Windows XP Home 2nd ed will not boot

[Borg20001]

I have a PC built on a 754 mobo, with an Athalon 3200+ cpu, 2 gig of RAM, an 80 Gig HD for booting and a 250 G HD and a 500 G SATA HD as well. Running a nVidia 7600 GTS video card.

I left the pc on last night and was running Adaware SE.

I came down this morning and found only a blinking cursor on the screen.

I tried to reboot. I shut down and after the system went thru POST all I got was a black screen with a blinking cursor.

I changed the BIOS to first check the CD drive then the HDs in the boot up sequence.

Then I chose "R" for the recovery console. It went thru and then asked me to choose the correct HD to recover (there was only one c:\windows), I chose it then it gave me what looks like a DOS prompt at C:\windows.

I found a site that listed what steps I should take to recover the OS, see this link -
http://webcast.broadcastnewsro...iewarticle.jsp?id=8658

On page 2, they list a bunch of DOS Commands, but I get errors when I try to execute them. Errors like: The path or file specified is not valid

I get this when I try to create the subdirectory using this command from the webpage:

md c:\windows\tmpcopy c:\windows\system32\config\system
c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

Can anyone give me some direction?

Will I have to just reinstall the Win XP OS and then go about reinstalling everything???

I even tried running chkdsk c: /r to fix the drive but there seemed to be no problems detected by chkdsk.

I'm thinking if I can get to even the WinXP safemode, I can Restore to a previous restore point a week earlier.

Help!!

 

[JustaGeek]

I had a similar problem, and it took me a few hours to fix it.

Run the Seagate or WD utility, booting from the Seatools or WD utility CD, and check the Hard Drive to eliminate this as a problem.

In my case, it was a virus (so I think...).

If the Hard Drive turns out to be OK,, try the Windows Repair with the XP CD, but if that does not work, you might have to format it with the same utility CD, and re-install the OS.

Good luck!

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: JustaGeek
I had a similar problem, and it took me a few hours to fix it.

Run the Seagate or WD utility, booting from the Seatools or WD utility CD, and check the Hard Drive to eliminate this as a problem.

In my case, it was a virus (so I think...).

If the Hard Drive turns out to be OK,, try the Windows Repair with the XP CD, but if that does not work, you might have to format it with the same utility CD, and re-install the OS.

Good luck!

Thanks. I tried to run a Seagate Boot Media disk (I think it was for recovery, but it just had some HD tools on it (copy disk, format a disk or add a disk)).

I guess I should find the original Seagate disk (though that is for the SATA drive which is not my boot drive) and see if I can find the program to check the HD.

I already had tried the Windows Repair option on the Win XP recovery disk but it just gave me a DOS prompt in the C:\Windows directory.

When you run Windows Repair option, shouldn't it automatically repair the OS?

 

[JustaGeek]

When you select "Repair", it should go through all the Installation steps, just like if you were installing the new OS.

If you got the DOS prompt, I suspect a bad Hard Drive, or a totally corrupt OS - perhaps by a virus.

But run the Seatools (I believe Starter Edition) - you can download it from Seagate, and burn it to the disk. Run all the steps specified, including the Memory Check. I do not think that the interface (SATA/EIDE) matters here, but verify on the Seagate website.

Good luck!

 

[robisbell]

so, you tried the fixmbr and fixboot commands and they errored out on you?

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: robisbell
so, you tried the fixmbr and fixboot commands and they errored out on you?

No, I only tried chkdsk /r at this point. I have not run any other software.

I have the WD Data Lifeguard tools v.11.2 that came with my HDs.

I also have the Seagate Disc Utility that came with my SATA drive.

I guess I will try the Seagate software first to see if it can diagnose the problems with my boot drive (which is an 80 G WD).

Are fixmbr and fixboot commands that can be found when I get to a dos prompt?

At this point, I can only get to a dos prompt when I try to run the WinXP recovery tools and select "R" for repair the OS and it ends up dropping me into a DOS looking prompt "C:\Windows" and doesn't seem to run any reinstallation programs.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: JustaGeek
When you select "Repair", it should go through all the Installation steps, just like if you were installing the new OS.

If you got the DOS prompt, I suspect a bad Hard Drive, or a totally corrupt OS - perhaps by a virus.

But run the Seatools (I believe Starter Edition) - you can download it from Seagate, and burn it to the disk. Run all the steps specified, including the Memory Check. I do not think that the interface (SATA/EIDE) matters here, but verify on the Seagate website.

Good luck!

JG, thanks for the guidance.

I took a look at Seagate's website and they have SeaTools for DOS and SeaTools for Windows.

From what I can read, it looks like I will need to get the DOS version as my HD is not booting and the SeaTools for Windows needs to be installed.

I couldn't find a "Starter Edition" for SeaTools, but there is a Disc Wizard Starter Edition.

I am downloading SeaTools for DOS 2.07 and burning the iso to a CD and will try booting off of that and run a diagnostic on the boot HD to see if there are any problems. I am running the Long Test.

I also could not find a memory test in the Seatools program for DOS.

