Windows Server 2012 Standard - 0x00000091 on boot

0

I've been attempting to install Windows Server 2012 Standard on some relatively (circa 2007) old hardware. The machine itself is an Intel SE7320EP2 based system running 2x Dual-Core Xeon (64bit) processors. I initially got the 0x000000C4 error upon attempting to install, subsequently I found the fix which invoved updating the BIOS to the latest firmware and then enabling the NX/XD bit.

So after this I got the following message (after the initial installer load):

Your PC needs to restart.
Please hold down the power button.
Error code: 0x00000091

I then tried installing Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, which worked without issue. Bingo I thought, I'll do an upgrade to 2012, it's sure to tell me about any hardware issues if it's an upgrade-installation with drivers already loaded.... wrong!

Windows 2012 went through its upgrade/install/update process, then upon reboot the 2012 splash-screen came up, woo! It's working (I thought), hard-drive span a few cycles and then we're back to the old:

Your PC needs to restart.
Please hold down the power button.
Error code: 0x00000091

Does anyone know what the 0x00000091 is related to? I've done some google searching but can't find anything beyond vague references to hardware incompatibility. I know the H/W itself is around 8-9 years old now, however I can't understand how 2012 fails to boot where 2008 runs fine (given they both use 64-bit architectures etc etc...)?

Any answers much appreciated!

windows-server-2008-r2
windows-server-2012
hardware
installation
asked on Server Fault Apr 14, 2015 by OBR_EXO

1 Answer

0

Windows 2012 requires newer hardware than 2008. The error 0x00000091 is usually the result of a hardware failure or unsupported hardware.

answered on Server Fault Apr 14, 2015 by longneck

User contributions licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0