Vista Stop 0X00008086, Computer Aid

An Acer laptop got an infection that prevented it from connecting to the home wifi access point.

I cleaned up the infection… the laptop was very slow, even for Vista, given that it had 1Gb RAM.

After a while, I noticed that it would occasionally (every few hours) freeze, or produce a BSOD, with the error: Stop 0x00008086

I try a RAM test (all ok), HDD test (all ok).

I also download all the latest drivers via windows update, but that doesn’t help either.

There is not much info on the net about this error, so after a futile couple of hours trying fix it, I decide to give up and allow the customer to keep using it for as long as she can, and eventually get a new one if deemed necessary.

I hate giving up on problems, but in some cases it becomes obvious very quickly, that there is no point in trying to to find a solution, if its either unlikely to exist, or its going to take many hours to find.

Preferences aside, and from 25 years of technical experience: “manufacturer x” or “programming company y” frequently isn’t the ultimate problem. Sony, Toshiba, and many other systems exhibit STOP 0x00008086 errors…and in this case it’s apparently more related to “the software on the hardware” (i.e., the firmware) than a particular manufacturer, who has scores of firmware companies from which to choose, and hardware from many other vendors branded under someone else’s faceplate.

In any case, I have a STOP 0x8086 on a Sony system I’m troubleshooting that occurred in April of this year (luckily, logs are available from then). So as to follow up with a potentially helpful reference, many articles mention problems with AHCI and internal SATA drives, and indeed, this system is showing scores of eventlog messages that AHCI is not responding properly with respect to the BIOS, which is a Windows message, not a Sony message. AHCI is, of course, part of the BIOS implementation, and either the BIOS manufacturer or the drive manufacturer could be at fault. Microsoft maintains a list of BIOS pages here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243909

and a reference for the STOP error is here:

http://club.myce.com/f43/px-716sa-1-05-firmware-bug-132265/

To leave on-topic, most articles indicate that the solution is to reset the SATA mode to ATA in the BIOS, which forces Windows to use its native, default drivers, and reinstall the operating system–since a base layer change like this would make the system, at best, unusable until reinstall (and at worst, corrupt the system). This of course means that you have to try to back up the system first, so you can replace your files. Since it lowers the likelihood that a “blue screen” will occur, doing this in Safe Mode is probably the best bet.

While this is an old article, this still might be a relevant answer for visitors.

Comments

Vista Stop 0X00008086 — 3 Comments

RE Ausetkmt on 24 May, 2009 at 3:32 am said:

The Answer is It’s an ACER.. LOL
now you knew better when you started working on that disposable plastic box.

sorry, I read your blog daily and this just made me have to comment as an A+ Tech, I know what you’re going through.

many many days I quickly read and today was just too funny to not leave a comment.

yeahhh I know, it’s really not an inside joke.
Kirk M. Schafer on 26 December, 2009 at 8:58 am said:

Preferences aside, and from 25 years of technical experience: “manufacturer x” or “programming company y” frequently isn’t the ultimate problem. Sony, Toshiba, and many other systems exhibit STOP 0x00008086 errors…and in this case it’s apparently more related to “the software on the hardware” (i.e., the firmware) than a particular manufacturer, who has scores of firmware companies from which to choose, and hardware from many other vendors branded under someone else’s faceplate.

In any case, I have a STOP 0x8086 on a Sony system I’m troubleshooting that occurred in April of this year (luckily, logs are available from then). So as to follow up with a potentially helpful reference, many articles mention problems with AHCI and internal SATA drives, and indeed, this system is showing scores of eventlog messages that AHCI is not responding properly with respect to the BIOS, which is a Windows message, not a Sony message. AHCI is, of course, part of the BIOS implementation, and either the BIOS manufacturer or the drive manufacturer could be at fault. Microsoft maintains a list of BIOS pages here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/243909

and a reference for the STOP error is here:

http://club.myce.com/f43/px-716sa-1-05-firmware-bug-132265/

To leave on-topic, most articles indicate that the solution is to reset the SATA mode to ATA in the BIOS, which forces Windows to use its native, default drivers, and reinstall the operating system–since a base layer change like this would make the system, at best, unusable until reinstall (and at worst, corrupt the system). This of course means that you have to try to back up the system first, so you can replace your files. Since it lowers the likelihood that a “blue screen” will occur, doing this in Safe Mode is probably the best bet.

While this is an old article, this still might be a relevant answer for visitors.
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