I was often receiving the above error code hanging the PC, creating havoc on the FAT and even preventing me from reinstalling Windows XP home edition.

A thorough search of all the posts I could find on the web convinced me to do the following AFTER having disconnected the pc, removed all the cables connected to it and put on surgical gloves (or similar light plastic gloves) in order to avoid short circuiting anything or applying finger prints on anything:

a) remove the graphic card, the memory sticks, the CMOS battery and disconnect the data and power cables of the hard disk(s);

b) with alcohol and cue tips, clean all the electrical contacts of the graphic card, the memory sticks, including both sides of the CMOS battery, plus the data and power contacts of the hard disk(s);

c) with a plastic stick or any non metal thing, pull the the U shape pin of the CMOS receptacle upward so that it subsequently sits at ¼ inch higher than before in order to allow a firm contact with the underside of the CMOS battery;

d) remove all the dust present in the PC;

e) with a volt meter, check the voltage of the cable(s) coming from the power supply and leading to your hard drive(s). Usually, on the power supply, you will find a sticker indicating the volatges you should have. On my power supply, it shows that one of the wires of the connector(s) must indicate +5 volt DC and another +12 volt DC. If the readings of the volt meter are inconsistant with the voltages shown on the power supply sticker, it indicates that you will need to replace your power supply, most probably;

f) check all the cables inside the pc to make sure that they are all solidly connected;

g) reinstall everything inside and out and reboot the pc;

h) since the CMOS battery has been removed for a while, your BIOS will automatically boot the PC to the default settings. Therefore, upon booting, select to immediately have access to the BIOS in order to reselect the configuration settings you had before the whole process;

i) as expected, Windows will boot without any problem.

j) Subsequently, to make sure that your FAT (file allocation table) is updated accordingly, proceed to immediately do a CHECKDISK, followed by a defragmentation of your hard disk;

k) I did all this and now my PC works as good as new and I did’nt even loose any data files or programs I already had on it. Best of all, after eight days of use, I have not seen any error;

l) I wish you all well. As Winston Churchill once said; “excuse me for this long “letter”, I did’nt have time to write a shorter one”.

Jacques – Quebec city

It restarts a few times with this error and then finally runs. My laptop is still under warranty only 30 days left, and I'm out of the country.

Any suggestions?

Oh, by the way, this started happening suddenly one day when I started the system. No new programs or hardware installed.