Computer won't start: Help Please!

[imported_astondg]

Hello, I have a long story here but it is all part of my problem and I would be very gratefull if you could help me, the last paragraph is a sumary of my problem.

When I got home today I found out that the power in my area had been off and back on a few times today but I thought it wouldn't be a problem because my computer was off and I have a UPS with power surge protection. Anyway I try to start my computer and it won't start, it has lights on the front but nothing happens. I checked the UPS and it had no lights on so I turned it off and back on again but it beeped (meaning it was overloaded) so I unpluged everything and turned it on again but it still beeped so I think something must have happend to it and I find a powerboard and plug my computer back in. Now when I turn my computer on it says Windows XP failed to boot properly last time and asks me how to boot this time (Safe Mode, Normal, etc.) so I choose Normal and it shows the "Windows XP" screen with the loading bar. When this screen is finished the monitor goes black like it normally does just before it gets into Windows but this time it stays black for a few seconds and then the computer restarts. I have tried choosing Safe Mode and Last Good Config but the same thing happens.

I have checked all of the BIOS settings and they are fine. I turned off the "Auto reboot on system failure" setting and found that last thing that happens is a blue screen with a c0000218 message that apparently means the registry is broken or cannot be loaded. I also tried to repair my Windows XP installation (boot from the XP CD and choose repair) and it copied files over etc. but then it said something about cannot setup Windows XP, cannot setup XP on drive C:\, C:\ cannot be found on specified device, possible disk error or something. So does this mean the HDD is broken? It is not very old (about 3 months) and some of it can still be read from the "Recovery Console" and the fact that it starts to load XP. It is SATA and I don't have another computer to connect it too (they are all only IDE) to try to read from it. How did this happen and what can I do?

My other computers don't support SATA but the broken computer supports ATA so I managed to get one of the HDDs from another computer and put it into the broken computer thinking that I could boot from the working HDD and at least get Windows running (minus drivers and stuff) enough to copy all my files from the SATA drive. But it also gets to the same place at startup and then flashes a blue screen with writing for half a second and reboots. I can't see what the screen says, it all happens too fast.

Finally I tried the recovery console but it wouldn't let me create directories or copy files, even in the \Windows\ directories.

So my problem is that I cannot load Windows XP, it finishes the Splash/Loading Screen bit and then restarts, I am also having trouble repairing the Windows Installation.

I really need to get the data from this HDD and if possible get it running again like it was so any help would be very much appreciated.

Thank you,

Aston

 

[mechBgon]

First of all, it's normal for your IDE drive with WinXP to not boot if you simply throw it into a different computer (unless the motherboards are pretty similar). That's just The Way Things Are.

Try this routine:

1) Start Windows Setup from the CD. If your motherboard uses a driver floppy for the SATA drivers, also press the F6 key when prompted.

2) It gets going and asks if you want to Repair. This first time, do not say "Repair". Act as if you're going to do a fresh installation.

3) Windows Setup will proceed a little further, ask you to accept the license terms, possibly ask for your SATA drivers on floppy diskette, and then ask where you want to install to. Point it at the C: partition.

4) Windows Setup will notice that there's a directory C:\WINDOWS that already contains a Windows installation, and ask if you want that one repaired. Now say "Repair."

5) Make sure your network cable is unplugged. When you're done, you'll have a "raw" WinXP installation. Any patches you had installed will be gone. So if it's at Service Pack 1a level, you're going to be vulnerable to worm attacks. Don't plug into broadband until you've either enabled the WinXP Firewall (see Help if needed) or installed ZoneAlarm or another firewall, or Service Pack 2 which enables Windows Firewall and plugs the vulnerabilities too. If you have a hardware firewall then you are ok, however (unless there's a worm-infected computer on your side of it).

6) Get all your security patches at Windows Update.


This routine should adopt your programs and data. Good luck, hope that helps

 

[imported_astondg]

Thanks for replying,

I tried the repair following your instructions but at what I think was the last step (after copying across files and "Setting Up XP") it gave me a message that said something like "cannot setup XP on drive C:\, C:\ cannot be found on specified device, possible disk error". I guess something has happened to my HDD, I ran chkdsk and it said the disk was ok but then I ran it again with the /p and /r options ("chkdsk /p" & "chkdsk /r") and it said that there was an unrecoverable error. Any ideas what this could be, is there another tool to fix errors like this? The HDD is only about 3 months old.

I think I will buy a new HDD today (The cheapest I can find in my area is an 80GB for AUD$100 ) and install Windows XP on it and then boot from it and try to access the SATA drive and recover my data. Very anoying, time consuming and expensive, so if you have another idea I would like to hear it!

Thanks,

Aston

 

[mechBgon]

In this situation, it's nice to try to rescue the files some way before committing to a course of action. It's too bad you don't have another SATA-ready computer.

You might think about buying a cheap non-RAID PCI SATA card, if you can find one for a lot less than a new hard drive. Then you could put the drive into another computer, hosted by the PCI SATA card, take Ownership of the files from your old profile (if they're readable), copy them to the other computer's hard drive for safekeeping, and then put the hard drive back in its own computer and format/install.

Good luck Oh, and what operating system do your healthy computers have? XP Pro, XP Home, 2000Pro...?

 

[imported_astondg]

Thanks!

I will see if I can get a SATA card, could be a better option.

All my computers have Windows XP Pro.

I wish my computers would just work, I am always having to fix them and they always having complicated and difficult problems . Also this isn't the first time a near new HDD has failed on me .

Aston

 

[mechBgon]

WinXP Pro is good news, you can simply go to Control Panel > somewhere > Folder Options and disable the Simple File Sharing with a checkbox so you can see the Security and Ownership stuff if it comes down to it. With WinXP Home, I heard you must boot in Safe Mode to get at it

Sorry to hear of all the troubles... computers can certainly be a roller-coaster ride at times :Q :Q :Q :| and so on. Been there, done that!

 

[mechBgon]

ooops, stray post!

 

[imported_astondg]

I might have it fixed, or at least patched up. I just found the Western Digital (my SATA HDD) disk utility that I ran on my drive and it said it repaired the errors. No I have started my computer and it is at the Windows Installation screen where it installs drivers and stuff, I presume because I chose to repair the installation before. I will see if I can anywhere. I wish I had found that utility earlier, now I have to set up Windows XP and install drivers again , looks like I could be busy for another 3 or 4 hours.

Thanks for your help, I will keep it in mind if I can't get my computer running, and for the future.

Aston

 

[mechBgon]

Hang in there and think positive thoughts Maybe give the computer a soothing massage...