[PatrickO]

Hello
My computer is having problems. IT recently crashed earlier, and when i tried to restart it , it goes the the page to ask if it wants to load in safe mode, so i try, but it just crashes and has to be turned off and the same thing comes up again, it doesnt even go to the password screen, it just freezes in the safe mode selection screen... and if i try and select an option it also crashes,

regards,
Patrick O'Leary
All the way from Ireland

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Hello Patrick and welcome to Geeks To Go

This is what i want you to try please.

1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER (if none was set, leave it blank and press ENTER).
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
Press Y hit ENTER.

b. When, you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. The name is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. When you receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Take the CD out of the drive.

Type exit then press ENTER.

Note The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.

Let me know how that works out

[John_L]

Hello Patrick and welcome to Geeks To Go

This is what i want you to try please.

1. Configure the computer to start from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive. For information about how to do this, see your computer documentation, or contact your computer manufacturer.
2. Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into your CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
3. When you receive the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, press a key to start your computer from the Windows XP CD-ROM.
4. When you receive the "Welcome to Setup" message, press R to start the Recovery Console.
5. If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you have to use from the Recovery Console.
6. When you are prompted, type the administrator password, and then press ENTER (if none was set, leave it blank and press ENTER).
7. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /list, and then press ENTER. The entries in your current Boot.ini file appear on the screen.
8. At the command prompt, type bootcfg /rebuild, and then press ENTER. This command scans the hard disks of the computer for Windows XP, Microsoft Windows 2000, or Microsoft Windows NT installations, and then displays the results. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen to add the Windows installations to the Boot.ini file. For example, follow these steps to add a Windows XP installation to the Boot.ini file:

a. When you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Total Identified Windows Installs: 1
[1] C:\Windows
Add installation to boot list? (Yes/No/All)
Press Y hit ENTER.

b. When, you receive a message that is similar to the following message:
Enter Load Identifier
This is the name of the operating system. Type the name of your operating system, and then press ENTER. The name is either Microsoft Windows XP Professional or Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition.

c. When you receive a message that is similar to the following:
Enter OS Load options
Type /fastdetect, and then press ENTER.

Take the CD out of the drive.

Type exit then press ENTER.

Note The instructions that appear on your screen may be different, depending on the configuration of your computer.

Let me know how that works out

[PatrickO]

When i type "bootcfg /rebuild" it says >:

ERROR: Failed to successfully scan disks for Windows installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system which would prevent bootcfg from successfully scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk errors.
Note: This operation must complete successfully in order for the /all or /rebuild commands to be utilized.

Regards,
Patrick
There may be typos, sorry in advance if there is, its late here

[John_L]

Hiya Patrick

I'm going to see if i can get someone else to have a boo at this for us, as its just over my head.

Stay tuned.

[PatrickO]

Hi John,

No problems, thanks

[gerryf]

Going to move this one to the OS people...not a malware issue...well at least we can't tell yet.


Following john's steps above, follow steps 1 thru 6 then

type

chkdsk /r
<enter>

rather than bootcfg

report back

[PatrickO]

Hi Gerry F

I have just logged back into the recovery console and tried the bootcft /list again and it seems to work, so after following johns instructions, i still have the same problem with the computer crashing on start up, the very same things happens as what was happening before.

Regards,
Patrick

Edited by PatrickO, 06 February 2006 - 11:40 AM.

[gerryf]

Patrick, I do not understand....did you run chkdsk /r ?

[gerryf]

I mean in addition to the bootcfg?

[PatrickO]

Hi Again,

Right, i have completed the chkdsk /r ... here are the results:

CHKDSK found and fixed one or more errors on the volume.
199133672 kilobytes total disk space.
137679360 kilobytes are available.
4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
49783418 total allocation unites on disk.
34419840 allocation units available on disk.

Regards,
Patrick O'Leary

[gerryf]

ok...and?

When you boot, what happens?

[NICK ADSL UK]

Hopefully Gerry's advice will pay off and things will be back to normal
But In my experience where safe mode will not work this normally will indicate a main window file which has got corrupted. This is quite rare as they are a protected set of files. Now the next best thing is to load your windows CD and when the screen "Welcome to Setup" comes up you wont to repair windows xp. Now this procedure will take away all of your windows updates which will include your service packs 1 and 2 depending on when you purchased your computer. The good thing is that all your software that you have downloaded and installed should remain in a workable state so you will just need to install the service pack 2 when you have finished. Any other updates that you require can then be found by using the windows update site. If by bad luck this repair should not work for any reason you will have to reformat your drive and start all over again. I wish you well but please do let us know how you get on

Regards

Edited by NICK ADSL UK, 09 February 2006 - 04:02 PM.

[PatrickO]

Hi Gerry,

Sorry for not replying as I have been out of the country due to a death in the family. The computer works again after that, no problems yet so far.

Again, sorry for the delay.

Patrick