Windows XP PC just won't boot

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Hi all, I having a bit of a mare at the mo and any advice would be much appreciated...I'll try and keep it brief...
System: Athlon XP1400, 512mb ram…installed AWOpen CD drive about 6 weeks ago. Running XP..

I was playing an audio CD in windows media player yesterday when the CD suddenly froze as if playing one sample over and over, and the screen froze. I couldn’t even Ctrl,alt,dlt…

Anyway tried to reboot PC which seemed to be having trouble, then got a “CMOS check sum error” in the BIOS. I can imagine this is not a good sign.

Anyway, managed to get back into windows and got the BSOD a couple of times…

1st time: PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

2nd time: IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Oh, and at some point in all this I got a message in the BIOS about a corrupt file with the path \Windows\system32\config\system..Fantastic!!

Anyway, I tried reinstalling XP again over the top but it seems to be having none of it and now I can’t even boot up windows at all and get a BSOD everytime with no message.

I have a feeling that it may be something to do with the CD drive, but its been running ok for about 6 weeks


Can anyone offer any advice (yes, I’ve already checked all connections, cables, and uninstalled the drive etc)before I nuke the bleedin thing??
 
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hehe!
u seem to have quiet a problem.
have u tried setting the bios to default?.....or updating ur mobo bios?
 
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will try this!! wots a mobo bios?

I ve never actually dabbled in the updating of the bios - is it a complex procedure??
 
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hmmm, i wouldn't know, i have never tried it properly because mine runs fine.

go to the manufacturers site and they noramlly have drivers for download, check for ur board

one time i looked into it, downloaded my drivers and it was a setup file, installed and it was ok, but i had to re-format a few weeks l8r cus of virus :crazy:

good luck:bow:
 

floppybootstomp

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The error messages you received are fairly common with XP. Had you installed SP1? (Service Pack One). If not, that may have helped.

I think your mistake was in reinstalling XP over itself. Unlike WIN 98, XP doesn't take kindly to that. Right now, at a guess, I'd say your mbr (master boot record) is fubared.

Try booting from XP CD and choose repair mode when the option comes up.

When it prompts you for a command, you can try these:

fixmbr

fixboot

bootconfig./rebuild

If neither of those work, I'd say it's likely you'll have to format and reinstall from scratch.

An upgraded BIOS is usually beneficial, but in this case I think it's unlikely your current Bios was a contributory factor to your problem.
 
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Thanks for the advice...

I tried to do the XP repair thingy but was prompted for an administrator password (obviously I had no recollection of entering one in the first place) which I entered incorrectly 3 times. Now I can't even get to the screen which lets you do the repair (I am using bootdisks as I have never been able to boot XP from the CD), as it says there is a n error or a missing file.

Is this a well known fact? A kind of 3-strikes-and-your-out-type thing?

Looks like a fresh install then....I have done a test on the hard drive which came back ok, therefore I still suspect the CD drive is to blame....

I have a 40gig HD and am looking to partition it - any advice on sizes of partitions etc??
 

muckshifter

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PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA and IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL are usually associated with a memory problem, be it Ram, Video ram or L2 cache on the CPU (an L2 cache problem is unlikely, but possible) These 'errors' are usually accompanied with a "Stop error" (Stop 0x00000050) ... For Example ...
Stop 0x50 messages can also occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If the file name is listed, you need to disable, remove, or roll back that driver. If not, disable the recently installed service or application to determine if this resolves the error. If this does not resolve the problem, contact the hardware manufacturer for updates. Using updated drivers and software is especially important for network interface cards, video adapters, backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, and CD mastering tools. If an updated driver is not available, attempt to use a driver from a similar device in the same family. For example, if printing to a Model 1100C printer causes Stop 0x50 errors, using a printer driver meant for a Model 1100A or Model 1000 might temporarily resolve the problem.
(I am using bootdisks as I have never been able to boot XP from the CD), as it says there is a n error or a missing file.
That could be a CDRom drive problem or again, a memory problem, its very unusual to be a problem with the XP CD. Can you 'borrow' a CDROM drive? ... if not, try and copy the " I386 directory" (that's a capital i 386) from the XP CD to a folder on your HD (be warned, there are a few thousand files to copy) and double-click on WINNT.EXE (yep, XP is really NT5 ;) ) if you get any error messages let us know exactly what they say, including the 'stop' numbers.

Good luck.
 

muckshifter

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Oh ... and I would leave the whole 40gig as one partition and use NTFS. ;)
 
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Thanks for that pal....I will try this later...

How can I copy the directory off the XP CD... Can I use a 98 boot disk to get a dos prompt up and then copy it to my c drive?

If so, would you mind telling me the code to do this - Ive never really used dos...this would be a great help.
 

muckshifter

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Can I use a 98 boot disk to get a dos prompt up and then copy it to my c drive?
Yep ... a 98 boot disk is ideal.

I will assume the HD has been FDISK'ed and FORMAT'ed then use this at the a:> prompt

copy c:\I386\*.* c:\winnt
 
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cheers muckshifter. I am actually writing this retrospectively...please refer to my message above for the new instalment...
 
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I have hear this stuff before, I had to fix PCs with this and It has happen to me a few. If you tryed everything like the memory it may be a boot viruis. 1st you might try a bootable CD linux antivirus like bit defender hit f8 set you motherboard bios to boot to CD I think it also works with usb. 2nd sometimes a boot viruis will reflash your hard drive bios fdisk nor any partition software will fix this. Download the disk utillites from the hard drive manufacture reflash the hard drive bios to factory settings then clean it up writing zeros. you should be able to fdisk it or xp will format. Some hard drive manufactures have no flash support.
If you want to recover anything before you try this use a bootable linux that reads NTFS on a usb drive and save your stuff and pest scan it later set your mother board bios to boot from usb or other.
reflashing the bios in a hard drive is usally simple. Be very carefull flashing a mother board bios and I dont think thats your problem.
 

floppybootstomp

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hey tech, this thread almost two years old....

wonder if booj ever sorted his prob?
 
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Ya Its Kinda Old But A Lot Of People Visit Forums That Have This Problem. I Learned Alot By Reading Forums That Were Old At Pc Flank. A Lot Of Really Smart Techy People Dont Know That A Bios Chip Can Be Flashed Using Factory Firmware Is On Most Hard Drives.
 

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