[rshaffer61]

The message you are getting about Safe mode usually means there are two entries in the boot.ini file that is causing the problem.
Let me ask when you boot up are you asked to choose which OS you want to boot to?
Did you take the cd out of the drive so it would boot to the hard drive?
Please do the following and let me know what the results are.

If you have your Windows XP disk

• Insert your Windows XP disk into your computer and reboot
• Make sure the PC is set to run from the CD as the primary boot device.
  NOTE: You do this by setting your PC to boot to the CD-ROM in BIOS (enter bios by pressing f1, f2 or del key during memory count up, then search for boot order, and set the CD as the first boot device)
• When the PC boots, it will boot from the CD...after the first several screens load, you will be given a choice to choose R for Recovery Console. You will be asked to log in.
  NOTE: For Windows XP Home, there is not password, just hit ENTER. For Windows XP pro, ask whomever set up the machine what password they used.

When you see the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt continue to section 3 (Running "ChkDsk")

If you DO NOT have your Windows XP disk

• Download RC.ISO from Here.
• Now burn this ISO image to a CD and boot your computer with it.
  NOTE: Keep in mind that this is different than burning a file to a CD-ROM. If you do not know how to burn an ISO image, then download CDBurnerXP Pro to another Windows machine and install it. Then go Here for instructions for burning the ISO image
• Once the CD is created, place it in the defunct computer
• Then reboot your broken PC with that CD in the CD-ROM drive.
• Make sure the PC is set to run from the CD as the primary boot device.
  NOTE: You do this by setting your PC to boot to the CD-ROM in BIOS (enter bios by pressing f1, f2 or del key during memory count up, then search for boot order, and set the CD as the first boot device)
• When the PC boots, it will boot from the CD...after the first several screens load, you will be given a choice to choose R for Recovery Console. You will be asked to log in.
  NOTE: For Windows XP Home, there is not password, just hit ENTER. For Windows XP pro, ask whomever set up the machine what password they used.

Running "ChkDsk"

• At the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt, type
  

  chkdsk /r

• Press ENTER
• Let this scan run UNINTERUPTED until completed (30 min or so depending on the drive)
• Report any errors in your next reply
• Once the scan is complete, Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console.
• Your computer will now restart, boot from the CD again and continue with the next steps.

Using "BootCfg /Rebuild" to fix the "Boot.ini" file

• At the Recovery console C:\WINDOWS prompt, type
  

  bootcfg /rebuild

• Press ENTER
  Note: The bootcfg /rebuild command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP installations, and then displays the results. You can add the detected Windows installations.
• When you receive a message that is similar to the following message, press Y:
  

  
  Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
  
  [1] C:\Windows
  Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
  

  NOTE: You may see more than one entry here if you have a dual boot windows system. If this is the case follow this procedure for ALL installations to make sure that all OS's are added correctly
• You receive a message that is similar to the following message:
  

  Enter Load Identifier

  NOTE: This is the name of the operating system. This is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.
• Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER
• You receive a message that is similar to the following:
  

  Enter OS Load options

• Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.
• Type exit, and then press ENTER to quit Recovery Console.
• Your computer will restart, and the updated boot list may appear when you receive the "Please select the operating system to start" message.
• If you see a Boot list with multiple entries choose the XP Home option to boot to windows.

[Advertisements]

I keep trying to go to Recovery Console, but when I try to, a Blue screen comes up and says a problem occured. It suggests to run CHKDSK /F to check for HD Corruption. But I can't get into the Rocovery Console.
It gives this info:
STOP: 0x0000007B(0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I tried all day yesterday and some today, but since I couldn't get into RC, I got desperate and ran some test. I pressed F12, and did a test, some Symptom Tree-Cannot Boot the OS. That test lasted HOURS. I left it on all night. It said all tests passed, but the keyboard and mouse would not work.

Then today while trying again, I get to the screen that let's me choose the Operating System, and it has two options: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, and Recovery Console. I don't have MW XP PROFESSIONAL, I have MW XP Media Edition! Why doesn't that show up?
Then, I chose MW XP Pro to see what would happen. It takes me to a screen that says: Setup is being Restarted........ That is for re-installing Windows. But it tells me to put in the CD for MW XP Pro, which I don't have. I have Media Edition.
Then when I choose Recovery Console, it goes to the Blue Screen. Is there any other way to get into RC?

What should I do Now?

Thanks.

[Master Spade]

I keep trying to go to Recovery Console, but when I try to, a Blue screen comes up and says a problem occured. It suggests to run CHKDSK /F to check for HD Corruption. But I can't get into the Rocovery Console.
It gives this info:
STOP: 0x0000007B(0xF78D2524, 0xC0000034, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

I tried all day yesterday and some today, but since I couldn't get into RC, I got desperate and ran some test. I pressed F12, and did a test, some Symptom Tree-Cannot Boot the OS. That test lasted HOURS. I left it on all night. It said all tests passed, but the keyboard and mouse would not work.

