Jump to content

Welcome to Geeks to Go - Register now for FREE

Need help with your computer or device? Want to learn new tech skills? You're in the right place!
Geeks to Go is a friendly community of tech experts who can solve any problem you have. Just create a free account and post your question. Our volunteers will reply quickly and guide you through the steps. Don't let tech troubles stop you. Join Geeks to Go now and get the support you need!

How it Works Create Account
Photo

windows xp won't start


  • Please log in to reply

#1
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
ok ... i need some desperate help. my other comp won't start windows xp. it loads to a black screen saying that windows could not start up properly and could be due to a recent hardware or software installation. there are several options including going into safe mode, last known config, start windows normally, etc. however, when i click on any one of these options, it brings be back to the same screen. i even tried going into the BIOS but nothing i did helped. when i put in my restore cd to restore windows, it would go into ghost and give me a bunch of errors including "cannot dump file" and bring me back to the same black screen. i'm desperate for any solution ... please help ... would be kindly appreciated :tazz: ;)
  • 0

Advertisements


#2
gerryf

gerryf

    Retired Staff

  • Retired Staff
  • 11,365 posts
What does "go into ghost" mean?

Norton Ghost?

Restore CD is....a cd that came from your system maker? What is the make and model of your computer?

And could you be very specific on the error you get?

Does the error message say "could be due to a recent hardware or software installation"
  • 0

#3
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
yes ... it goes into norton ghost

the restore cd is the one that came with my computer

my computer is an e-machines w2785

the error message does say that it "may have been caused by a recent hardware or software installation"

actually ... a new error comes up saying "verifying DMI pool data ... a disk read error occured ... press ctrl+alt+del to reboot"

Edited by watstogo, 16 April 2005 - 04:20 PM.

  • 0

#4
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
ok ... here are the specific details of my problem

the comp boots to a screen which says the following:

"We apologize for the inconvenience but windows did not start successfully. A recent hardware or software change might have caused this. If your computer stopped responding, restarted unexpectedly, or was automatically shut down to protect your files and folders, choose last known good configuration to revert to the most recent settings that worked. If a previous startup attempt was interuppted due to a power failure or because the power or reset button was pressed, or if you aren't sure what caused the problem, choose start windows normally."

safe mode
safe mode w/ networking
safe mode w/ command prompt
last known good configuration
start windows normally

In addition, when I try to restore windows using my restore cd's, the following errors are noted in Symantec Ghost version 7.0

"cannot open R:\\W2785.GHO"
"cannot open GHOSTERR.TXT"
Application Error 11000 "Invalid dump file"

If anyone knows anything and can help please do! ;) :tazz:

By the way ... I may know what caused this to happen in the first place:

my video card driver and lcd monitor driver were causing problems which may have cause my comp to go into this current state

Edited by watstogo, 16 April 2005 - 08:00 PM.

  • 0

#5
ke6ziu

ke6ziu

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 30 posts
One thing you should do is try to run the last known good configuration. Then, you should make ERDs (Emergency Restore Disks...) because they work better than any proprietary restorarion cd. If you can, you should get a full OEM version of the operating system (you can get them with any new computer purchase, motherboard purchase, or HDD purchase. But, you have to pay for it...). Finally, get some reference material on your specific operating system. This will help in the long run, especially when the fourms are busy...The best possible solution is to look outside of the box, because honestly, MS doesn't have the answers for the problems; they usually have the answerws after someone else figured out how to fix what they messed up in the first place... :tazz:
  • 0

#6
gerryf

gerryf

    Retired Staff

  • Retired Staff
  • 11,365 posts
he said he tried last known good configuration


Here's where I think we are...
verifying DMI pool data (normal)
a disk read error occured (this is actually the real issue(
press ctrl+alt+del to reboot, normal response to above
Windows blue screen

We've got a partition issue here, I think.

the ghost issue may or may not be directly related....if the recovery disk accesses a hidden partition...or it may be that you have made changes to the original configuration (add any new hardware)?

So, you've got a recovery cd that is no good, and no Windows CD, correct?

