Windows Wont Start Up

Hello, and welcome to Geeks To Go.
Please go here to read about a solution to a similar problem.
Thank you.

thank you for your help, i tried the resolution given for the other post, but i cannot get my system to give me the option to boot from the windows xp disk, my computer itself did not come with any disk for windows xp, it was already installed and instead of giving me a disk they felt a peice of cardboard telling me about system restore was good enough. so i used the disk from my moms computer which is similar and is also a windows xp disk, her computer is about 2 years older tho so the disk she has is for windows xp and not the windows xp sp2, i dont kno if this makes any kind of difference or not. but wen i put the disk in her computer and restart it, it gives me an option as its starting saying "hit any key to boot from disk" i dont get this message wen i put the disk in my computer and restart, and wen i go to the boot options i have only "safe mode", "safe mode with networking", "safe mode command prompt", "last working mode" and "normal mode", none of wich work to get me any further past the Windows XP loading screen. is there any other way i can get it to boot from the disk? or is there any other solution that might help?

try this...you could also get puppy linux...Get puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso download it and burn it to cd ...if you don't have a burning program that will burn .ISO files go here and get burncdcc ..a small FAST no frills iso burning program...make sure in the bios the cd drive is the first boot device....put the cd in the cd drive..boot your computer....puppy will boot and run totally in ram...if your hardware is is good working order you will know...
after you get it running and your at the desktop...you take the puppy linux cd out and then you can use the burner to copy all yor data to cd/dvds
you can also use it to backup your data to a external usb harddrive..just have it hooked to the computer when you boot up with puppy...
if you can get puppy booted up I will post the complete instructions on how to back up your data...
after that we can try a few things...

You will probaly have to set your CD?DVD to the first boot device in BIOS.
When the computer is starting up press the F2 or Delete key (repeatedly).
When the computer enters Setup select boot order, and follow the on screen instructions to set CD\DVD to the first boot device.
Thank you.

ok hfcg, thank you very much for your help, i did as u said and now i can boot from the disk, i booted from the disk tho and went to do the repair, and as the person in the other problem i was referred to before, i got somthing that looks like dos that said


Microsoft Windows XP<TM> Recovery Console

1: C:\Windows
Which Windows Instilation Would You Like To Log In To:

then asks for And Adminstrator Password

then i get

C:\Windows>

i typed in
chkdsk/f/r
again as in the problem i was referred to earlier, and it said this was an unrecognized command and gave me a list of commands, so i typed in just chkdsk and it gave me a vol. serial number: ec27-f403, and said that the vol. was in good condition so the test was not run ust /p to run anyway.

i tried typing /p and it says again that its unrecognized command. any advice from here???

you have to put a space between chkdsk and /f/r

ok, yea i figured i was doing something wrong, it was the space, i wasnt putting it in. but i tried again and typed in where it says C:\WINDOWS>CHKDSK /F /R and it says the parameter is not valid. Try /? for help. So i tried CHKDSK /F/R and it says the same thing.

so i ended up typing in:

C:WINDOWS> CHKDSK /P and got this:

VOLUME CREATED 12/20/05 09:41p
The Volume Serial Number is ec27-f403
CHKDSK is Checking The Volume...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK found one or more errors on the volume
15051252 Kilobytes total disk space
51274744 Kilobytes are available

4096 bytes in each allocation unit
38262813 total allocation units on disk
12818686 allocation units available on disk

so then i typed in C:\WINDOWS> CHKDSK /R and got this:

C:\Windows> CHKDSK /R
Volume Created 12/20/05 09:41p
The Volume Serial Number is ec27f403
CHKDSK is Checking The Volume...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK is Performing Additional Checking or Recovery...
CHKDSK found and fixed one or more errors on the volume
15051252 kilobytes total disk space
51274732 kilobytes are available

4096 bytes in each allocation unit
38262813 total allocation units on disk
12818683 allocation units available on disk

that still didnt work, it wont go past the windows xp loading screen. i tried typing in CHKDSK /F/R, CHKDSK /F /R, CHKDSK/F/R, it all says the same, the parameter is not valid. id really like 2 avoid reinstalling windows if i can, any ideas on wut 2 try next???

Hello LCollins2...

This is why we never recommend using the msconfig Safe Boot option. If you get to a point where you can't boot, it's tough to get the machine back.

Let's see if we can roll back the registry through command line.

Boot into Recovery Console as you have been. (Note the spaces in the following commands.)

At the command prompt, type cd \ and press "Enter".

