# Verifying DMI pool data



## masu485 (May 16, 2013)

This error has been the bane of my existence for years. I've never had any problems but this.

Problem: I came home last night after leaving my computer on, and saw it was stuck on the Verifying DMI pool data screen of startup (It said update successful afterwards, so I'm guessing my computer auto-updated and then restarted and that's what caused the problem)

Possible solutions: I've had this problem in the past and the preliminary solutions didn't work so I had to go through a big ordeal involving rewriting partitions, which I honestly don't remember how to do, but may have to do again.

Equipment: I'm running on Windows XP and have a Windows XP disk, a System Rescue disk, and a flash disk if need be.

Thanks a lot. Any help would be appreciated.


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## S.T.A.R.S. (May 17, 2013)

That error is related to BIOS.It has nothing to do with your XP.If everything was working fine and now all of a sudden that error shows up,trust me it has nothing to do with XP OS.

Go into your BIOS and load DEFAULT configuration and then save changes to CMOS and restart.

You can also try reseting BIOS settings by removing the CMOS battery for an hour or more and then returning it back.


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## masu485 (May 17, 2013)

S.T.A.R.S. said:


> That error is related to BIOS.It has nothing to do with your XP.If everything was working fine and now all of a sudden that error shows up,trust me it has nothing to do with XP OS.
> 
> Go into your BIOS and load DEFAULT configuration and then save changes to CMOS and restart.
> 
> You can also try reseting BIOS settings by removing the CMOS battery for an hour or more and then returning it back.



Thanks for the reply.

I'm not that adept at computers so I don't know exactly if I've done this already. I've pressed DEL on bootup to get to a blue menu. From this menu I just pressed "Load default settings". This did not solve the problem. Is this the same as what you suggested?

Last time this happened, I recall having to use System Rescue or a Boot disk in order to fix some partitions or something.


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## S.T.A.R.S. (May 17, 2013)

That error does not show up for no reason.
What were that last things you did on your computer before this occured?

By the way try this:

Completely unplug the hard disk drive from the computer's motherboard and then turn on the computer.If "Verifying DMI pool data" message shows up and then passes away after few seconds then you should get a message like:

-Operating system not found

or

-Please insert valid boot device and press ENTER

or something similar to that.So if that happens then everything is okay with your computer's hardware and that means that the message "Verifying DMI pool data" (which you are getting and does not go away at all) is there because of the hard disk drive (hardware itself) OR the hard disk drive contents (data).

Just a question:

How did you create the partitions and how many partitions did you create when you were installing OS?

Here is a proper way:

Completely erase the ENTIRE hard disk drive with KILL DISK or DBAN.Select the UNPARTITIONED SPACE.It will automatically create one partition on that UNPARTITIONED SPACE which will be big as your entire hard disk drive.And then install Windows to that partition.
Do NOT create multiple partitions for no reason because that can result in many problems.Just ONE SINGLE partition which uses the entire hard disk drive would be the best.

I know people who are creating up to 8 partitions on which they store backups in the case if their hard disk drive dies.And that's just stupid lol because if hard disk drive dies,ALL PARTITIONS are HISTORY no matter how many of them you have lol.

So just do what I wrote above.Of course backup your important data on other hard disk drive before doing that.And since you cannot go into Windows to do that because "Verifying DMI pool data" message does not want to go away (IF THE REASON IS HARD DISK DRIVE OF COURSE) then do what I said above:

-Unplug hard disk drive completely
-Load Linux Ubuntu from CD directly
-Once you get to the desktop,connect your hard disk drive via USB
-also connect one more hard disk drive via USB on which you will store backups
-now backup all your important data from your primary hard disk drive to your secondary one
-once that is done,shut down the computer.In Linux Ubuntu that is a button in upper right corner: LIVE SESSION USER -> SHUTDOWN and then again SHUTDOWN
-take Ubuntu CD out and shutdown the computer
-connect your primary hard disk drive again
-install Windows on it EXACTLY how I described the procedure above!!!





Cheers!


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## masu485 (May 17, 2013)

Ok, so I did the first part of that. It seems the problem is indeed my hard drive. I used testdisk to fiddle a bit with my partitions, but no luck.

