XP will not Boot up in any mode

[Guest]

Hello, this is my first post. I HAVE WINDOWS XP HOME WITH SP2 running on a
Compaq. Yesterday, I ran a registry cleaner software from 3B Software. It
finsished, and asked me to reboot. I clicked OK and left. When I cam back,
I had a black screen. I then powered off and back on and got a screen
telling me that windows could not start, and I had the various restart
options such as safe mode, last working config, etc.

In trying any of the 2 windows options, all I got was the blank screen. In
any of the three safe mode options I got a series of screen items like this:

multi(0) disk(0) rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\XXX.sys

The xxx stands for various terms, such as atapi, dik, etc. all followed by
..sys. There must have been 30-40 lines like this. After these, it stopped
booting.

I made AN EMERGENCY BOOT DISK FROM ANOTHER COMPUTER WITH WINDOWS xp HOME .
I put it in my machine and went to drive C and asked for the directory. To
my surprise, it said there was only 1 files in it with 2 bytes, and 1
directory, and 789 MB free(it's a 80GB drive).

I went to drive D, which is a partition of C done by Compaq (my computer
maker). This drive holds system info. A directory run on this still showed
a lot of files, etc.

In have a G drive too (a second physical drive), and it has an invalid drive
specification when I try to access it.

Compaq did not give me any original windows XP disks, nor do I have any
recovery disks. ANy advice would be extremely appreciated.

 

[Sharon F]

I went to drive D, which is a partition of C done by Compaq (my computer
maker). This drive holds system info. A directory run on this still showed
a lot of files, etc.

You should check your system documentation for restore/repair alternatives.
These will be different than what's available with a retail/generic OEM XP
CD. If that documentation was stored on one of the drives that is now
inaccessible, you should be able to locate the same info online at the
Compaq support pages.


NOTE: I was under the impression that the D: drive is used by Compaq for
restoring the system. Some of the Compaqs I've worked with in the past had
a CD that worked in tandem with that partition. Have been seeing posts here
about pressing a function key on some HP/Compaq models to start the restore
process. Many possible avenues but all specific to the PC brand and in some
cases, the model as well.

 

[Guest]

I now found that when I go to the D drive, which is supposed to be the
current system info for a restore, it represents the drive that was called G
on my system. This was an old drive from my prior computer that had windows
98 on it. Could the system think it's supposed to boot from this drive
instead of C? I checked the bios, and it still recognized both physical
drives.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

Most recovery routines are hard coded to look for a specific drive. When
you added the drive from your old system it likely changed the drive letters
though, the hidden partition should have reserved that drive letter for this
eventuality.

You may need to contact Compaq tech support, though, you might try posting
this issue and question on the windowsxp.hardware newsgroup.

By the way, under ordinary circumstances, there never should be a reason to
run a registry cleaner. Such applications are dangerous even in the hands
of more experienced users and most have them have an image of their setup as
well as supplemental backups to help them out of situations such as this.

 

[Sharon F]

I now found that when I go to the D drive, which is supposed to be the
current system info for a restore, it represents the drive that was called G
on my system. This was an old drive from my prior computer that had windows
98 on it. Could the system think it's supposed to boot from this drive
instead of C? I checked the bios, and it still recognized both physical
drives.

On all the Compaqs I've worked with, there was a compaq disk (floppy or CD)
that booted the system and then accessed the partition setup by them. That
partition did not contain current system info. It contained the files
needed to restore the system to factory state. As I mentioned before, many
HP/Compaq systems no longer use the boot disk. Instead there is a function
key to press that will access the compaq partition.

The Compaq partition is usually hidden and accessible using the Compaq boot
tool. It's possible that the boot disk you're using cannot see that special
partition. This would give the impression that the drive letters are moving
around.

 

[Guest]

I contacted compaq and they told me the following:

1. Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, and
then restart the computer.

NOTE: If you do not have the Windows XP Setup Floppy disk,
download and create it from the following site:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994

2. Click to select any options that are required to start the computer
from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
3. When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the
Recovery Console.
4. When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password.
If there is no administrator password, just press ENTER.
5. Proceed to Phase 2.

I made the disks. When I boot up with disk 1 of 6, it first says it is
checking the
hardware configuration. When I press R at the windows set up screen (no
welcome screen) , all it does is ask for disk 2. Should it do something
else, or will something happen to enable me to use the R function after I
load all 6 disks?

 

[Guest]

I loaded all 6 and got the repair prompt. First try with the commands given
to repair did not work.

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

What you get from the 6 floppies is a very limited version of the Recovery
Console and there's not means to do a repair install from them. The primary
reason for those disks is to allow a user whose system does not support
booting from a CD to begin XP setup but ultimately, for setup to continue,
they need a CD. You also need a retail CD or a comparable OEM that has not
been customized by the system manufacturer in order to do a repair install.

 

[Guest]

I used a retail version to boot and followed the instructions you have given
numerous times. However, when I hit F8 to accept the license, nothing
happens. I did notice that when the CD finished booting, and I entered set
up windows, at the bottom of the screen on the left, it indicated searching
and said drive C had 79 MB on it. It really has 80 GB. When I do a regular
floppy boot to get to the C prompt, a Dir command for C shows the same, and
says only there is only 1 file and 1 directory is in C. Any suggestions?

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP\)]

I note that your system has SP2 installed. If the CD was not XP with SP2,
that's possibly the issue.

All this is indicating that you have a pretty butchered setup and I would
say your next step is to run Compaq's recovery routine. This unfortunately
usually wipes the drive and then reinstalls XP and returns the system to
factory fresh condition but I see no other way out of this.

I can't be sure of what is going on, if the CD you have is borrowed, a
repair install would have required you to input the other user's CD key,
this would have required you to activate after setup was complete, something
you would have to have done or you would have been locked out of your setup
after 30 days. If you did so, the original user would not have been able to
activate on his own setup. It's also possible you might not have been able
to activate as the activation center might have returned a message that this
CD had already been activated on another system.

Be that as it may, I don't see any other options.

--
Michael Solomon MS-MVP
Windows Shell/User
Backup is a PC User's Best Friend
DTS-L.Org: http://www.dts-l.org/

I used a retail version to boot and followed the instructions you have
given
numerous times. However, when I hit F8 to accept the license, nothing
happens. I did notice that when the CD finished booting, and I entered
set
up windows, at the bottom of the screen on the left, it indicated
searching
and said drive C had 79 MB on it. It really has 80 GB. When I do a
regular
floppy boot to get to the C prompt, a Dir command for C shows the same,
and
says only there is only 1 file and 1 directory is in C. Any suggestions?