Type cd system~1\_resto~1 and press "Enter".

Type dir and press "Enter".

After you press "Enter" you will see a list of folders (like rp1, rp2) If the list of restore points has more than one page then press the "Enter" key until you reach the end of the list. Note the number of the second to last folder in the list...this is the number to use in the next command in place of the xxx. (Example: cd rp9, if rp9 is the second to the last restore point where the last restore point is rp10)

Type cd rp xxx and press "Enter". (Where xxx is the number from the step above.)

Type cd snapshot and press "Enter".

Type copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system and press "Enter".

Type copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software and press "Enter".

Type exit and press "Enter".

Your machine will reboot. Let it try to boot to Windows.

==========================

If you get an access denied error when doing the above, then do the following at the recovery console:

Type cd \ and press "Enter".

Type cd windows\system32\config and press "Enter".

Type ren system system.bak and press "Enter".

Type exit and press "Enter".

Your PC will reboot, go back into the Recovery Console and start this from the beginning again.

wannabe1

thanx for the help wannabe1. i got stuck tho. heres what i did
i did as you said n typed in cd \, then cd system~1\_resto~1, then dir
then i got the access denied msg. so i followed ur instructions there, my system rebooted and i started over from cd \
now wen i get to the point where the folders should be (rp1, rp2) i have this on screen:

C:\>cd system~1\_resto~1>dir
the Volume in drive C has no label
The Volume Serial Number is ec27-f403
Directory of C:\System~1\_resto~1
01/18/06 04:18p d--hs--- 0 .
01/18/06 04:18p d--hs--- 0 ..
01/18/06 04:14p d----c-- 0 RP16
3 file(s) 0 bytes
52505333760 bytes free

then i used the last file (RP16) because it wouldnt let me use the second to last (..) in place of the "xxx", then cd snapshot
then wen i type in copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32\config\system it says 1 file(s) copied
then i type in copy _registry_machine_software c:\windows\system32\config\software and it gives me this message:

Overwrite Software? (Yes/No/All):

im afraid to mess anything up because as you can tell im inexperienced. so i left it at this screen, which should i chooose yes, no, or all??? and will it mess anything up because i dont have the second 2 last file to use???

Looks like your system restore points were dumped or system restore had been disabled. The last file is likely the original configuration and is further back than I usually like to go. That said, it's all you have available...

Say yes and lets see if the machine will start. Your data should be ok, but some of your recently installed programs and updates may need to be reinstalled.

thanx again for all the help, this worked this time, it booted up into safe mode fine, and it didnt look like i lost any of my files or programs, but then wen i tried booting it back up normal, same problem, only now wen i try to fix it, the same way as u told me that worked to get it in safe mode, once i get to where access is denied, i go to type ren system system.bak and it says a directory or file with the name system.bak already exists. so access is still denied. this has turned out to be quite a hassel, more so than i expected, thank you to anybody and everybody who has helped me out

If we can get this running again, you need to go right to the msconfig options and remove the /SafeBoot selection...then under the general tab, select Normal Boot.

Before we try the recovery console again, try booting to the Safe Mode options and try the option for "Last known good configuration". If it won't start, I'll rewrite the commands for the recovery so that we can attempt that again...it will require some more renaming commands.

i am not getting the screen with the normal boot, safe mode, safe mode networking, safe mode command prompt, last known good configuration options any more, wen i start the computer it loads my graphics card, then goes to the dell loading screen, where i can press F2 for system setup or F12 for Boot Device Menu, if i press F12 i have the options:
1: Normal
2: Primary Master Drive
3: Hard-Disk Drive C:
4: IDE CD-ROM Device
5: System Setup
6: IDE Drive Diagnostics
7: Boot to Utility Partition

and wen i had got the computer to boot up in safe mode the first time after following your advice i did go straight into the msconfig and unchecked safeboot, then restarted, and its back to doing the same thing again.

Ok then. If this will bet it started, do not shut it off until we have a chance to look at a few things. You may have to leave it running overnight even, as it's getting late here and I'll be heading off for some sleep in a bit.

Boot to Recovery Console command prompt.

Type cd \ and press "Enter".

Type cd windows\system32\config and press "Enter".

Type ren system.bak system.old and press "Enter".

Type ren system system.bak and press "Enter".

Type exit and press "Enter".

Boot back into Recovery console and start the whole thing again from the top...just as you did earlier. This time (hopefully) you should not get the access denied error.

Let me know if it starts or what errors you run into if it doesn't.