardware is disabled and I can't get into windows if it is enabled. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Adam

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/607761-vista-freezes-on-boot-at-crcdisksys/
Share on other sites

Yesterday my notebook froze and I did a forced shutdown. When I restarted it, windows froze at the startup progress bar. I attempted to start in Safemode, but it froze at crcdisk.sys.

I tried disabling my various hardware devices in the bios, and eventually came to the conclusion that the cause of the problem is my Intel 3945 wireless card. If I disable this card, windows boots properly. As soon as I enable it, windows fails to boot.

I'm thinking it is a driver issue, but I can't uninstall the driver because it doesn't appear in the Device Manger if the hardware is disabled and I can't get into windows if it is enabled. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Adam

http://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?m...p;q=crcdisk.sys

That happen to me, but it takes only some seconds, after that it keeps loading other files and then start.

How much did you wait?

I've waited up to an hour.

Ok, that sounds like some corruption in the File System, have you tried to choose Last Know Good Configuration?

P.S.: You can boot into Windows, run CheckDisk or in the Boot Menu choose Directory Services Restore, or something like that.

Ok, that sounds like some corruption in the File System, have you tried to choose Last Know Good Configuration?

P.S.: You can boot into Windows, run CheckDisk or in the Boot Menu choose Directory Services Restore, or something like that.

I've tried "last known good configuration" with no success. Also tried Chkdisk and SpinRite and neither found disk problems. I also tried a repair using the Windows CD, but that too found no problems.

I still believe it is a driver or hardware issue with the Intel Wireless card because disabling it resolves the problem. I just don't know how to uninstall the driver if the device is disabled.

I still believe it is a driver or hardware issue with the Intel Wireless card because disabling it resolves the problem. I just don't know how to uninstall the driver if the device is disabled.

To uninstall the driver go to Add/Remove, Start Menu Folder for the driver (if there's any) or go to device manager, now right lick on the device and select uninstall, that should be enough...

To uninstall the driver go to Add/Remove, Start Menu Folder for the driver (if there's any) or go to device manager, now right lick on the device and select uninstall, that should be enough...

Driver does not appear in Add/Remove programs.

The device also does not appear in Device manager because I have disabled it in the bios, but as I mentioned before, if I enable it in the bios, Windows won't start. And that's my catch 22 situation...

If you press F8 right after POST, there should be an option to enable boot logging. Do that, and when it hangs, reboot off a CD into another OS, UBCD for example, and find (I think) boot.txt. It should list what loaded when Windows was starting. The last entry should be the problem-causing file. If it looks like a driver file, navigate to the Windows/system32 folder and rename it (don't delete it!).

Oh, have you tried the startup repair option? If you haven't, boot from your Vista DVD (hopefully your laptop came with a plain OS DVD), and there should be an option to repair, under the "Install now" button. Click that, choose your installation folder, and the Startup Repair option will check for various problems.

Driver does not appear in Add/Remove programs.

The device also does not appear in Device manager because I have disabled it in the bios, but as I mentioned before, if I enable it in the bios, Windows won't start. And that's my catch 22 situation...

Sorry, i've only understand that you disabled it through the BIOS.

Well, you can manually delete the driver files, however you need to know what files are.

Go to: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers

now look at files description (put explorer in details view and add the needed tabs), then move the files to a new folder, then go to C:\WINDOWS\Inf and search files by name, based on the name of the driver files (eg, iw.sys -- iw.inf etc)

This is something hard to explain trough messages, lol.

See if there's an update for your BIOS.

P.S.: You need that device?

Problem just started out of nowhere. I didn't install any OS updates, drives, or software.

I will try the boot logging suggestion. I did try startup repair, but it didn't find any problems.

Yes, I do need the device, because without it I can't use wireless.

I believe the problem is a hardware issue. I reformatted the hard drive, then tried to reinstall Windows. The install would not start if my wireless card was enabled. I disabled the card and was able to install Windows. But still when I enable the wireless card, windows fails to boot.

I guess I will purchase a new internal wireless card. Thanks for all your suggestions.

  • 3 weeks later...

Well I replaced the wireless card and it did not resolve the problem. The only thing I can think of now is a faulty motherboard.

But I don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars for a new board unless I'm sure it's the problem.

The system passes all the tests when I use the Dell Diagnostics CD.

Any other suggestions?

One other thing to note is that I tried to boot off an Ubuntu 7.10 LiveCD and it also froze during boot, so I'm sure it's a hardware and not OS issue.