You obviously have a second PC...is it windows xp?
  • 0

#7
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
yeah ... the second pc i have is running windows xp media center edition

is there any way to fix the partition problem using command prompt?

let's see ... i had a 9800 pro in the comp ... took it out though cause i thought i could fix the problem that way ... my proview 17 lcd monitor drivers were causing some sort of problem cause messages would always pop up when running simple applications it would say "you're video card graphics accelerator has stopped responding"

any more info would help ...

Edited by watstogo, 16 April 2005 - 10:25 PM.

  • 0

#8
gerryf

gerryf

    Retired Staff

  • Retired Staff
  • 11,365 posts
Perhaps, but the reason I asked about the other PC is it might be worthwhile to move this drive to another machine and get your data off if possible.

It sounds like a partition table corruption, though I am not 100 percent certain....the message you are getting is...odd. I am surprised you are getting a menu at all with a corrupt partition table.

That is why I am thinking look at the drive on a second machine...if the other computer can read it, it may just be a botched boot sector that we can fix from the command line.

If you have a windows cd...and cna boot to the recovery console....can it see the drive?
  • 0

#9
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
well ... when i use the recovery cd and boot to the command prompt it can see the hard drive ...

also, do u think messing with the BIOS or GHOST settings may work at all to solve the partition problem?

don't know if that helps

Edited by watstogo, 16 April 2005 - 10:29 PM.

  • 0

#10
ke6ziu

ke6ziu

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 30 posts
If the partition table is corrupted, then no amount of recovery cd usage is gonna help. He needs a win98 boot disk...he needs to blow out the partition by using the fdisk with the mbr switch...
  • 0

Advertisements


#11
lampdoc

lampdoc

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 19 posts
Ok, I have to add to this post. I also have an Emachines computer, and have the same problem. The difference is that I received this problem after running the Windows XP repair setup program off of the Windows XP CD. I had a problem awhile back with my computer so I went out and bought the Windows XP CD. I've been getting alot of STOP ERRORS lately, and alot of my programs would error out, so I decided to run the repair setup. After I finished the repair, the computer would re-start, I would then get the same screen described above.... I can not go into safe mode (any one) or choose the last know good setting option, everything I pick would send me back to reboot and the same screen. I can't see how this is a partition error since I've installed a second copy of Windows XP on the same partition, and here I am on the computer, so my partition is working. I have tried to reset the boot configuration, and re-run the repair but nothing is working. I'm completely blown away on this. I want to get my old setup back so I don't have to re-install all of my software and some hardware. Hopefully this helps with this issue, although I think it will just make it worse. I'm starting to think that maybe it's an Emachines problem???
  • 0

#12
watstogo

watstogo

    New Member

  • Topic Starter
  • Member
  • Pip
  • 6 posts
ok ... so at least i'm not alone here on this problem

the only thing that i had left to do was wipe out my hard drive ... which i did using darik's boot and nuke.

i reinstalled windows and all my other software, hardware, etc ... what a long and painful process

i really didn't want to pursue this option, but there was absoutely no other choice

by the way ... i installed the omega drivers for my ATI 9800 pro and it seems to have solved my graphics acclerator problems that might have caused the entire problem in the first place

anyway ... my computer is good to go

keep me posted if lampdoc finds a alternative (which means better) solution to this problem ...

thx again for everyone's help :tazz:
  • 0

#13
Chewvan

Chewvan

    Member

  • Banned
  • PipPip
  • 16 posts
Removed Comment

Edited by don77, 22 April 2005 - 11:09 PM.

  • 0

#14
111787

111787

    New Member

  • Member
  • Pip
  • 8 posts
Same problem, anyway to fix this at all?
  • 0

#15
lampdoc

lampdoc

    Member

  • Member
  • PipPip
  • 19 posts
Well I ended up writing Microsoft about this problem, after 4 e-mails re-explaining the problem, the final verdict was: the only fix is to re-install windows. This just doesn't seem right but it's the answer I got. So I've done this, and now I have to re-install all my software, and re-configure my hardware. The thing I just can't understand is all the software is there and installed, it just can't be accessed because all the DLL's are gone or in the wrong place. I am actually re-installing the software over itself. It's a time consuming process, but I guess the only way to do it...???
:tazz:

Edited by lampdoc, 04 May 2005 - 08:40 PM.

  • 0






Similar Topics

0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

As Featured On:

Microsoft Yahoo BBC MSN PC Magazine Washington Post HP