[dsenette]

after running check disk does the computer still fail to boot when the drive is in it?

also....a hard drive loading up in an external caddy doesn't mean it's not damaged

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I still got the blinking cursor after the check disk.

[razorgjs]

I still got the blinking cursor after the check disk.

[dsenette]

Repair the Windows XP installation.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Make sure that the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is the first priority startup device.
  See your computer documentation for information about how to do this.
• Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
• When the instruction to "Press any key to boot from CD" appears, press a key. Your computer starts from the Windows XP CD.
• When the computer starts from the CD, the system verifies your hardware, and then prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER
  - To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
  - To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

• Press ENTER.
• Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
• A box lists your current Windows XP installation, and then the computer prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.
  - To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

• Press R.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards.
NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to Perform A Re-Install Of XP.

[razorgjs]

I did the above process. The computer rebooted by itself. Since the XP disk is still in the drive, I am getting the message "Press any key to boot from CD". Should I remove the disk and cntrl/alt/delete to get it to restart from hard drive?

[rshaffer61]

Yes, and you may have to change the boot sequence back to HD and then cdrom.

[razorgjs]

I removed the XP disk and did CNTL/ALT/DELETE to restart. I still have the blinking cursor on black screen.

[rshaffer61]

Since dsenette is not here I would suggest a Parallel installation. This will allow you to see if it is the OS and if needed to be able to save your data to the new installation.

Parallel Installation of Windows XP

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
• To use a different folder, press Esc
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

[razorgjs]

I guess I do that as a last resort if no other suggestions are made. I was hoping for a fix that did not require loading all the programs and applications again (2 or 3 day process for me). It seems as though this would double the space usage on my drive. Presumably I would somehow transfer the data over to the new partition and delete the old one?

[rshaffer61]

You would copy over the documents folder as it suggest.
This would save the data but the programs would have to be reinstalled.
Once that is done then you would delete the old installation thus freeing up the space again. I am only suggesting this as a last resort if nothing else works. I would wait for Dsenette to see what else he comes up with first.

[dsenette]

since the repair failed (it's basically an in place install of windows...it just replaces all of the windows files)...i'd say that there's something wrong in the system... it could be a RAM issue or a power supply issue or a failing hard drive...you ran checkdisk so that should have identified problems there...though it won't fix a hardware failure so the drive may still be shot

go here and get the windows memory diagnostic tool and follow their instructions on how to run it.

[rshaffer61]

[razorgjs]

The windows memory diagnostic test succeeded and no errors were found on the 1st 2 passes. I could hit "T" to run an extended test if you suggest. Where does this leave me now? Back to reinstalling Windows on the hard drive?

[dsenette]

i still suspect that you've got some kind of failing hardware that's mucking the repair up....how old is the computer?

doing the parallel install would get you back up on the current drive (assuming that the install actually goes in fine)....but if the drive is failing...who knows for how long you'll be able to use it until this happens again

my personal suggestion would be to get a new hard drive and install windows on that new drive...then you can hook up the old one in your external caddy and copy all your data and such back over

[razorgjs]

The computer is a 2003 Dell Dimension 8250. If I replace the hard drive, it will be the 4th one. Dell told me I was lucky my original one lasted just under 3 years. I've been looking at new machines, but haven't been able to bring myself to pay that much money, yet. Any suggestions on manufacturer, model, etc. that has worked good for you? I use it for video camera movie burning, digital picture management, Microsoft Office applications, email, and the other standard stuff. I'm not into gaming, watching movies on it, or high end digital photography management. I can ask you all of this on a new topic if you like. Thanks for all of your suggestions and help.