To answer your question, the partitions came with the computer, I did't create them. There's initially 3 partitions when I do Quick Search with testdisk. When I search deeper it shows 4.

1. is a FAT32 file, which is the ACER Recovery Console I believe. If I boot from here, I'd be able to restore to factory settings (unfortunately deleting everything I assume)
2. my first data drive, around 70GB. Contains most of my data. It also says it's a FAT32. When trying to boot from here, it gives a 'NTLDR is missing' error. I feel I should be using this to boot though. Windows is installed to this drive.
3. my second data drive, also around 70GB. Contains a bit less data. This one shows up after I search deeper.
4. a corrupt/damaged 8kb or so partition. I don't remember what this is exactly, but I recall it had no bearing on resolving my problem last time, so I don't want to fiddle with it this time.

So far, I've tried booting up from each partition. Wrote MBR numerous times. Still no luck. I really don't even know how to back up harddisks exactly.


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## masu485 (May 17, 2013)

Oh, sorry I made an error in my previous post.

My first data drive (named ACER), the one where Windows is installed, is not a FAT32, it's a HPFS-NTFS.

My second data drive is a FAT32 LBA. 

Would Repair FAT help in any way?


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## masu485 (May 19, 2013)

Ok, well after another day of somewhat non-stop research, I've had a few breakthroughs. I got Hirens Boot CD and used that to boot up. I can see all my files, everything is still intact, so I'm happy. At this point I feel I have two options.

1. Somehow fix the computer from here (ie. do something with the boot files? replace some files somewhere? not sure) I feel I'm a quick step or two away from fixing this problem.

2. Try to abort solving the problem and use the privilege of access to my important files in order to transfer them via USB to the laptop. Then try the ACER Recovery option to restore to factory settings. Then from there transfer the files back over from laptop to the original computer. Hoping that will clean the system.


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## S.T.A.R.S. (May 19, 2013)

The second option would do exactly what I told you so do that.

Use that CD to backup ALL your important data on some USB device and once you have done that then do what I said in my previous post:

-Completely erase the ENTIRE hard disk drive with KILL DISK

-After that use your Windows CD/DVD disk (wether it is the original one from Microsoft or a recovery disk for your computer)

-Select the UNPARTITIONED SPACE (if there is one.Usually there is not if you are using recovery disks unless if they show it).So if there is UNPARTITIONED SPACE,select it and it will automatically create one  partition on that UNPARTITIONED SPACE which will be big as your entire  hard disk drive.If it is not shown then you are obviously using the recovery disk for your computer which does not show partitions...in that case just follow the procedure to install an operating system.BUT if you are asked to create MORE than ONE partition,DO NOT do it.Create just ONE because you do not need more.

-Install Windows to that partition.Do NOT create multiple partitions for no reason because that can result  in many problems with messed up partitions UNLESS if you are 100% sure that you know what you are doing.So create just ONE SINGLE partition which uses the entire hard  disk drive because in your case that would be the best

-Install all neccessary drivers (if any).Some recovery disks already INCLUDE the drivers on them selves and usually they install all the neccessary drivers automatically.If not,do it manually wether you take/find the drivers on your recovery disk or the internet or some other resources





Cheers!


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## masu485 (May 20, 2013)

Thanks a lot for the reply! I am curious though as to what would happen to the ACER Recovery partition, which comes as a small separate partition in the hard disk. If I make everything one partition, will I be able to access the Recovery partition if anything else goes wrong in the future?


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## S.T.A.R.S. (May 21, 2013)

masu485 said:


> Thanks a lot for the reply! I am curious though as to what would happen to the ACER Recovery partition, which comes as a small separate partition in the hard disk. If I make everything one partition, will I be able to access the Recovery partition if anything else goes wrong in the future?



ACER recovery partition is just a partition which is used to restore the computer in it's original state.In other word: REINSTALLING WINDOWS.

But I do not want you to use that partition at all.I want you to do what I told you in my previous post(s).
You do not need to worry about that ACER partition if you already have the recovery disk (CD or DVD disk(s)).

