BSOD WINLOGON_FATAL_ERROR (c000021a)

Question

I got a bsod a few days ago on startup while loading windows and had to do a system restore in order to be able to use my computer again.

I thought it was due to some network settings I messed with because the PC would boot into safe mode fine, but if I tried to boot into safe mode with networking it would BSOD again.

The first BSOD I got the error code was 0xc000021a

Today I got a BSOD again. I have no idea why. I did the same thing, performed a system restore and things were working again.

The only common thing I did before either BSODs happened was installing C++ redistributable 2022. Both times it was part of the installation of games.

Could someone look at the minidump files and help me figure out what is causing this/suggest next steps?

i uploaded a .zip containing 2 .dmp files here - https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av_VJY8c6Rv8aYjMnlIL3wcz9pQ?e=2ZRtnC

one is dated a few days ago so presumably the last bsod. The other is from just now.

Please help me ��

edit: i should add that windows explorer is buggy lately and needs frequent restarts. it becomes unresponsive or doesn't refresh after moving or renaming files, and sometimes when restarting it goes into an infinite loop of crashing and restarting and i need to ctrl alt delete to sign out and sign back in

analyzed the latest dump with windbg and it shows: https://pastebin.com/z1T5kxfU

msinfo32: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av_VJY8c6Rv8b72vJhQXp0_E1_Y?e=43feTF

edit 2: after applying windows update 2022-12 Cumulative Update for Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems (KB5021233) the bsod happened again. I'm pretty confident this update is causing the bsod. I found a page on reddit discussing the issue here - https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-performance/bsod-winlogonfatalerror-c000021a/ec67a1ce-71c9-49f4-bfff-cd13ad51e46b and it seems a lot of people are having the same error.

edit 3 SOLUTION: this fix worked for me https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-22h2#2986msgdesc

with the exception that the drive windows was on was on D: instead of C: for some reason so i had to replace the command with that. Run dir <driveletter>:\ until you find the correct one

Answer 1

Hi and thanks for reaching out. My name is Bernard a Windows fan like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

I understand the issue you have, there is nothing to worry I am here to help, as per checking and analyzing the DMP files there is an error nt!PopTransitionSystemPowerStateEx+1200, which is a general error related to DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE, in addition, we need to analyze more about the error, can you please check the System logs on the PC so that we can further examine what is the root cause of the issue?

To do this kindly follow the steps from this link:

https://www.yourwindowsguide.com/2017/12/how-to...

Then please upload it to Cloud storage and please share the shareable link here.

Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

Let me know how it goes and I hope that helps.

Bernard

Answer 2

Hi, thank you for the response. Here are the system logs from event viewer: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av_VJY8c6Rv8ck2KcQZcHQKkG5w?e=BaaIEC

and the application logs: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Av_VJY8c6Rv8cRjRMBjf_upr2p4?e=GjnXyB

Answer 3

Hi, thank you so much for the detailed reply, upon checking the event logs, there is a significant error which is Kernel-Power, this usually happens when there is a power loss on the motherboard or hardware components, in addition, kindly do the following steps for us to optimize the device and repair any software and driver issues:

Method 1. Do clean boot:

A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so that you can determine whether a background program is interfering with your game or program.

• In the search box on the taskbar, type msconfig and select System Configuration from the results.
• On the Services tab of System Configuration, select Hide all Microsoft services, and then select Disable all.
• On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select Open Task Manager.
• Under Startup in Task Manager, for each startup item, select the item and then select Disable.
• Close Task Manager.
• On the Startup tab of System Configuration, select OK. When you restart the computer, it's in a clean boot environment.

troubleshooting reference: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135...

Method 2. Run memory diagnostic tool: Memory diagnostic tool is a RAM test to check if there is any issues with RAM.

• Press Windows key + R then type in mdsched.exe hit OK then restart the device.

If none will work from the above solution, I suggest doing an in-place upgrade wherein it will upgrade the device to the latest version and repair all issues without deleting any files.

Note: before doing this make sure to create a restore point: https://support.microsoft.com/en-hk/help/402753...

1. go to this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...
2. Select Download Now, and select Run. You need to be an administrator to run this tool.
3. On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept.
4. On the What do you want to do? page, select Upgrade this PC now, and then select Next.
5. After downloading and installing, it should fix the issue.

Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-downlo...

Answer 4

ok so the cause was the latest windows update. It's a known issue. This fix worked for me: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-22h2#2986msgdesc

It works for booting into windows again. However it tries to redownload and install the update again after boot. I'm not sure if this will cause the issue to reoccur so I have paused updates for now.

Answer 5

December 2022

You might receive an error (0xc000021a) with a blue screen

Status Originating update History

Mitigated OS Build 19045.2364

KB5021233

2022-12-13 Last updated: 2022-12-17, 15:18 PT

Opened: 2022-12-17, 15:18 PT

After installing KB5021233, some Windows devices might start up to an error (0xc000021a) with a blue screen. Technical note: After installing KB5021233, there might be a mismatch between the file versions of hidparse.sys in c:/windows/system32 and c:/windows/system32/drivers (assuming Windows is installed to your C: drive), which might cause signature validation to fail when cleanup occurs.

Workaround: To mitigate this issue on devices already experiencing it, you will need to use Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) with the following steps:

You will need to enter Windows Recovery Environment. If your device has not automatically started up into WinRE, please see Entry points into WinRE.

Select the Troubleshoot button.

Select the "Start recovery, troubleshooting, and diagnostic tools" button.

Select the "Advanced Options" button.

Select the "Command Prompt" button and wait for your device to restart, if needed.

Your device should restart to a Command Prompt window. You might need to sign into your device with your password before getting to the Command Prompt window.

Run the following command (Important: If Windows is not installed to C:\windows you will need to modify the command to your environment): xcopy C:\windows\system32\drivers\hidparse.sys C:\windows\system32\hidparse.sys

Once the previous command completes, type: exit

Select the "Continue" button.

Windows should now start up as expected.

Important: It is not recommended to follow any other workaround than those recommended above. We do not recommend deleting the hidparse.sys from your Windows\System32 folder.

Affected platforms:

Client: Windows 10, version 22H2; Windows 10, version 21H2; Windows 10, version 21H1; Windows 10, version 20H2

Server: None

Source:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-10-22h2#2986msgdesc