XP Computer wont boot! Any advice?
Discussion
Mad Dave said:
Cheers Loaf - much appreciated.
Dunno about write caching, nor do i know how to turn it off
Ill download those files and give it a go - i tried to run setup from my XP install CD, but it wouldnt run from DOS. Presumably i can run one of those utilities you mention from bootup?
Thanks for all the help!
Dave
No problem - hope it solves the issue
the download files will create the Setup boot disks from which you boot and then install the Recovery Console - I have never done it this way as I have installed the concole from the start, but Microsoft Premier Support seem to think this is the ay to go. As regards write-caching
when Windows writes to disk the disk drive can't always write sequentially i.e. start at block 1 and write the bits until you reach the end; what happens is the hardware will start writing on block 1 and then jump to (for example) block 27, then block 453 and so on. The data being written is held in a cache (memory - similar to RAM) on the disk until the complete write operation is finished - but in some cases the hardware will report back to Windows that the write operation has finished while information is still in the cache. The time between the 'operation complete' message and the operation actually completing is the window in which it can all go pear-shaped. You can turn it off (in XP) by right-clicking on My Computer, then Properties, then Device Manager; expand Disk Drives, and right-click on the drive; choose Properties, then Policies, and clear the 'Write-caching enabled' checkbox. You'll lose some performance but it won't be that noticeable, especially on a home PC.
All the best
Cheers Loaf, I appreciate the amount of time you've obviously spent on this!
I ran the disks, got to the Recovery Console and ran chkdsk /r but it looked for some other chk program that we didnt have/couldnt find.
Next plan of attack is to pull the HHD out, stick it in another machine as a slave and then pull all the info off. Then we'll format and start again
Ill let you know how we get on
I ran the disks, got to the Recovery Console and ran chkdsk /r but it looked for some other chk program that we didnt have/couldnt find.
Next plan of attack is to pull the HHD out, stick it in another machine as a slave and then pull all the info off. Then we'll format and start again
Ill let you know how we get on
Mad Dave said:
Cheers Loaf, I appreciate the amount of time you've obviously spent on this!
I ran the disks, got to the Recovery Console and ran chkdsk /r but it looked for some other chk program that we didnt have/couldnt find.
Next plan of attack is to pull the HHD out, stick it in another machine as a slave and then pull all the info off. Then we'll format and start again
Ill let you know how we get on
Bugger! what program did it want to run?
Plan B sounds OK - it's worked for me on older platforms before now. Good luck
Cheers mate. I tried adding the HDD to a 2k machine, but its security things kick in and wont let the machine boot as it knows the HDD shouldnt be there!
Next plan of action is to stick the HDD into my girlfriends old Win' 98 machine and move it onto there. Ive got an IDE CDR to put in it, so i can then copy the files off.
Next plan of action is to stick the HDD into my girlfriends old Win' 98 machine and move it onto there. Ive got an IDE CDR to put in it, so i can then copy the files off.
Bear in mind that if the files you are looking for on the screwed hard drive were stored under "My Documents" and there is a login password required, you may not be able to access them, even when attached as a slave to another machine.
Don't know how you would get round this, but there must be a way?
anyone?!
Don't know how you would get round this, but there must be a way?
anyone?!
sounds like the virus has over writen he masterboot record.
you have to do a fix mba
fdisk does work on xp
pluss you can do a fix mba from the recovery console in xp.
fix the mba then try booting it.
if it wont boot then install xp as a repair over the top.
as a last option slave the drive to another pc and recover what you need from it if you can
you have to do a fix mba
fdisk does work on xp
pluss you can do a fix mba from the recovery console in xp.
fix the mba then try booting it.
if it wont boot then install xp as a repair over the top.
as a last option slave the drive to another pc and recover what you need from it if you can
I have no idea about XP's boot concept, but couldn't it as well be, that the boot sector of the o/s partition is corrupted, and the MBR still intact?
If that is not the case, and the MBR is the one who doesn't work anymore, wouldn't it be possible to start XP via a bootable CD?
This assumption is based on my experience from installing two different o/s on one harddrive on seperate partitions. An additional bootloader is installed with the second o/s in IIRC the MBR, and calls the boot sectors after choosing the desired o/s when booting.
Since the CD of the second o/s supports booting from CD ("boot installed OS" as an option), it may well be possible to get access to XP's boot sector.
If that fails, it may be possible to install another o/s on the same (or a second) disk, and read the data from the NTFS partition, and copy it somewhere else outside the non-startable o/s's partiton (network, USB hdd, etc.). - Given, that the NTFS partiton is not encrypted, and hasn't got the feature to access it with a password from outside XP.
Realistic, anyone?
If that is not the case, and the MBR is the one who doesn't work anymore, wouldn't it be possible to start XP via a bootable CD?
This assumption is based on my experience from installing two different o/s on one harddrive on seperate partitions. An additional bootloader is installed with the second o/s in IIRC the MBR, and calls the boot sectors after choosing the desired o/s when booting.
Since the CD of the second o/s supports booting from CD ("boot installed OS" as an option), it may well be possible to get access to XP's boot sector.
If that fails, it may be possible to install another o/s on the same (or a second) disk, and read the data from the NTFS partition, and copy it somewhere else outside the non-startable o/s's partiton (network, USB hdd, etc.). - Given, that the NTFS partiton is not encrypted, and hasn't got the feature to access it with a password from outside XP.
Realistic, anyone?
Mad Dave said:
Hey guys,
Over the weekend, i tried to slave the drive to my Win98 machine but the machine wouldnt see it at all
The Recovery Console wont work.
Ive tried everything i can think of. Someone has suggested getting an aftermarket OS Loader - anyone got any ideas?
Cheers
Dave
did the bios find the drive find it if not.
you dident set the drive jumper to slave.
Presumably the 98 machine is fairly old, whilst the XP one is quite new.
Could simply be that the old machine's BIOS can't cope with the new (larger?) HD. Only solution to this would be to flash the 98's BIOS to a newer version that can handle the HD.
Even then, if the HD from the XP machine is formatted as NTFS, the 98 machine won't be able to read any info from it!
You mentioned trying to run setup from the XP CD in DOS. Better to try booting from the CD (may need to enable boot from CD in the BIOS), as AFAIK all genuine XP CDs are bootable. Then use the recovery console to repair the MBR.
Could simply be that the old machine's BIOS can't cope with the new (larger?) HD. Only solution to this would be to flash the 98's BIOS to a newer version that can handle the HD.
Even then, if the HD from the XP machine is formatted as NTFS, the 98 machine won't be able to read any info from it!
You mentioned trying to run setup from the XP CD in DOS. Better to try booting from the CD (may need to enable boot from CD in the BIOS), as AFAIK all genuine XP CDs are bootable. Then use the recovery console to repair the MBR.
Mad Dave said:
Cheers guys.
In the end i used an NTFS Booter/Viewer to view and copy some of the contents of the drive. Im now going to format and reinstall everything!
What a pain! And its not even my bloody machine.
Don't forget to install a CD writer and some backup software, and drop many, many unsubtle hints to your friend!
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