HP Stop Code 0xc000021a: Know Causes and Top Fixes Here!

If you don’t know how to fix HP stop code 0xc000021a on Windows 10, you can read this article carefully to catch the top 5 methods. And you can also master the best way to protect your HP from such errors.

Clytze

By Clytze Updated on January 17, 2023

Share this: instagram reddit

User case

 

Can’t get past Blue Screen from stop code 0xc000021a

HP shows blue screen of "Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart." Cites stop code of 0xc000021a. Every step to fix at support. Microsoft brings me back to this same page because it won't accept the last step command to open in Safe Mode. It's all blue screens. No way to type in any search or commands. I'm not sure which version of Windows I have because I can't open it to see. It also won't accept my Windows password when I try to take a different path to try to fix the problem, e.g. reset Windows.

- Question from Microsoft Community

Stop Code 0xc00021a Windows 10 Installation

Get to know about stop code 0xc00021a on HP computer

Typically, a blue screen error code 0xc000021a is caused by a corrupted user mode subsystem file. The points listed below may lead to this error.

  • Newly installed software or driver may not be compatible with your version of Windows.
  • Windows Update Error
  • Corrupted system file

Some users may not have a clue how to deal with Windows stop code 0xc000021a. Don't worry, this article will lead you through the 5 methods provided to solve it easily.

How to fix 0xc000021a in Windows 10

To fix 0xc000021a on Windows 10, this page has provided you the top 5 easy methods. Read carefully and try them until you get yourself out of the trouble.

Fix 1. Uninstall newly installed Windows updates

1. Power on the HP computer and power it off immediately when you see the log screen. Try this for three times, and it will initiate Preparing Automatic Repair page. This may take 2 to 5 minutes.

2. Then it will boot to Recovery Mode. Click Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Uninstall Updates.

3. You’re asked to choose the type of update you want to uninstall. Click Uninstall latest quality update, and then click Uninstall quality update on the next screen.

Uninstall Updates

Tip:
✎ Quality updates are monthly cumulative updates or roll-up patches mostly containing security fixes and are released every month.
✎ Feature updates are massive updates that are version upgrades released twice a year (e.g., referenced by their versions 2004, 21H2, 22H2, etc.)

Fix 2. Run DISM command

Boot your Windows system into Safe Mode with Command Prompt and run the dism command by following the steps below:

Reboot your system

1. Boot into WinRE, choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.

2. Once the Command Prompt window appears, type this command and press Enter:

dism /image:C:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions (Replace C: with the letter of the drive where your Windows 10/11 is installed.)

ExcutingAnOrder

3. Additional commands you can run are:

cd C:\Windows\WinSxS

move pending.xml pending.old

This will work if a pending.xml has been created.

Fix 3. Run SFC Scan

System File Checker (SFC) checks integrity of protected system files. If some of them are corrupted or missing, SFC will replace them with correct versions located in C:\Windows. Learn how to run System File Checker as follows:

1. Open Command Prompt by operating the above steps.

2. In the Command Prompt window, type SFC /Scannow and press Enter.

SFC Scan

3. It may take some time to finish the process. The results will be displayed when the scan is complete.

Fix 4. Disable Driver Signature Enforcement

1. Start your PC into WinRE, it will take you to an options screen. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Startup Settings.

2. Click the Restart button to reboot your computer into the Startup Settings screen. Press the F7 key to boot into Windows with the driver signature enforcement disabled.

Disable Driver Signature Enforcement

3. Then restart your computer to see if you fix your PC couldn't start properly.

Fix 5. Disable Secure Boot

1. In the Troubleshooting menu, go to Troubleshoot > UEFI Firmware Settings > click Restart.

2. Once in the BIOS, select the Authentication section or BootSecurity tab.

3. Set Secure Boot to Disabled.

Secure Boot

4. Save the BIOS settings and exit.

Extra tip: backup HP PC regularly to prevent errors occur

When your computer has errors such as the mentioned one in this article, some of them can be solved well, but some very serious problems can cause your computer to blue screen and not boot properly.

Since most of the HP error code 0xc000021a is caused by updating Windows versions, it is recommended that you backup your HP computer before upgrading to avoid similar occurrences. This way, you can use this image backup to restore your computer to a normal state quickly when encountering unsolvable errors.

To accomplish this, I highly recommend you use AOMEI Backupper Standard, a free backup and restore software that you can use to create Windows system backups easily. It has very simple steps and an intuitive interface that works with any windows system. You can learn about some of its features.

✪ It allows you to backup file, system, partition, disk at a daily, weekly, and monthly frequency, so no changed files will be missing.
✪ It supports various backup destinations, such as, external hard drive, USB drive, SSD, network drive, cloud storage (eg: backup computer files to Google Drive), SD card, and so on.
✪ It offers you other flexible backup features such as write, set automatic schedule backup task, write comments for your backups, choose the compression level or set up email notifications.
✪ You can choose incremental backup and differential backup to improve the backup efficiency, both save time and disk storage.

Follow the stepwise guide to backup your HP PC with AOMEI Backupper:

Click the button below to download and install this freeware on your device. Then open it, click Backup and System Backup > select a destination path to save the backup image > click Start Backup to complete the process.

Download FreewareWin11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Secure Download

System Backup

Conclusion

Now you know how to fix HP stop code 0xc000021a with the provided 5 easy ways in this article. Facing such system errors are quite annoying, and not all of them can be solved well. Thus, it is recommended that you backup your Windows OS before upgrading or as daily protection.

I’d like to introduce you the best free backup and restore software AOMEI Backupper for you to create a backup of your HP computer. And it offers you a feature to create bootable USB to start your PC correctly if it fails to boot.

In addition, it is also the best disk cloning software, which allows you to clone Windows 11 to another hard drive and boot from the new drive successfully.

Clytze
Clytze · Editor
Clytze, an editor at AOMEI Technology, is passionate about safeguarding your digital world. She dedicates her expertise to empower users like you in data security and recovery. She firmly believes that everyone should have the tools and knowledge to protect their digital assets through computer backup, seamless disk cloning, and efficient file synchronization. Clytze is your trusted guide on the journey to data safety.