[Tyler5690]

Alright, so when I go to boot my computer, everything POSTs fine and the BIOS works and everything's good, then before Windows loads, I get a blank black screen with a blinking white underscore in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. I have Windows XP Pro, SP2. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Advertisements]

Hi Tyler5690...Welcome to G2G!

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode? Tap the F8 key while your machine is booting. When you get to the options screen, choose to Start using the last known good configuration...If you boot into Windows, do a System Restore to a date at least 2 days before your problem began.

Post back with your results...there are several things we can try on this.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi Tyler5690...Welcome to G2G!

Have you tried booting into Safe Mode? Tap the F8 key while your machine is booting. When you get to the options screen, choose to Start using the last known good configuration...If you boot into Windows, do a System Restore to a date at least 2 days before your problem began.

Post back with your results...there are several things we can try on this.

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

I tried, but it doesn't even get far enough to do that. I even tried booting with Winternal's ERD Commander and trying a system restore, but that did not work either.

[wannabe1]

Do you have your Windows XP installation CD or OEM Recovery Set? Do you have your product key? What I'm going to ask you to do next will reguire both a cd and product key.

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

Yes, both.

[wannabe1]

All Righty Then....

Click Start then Run...type sfc /scannow (Note the space between sfc and /) and press "Enter". You will be asked for your installation cd, so have it handy (you may be asked for your product key). Wait for the scan to finish (this might take up to an hour). When it's finished, click Start then Run...type chkdsk /r /x (Again...note the spaces) and reboot when prompted. This will run on boot-up so restart will take a while...be patient.

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

How am I supposed to start this if I can't get into Windows in the first place?

[wannabe1]

Sorry....I forgot about that....

Can you boot to the command prompt? (C: or C:\Windows>)

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

I'm in the Recovery Console right now, will that work?

[wannabe1]

Do you have a prompt and if so what is it?

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

C:\

[wannabe1]

type sfc /scannow (Note the space between sfc and /) and press "Enter". You will be asked for your installation cd, so have it handy. Wait for the scan to finish (this might take up to an hour).

wannabe1

[Tyler5690]

Will do, thanks a lot. I'll post tomorrow with the results.

[wannabe1]

There is another step to this, but we can do that tomorrow...let me know how this step works. Have a good night!

wannabe1

Edited by wannabe1, 07 September 2005 - 10:53 PM.

[Tyler5690]

The c:\sfc /scannow wasn't recognized as a valid command. I was talking to a CompUSA tech that's a friend of mine, and he said to run chkdsk, fixboot, and fixmbr. I did the first two, but fixmbr gave me a warning that I had a non-standard file system and it might permantley damage the file table, so I didn't run it. Also, when I try and boot now, Windows gives me an error saying "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:" and says something like system DLLs or boot DLLs, something to that effect. Any ideas?