Windows stop error - 0x00000074 Bad System Config Info

This article provides steps to resolve issues where Windows cannot boot and needs to restart due to bad system configuration information in an Azure Virtual Machine (VM).

Symptom

When you use Boot diagnostics to view the screenshot of the VM, you'll see that the screenshot displays the Windows stop code #0x00000074 or BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO.

Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. You can restart. For more information about this issue and possible fixes, visit https://windows.com/stopcode If you call a support person, give them this info: Stop code: BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO

Screenshot of the Windows stop code BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO.

Cause

The BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO stop code occurs if the SYSTEM registry hive appears to be corrupted. This error can be caused by any of these reasons:

  • The registry hive wasn't closed properly.
  • The registry hive is corrupt.
  • There are missing registry keys or values.

Solution

Process overview

Tip

If you have a recent backup of the VM, you may try restoring the VM from the backup to fix the boot problem.

  1. Create and Access a Repair VM.

  2. Check for hive corruption.

  3. Enable serial console and memory dump collection.

  4. Rebuild the VM.

    Note

    When encountering this error, the Guest operating system (OS) is not operational. You'll troubleshoot in offline mode to resolve this issue.

Create and access a Repair VM

  1. Use steps 1-3 of the VM Repair Commands to prepare a Repair VM.

  2. Check for hive corruption.

  3. Use Remote Desktop Connection to connect to the Repair VM.

  4. Copy the <VOLUME LETTER OF BROKEN OS DISK>:\windows\system32\config folder and save it in either your healthy disk partition, or in another safe location. Back up this folder as a precaution, since you will edit critical registry files.

    Note

    Make a copy of the <VOLUME LETTER OF BROKEN OS DISK>:\windows\system32\config folder as a backup in case you need to roll back any changes you make to the registry.

Check for hive corruption

The instructions below will help you determine if the cause was due to hive corruption, or if the hive wasn't closed correctly. If the hive wasn't closed correctly, then you'll be able to unlock the file and fix your VM.

  1. On your repair VM, open the Registry Editor application. Type "REGEDIT" in the Windows search bar to find it.

  2. In Registry Editor, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to highlight it, then select File > Load Hive… from the menu.

  3. Browse to <VOLUME LETTER OF BROKEN OS DISK>:\windows\system32\config\SYSTEM and select Open.

  4. When prompted to enter a name, enter BROKENSYSTEM.

    1. If the hive fails to open, or if it is empty, then the hive is corrupted. If the hive has been corrupted, open a support ticket.

      Screenshot shows an error occurs stating that the Registry Editor can't load the hive.

    2. If the hive opens normally, then the hive wasn't closed properly. Continue to step 5.

  5. To fix a hive that wasn't closed properly, highlight BROKENSYSTEM then select File > Unload Hive… to unlock the file.

Enable the serial console and memory dump collection

Recommended: Before you rebuild the VM, enable the Serial Console and memory dump collection by running the following script:

  1. Open an elevated command prompt session as an Administrator.

  2. Run the following commands:

    Enable the Serial Console:

    bcdedit /store <VOLUME LETTER WHERE THE BCD FOLDER IS>:\boot\bcd /ems {<BOOT LOADER IDENTIFIER>} ON 
    bcdedit /store <VOLUME LETTER WHERE THE BCD FOLDER IS>:\boot\bcd /emssettings EMSPORT:1 EMSBAUDRATE:115200
    
  3. Verify that the free space on the OS disk is larger than the memory size (RAM) on the VM.

    If there's not enough space on the OS disk, change the location where the memory dump file will be created, and refer that location to any data disk attached to the VM that has enough free space. To change the location, replace %SystemRoot% with the drive letter of the data disk, such as F:, in the following commands.

    Suggested configuration to enable OS Dump:

    Load Registry Hive from the broken OS Disk:

    REG LOAD HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM <VOLUME LETTER OF BROKEN OS DISK>:\windows\system32\config\SYSTEM
    

    Enable on ControlSet001:

    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl" /v CrashDumpEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f 
    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl" /v DumpFile /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP" /f 
    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\CrashControl" /v NMICrashDump /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f 
    

    Enable on ControlSet002:

    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\CrashControl" /v CrashDumpEnabled /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f 
    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\CrashControl" /v DumpFile /t REG_EXPAND_SZ /d "%SystemRoot%\MEMORY.DMP" /f 
    REG ADD "HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\CrashControl" /v NMICrashDump /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f 
    

    Unload Broken OS Disk:

    REG UNLOAD HKLM\BROKENSYSTEM
    

Rebuild the VM

Use step 5 of the VM Repair Commands to rebuild the VM.

Contact us for help

If you have questions or need help, create a support request, or ask Azure community support. You can also submit product feedback to Azure feedback community.