I'll post what I find out and see if anyone has any ideas on how to fix this mess.

Thanks

 

[Borg20001]

Update, I ran the Seatools for Dos and the boot up hard drive passed the long test.

So now I'm not sure what to do to repair the drive. I guess I could try the WinXP recovery tools again.

I was thinking in general of seeing if I could copy the entire contents of the 80G WD drive to a 250G WD drive that I had extra and then start tinkering with the 250 G drive to see if I can resurrect the OS on that. If so then my boot drive will be all the larger.

Anyone have any suggestions or guidance?

 

[robisbell]

yes, fixmbr and fixboot can be run, you may have to navigate to the c:\windows directory tho.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: robisbell
yes, fixmbr and fixboot can be run, you may have to navigate to the c:\windows directory tho.

Rob, I tried to run fixmbr and got the following message:

**Caution**

This computer appears to have a non-standard or invalid master boot record.
Fixmbr may damage your partition tables if you proceed.
This could cause all the partitions on the current hard disk to become inaccessible.
If you are not having problems accessing your drive, do not continue.

Are you sure you want to write a new mbr?




Then when I tried to run fixboot, I got the following message:


The target partition is C:
Are you sure you want to write a new boot sector to the partition C:?

Any advice as to how I should proceed?

Should I try to create a backup of the boot drive on my spare 250 G drive and then monkey with that so that I keep the original intact in case it fails?

Thx in advance for your responses.

 

[robisbell]

well, somethings corrupted the Master Boot Record of the drive, you're going to have to fix it, it's either this or wiping the partition and reinstalling xp fresh.

make sure the 80GB is the only HDD connected when you do.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
I have a PC built on a 754 mobo, with an Athalon 3200+ cpu, 2 gig of RAM, an 80 Gig HD for booting and a 250 G HD and a 500 G SATA HD as well. Running a nVidia 7600 GTS video card.

I left the pc on last night and was running Adaware SE.

I came down this morning and found only a blinking cursor on the screen.

I tried to reboot. I shut down and after the system went thru POST all I got was a black screen with a blinking cursor.

I changed the BIOS to first check the CD drive then the HDs in the boot up sequence.

Then I chose "R" for the recovery console. It went thru and then asked me to choose the correct HD to recover (there was only one c:\windows), I chose it then it gave me what looks like a DOS prompt at C:\windows.

I found a site that listed what steps I should take to recover the OS, see this link -
http://webcast.broadcastnewsro...iewarticle.jsp?id=8658

On page 2, they list a bunch of DOS Commands, but I get errors when I try to execute them. Errors like: The path or file specified is not valid

I get this when I try to create the subdirectory using this command from the webpage:

md c:\windows\tmpcopy c:\windows\system32\config\system
c:\windows\tmp\system.bak

Can anyone give me some direction?

Will I have to just reinstall the Win XP OS and then go about reinstalling everything???

I even tried running chkdsk c: /r to fix the drive but there seemed to be no problems detected by chkdsk.

I'm thinking if I can get to even the WinXP safemode, I can Restore to a previous restore point a week earlier.

Help!!

The commands shown above are wrong, because the MD command is followed by a copy command (it should read md c:\windows\tmp <newline> copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak <newline> --- you can read my web page for more info on this process, detailing essentially the same thing. )

The problem, though, is that you aren't getting to the point where you're able to load the registry. You can't boot the OS.

Remove all drives but the one you want to fix, run a fixboot / fixmbr on it, and try again. Also note that in no-hard-drive boot situations, it's quite easy to copy the ntldr, ntdetect, and boot.ini files onto a 'fully formatted' (not quick format) floppy (formatted by NT4 or later OS) and use that to boot your system, so you can easily do that too if you like, and that will do away with any issues you might have with the hard drive boot sector so you can at least boot the OS.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311073 describes the how-to for the floppy bits.

 

[blckgrffn]

If you have another PC, I would pull the 80, take what you can get, and just blow it away. Sounds like your hardware is good. That may not sound like fun, but it is likely to be the quickest and shortest route to take.

Good luck!
Nat

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
If you have another PC, I would pull the 80, take what you can get, and just blow it away. Sounds like your hardware is good. That may not sound like fun, but it is likely to be the quickest and shortest route to take.

Good luck!
Nat

Thanks Nat, that's what I was afraid of.

Question, I have one of those IDE to USB2 adaptors with power hookup. Do you think I could pull the 80 gig drive and hook on the adapter and then connect it to my other PC to see what data I could pull off of it?

Question 2, as an alternate, if I were to hook up my clean 250 g drive and have the 80 G as the slave to it (disconnecting the rest of the drives, and then install WinXP onto the 250G drive and make an 80 gig partition on it on which I would try to use the hard drive utility program that came with the 250 G WD drive to copy the contents of the bad 80G drive over - do you think that would work more easily?

Thx!

