[NineToTheSky]

When I boot it goes through the BIOS setup, but then sticks on a black screen with a flashing cursor in the top left. I've had the problem for about six months, and I've tried everything I can think of to sort it. I've got an Acer Aspire 1700 laptop with a P4 3.06, 1024mb RAM, 250Gb HD (yes, really!), XP Home, Norton Ghost.

I've tried the recovery console, fixing the MBR, reinstalling Windows; I've even replaced the HD, but the problem keeps reoccurring. Sometimes it will reboot successfully a few times, but eventually it always fails.

Something I've just noticed...The contents of my boot.ini is:

[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 Home Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

and according to Partition Manager, my C: drive has two partitions, as follows:

C: primary, active, 233GB, Partition 0, hard disk 0

and one called: *, 7.8Mb, Partition 1, hard disk 0, no other details

Does this mean that my system is trying to boot from *, if so, why?, where has it come from, and what should I do about it?

Any input gratefully received.

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no, it is not trying to boot from *, which is likely a hidden restore partition.

what you are seeing is the bizarre nature of the ARC naming convention.

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
for each paramter, 0 means the first device, except for partition, where 1 actually means 1

So, your boot.ini points to the right spot

have you tried running chkdsk /r ?

[gerryf]

no, it is not trying to boot from *, which is likely a hidden restore partition.

what you are seeing is the bizarre nature of the ARC naming convention.

default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
for each paramter, 0 means the first device, except for partition, where 1 actually means 1

So, your boot.ini points to the right spot

have you tried running chkdsk /r ?

[NineToTheSky]

Thanks for your reply. I've run Norton Disk Doctor, and it reports that I've got errors in Security Descriptors. I've noticed this before. What causes it and can I do anything to prevent it?

Edited by NineToTheSky, 28 July 2005 - 10:06 AM.

[gerryf]

run chkdsk /r to repair that error

It occurs because of bad writes to the drive, sometimes due to improper shutdown.