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XP Hangs on Boot


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#1
Spyderturbo007

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Well the VP of my company brought in his personal PC today and asked me to take a look at it for him. I wanted to see what was going on, so I thought I would boot it up here at work during my morning break. Anyway, it hangs on the XP splash screen and won't continue. When booting in safe mode, it hangs loading the mup.sys file.

I tried to run the Recovery Console so I can do a sfc /scannow, but the darn thing hangs on the screen that says "Examining Startup Environment". It never even makes it to the screen where you can choose your OS.

I'm going to take it home tonight and wanted to see if anyone has any suggestions. I'm trying to be a hero here for the brownie points. :)
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#2
rshaffer61

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Try this and see if it helps.

1. To start the Recovery Console directly from the Windows XP CD you would do the following:
* Insert the Windows XP cd in your computer.
* Restart your computer so you are booting off of the CD.
* When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, press the R button on your keyboard to start the Recovery Console.
* The Recovery Console will start and ask you which Windows installation you would like to log on to. If you have multiple Windows installations, it will list each one, and you would enter the number associated with the installation you would like to work on and press enter. If you have just one Windows installation, type 1 and press enter.
* It will then prompt you for the Administrator's password. If there is no password, simply press enter. Otherwise type in the password and then press enter.
* If you entered the correct password you will now be presented with a C:\Windows> prompt and you can start using the Recovery Console.

2. Type map and press enter.
It will give you the drive letters. Note down the letter of you CD-ROM. If it is a letter other than E you should repolce the letter e when applying the expand command later on if the command is needed to be applied.
ren c:\windows\system32\drivers\atapi.sys atapi.old
(It will returns to the prompt again without notification)
Copy c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\atapi.sys c:\windows\system32\drivers
(If you get a notification "1 file(s) copied you don't need to do the next expand command and go toexit command. But if you get notification that the file doesn't exist proceed with expand command)
expand e:\I386\atapi.sy_ c:\windows\system32\drivers
(You should be notified that the file expanded)
exit

You may remove the CD or let Windows boot normally.


Thanks to farbar for the instructions
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#3
Spyderturbo007

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* The Recovery Console will start and ask you which Windows installation you would like to log on to. If you have multiple Windows installations, it will list each one, and you would enter the number associated with the installation you would like to work on and press enter. If you have just one Windows installation, type 1 and press enter.



My problem is that I never get that far. It hangs on the screen just prior to the recovery console loading and says "Examining Startup Environment" at the bottom of the screen. It never switches to the black screen where you can choose the OS to mount.

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 March 2010 - 10:33 AM.

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#4
rshaffer61

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Did you change the boot sequence so the cdrom is the first boot device.
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#5
Spyderturbo007

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Yeah. It goes through the regular setup procedure loading all the files and then I choose the "R" option for Recovery Console. I then get the "Examining Disk 0 on iastor" or something like that. It completes that and moves to "Examining Startup Environment" and hangs.
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#6
rshaffer61

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Have you done any diagnostics on the hd?
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#7
Spyderturbo007

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I ran that a couple minutes ago using the built in Dell diagnostics. It came up with a "Fail - Return Code 7" using the quick test.

I ran some of the more intensive tests for further clarification and the following passed:

  • S.M.A.R.T Test
  • Confidence Test
  • Seek Test

When I ran the Write Test, I got the following error:

Block 148820006 Uncorrectable data error or media locked

But in my thinking, one bad block shouldn't completely hose the ability to use the Recovery Console, right?

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 March 2010 - 11:19 AM.

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#8
SpywareDr

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The hard drive is failing and needs to be replaced.

IMHO, trying to repair or reinstall windows on a failing hard drive is simply a waste of time.
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#9
rshaffer61

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Instead of using the Dell Diagnostics please do the following and run the extended tests if available. this will give you a better indication of what is wrong.
Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions
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#10
Spyderturbo007

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I'm running the one labeled ES-Tool (The Drive Diagnostic Utility) v2.12a for the Samsung HDD right now. It looks like it might be a little before it's done.

Man, the things I do for free on my lunch break just for some brownie points. :)
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#11
rshaffer61

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Been there done that. In the end it never paid off for me.
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#12
Spyderturbo007

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Here is what I got from the Samsung Utility

Test Loop 1/1

  • Read DMA :Testing... Pass!
  • Check S.M.A.R.T :Testing... Pass!
  • Spin Down / Up :Testing... Pass!
  • Simple Surface Scan :Testing... Pass!
  • Write Verify :Testing... Pass!
  • Random Surface Scan :Testing... Pass!
  • Read Surface Scan :Testing...
    Error : LBA 148820006 -
    Service Code => AJ24 : Bad Sector.
    Error : Ecc error

  • RAM Verify Test :Testing... Pass!
  • Multiple Read Test :Testing... Pass!
    Service Code => AJ24 : Bad Sector.
    Scan Elapsed Time : 01:16:18
    Error Occurred Test Loop Number 1
    End Time : Fri Mar 05 14:07:42 2010
    Test was Completed

So it looks like it's the same block that the Dell test flagged as bad.

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 March 2010 - 01:12 PM.

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#13
rshaffer61

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Yes and possibly could be the problem. It may be in a area where OS startup info is located.
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#14
Spyderturbo007

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I might be getting somewhere here. Instead of using my boss's Dell Media Center Edition OEM disk to access the recovery console, I used a XP Pro SP3 disk I slipstreamed awhile back. I was able to get to the recovery console but it never asked me to attach to a windows installation.

It immediately came back with "The volume appears to contain one or more unrecoverable problems".

I then tried the dir /p command at the C:\ prompt and got this message:

There is no floppy drive or disk in the drive.

The map command results in the following:

G:\Device\CDRom0
H:\Device\CDRom1


I wonder if that's because I used a XP Pro disk and not the MCE disk?

I slapped in the MCE disk he gave me again and it hung on the part that says "Examining Disk0 on iastor". Is there a way to flag that block as bad using something other than the recovery console, rebooting and then reloading whatever files the OS says are corrupt or missing?

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 March 2010 - 02:54 PM.

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#15
rshaffer61

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Sounds like a bad hd from everything you have posted and described
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