Computer no longer recognizes own OS and won't boot!!

[bovinda]

OK folks, this has happened to me once before (about 6 months ago was last time), and I've never been able to recover from it without doing a clean reformat of everything. But I really, really, really don't want to do that this time, for a variety of reasons. I've posted about it before at this link: Link to AT forum post about same issue I wasn't able to resolve this before and gave up. Not this time! Please help me! I will do anything you say.

Problem: When my computer starts up and is about to boot into Windows XP, a screen comes up that says:

Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt: \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM
You can attempt to repair this file by starting Windows Setup using the original Setup CD-ROM. Select "r" at the first screen to start repair.

Background: Problem started while media player was ripping some music off of a CD. The computer spontaneously restarted while it was ripping, and I got the message above.

What I've tried:
1. Following its instructions, but no repair option is available using a Windows XP Home or Pro CD (I mean when I go all the way to the set-up screen, after accepting the EULA etc., not just loading the repair console).
2. I loaded the repair console from the XP CD instead, and entered bootcfg /rebuild as per a website's instructions. But it says "The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems" and can't do it. Entering chkdsk also doesn't work anymore, giving the same "unrecoverable problems" response.
3. Someone previously suggested this being a hard drive failure (see link above), but it won't recognize eiter of the physical drives I have in there (it has two). Gives same message for both. Also, when I've done a clean reformat before and then searched for errors/bad sectors/etc., I've never found any, on either drive.
4. I can't start in safe mode. Also someone gave me these instructions from Microsoft previously, but the instructions specifically say NOT to use them for OEM installs (which this is).
5. I did leave System Restore on this time (I've had it shut off in the past). But I can't/don't know how to access it.


What next? Is there any way, any way at all, to fix this without doing a clean install?

The system, just in case:
AMD 64 3400 (754)
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro mobo
1 gig Corsair RAM
Windows XP Home (OEM install)

Thank you in advance for any and all help!!!

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EDIT: I tried following the instructions in the MS page below just to give it a shot at trying to repair it, even though it's OEM, but when I try to go to the very first action (typing "md tmp" and pressing enter) it says "Access denied." What can I try now? Is there any way to attempt fixing the registry?

EDIT 2 (10/17): So I ran Memtest86 for about 9 hours (25 passes) and no errors. WD's diagnostics (I used their "extended test") for both drives said they were fine. So...what might it be? Perhaps the motherboard? Just some faulty programming that screws with the registry somehow?

EDIT 3 (10/21): Figured out why I couldn't use recovery console or do a repair install. See later posts.

The fact it's happened in identical fashion before makes me think it's hardware, but it was only once, and that was 6 months ago. Are there any other tests I could do?

Most importantly, is there any way to recover from this, without formatting?

 

[mechBgon]

There are viruses/worms that eat stuff from your Windows directory. What did you have in the way of antivirus and firewall protection? Windows was all patched with SP2 and all subsequent patches, as far as you know?

Also, what exact model of Corsair RAM, and what voltage is the mobo giving it? Tried some Memtest86 testing with it? Are you overclocking? edit: throw in the brand & model of the power supply and the rest of the system specs, too (cards, drives, etc)

 

[bovinda]

Hi mechBgon, good to hear from you, thanks for responding. I've been keeping all the XP security patches up-to-date (I update 'em weekly). I've been using Norton's security suite (2005) for both antivirus and firewall, and I check to make sure it's up-to-date weekly also. XP was patched to SP2 also.

Here's the rest of my specs, as far as I can tell from my invoice...it's a pre-assembled PC from ABS computers, got it in January of 2004:

AMD 64 3400 (754)
Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro mobo
1 gig Corsair RAM (XMS series, 2 x 512 DDR sticks, 32MX8 PC-3200)
Windows XP Home (OEM install)
Radeon 128 9800 Pro
Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum
Antec 1000AMG case, with 530W Fortron Power supply
Two WD 120 GB hard drives
Sony DVD ROM
Plextor CD burner (PX-W5224TA)
Floppy drive
8-in-1 card reader sort-of-deal
Phone modem (PCI card)

I have never overclocked it, or even messed with its BIOS, I've always just left the BIOS on its factory settings. Hmm...I'm not sure what voltage the mobo is giving the RAM. In the BIOS, I checked the "Frequency/Voltage Control" option and there's a settomg for "DDR" that is set to [Normal]...would that be the RAM voltage? I haven't tried any Memtest86 with it, ever. If you think I should, I'll give that a shot.

Is there any other info I can give you?

 

[mechBgon]

If it were me, I'd start off with Western Digital diagnostic tests to see if the hard drives report healthy, and also Memtest86. If Memtest reports errors, your XMS-series RAM may simply not be getting enough voltage, try 2.7 volts. That's what I run my XMS 3200C2 at. The modules will have stickers saying which variant of XMS 3200 they are, by the way (there are something like six types!).

Another tangent to think about: how clean is your utility power, do you have a uninterruptible power supply with voltage-stabilization features (AVR)? Any lightning storms in your area?

