XP Pro fails to boot. Stuckin boot cycle.

[kater1]

About 3 weeks ago my computer quit booting into XP. I thought it may have been a power failure corrupted the hard drive. So I went through the task of format and reinstall of XP Pro.

Today I went out to start my computer and it was doing the same thing. It pops up the screen thats says:
Windows failed to start. ect, ect ect, Select what you want to do, ect ect ect

safe mode
safe mode with networking
last know good config
start normally

No matter which option I select, it returns to this screen. So, what would be the first thing to look at?

MBR?
bootini?
something else???

I have a complete image of the drive so if I am unable to recover I can get back 99% or the info without problems.


Thanks for the help.

The system specs are under my main rig in my sig below.

 

[SimMike2]

You don't say how old the computer is, but my guess is you have hardware failing. It could be memory, hard drive, CPU, or any of many other problems.

Did you reinstall your image?

 

[kater1]

Computer is around was built in 2005. I have replaced one of the hard drives (using 2 160gig in raid mirroring) about a year ago.

I did a memory test on each stick a few weeks ago and they came back good. I tested the power supply voltages per a tread I found on here and it was within specs.


I have not restored to the image yet.

I have a copy of the hiram's boot disk. I ran the WD diag tools quick test on both drives. Both passed.

Thanks for the help

 

[kater1]

Is there any other programs to test my hardware from a bootable disk?

 

[kater1]

where would be a good place to start to look at to figure out what is wrong with this system?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Use the utility from your HDD manufacturer to test your hard drive. Use memtest to check your memory. Use a multi meter to check your PSU. Or, you could just start swapping out parts.

 

[kater1]

Use the utility from your HDD manufacturer to test your hard drive.

Used Western Digital diagnostic disc. Came back good.

Use memtest to check your memory.

Used memtest to test each stick one by one. Came back good.

Use a multi meter to check your PSU.

Tested per a thread found at AnandTech Forums and all voltages within specs per the thread.



How can I test the CPU and the video card? Also, could there be any other hardware that may cause the problem?

Thanks

Bill

 

[lxskllr]

Motherboard could be getting flaky. Check for bulging caps. Otherwise, I don't know how to test it.

 

[kater1]

There was a problem with my cd and dvd drives not wanting to read after I reinstalled xp last time. But it went away. So it could be motherboard problems.

But if it was a motherboard problem, why can I reinstall XP and it work fine? Shouldn't my boot problem be intermittent?

Any way to test CPU?

Thanks

Bill

 

[lxskllr]

I'd tend to doubt it's the cpu. They just don't go bad that often. How long did you test the ram? I like overnight to be sure. I guess the mb could go bad and corrupt data to the hd. You could also try reinstalling again. Maybe you've just had exceptionally bad luck. Oh, btw... I think Prime95 would probably be good to test the cpu. Run it through the longest tests, and you shouldn't have errors.

One more thing... Could the psu be overheating and going bad? Your voltages could be good when it's cool, but sag when it warms up.

 

[kater1]

I did the f8 thing at boot and disabled auto restart so as to see the BSD. I get a stop code of:

"0x0000007b. (0xf789e524, 0xc0000032, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"

The 0x0000007b tells me it has to do with a hard drive problem. Could be a bad drive, controller, virus, ect.

I am running chkdsk /r right now. Will do a complete scan of the drives using Western Digital software(did quick test already).

Found information on stop code at:

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/findbyerrormessage/tp/stop_error_list.htm

Was able to search the stop code and get some good information on it.

 

[RebateMonger]

0x0000007b means it can't find a bootable disk. Since you've tested the disks and the memory, the next step would be to attempt a "Repair Install" of XP. That should leave your programs and data and Registry intact but will re-iinstall Windows files. It'll also let you know really quickly if there's problems with your disk or disk controller or is missing drivers for the disk controller.

Steps for the Repair Install can be found on MS' and other sites.

 

[SonicIce]

plug the hard drive into another winxp computer (boot from that computers normal drive) and sometimes it automatically runs chkdsk on the problem drive. i did that once and it fixed an xp install that i thought was ruined.

 

[kater1]

Ok;

Did a Repair Install of XP Pro. All files and programs seem to be intact except Acronis True Image Home. When I go to use it I get a pop-up error about not being able to find a hard drive and a error code. Acronis website describes the problem as the MBR not present and tells how to fix. It also warns all data on the drive will be lost.

I am getting ready to start testing with HotCPU. Any suggestions on other testing to find the root cause of my problem? Or what test to do with HotCPU?

Note: I only have one hard drive installed in case of crashing the drive with HotCPU.

Thansk

Bill

 

[ronach]

If your repair install was successful, you should be ready to go..however..I would verify this by doing a few complete powerdowns and reboots. Don't be concerned about the Acronis program right now, you can an uninstall & reinstall it later. Checkout a few other programs that you have to verify their integrity..and..in doing so.. the integrity of your system as a whole. You may have less of a problem than you originally thought. Once you are satisfied that your sys is running ok..then take care of your Acronis program, a reinstall should fix it.

Hopefully you are cleaning out your computer of dust and the like on a regular basis. Don't forget to blow out your CD & DVD drives as well. If you feel comfortable in doing some more maintenance, I would recommend that you carefully pull out all your installed cards and ram, spray the connectors and sockets with contact cleaner, then reinstall them. Pull off all your ribbon connectors, then reconnect them..be carefull and take your time while doing this operation tho. Be advised..a fully bootable copy of your OS on a seperate hardrive is an invaluable tool to have at your disposal when things go wrong, all you have to do is disconnect your old drive then reconnect this one..and your sys should run if all else is ok. Good luck

 

[kater1]

I do a clean out of my computer about every 2 or 3 months. This involves pulling cd/dvd drives out, fan off the heatsink, video card out, and memory out. I blow them all off and out with canned air. I verify that all the fans run freely and there is no fuss, dirt, or dust in the heat sinks or behind the motherboard. This includes cleaning out the power supply.

HotCPU has ran for 3 hours so far. Says about 3 hours left. I may run the burn in after it is done with the diagnostics.

I am going to run the ram through more testing to verify they are good after HotCPU is done.



Hopefully no problems are found

 

[kater1]

Started memtest and let it run all night. Showed no errors when I got up.

So, here is what I have done so far:

1. Did XP repair install.

2. Ran full test on 1 of the 2 hard drives using Western Digital diognostics. No problems found

3. Ran full test on memory using MemTest (over night run). No errors reported

4. Ran full test using HotCPU. no problems found

5. Ran ChkDsk on 1 of the 2 hard drives. No errors reported.

Unless there is another test I can do I think my hardware is up to snuff. Now I am going to test the second hard drive to see if it passes or not. (the 1st time I checked it with ChkDsk it found errors in the volumes and fixed them)

 

[ronach]

Good idea Kater, good luck & happy computing.