Config Sys Stalling Bootup

[kxb177]

Sorry for the long post. Built two computers both with the same insides. One works great, the other doesn't. The problem is as follows:

When we started up the computer everything worked fine. We then installed windows 2K pro, and everything was still A OK. We then packed up and came back to it a few days later, and it hung on windows bootup. We re-installed windows and then it worked ok again.

Now, a few weeks later the same thing happens. It hangs when we try to start windows. I tried to boot up in safe mode, and it hangs on the same file every time. The config.sys file in the config folder, it is like the fourth file to load.

Re-Installing is getting really frustrating so I am looking for any ideas as to what it would be.

I am thinking right now that the hard drive (Maxtor 30GB 7200 RPM HD) is on it's last legs (even though it is brand new). I would also assume that there is no way that Maxtor will take it back without it being really busted.

Anyone have any other thoughts??

Thanks (as always).

-Ken

 

[Lord Evermore]

Long post? You haven't seen me post yet.

What config.sys file exactly is this? The only config.sys file that should be loading as far as I know is in the root directory of the system, and is only there for compatibility with DOS applications or special drivers. What are the contents of this file (the normal config.sys is a text file just a .sys extension so it's visibly a system file).

A dying hard drive wouldn't likely result in hanging on a single particular file after multiple reinstalls. Sounds more like a driver is trying to load that isn't good, or something bad has been installed or contracted.

 

[kxb177]

Here is exactly what is on the screen when it hangs:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt\system32\hal.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt\system32\bootvid.dll
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\winnt\system32\config\system

That's it!

 

[Lord Evermore]

Try hitting F8 during boot to get the boot menu, and using the logged boot. The log may show more information about what is failing.

I use XP, so it may be different in 2k, but I don't have a "system" directory where you show one as the last line there. Only "systemprofile", which seems to be a copy of the initial system user setup (which goes in Documents and Settings for regular users). Maybe that's getting corrupted, but it's probably not due to hardware or software failure.

Is this machine being used only by you? Or is it your roommate's or something and you aren't in control of it?

 

[earthman]

That is not the config.sys file. That file is deprecated and not used in Windows 2000, though it may be there for compatibility.

 

[kxb177]

As someone asked earlier, this computer is not mine, it is my fathers, and it has to run Win2K instead of XP because some programs are not compatible with XP and he has to use them.

I have attempted to boot up in logged mode, and it just hangs the same way as usual. It gets stuck on that one file and won't move any further. Logged mode didn't seem any different to me when it tried to boot up because it did the same thing.

Are there any thoughts on what I could do to perhaps get around this problem.

 

[Lord Evermore]

I expected it to hang on logged mode as well. Now you need to boot either using the 2k CD and the recovery console to read the bootlog file, or use another bootdisk with a command prompt (specifically one which can read NTFS if that's the file system you use). The log file may show more specific information about what's happening, but maybe not.

While you're at it, you can look at the directory that it seems to be hanging on and see what's there. It's obviously not a config.sys file as I pointed out already. It looks like it's loading up the SystemProfile directory and hanging so quickly that it can't even finish displaying the full name of the directory.

Other than that, I can only suggest using the Maxtor PowerMax diagnostics on the drive, and see if it's having any problems, but I doubt it. You'll probably need to run the complete test which writes all zeroes to the drive, and that may be all that's needed to make the system stop having problems after you reinstall Win2k. Hopefully there aren't any files on the drive that you need to get ahead of time, or you can get them using either the boot disk, or by putting the drive into your own machine to recover the files. (Make sure an antivirus program is running just in case.)