  • 3 months later...

Im not sure if you're still having problems, but I encountered the issue today and during the boot I enabled loading non signed drivers in the F8 menu. Booted right up. This is on Vista Ultimate 64 bit edition, shouldn't matter but I did want to mention that. Hope it helps.

  • 1 year later...

I am having this same problem, my wife was right clicking icons in the task bar and shutting them off, and screen went funky, so she rebooted the system, and this happened. i dont know what to do, i cant get into windows at all, through safe mode,last known, anything, it just hangs on the progress bar, or the crc file if i try safe mode.

  • 1 month later...

I'm having this same issue on a Toshiba Satellite A305-S6872.. I've read a couple of suggestion but I need neowin's help.

It's just a brand new install of windows xp home basic 32-bit. Fully updated through automatic updates and it stopped working suddenly. THe person claims that she didn't install anything new, and from what i've read this seems to happen a lot.

things that i will try:

-re installing vista and disabling automatic updates automatically

-disabling hibernation

-update bios if needed

- install drivers from manufactures website (not automatic updates)

- just install security updates

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums...b-3e1811899ce6/

here they're talking about renaming or deleting some files but I don't completely understand the instructions... please help guys. :)

what do you guys think?

  • 1 month later...
Yesterday my notebook froze and I did a forced shutdown. When I restarted it, windows froze at the startup progress bar. I attempted to start in Safemode, but it froze at crcdisk.sys.

I tried disabling my various hardware devices in the bios, and eventually came to the conclusion that the cause of the problem is my Intel 3945 wireless card. If I disable this card, windows boots properly. As soon as I enable it, windows fails to boot.

I'm thinking it is a driver issue, but I can't uninstall the driver because it doesn't appear in the Device Manger if the hardware is disabled and I can't get into windows if it is enabled. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Adam

~<Snip>~

Edited by Andrew-DB
Please do not condone piracy on this board.
This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Blast from the past.
    • Hello, Were you using a product or service from one of the companies affected by the Klue data breach?  See https://klue.com/blog/an-update-on-recent-klue-security-incident for the company's public statement.  That blog post does not list affected customer. From looking around at reports, I created this list: Gong HackerOne Huntress Insurity Jamf LastPass OneTrust Recorded Future ReliaQuest Salesforce Snyk Sprout Social Tanium It is likely there are other companies affected as well. Regards, Aryeh Goretsky  
    • SpaceX reportedly plans a Starlink mobile service for U.S. consumers by Karthik Mudaliar SpaceX reportedly wants to sell mobile phone plans directly to consumers in the United States as part of a wider expansion of Starlink. According to a report from the Financial Times, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell discussed the plan with investors during the company’s recent IPO roadshow. The company is also said to be considering building a terrestrial mobile network to complement Starlink’s satellite coverage. The plan is quite different from how Starlink currently operates in the U.S. mobile market. SpaceX already provides satellite connectivity for T-Mobile’s T-Satellite service, but T-Mobile remains responsible for the subscription, billing, and customer support. A Starlink-branded mobile service would give SpaceX control of the customer relationship instead. It could also turn the company from a partner of traditional mobile operators into a direct competitor. T-Mobile also began testing its Starlink-powered satellite service in early 2025. The beta was initially limited to text messaging and was also available to some AT&T and Verizon customers. The service has since expanded to support limited data access through selected apps, including WhatsApp, Google Maps, AccuWeather, and AllTrails. It is designed to provide a connection in areas where normal cell towers are unavailable, rather than replace a conventional mobile network. However, if SpaceX actually has a plan to serve nationwide, it needs to do more than just satellite networks and actually support on-ground operations. It can also partner up with existing carriers and become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). With that said, SpaceX has already spent heavily to support its mobile ambitions. Just last year, the company agreed to acquire wireless spectrum licences from EchoStar in deals worth a combined $19.6 billion. EchoStar's spectrum includes AWS-4, H-Block, and AWS-3 frequencies that could be used for both satellite and terrestrial communications. According to a SpaceX securities filing, the Federal Communications Commission approved the transaction in May 2026, although it is not expected to close until late 2027. There's no official statement by SpaceX for now. Pricing, availability, and other details remain unknown. Source: Financial Times
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      xvvxcvv earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Enthusiast
      Xonos went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Conversation Starter
      Admir earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • First Post
      The_Focal_Point earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      400
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      170
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      127
    4. 4
      neufuse
      69
    5. 5
      Xenon
      66
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!