So you asked what would happen to ACER recovery partition.This:

YOU WILL USE ACTIVE KILL DISK (like I already said in my previous posts) AND WITH IT YOU WILL ERASE THE ENTIRE HARD DISK DRIVE COMPLETELY 100% AND THAT MEANS THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ABSOLUTELY ANY INFORMATION (DATA) LEFT INCLUDING THAT ACER RECOVERY PARTITION AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

After you have done that,use your recovery disk(s) to reinstall Windows operating system and neccessary drivers even though the drivers are usually automatically installed from the recovery disk(s) during the installation of Windows operating system.

NOTE: I already said this before and I am gonna say it again.DO NOT create multiple unneccessary partitions because you do NOT need that.You should have UNPARTITIONED SPACE ONLY!So select THAT and install Windows on that.If your recovery disk(s) are not designed to show partitions then just follow the instructions on how to install Windows.BUT IF you are asked ON ANY WAY to create more than 1 partition then DO NOT do that!Because you do not need more than 1 partition which uses the entire hard disk drive!

You earlier told me that you have 4 partitions.Some of them are FAT32,some are NTFS and some are EVEN DAMAGED!

So...do you need all that crap???
The answer is NO lol.

Here are 3 reasons why:

-on FAT32 you cannot have file(s) larger than 4 GB and some encryption procedures do not work and it is less secure.

-damaged partitions (like the one you have) can cause MANY MANY MANY problems in your computer either on BOOTING UP or DURING THE COMPUTER USAGE.And sometimes it will cause serious problems so that you cannot boot into Windows at all like it happened to you ---> "Verifying DMI pool data".

-having a RECOVERY PARTITION on the hard disk drive is COMPLETELY UNNECCESSARY and stupid lol.First it eats a lot of hard disk drive space and second it is a lot worse to attempt to reinstall Windows using that rather than using the actual recovery CD or DVD disk(s) which is a LOT better way.Also during the computer's usage viruses could have gone into that recovery partition and infect it with a lot of crap lol.

So...ONE MORE TIME here is what you MUST do:

Way number 1:

YOU WILL USE ACTIVE KILL DISK (like I already said in my previous posts) AND WITH IT YOU  WILL ERASE THE ENTIRE HARD DISK DRIVE COMPLETELY 100% AND THAT MEANS  THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ABSOLUTELY ANY INFORMATION (DATA) LEFT INCLUDING  THAT ACER RECOVERY PARTITION AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

After you have done that,use your recovery disk(s)  to reinstall Windows operating system and neccessary drivers even  though the drivers are usually automatically installed from the recovery  disk(s) during the installation of Windows operating system.

NOTE: I already said this before and I am gonna say it again.DO NOT  create multiple unneccessary partitions because you do NOT need that.You  should have UNPARTITIONED SPACE ONLY!So select THAT and install Windows  on that.If your recovery disk(s) are not designed to show partitions then just  follow the instructions on how to install Windows.BUT IF you are asked  ON ANY WAY to create more than 1 partition then DO NOT do that!Because  you do not need more than 1 partition which uses the entire hard disk  drive!


Way number 2:

YOU WILL USE ACTIVE KILL DISK (like I already said in my previous posts) AND WITH IT YOU  WILL ERASE THE ENTIRE HARD DISK DRIVE COMPLETELY 100% AND THAT MEANS  THAT THERE WILL NOT BE ABSOLUTELY ANY INFORMATION (DATA) LEFT INCLUDING  THAT ACER RECOVERY PARTITION AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

After you have done that,instead of using the recovery disk(s),you can use the original Windows CD or DVD disk from Microsoft to reinstall Windows.After Windows has been installed,install the neccessary drivers such as:

-chipset (if any.If you cannot find this driver,do not worry.Everything will work fine without it because Windows will use it's default one)

-graphics (if any)

-audio (if any)

-LAN network (if any)

-Wireless LAN network (if any)


NOTE: BEFORE DOING ANY OF THIS,BE SURE TO BACKUP ALL YOUR IMPORTANT DATA USING LINUX UBUNTU CD-ROM DISK (you can download it's ISO file for free from the internet) TO SOME OTHER EXTERNAL MEDIA STORAGE SUCH AS USB STICK,USB DISK OR WHATEVER YOU PREFER!




Cheers!


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