Other than that, I suppose it could be the mobo. I had some weird ATA-related problems precede a full mobo failure once. At work we also had one system that I eventually shelved with a sticky note labelled "HDD killer!"

 

[bovinda]

Thanks mechBgon, I will try Memtest86 later on today, and I'll give WD's site a search for their diagnostic programs. If nothing comes up there, you think the mobo would be the culprit then? It is the second time it's happened, but the last time it happened was like 6 months ago. I know so little about these things. What do you think might have happened that it can't recognize either of the hard drives now? Any theories?

The sticker on the side of the power supply says it is a Fortron FSP530-60GNA, but I don't see any mention of voltage-stabilization features. I'm not sure about the utility supply, but I think it's okay...I live in Los Angeles, and we very rarely get blackouts, etc., and so lightning storms are pretty rare too (I don't know if we've had one in years).

Is there anything, anything at all possible, I might be able to do to recover from this in the mean time? Or is a clean install the only, absolute only possibility?

Anyway, thank you as always for your suggestions...

 

[bovinda]

So I tried following the instructions in the MS database just to give it a shot at trying to repair the registry, even though it's OEM, but when I try to go to the very first action (typing "md tmp" and pressing enter) it says "Access denied." :frown: What can I try now? Is there any way to attempt fixing the registry?

 

[bovinda]

So I ran Memtest86 for about 9 hours (25 passes) and no errors. WD's diagnostics (I used their "extended test") for both drives said they were fine. So...what might it be? Perhaps the motherboard? Just some faulty programming that screws with the registry somehow?

The fact it's happened in identical fashion before makes me think it's hardware, but it was only once, and that was 6 months ago. Are there any other tests I could do?

Most importantly, is there any way to recover from this, without formatting? I just want to salavage some data if I can before I reformat it. How can I access the drives?

 

[NotquiteanooB]

I don't know about other tests... but, if you have access to another PC with the same OS, add your HDD's as slaves or additional drives, you may be able to access the data that way and burn it to CD or DVD.

But be careful... If your problem was virus/worm caused, you may transfer to the other PC.

 

[bovinda]

Well, I seem to be able to at least see all the files on both hard drives by booting from a Knoppix CD. I will try to transfer them tomorrow and then figure out more. So hopefully I won't have to shift hard drives around, 'cuz I'm really inept when it comes to actually physically removing drives and what not.

What went wrong? I still don't get why repair console won't work, and Knoppix will.

 

[Fraggable]

Knoppix runs from the CD 'live', meaning it runs in memory and does not depend on the hard drive. It can run on a system without a hard drive IIRC.

As far as what went wrong, who knows. If I had to guess i'd say a sector on your hard drive went bad and messed it all up.

 

[tyborg]

I saw this problem in the shop once. We ended up having to format. Sorry, not very encouraging. Try doing this: if the reason you don't want to format is because you have important data on the drive, plug the drive in another computer and copy the data over to that as a backup. Also, while it's booted up on another system, try copying that directory over to your drive from a machine with the same OS version, see if that works. Did you build this machine, or is it like, an HP or something?

 

[bovinda]

No, I bought it pre-built from ABS. Do you know what caused the problem in the machine you saw? After I get this taken care of, I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.

I know I could restore to the factory image (since it worked before in the previous time I had this problem 6 months ago), but I really want to try to fix it this time. I want to try and restore it to the last restore point manually, but the big problem right now seems to be that I can't access the hard drive by any means.

Here's what I've tried: the recovery console (won't access either drive at all, it seems), I'm trying Knoppix (but I guess it doesn't write to NTFS or something, even though it can see my drives), and I'm trying BartPE (but it can't seem to acknowledge my drives at all).

Any ideas?

 

[bovinda]

So the reason I couldn't use the recovery console to access/chkdsk either of the drives was because they were both SATA drives, and for reasons beyond my knowledge the recovery console and the XP set-up programs couldn't read the drives without me putting in a floppy that did have the SATA drivers. That allowed me to read/write to the drives.

I figured that out when BartPE would allow me to access/read to the drives when I bundled a bunch of drivers with it. BartPE is a great program, btw. I was able to restore the registry from inside BartPE from a restore point. Unfortunately, the registry wasn't the only problem. After doing that, it still wouldn't boot, although I could at least reach the select menu now (for Safe Mode, Safe Mode with Networking, Last Known Good Config, etc.). I also used BartPE to get all the files I wanted off of the hard drive.

I tried updating the BIOS to the most recent version, tried restoring to the manufacturer's disk image using the recovery disk, which it did, but it still wouldn't boot. Tried Fixboot, Fixmbr, nothing worked. So now I am reformatting. Wish there'd been an easier resolution.

I really want to figure out how to protect from this in the future. Since 9 hours of memtest86 produced no errors and Western Digital's own diagnostics found no problems with either hard drive, I'm thinking it's a motherboard problem. I don't know. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions.