Windows NT operating systems encounter various errors and issues, but the most problematic one is the STOP error message. These errors are commonly identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal code which may sometimes appear if the file, which is required at the time of system boot is corrupt or damaged. As a result, a STOP error occurs and the process of the system comes to a halt. Additionally, the hard drive data becomes inaccessible. An ideal way to overcome such situations is to restore the data from a valid backup file. However, if the backup fails or is not available, then you can rely upon a powerful Hard Drive Data Recovery application to recover your data.

Consider this example – Suppose, you start your Windows XP based system and suddenly the following STOP error message appears:

“Stop: 0xC000012F STATUS_INVALID_IMAGE_NOT_MZ

The specified image file did not have the correct format, it did not have an initial MZ.”

Along with this error message, you may also receive the following Trap Code:

“STOP 0x0000006b (0xc000012f, 0xxxxxxxxx, 0xxxxxxxxx,0xxxxxxxxx)”

After this error message pops up, the system stops booting and you cannot perform any other operation in the system.

Cause:

Most probable cause of the error message is:

The system was not able to load the files required for start up as the systems files used are corrupt. This may happen because of hardware malfunction while file copying was in progress. Thus, it is highly recommended to examine the system hardware thoroughly to determine the cause of the problem. This error message can also occur after installing new drivers in the system.

Resolution:

There is no particular file specified in the error message that might be causing the problem. So, you need to perform basic troubleshooting steps to solve the issue. Following are the troubleshooting steps:

Restart your system using Last Known Good Configuration option. Select the VGA mode option from the boot menu. This allows you to see the Windows XP system files on the screen and have a fair idea about the damaged or corrupted file. Use Emergency Repair Disk. This will replace the corrupted or missing driver file on the partition.

In majority of such cases, these measures help you solve the problem. However, if the problem does not seem to go even after usineasures, then you need to re-install Windows XP. A clean re-installation of the operating system results in deletion of all the hard drive data. In such situations, to recover your lost data, you will need to use a good quality Hard Drive >Data Recovery </a>application. These applications deploy intense scanning algorithms for Disk Recovery in all logical data loss scenarios.

Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery is designed to recover lost, missing, deleted or inaccessible data from the hard drive. This Disk Recovery software is embedded with various useful features like Disk Cloning, Disk Imaging, etc which facilitate data recovery. The Windows Data recovery application supports FAT 12, FAT 16, FAT 32, VFAT, NTFS, and NTFS5 based file systems. It is designed for Windows 7, Vista, XP, 2003, and 2000.