Stop C000021A After Re-Applying Windows NT v4.0 SP1

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

After you re-apply the Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 1 to a Windows NT 4.0 system that previously had Windows NT Service Pack 2 installed, you may receive the following blue screen error message on startup:

   Stop: C000021A {Fatal system Error}
   The Session Manager Initialization System Process Terminated
   Unexpectedly with a status of 0xc0000003 (0x00000000, 0x00000000)
   The system has been shutdown.

CAUSE

The system has a mixture of Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 1 and 2 files installed. This error should only occur on systems that had Service Pack 2 removed by using an Emergency Repair Diskette. A bug in the Windows NT emergency repair process prevents the Service Pack 2 files from being replaced during Emergency Repair.

For more information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID : Q168015
   TITLE      : Files Not Replaced When Running Emergency Repair

RESOLUTION

Follow the steps in Knowledge Base article Q168015 to perform an emergency repair. Choose the option to verify Windows NT system files, and replace all files that are different. This will put the system back to no service pack condition and allow Service Pack 1 to be reinstalled.