Hi.
I recently tried to fix one of my old computers that was hand made by my brother.
I would go to boot it up, and it would come up with the error BAD_POOL_CALLER but i could not get the numbers down fast enough as it would reset itself after 3 seconds. So i took my XP Pro disc from Indiana University and try to erase the HDD and re install windows. When i go to do it, it says i have a file missing and corrupt on the disk. So i was like, ok, could be a bad disk. I decided to go and get Ubuntu and try to just get an operating system on my computer. I downloaded it and followed their instructions to get it on a disc. It succesfully worked and i went to install it and it says there is an error with the OS Kernel. I tried the disk on my friends computer and it worked. I have no idea what is up with the computer, but im just trying to fix it and spend no money. Please help!

-Landon

Hello Blaze, welcome to PCHF.

First of all, what is the current problem your experiencing here, and you mentioned a problem with the OS Kernal, but then said that using the disk from your friends PC worked?

Also, using XP from other machines is illegal. You should have a fully legal and licensed version of Windows for each PC, and not one CD shared between 2 or 3 PC's!

No. XP Pro is the original disc to my personal built computer. First OS it had on there. Im trying to re install it after it crashed and came up with this error. But what im saying it is i took it to a friends house to see if it just even ran, and it did which is weird. So Basically when i try to re install windows, on my computer so far every disc i have used said it is either corrupt or it will not accept it.

Oh and i have tried different RAM but i dont have another motherboard. The only motherboard i have are some from reallly really old computers that i have sitting in my closet.

The current error your having is "Bad_poll_caller", is that right?

If your receiving this error before even installing any device drivers, the most common cause to this error is disk problems ranging from bad sectors to HDD failure. RAM issues are a possibility, but as far as I'm aware, these have never been confirmed.

The first thing to do is run a disk check. Put the XP cd in, and start the initial setup. When prompted, press -R- for recovery. Once you enter the recovery console, type in chkdsk /r

The disk check can take several hours, especially if there are problems on the disk. Try this first and let us know how it goes.

I cant even get into the setup....The disk wont load because its missing or corrupt file. Nor will the Ubuntu disk i got.

Try using the disk you used to re-install XP. Make sure that the CD is clean, unscratched and not copied. Also, try using a cleaning CD incase the heads of the drive are dirty.

EDIT: Marked as Answered (for now).