[thefyu]

Hey,

I was wondering if someone could help me out. Recently, I sent a HJT log to an expert here to check out why my computer was running slower than usual. I got a response that there was a worm, but before I could fix anything, the next morning, my computer crashed. During startup, it said one of the windows files: <windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe was missing or corrupt. I got a Windows XP Professional cd to repair the problem and everything seemed to work fine. Now, however, I cannot start up my computer without the Windows XP Professional cd in the cd-rom. Without the cd, it says that no operating system can be found. Once I place the cd in, windows resumes normally once again. Is there a reason for this even though I repaired windows and everything seems to be running smoothly? The expert from my malware forum is asking me to resolve this issue first before I can continue breaking the worm. Thanks.

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Hello:

A hidden text file called "Boot.ini" is in the root of your C Drive.

Open "My Computer", click "Tools", "Folder Options", the "View" tab, and then check "Show Hidden Files" if it isn't already selected. Now that you can see hidden files, open your C: drive. Now open the hidden Boot.ini text file. Copy and paste the contents of that file here.

Thanks

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

A hidden text file called "Boot.ini" is in the root of your C Drive.

Open "My Computer", click "Tools", "Folder Options", the "View" tab, and then check "Show Hidden Files" if it isn't already selected. Now that you can see hidden files, open your C: drive. Now open the hidden Boot.ini text file. Copy and paste the contents of that file here.

Thanks

[Johanna]

Or go to Start>Run>msconfig and cut and paste your boot ini file from there.

Johanna

[gerryf]

or
start > run
notepad c:\boot.ini
<enter>

cut and paste

[gerryf]

isn't windows fun....five ways to do everything

[thefyu]

Thank you guys. Here is my pasted boot.ini files:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect /noexecute=optin

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

How many physical hard drives are in your system?

How many logical drives do you have on each drive?

What kind of HD's do you have? ATA or SCSI?

The physical drives are the ones you can see inside your computer case. The logical drives are the drives, created with software, on the physical drives. For instance, you can have a C, D, and E drive all on one Physical drive.

Do you know which drive windows is installed on?

If you can answer these questions for me, we'll be able to fix your problem. The boot.ini file tells your computer where the operating systems are stored inside your computer on the hard drives. I'm thinking your system is just looking in the wrong spot for Windows is all.

If you have Windows installed to the C: drive.....your boot.ini file should look like the one below. It all depends on how you have your hard drive partitioned and where Windows is installed.

Don't make any changes to the boot.ini file unless you feel comfortable in making the changes yourself or someone here instructs you to do so.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

[thefyu]

Hi.

I believe i have 1 physical hard drive in my system. I am on a Sony Vaio Z1WAMP laptop. There are two logical drives - C and D drive. The hard drives are ATA, I believe. Windows should be run off of C drive. Should I go ahead and make those changes you recommended? And if so, what's the best way?

Also, my computer has been running extremely extremely slow recently. Sometimes it takes up to 2 minutes for firefox just to load up to even get on the Internet. Is this related to malware or still something with my system?

Thank you so much.

[magusbuckley]

Hello:

I hate to tell you to make the changes without being sure of what type setup you have. I'm sorry I asked so many questions before about your Hard Drives. I was answering so many posts at that time, I forgot that you were on a laptop. Sorry

The issue you are having with the speed of your computer will best be answered in a new post. You shouldn't worry about that, though, until we can get your system booting normally again. I can tell you, however, that there can be many reasons that your computer is running slow. You might try defragmenting the hard drive for starters. Defragmenting should be something you run routinely...say once a month or so. It's a long process, so it's best to start defragmenting just before you go to bed or are otherwise not going to need your system for a while. Another reason could be system memory. Nothing speeds up a computer as much as installing more momory (RAM). You may have several legitimate programs running in the background that are taking up little slices of memory. It's OK to take up a little slice, but if you have many programs taking up little slices...well, you get the picuture. If the programs are legitimate, there really is no need to tinker with it. You can disable some unwanted programs from loading at system startup, but that's for another day, my friend. To see what programs are loading at startup, click "Start", click "Run", type "MSCONFIG" (that's the Microsoft Configurator), and then press Enter. From the popup window, click the "Startup" tab. All of the programs you see in this list start up when your computer gets to the desktop. More than you thought, huh? Also, as you mentioned in your previous post, the fault could entirely be caused by Malware. When we get your system running properly again, you can see if any of this information helps you out. If you are still having trouble, just make another post here at GeeksToGo.

What I want to find out, for sure, is the type partition setup you have. Do this. Click "Start" and "Control Panel". Switch to "Classic View" (from the left hand pane) if you aren't already in that view. Open "Administrative Tools", "Computer Management", and maximize "Storage" from the lefthand pane if it isn't already expanded. Now single click "Disk Management". This will give you all of the information you need about your current setup. Find out how many logical drives you have by looking at the drive numbers. The first drive will be labled with a "0" (zero). The second drive, if you have one, will be labled with a "1" (one) and so on and so forth. Then, close that program and find your windows folder from "My Computer" or by using "Search". I need to know which drive (physical and logical) it's stored on.

This will get us going again.

In fact, if you only have one logical drive and the Windows folder is indeed on drive C:, go ahead and make those changes to your boot.ini file. You can do this with the notepad program.

When you're done, let us know what you come up with.

Thanks,

[thefyu]

Hi magusbuckley,

I did what you said before about finding out where windows is and my windows is on the c drive and I only have one physical drive. I went to the boot.ini file, changed the numbers to the ones you have listed and the problems have only grown from there.

This past weekend, I am now getting a message at startup that say the following:
SMART Failure Predicted on Hard Disk 0: Toshiba MK6021GAS - (PM)

Warning: Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive. A failure may be imminent.

It seems the more I do to try to fix it, the more things are going wrong. I have reinstalled windows on my c drive and this has not helped either. Windows still needs to be booted from the cd-rom and now, another file is "missing or corrupt" (my initial malware posts started because of a file named ntoskrnl.exe was missing or corrupt. As of now I cannot really do anything with my computer.

Does this failure mean that I have to replace my computer? I have backed up most of my C drive stuff but my D drive just has too much stuff on it. Should I do a Full Vaio Recovery? Should I bring it into a professional computer store? I am really hoping I can resolve this losing the least amount of information available. Thanks for the help.

[gerryf]

SMART is a a diagnostic program built into your drive....if it is predicting a failure, it means that your drive is dying. Replacing the drive should fix your problem.

[thefyu]

by replacing my hard drive you mean getting an entirely new one?

Edited by thefyu, 11 July 2005 - 04:42 PM.

[magusbuckley]

Unfortunately....YES.

He's right. Your HD is about to give out. You should replace it as soon as possible in hopes of saving what data you can.

Make a backup asap!

Sorry,

[thefyu]

Thanks for everyone's input.

I have just called Sony and they will be taking in my computer to replace my hard drive under the warranty. I was wondering, can anyone tell me why my hard drive would fail like that? I have never dropped it and I keep it pretty safe, physically. I know on the university networks, I have had a lot of trouble keeping it clean from malware.

In addition, I now have to try to back up my D drive stuff before the box comes. My ideas were to buy an external hard drive and try to transfer as much as possible before the computer completely shuts down. Do you have any suggestions as to doing this a better way or a faster way?

Again, thanks for everyone's help.

[makai]

Buy a 1gig usb flash drive and transfer all your files there. Then move them to your desktop. When you laptop get back, just transfer them back.

makai