 

[robisbell]

I'd just use the adapter and try to get what you can off, then wipe the drive and reload xp onto it.
then once you've reinstalled the OS, OS updates, drivers, and absolute necessary programs, I'd use driveimage XML to make a backup you can restore from.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Borg20001

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
If you have another PC, I would pull the 80, take what you can get, and just blow it away. Sounds like your hardware is good. That may not sound like fun, but it is likely to be the quickest and shortest route to take.

Good luck!
Nat

Thanks Nat, that's what I was afraid of.

Question, I have one of those IDE to USB2 adaptors with power hookup. Do you think I could pull the 80 gig drive and hook on the adapter and then connect it to my other PC to see what data I could pull off of it?

Question 2, as an alternate, if I were to hook up my clean 250 g drive and have the 80 G as the slave to it (disconnecting the rest of the drives, and then install WinXP onto the 250G drive and make an 80 gig partition on it on which I would try to use the hard drive utility program that came with the 250 G WD drive to copy the contents of the bad 80G drive over - do you think that would work more easily?

Thx!

Did you try making a bootable floppy? That's a lot faster than what you describe above!

 

[robisbell]

you'll be fine, copy the data you need and wipe and reload Windows. Drivimage XML once you have all the essentials done, and you'll be set.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: dclive

Did you try making a bootable floppy? That's a lot faster than what you describe above![/quote]

I did not, though I did read about it on the link that was posted. This PC does not have a floppy drive on it, so I initially ignored that advice. However, I think I can borrow a USB Floppy drive and see if I can make the boot disk and then boot the OS from that floppy drive (after changing the boot sequence in the BIOS).

Will that work?

 

[robisbell]

that's not a fix, that's just a patch job at best. I'd backup what data you need off of it wipe and redo the partition and reload xp.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: robisbell
that's not a fix, that's just a patch job at best. I'd backup what data you need off of it wipe and redo the partition and reload xp.

Yep. Nuke it.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Borg20001
I did not, though I did read about it on the link that was posted. This PC does not have a floppy drive on it, so I initially ignored that advice. However, I think I can borrow a USB Floppy drive and see if I can make the boot disk and then boot the OS from that floppy drive (after changing the boot sequence in the BIOS).

Will that work?

It is a patch, not a fix, but it will let you see if the only problem you have is the MBR bits, in which case a simple fixboot / fixmbr should fix things. Did you try that, and if so what happened when you went into recovery console and did a fixboot / fixmbr?

Re: Reformatting - c'mon, reformat just for this, assuming no other issues? That's silly!

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: dclive

Originally posted by: Borg20001
I did not, though I did read about it on the link that was posted. This PC does not have a floppy drive on it, so I initially ignored that advice. However, I think I can borrow a USB Floppy drive and see if I can make the boot disk and then boot the OS from that floppy drive (after changing the boot sequence in the BIOS).

Will that work?

It is a patch, not a fix, but it will let you see if the only problem you have is the MBR bits, in which case a simple fixboot / fixmbr should fix things. Did you try that, and if so what happened when you went into recovery console and did a fixboot / fixmbr?

Re: Reformatting - c'mon, reformat just for this, assuming no other issues? That's silly!

Dclive,

I have not tried anything yet, but today I will be giving it a shot.

My plan is to make a copy of the 80G drive on my new 250G WD drive using the HD utils to make a copy of that partition.

Then I will try to run the fixboot / fixmbr programs on the original 80G drive to see if that helps.

Is there any specific order I should run those programs?

Should I run Fixboot first or Fixmbr first?

 

[Borg20001]

Question,

If I run Fixmbr and then Fixboot on my 80 G HD with the bad OS, do I stand a chance of losing the data on it?

I just need to know before I run either of those repair programs.

I tried to copy the entire 80 G partition to another 80 G partition I made on the 250 G drive, but it had some errors after several hours of running so I'm not sure what was saved if anything.

Appreciate any feedback.

 

[robisbell]

backing up means copying only data that is deemed important, you did not need to make a partition to backup any important data. you could have copied it to a folder. you're going to have to wipe the drive and reload XP anyways.

 

[Borg20001]

Originally posted by: robisbell
backing up means copying only data that is deemed important, you did not need to make a partition to backup any important data. you could have copied it to a folder. you're going to have to wipe the drive and reload XP anyways.

Rob,

I checked and I have about 39 Gig of data that I need that was not backed up - photos, mp3s, etc.

Plus a slew of programs that I'd prefer not to have to reload as I'm not sure where all the install discs are.

What I wanted to do was partition the new 250G drive and eventually load the XP OS on it. As a short cut I was thinking that I would try to run fixmbr and fixboot on the 80G drive to see if I could get it repaired to run.

Then I would do a partition copy of the entire 80Gig drive to the new 250G drive.

Or even run Drivexml and make a backup image that I would then load onto the new 250G drive. That way I can avoid the hassle of reloading and reinstalling everything.

Is this wishful thinking?

It brings me back to my original question. If I run Fixmbr and fixboot, do I stand a chance of losing all the data on the HD that I run them on?

If not, then I will try to run fixmbr and fixboot first and see if I can recover the OS and then move everything to the newer HD.

Also does it matter which one I run first?

Thanks,