[bhmax16]

Keith - typing R again wouldn't work, but I did find out that you have to choose a number from the list they give you. I didn't realize that there was a number next to the option I had before, so instead of just hitting enter like I did last time I typed in the number "1". Now it's asking me for the administrator password. I never log on as the administrator so I'm unsure of what the password would be. Is there a default password? If not I'm just going to have to try to figure it out, maybe it's the same as my Gettysburg password

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If one was not set then just press enter

If one was set then I guess the college would know and it might be better to ask them if you have got this far in

[Retired Tech]

If one was not set then just press enter

If one was set then I guess the college would know and it might be better to ask them if you have got this far in

[bhmax16]

Ok, I tried just hitting enter and it bipassed the password part it looks like. But now "C:/windows>" appeared under where they originally asked for the administrator password. Looks like I need to type in some sort of command to tell the computer what to do. Do I just type in "boot" or "startup" or something like that? And is there any command I can use so it won't start in safemode this time? Thanks

[Retired Tech]

Type exit to see if it goes to black screen with safe mode at corners, if so, press ctrl + alt +del together to see if you get task manager, if so, press file then new task then type explorer.exe and press OK

Type chkdsk /f /r at the prompt, it will say it is in use, do you want to set for next restart, press Y then press enter then ctrl + alt + del to get task manager then press shutdown then restart, this will take a while

Edited by Keith, 12 May 2005 - 06:03 PM.

[bhmax16]

After typing in exit I got b ack to the blue screen first that says that "Setup is being restarted." After this it went to the black screen with safe mode in the corners, but was unresponsive to the ctrl + alt + del command. All it did was give me the same message I've been seeing before about how setup could not continue in safe mode and that it was going to restart the computer. So no, I couldn't get the task manager to come up.

The ms-dos mode that I am in right now is Window XP's Recovery Console. There are glossaries of commands for this mode all over the internet. Some commands I found involve the boot.ini switches, a /scannow that should scan all the protected system files and replace the incorrect versions with the correct ones, and the chkdsk commands (like the one you gave me in your last post). Could any of these be useful to me at this point and if so which should I try? Thanks

[Retired Tech]

/scannow or chkdsk /f /r would be good

[bhmax16]

/scannow wouldn't work for some reason...got the message that it's an invalid command.

When I typed in chkdsk /f /r I got the message that "the parameter is not valid." chkdsk /p and chkdsk /r both work though.

chkdsk /r is running right now and looks like it is going to take quite a long time..it's at 54% right now...will let you know if I find anything out once it's finished.

chkdsk /p did tell me that the scan found 1 or more errors on the volume (although I'm quite sure this is probably typical).

Also I noticed there is a safeboot command for starting in safe mode. Is there another command like this to start in normal mode?

[Retired Tech]

Type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

This should let you get to system restore

[bhmax16]

Ok thanks I'll try it once chkdsk /r is finished. It's at about 75% right now. I'm guessing it will be at least another 20-30 minutes considering how slow it has been going. It's 10:30pm here in the northeast right now and I'm not sure where you're from but if it's getting late you don't have to worry about staying up all night. You've been helping me with this all day, you deserve a break!

[bhmax16]

%systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe wouldn't work. It said that the command is not recognized. Do I have to be at a different prompt other than c:/windows? You mentioned a command prompt...how do I enter the command prompt so %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe will work? Also keep in mind that system restore wasn't working for me before which was contributing to my initial problem...I kept getting the message that I was unable to restore the computer back to a previous state...that restore was incomplete...and no changes were made to the computer's system. So I'm unsure even if we are able to get this command to work if system restore is still going to give me the same problems it was giving me before or not.

By the way is there any useful information at this link here that could maybe help? http://www.computerh...om/starthlp.htm

[Retired Tech]

Start just opens another window which is no different as a prompt.

Is it still stuck in the cycle

[bhmax16]

Hey Keith I was up until 5am and finally was able to get things working on my own.

I used the bootcfg /list command to view my boot configurations (of course I only had one) which was called Microsoft Windows XP Professional (or something close to that) The OS load options read something like /fastdetect...some other stuff...then at the end had something like /safeboot=minimal. I knew the /safeboot command was what was starting my computer in safe mode, so what I did was add another boot configuration to the list using the bootcfg /add command. I named it "hope this works," didn't really know what else to name it, haha, then for the OS load options all I put in was /fastdetect. After this I exited to restart the system...windows finally finished the setup it had been trying to do now that the computer wasn't trying to start in safe mode anymore. Everything runs smoothly and even my windows media player is working now, so reloading windows must have replaced any corrupt files that were there before.

Even though things are fixed, I still have another question. I now have three different boot configurations to choose from while in the recovery console, and I'm a pretty anal person and want to narrow that list down to 1 (the way the computer was before) but I am unable to figure out any kind of option that allows me to delete the ones I don't need. Any ideas? Hopefully I was clear enough with all of this, I'm still very tired...

[Retired Tech]

Good news the PC is running.

This looks at editing the boot.ini

Boot.ini


Make sure you back them up first

Reckon I would leave them if they do not affect the PC

Thank you for letting me know how you repaired this

Edited by Keith, 13 May 2005 - 07:44 AM.

[bhmax16]

Hi Keith thanks for that info. I was able to delete what I didn't need so all is well in that area.

I have a new problem now though! I was fiddling around with some settings and by accident changed the name of the domain I use to connect to my college's network and whenever I try to change it back it won't let me. I get the message "A domain controller for the domain GETTYSBURG could not be contacted. Ensure that the domain name is typed correctly." I believe I am getting this message because I have to maybe be physically connected to my college's network in order for the domain controller to be contacted? If this is the case is it possible to somehow hack into the network? My college is 400 miles from here so I can't just go and physically hook my computer up there. Please help

Also if you think I'll get more responses to this question by creating a new thread I will go ahead and do that. Thanks!

[Retired Tech]

If you do not have the correct information, it is either on your college site or perhaps you can ask a fellow student what is on his PC for domain controller, or if you set a restore point, go for that.