Then today while trying again, I get to the screen that let's me choose the Operating System, and it has two options: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, and Recovery Console. I don't have MW XP PROFESSIONAL, I have MW XP Media Edition! Why doesn't that show up?
Then, I chose MW XP Pro to see what would happen. It takes me to a screen that says: Setup is being Restarted........ That is for re-installing Windows. But it tells me to put in the CD for MW XP Pro, which I don't have. I have Media Edition.
Then when I choose Recovery Console, it goes to the Blue Screen. Is there any other way to get into RC?

What should I do Now?

Thanks.

[rshaffer61]

Did you go into the bios and set the boot sequence so that the cdrom was the first boot device and the hard drive was the second boot device?
F10 to save and Y to verify save and exit?
System should reboot and with the disk in the system should come up and say Push any key to boot to cdrom

[Master Spade]

Did you go into the bios and set the boot sequence so that the cdrom was the first boot device and the hard drive was the second boot device?
F10 to save and Y to verify save and exit?
System should reboot and with the disk in the system should come up and say Push any key to boot to cdrom

Yes, and when I check that to make sure in system setup, I have the CDROM in first place to boot.
I'll check to make sure about the Hard Drive being 2nd right now.

[rshaffer61]

Are you getting the message I mentioned?

[Master Spade]

Are you getting the message I mentioned?

Just finished up with everything.
When I checked the Boot sequence, the Floppy drive was 2nd in boot after cdrom, now it put it 4th. 1st is cdrom, followed by both Hard Drives.

That helped because now at least I got into the Recovery Console. There were 2 Operating Systems: 1:C:\Windows and 2:D:\Windows.
I then Ran that CHKDSK and it said it found and fixed on or more errors on the volume. That lasted for 2 1/2 hours.
After the scan and the PC restarting, I tried to go to the RC again to go to next step. But when the PC restarted, it just went into that blue screen again. So after restarting and tring again, I did get into Recovery Console and did the next step of bootcfg /rebuild. It said it was sucessful and I named the OS, but I tried to exit. Instead of EXITING, it named the second OP EXIT!
When it finally did Exit, it now shows THREE OS's! When I choose the 1st Windows XP Home Media, it actually started up! It Worked! BUT, something weird happened.............it loads a version of Windows and my PC that I had on 2-27-08! Programs that I used to have back then!? Just to test it, I tried to play songs from that iTunes library I had back then, but nothing happens.

So I tried the 2nd OS-Mircosoft Windows XP Media Edition-.......but instead of loading, it goes to a screen that says Setup is being restarted.....

I tried the 3rd OS-Windows XP Media Center Edition-... and it too goes to the screen "Setup is being restarted"........


What should I do now? Is there a way to get the PC back to the way it was last week?

Thanks for the help!

[rshaffer61]

Oh lord this is a mess for sure.
Let me ask is there important data that needs to be saved?
Do you have a recovery cd or a full version of XP?
I want to get that safe first before we proceed because we may end up with a issue where we need to edit the boot.ini file and I don't want to lose any of your data.
The main windows is the one that worked but it is loading a restore point i think that is old. As you said from 2\27\08.
This may be fixable but safety first.

[Master Spade]

Oh lord this is a mess for sure.
Let me ask is there important data that needs to be saved?
Do you have a recovery cd or a full version of XP?
I want to get that safe first before we proceed because we may end up with a issue where we need to edit the boot.ini file and I don't want to lose any of your data.
The main windows is the one that worked but it is loading a restore point i think that is old. As you said from 2\27\08.
This may be fixable but safety first.

A mess for sure.

If there is a way to save the data I had, it would be VERY good to save. I have important things on there that I need. You see, I have Epilepsy, and because of the medication(POISION!) that the doctors had me taking, I have a TERRIBLE memory becuase of all that POISION! That's why I convinced myself to buy a PC, to be my memory. I write everything important in it, So hopefully that can be saved.
The only CD's I have are the ones that came with the PC when I purchased it in 2006. I have the Operating System one, the one for the Drivers and Utilities, and the other one for the Sound system.

If this does get fixed and returned to the way it was a couple days ago, what would be the best way to "Save" everything? On CD's? External Hard Drive? Or some other way, so if this ever happens again, I'll have everything saved.
I thought that by purchasing a second Hard Drive, which is already installed, that would be enough, but it didn't help me this time.

Right now I'm using my sisters old PC that has a 70GB! HD! Small aint it? Anyway, can I use this one to help me with my PC in any way?

Thanks.

[Master Spade]

Quick question, what could of caused something like this? I run scans with McAfee and SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes at least once a week. Everything was clean. The last time I turned used the PC, everything seemed fine. Could it be something loose inside the PC or anything like that? Anything I should physically Check?

Thanks again.

[rshaffer61]

Get Puppy Linux from my signature below...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 get Burncdcc from my signature...it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start

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 your 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...

