XP Black Screen, Virus???

[GregMal]

Here goes: XP Home SP2, Barton 2500, WD 80gig hd, fat32.
Working fine for 1+ years then a week ago, turn it on, see Bios info, then Black Screen.
Won't even goto the Windows Logo screen, can't boot into safe mode, can't use the
last good configuration. Boot the Windows XP CD to repair, says there's no current
operating system, can't repair. Goto the recovery console (DOS), can see the drives
(partitions), files, everything. Tried fixing the MBR, tried bootcfg but doesn't work.
Said to myself, let's reformat the C: drive and attempt to save info on other drives.
So use the recovery console, format c:, reboot the XP cd, start install, at 1st reboot -
Black Screen again!!!!
OK, if the HD was failing I don't believe I'd be able to see the files in DOS.......
So.......could it have been a virus??? I tried F_Prot DOS and it did find 2 virus' and
deleted them.
Could the MBR be infected? How does one fix this? I know HDs are cheap but I'd like to
save this one if possible.........

 

[TwoBills]

My brother's machine did that a year and a half ago. HP replaced the hdd under warranty. It did it again a month or so ago, now out of warranty, and I volunteered to fix it. Started w/a new hdd and that didn't do it. See the thread "My brother's in the sandbox". I'm leaning toward the mobo. Still messin' w/it.

 

[GregMal]

I have already replaced the HD with a new one and was able to to install
XP Home without any problems.
.
Would the WD tools be able to fix this. I mean prepare the HD as if it was new....
new mbr too??

 

[Valkerie]

I worked for a business where XP SP2 was being installed. Sometimes SP2 will do that, the black screen. Check compatibility issues with your system/OS environment, installed programs, hardware, BIOS (may require flashing/resetting) or a software issue with what you said, a viral infection(s).

I suggest you ghost the drive and take in what data you need, or take the drive to another computer (or grab another HD) and set it as a secondary, extracting any data from the failed drive.
Scan the drive and its clusters and repair anything broken. Use something like the default Windows programs and tools, or you can use something like Western Digital's diagonostic tools and lifeguard tool.
Repair or restore the drive. And if you still get problems, it may be a hardware issue with the drive itself.

 

[GregMal]

I have not used the WD diagnostic tools as yet. But chkdsk showed no errors.
F_Prot antivirus (DOS) showed nothing in the MBR.
.
My plan is tonight to hookup the drive as a slave, try to get whatever data I can on the
D-F drives.
.
But after that I'd still like to save the drive if possible. I even deleted the C: drive,
repartitioned it as C:, formated it, and tried to reinstall XP. !st boot, Black Screen.
.
Well this would be the 2nd WD HD give out on me in 2 mos......glad they're cheap now.
.
Gonna get that Seagate 120 gig at BB today. $39.99 AR.........

 

[JonnyBlaze]

boot to dos and type fdisk /mbr to rest the boot record.