xp not booting

My window xp pro with sp2 has been randomly shutting down and recovering from
a serious error. Now this last time, it won't even boot anymore and I don't
know what to do. I was going to try to repair, but with the windows xp pro
with sp2 cd, and the raid drivers on a floppy, the cd doesn't give a repair
option. i can go into the recovery console, but it doesn't have me choose a
current operating system, yet it does see the hard drives in the xp setup. I
don't want to reformat, I don't have the money to buy other hard drives to
back everything up on, and I don't know what to do.

Thijs <Thijs@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> My window xp pro with sp2 has been randomly shutting down and
> recovering from a serious error. Now this last time, it won't even
> boot anymore and I don't know what to do. I was going to try to
> repair, but with the windows xp pro with sp2 cd, and the raid drivers
> on a floppy, the cd doesn't give a repair option. i can go into the
> recovery console, but it doesn't have me choose a current operating
> system, yet it does see the hard drives in the xp setup. I don't
> want to reformat, I don't have the money to buy other hard drives to
> back everything up on, and I don't know what to do.


You should consult this Knowledge base article for doing a "repair install"

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

I have read that, but that doesn't tell me how to repair install or fix
anything, because i can't select the current version of windows. there's no
option to allow me to do that.

"C J." wrote:

> Thijs <Thijs@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
> > My window xp pro with sp2 has been randomly shutting down and
> > recovering from a serious error. Now this last time, it won't even
> > boot anymore and I don't know what to do. I was going to try to
> > repair, but with the windows xp pro with sp2 cd, and the raid drivers
> > on a floppy, the cd doesn't give a repair option. i can go into the
> > recovery console, but it doesn't have me choose a current operating
> > system, yet it does see the hard drives in the xp setup. I don't
> > want to reformat, I don't have the money to buy other hard drives to
> > back everything up on, and I don't know what to do.
>
>
> You should consult this Knowledge base article for doing a "repair install"
>
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Thijs wrote:
> I have read that, but that doesn't tell me how to repair install or
> fix anything, because i can't select the current version of
> windows. there's no option to allow me to do that.

You may be at the point when you have to either do a parallel installation
and reinstall all your applications or boot with something like a
BartPE/Ultimate Boot CD and copy all your stuff off. Even if it is burning
to DVD, etc.

I also suggest downloading and utilizing the hard disk drive manufacturer's
diagnostics utilisites to see if your hard drive has cratered.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

"Thijs" <Thijs@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:01352697-9FC4-48BD-B1A2-68648243D30A@microsoft.com...
> My window xp pro with sp2 has been randomly shutting down and recovering
> from
> a serious error. Now this last time, it won't even boot anymore and I
> don't
> know what to do. I was going to try to repair, but with the windows xp
> pro
> with sp2 cd, and the raid drivers on a floppy, the cd doesn't give a
> repair
> option. i can go into the recovery console, but it doesn't have me choose
> a
> current operating system, yet it does see the hard drives in the xp setup.
> I
> don't want to reformat, I don't have the money to buy other hard drives to
> back everything up on, and I don't know what to do.

You might have to bite the bullet on getting another hard drive. They are
relatively inexpensive and even if you were able to get your current drive
to boot up, there's no guarantee that it can do so in the future. I would
also recommend freeware called "PC Inspector" (see my prior threads on this
group). Worked great and I was able to resurrect all of my data files.

Good luck.
--Jerry

Thijs <Thijs@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I have read that, but that doesn't tell me how to repair install or fix
>anything, because i can't select the current version of windows. there's no
>option to allow me to do that.
>

You have to install the RAID drivers first by pressing the F5 key
during the initial bootup from the XP CD.

This is one more example of why I tell people never repeat never to
install the operating system onto a RAID array. Use them for what
they were designed for - mission critical data installations where
100% availability is essential.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

Ron Martell wrote:
> You have to install the RAID drivers first by pressing the F5 key
> during the initial bootup from the XP CD.

F6...?

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html