==========================
quick guide for saving data...music..files on a system that will not boot using puppy Linux..


after you get to puppy desktop..
click on the drives icon...looks like a flash drive...top row..it will list all the drives connected to

your computer...

click on the red icon for the drive you want to mount...in this case its a flash drive ...puppy will

mount the drive..the drive icon turns green when its mounted...
minimize the drives mounter window..you will need it again in a few minutes..
drag the right edge of it sideways to shrink it to its narrowest size...about half the width of the screen...then drag the window to the right edge of the screen...

now click on the icon that looks like a filing cabinet (kind of yellow) on the main drive...it should
already be green..
you will see a list of all the folders on the main drive Usually your C: drive..shrink that window to
the narrowest you can..about half the width of the screen...drag that window to the left side of the screen...
at this point you should have 2 windows open on your desktop..the flash drive on the right side..
go back to the folders on the C: drive...click on the documents and settings folder...then your user
name or all users..find the folders that has your data..
drag and drop the folder with the data you want to make copies of to the flash drive window...

your options are to move ..copy ect...JUST COPY..if its to big you will have to open the folder and
drag and drop individual files until the flash drive is full...(I have a 120 GB external USB drive for
big data recovery jobs and a 4 GB flash drive for the smaller jobs)..after you get the files copied to
the flash drive...
Click on the drives mounter you minimized earlier
UNMOUNT THE FLASH DRIVE by clicking on the green icon..you will once in awhile get error messages when
unmouting the drive..ignore them..when the flash drive icon turns red again its safe to remove the
flash drive..trot on over (stroll if you want to look cool) to another computer and plug in the flash

drive and copy all the data files ( I drag and drop) to the other computer..
make sure the other computer can read them...

now delete the data on the flash drive...take it back to the misbehaving computer and plug it in

again..click on the drives icon again and repeat until you have all your data transferred to the working
system..

Thanks to happyrock

[rshaffer61]

Quick question, what could of caused something like this? I run scans with McAfee and SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes at least once a week. Everything was clean. The last time I turned used the PC, everything seemed fine. Could it be something loose inside the PC or anything like that? Anything I should physically Check?

Thanks again.

The original issue was easily taken care of but when the installations failed they wrote to the boot.ini file causing the other two OS's to start showing up. Now that they are there i am afraid to try again until we save your data. The Puppy Linux will allow you to boot the system using what is called a Linux live cd to access the information on the Hard Drive.
If you follow the instructions you should have no problem backing up all your data.
Make sure once the cd is created that you put it in the drive then reboot the system. You will need to change the boot sequence n the bios and I am including the instructions for that next.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS
Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.

Hopefully you have already put the Puppy Linux cd in the drive before all this.

Edited by rshaffer61, 07 January 2010 - 05:14 AM.

[Master Spade]

[quote name='rshaffer61' date='Jan 7 2010, 05:08 AM' post='1728420']
Get Puppy Linux from my signature below...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 get Burncdcc from my signature...it is a small FAST no frills iso burning program...

NOTE...do not put a blank cd in until burncdcc opens the tray for you
1. Start BurnCDCC
2. Browse to the ISO file you want to burn on cd/dvd ....in this case its puppy-2.16-seamonkey-fulldrivers.iso
3. Select the ISO file
4. click on Start






When clicking to download that puppy linux, it asks if I want to "save" the File, or "Find" a program online to open it. Which should I pick? If I have to get a program to open it, which do you recommend?

Thanks.

Edited by Master Spade, 07 January 2010 - 03:38 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Save and then the program you want to burn it is the Burncdcc

[Master Spade]

Ok, I've made the Puppy Linux CD. Now I put that CD into the PC that is not working correctly, right? Just making sure.

That CD should boot up the PC and take me to the Desktop, right?

Instead of backing everything up on CD's, I'm thinking of just going to Fry's and getting a 1TB External HD. They had it on sale for like $80 a couple of weeks ago. That seems like it would be faster and easier than CD's. Now, if I do get the External HD, your instructions say to have it hooked up Before I turn on the infected PC, right?


Once I get to the desktop, do I just click on the External HD to save everything? If not, How exactly do I save everything on to it. I just want to make sure before I start, as I have very little confidence with PC's. This is Scary stuff to me.

Thanks.

Edited by Master Spade, 07 January 2010 - 04:07 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Ok, I've made the Puppy Linux CD. Now I put that CD into the PC that is not working correctly, right?

Yes

nstead of backing everything up on CD's, I'm thinking of just going to Fry's and getting a 1TB External HD. They had it on sale for like $80 a couple of weeks ago. That seems like it would be faster and easier than CD's. Now, if I do get the External HD, your instructions say to have it hooked up Before I turn on the infected PC, right?

Yes

Once I get to the desktop, do I just click on the External HD to save everything? If not, How exactly do I save everything on to it. I

Yes use the external and copy and paste like you would in any windows.