BSOD-Unmountable & others

[antioch]

Replies are intertwined - the computer crashed out about an hour ago - since
then I have not been able to revive it.
Rgds
Antioch

I think you are getting too hung up on this F8 IDE scan.

"I am not getting hung up on anything to do with the F8 button - that's what
I do to boot from a CD - The time I pick is when it needs to be done - the
IDE scan is so fast you can hardly read it. I don't have to keep going into
the Bios - easy and simple."

You need to simplify this process!

Just place the CD ahead of the hard drive in the boot order. If there is
no CD in the drive, then it will boot off the hard drive anyway.
Furthermore, you can always undo the change. It is simple and safe (as
long as you don't purposefully change other settings).

"Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as follows -
1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter chkdsk /r -
got file path not valid.
Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there were
one or more errors.
exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the little train
had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted error.
Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the second time
it has - five minutes later at 1%
it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it got to
the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete to restart'.
On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load to the welcome
screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or corrupt.

Previous to this new approach with the boot order altered in the Bios, on
one of many attempts to get the system up and running I got another error
code - \SYSTEM ROOT\SYSTEM32\ntdl.dll missing. I had that ntdl at the
beginning of all this.

I am currently on the third run - it has been 20 minutes on 25% completed -
the active light is on continual - no flickering."

This is what you need to do! Then make the CD-ROM drive the first (or
second) priority (as long as it precedes the HDD).


This is basic. If it really bothers you that much, you should find a tech
to do this for you. But if you reconsider, simply jot down all the BIOS
settings. This is way you have a record of them in case you ever need to
reset them.


The erratic behavior should disappear once you act upon my suggestion.

It has not :-( as yet.

When I have more time, I will look into this motherboard and the F8 IDE
scan you mention.

Finally, there is no such thing as an ISO disc. Perhaps you mean the
bootable RC disc you created based on an .iso file you downloaded? If this
is the case, it is imperative that you burn it the correct way with the
correct software. Many people make the common mistake of simply burning
(i.e., copying) the file onto the CD. Which method and software did you
use?

"As per Jose's links - bleeping and their free burner. No, I did not 'copy
it"
It has been over an hour now and its time to retire - will get it going
again in the morning.
As I was typing this last bit, I cancelled the chkdsk, the machine rebooted
and went straight into the desktop without as much as a whimper - this is
getting more and more ridiculous.

Rgds
Antioch

 

[Daave]

"Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as
follows - 1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter
chkdsk /r - got file path not valid.
Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there
were one or more errors.
exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the
little train had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted
error. Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the
second
time it has - five minutes later at 1%
it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it
got to the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete
to restart'. On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load
to the welcome screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or
corrupt.

How is your hard drive partitioned? Is Windows on C:?

What is the *exact* message with regard to the path not being valid? Is
autochk.exe referenced?

 

[antioch]

"Previously to this post I had already tried the below.
I have gone into the Bios and have moved the CD drive to show as
follows - 1st Boot Device [PM-ATAPI iHAP322 9]
Rebooted and all went OK until I got to the bit where you enter
chkdsk /r - got file path not valid.
Tried chkdsk - went through quite quickly and reported as usual there
were one or more errors.
exit out - auto reboot - windows welcome did show but after the
little train had passed through about 20 times, got the unmounted
error. Tried a second time - this time the chksk /r worked - only the
second
time it has - five minutes later at 1%
it reported that there were unrecoverable errors etc - on reboot it
got to the start to dll XP up came disc read erro - 'ctrl-alt-delete
to restart'. On restart I got a notification after XP tried to load
to the welcome screen, error win root system32\hal.dll missing or
corrupt.

How is your hard drive partitioned? Is Windows on C:?

What is the *exact* message with regard to the path not being valid? Is
autochk.exe referenced?

As expected, the computer did not start - got the 'unmountable' error.
I have just the C drive - no partition - confirmed as I only get offered 1.
C:\WINDOWS>
and underneath I am told I can type exit
1st run - This morning, as soon as I type chkdsk after the 1. option, it
tells me immediately that 'the volume appears to contain one or more
unrecoverable problems. Nothing new there except it has told me this after
it has done a chkdsk.
typing in autochk produces the usual 'The command is not recognised. Type
help for list. It is not in the list of commands.
All the 'boot cfg' options tell me 'Failed to successfully scan disks for
Windows Installations. This error may be caused by a corrupt file system,
which would prevent bootcfg from scanning. Use chkdsk to detect any disk
errors.'
As a result I cannot add/rebuild etc.
At the moment, if I type anything else in the command line I get 'this
command is not recognised - type help for list'
2nd run - at the REC Con window the entry is slightly different - there is
the informative bit is the same, but I then have -
The path or file specified is not valid.
C:\>
If I add chkdsk I get 'The specified path is not valid or there is no disk
in the drive'
If I add any of the boot choices I am again told that it cannot perform due
to corrupt system - as before. The same for autochk.
Rgds
Antioch

 

[Daave]

Another quick update - I did that old trick - unplug - left it off
for 30 mins - came back - switched on and Windows has fired up in
double quick time.
But I know from previously, if I switch off[not unplug] it will not
start.

What are your power settings set for? Do you use Hiberbnation or
System Standby? Which method do you use to "switch off?"

I do not know what the power settings are - are they in Bios - if so
will get them later.
Never use Hibernation or standby - I exit via Start/Turn off.
I will be away from the computer for a while.

No, not the BIOS settings. I was referring to the Windows XP settings,
accessible by:

(right-clicking on an unused area on the desktop)

Display Properties | Screen Saver | Power

(and then later, the Advanced tab)

 

[antioch]

antioch wrote:

Another quick update - I did that old trick - unplug - left it off
for 30 mins - came back - switched on and Windows has fired up in
double quick time.
But I know from previously, if I switch off[not unplug] it will not
start.

What are your power settings set for? Do you use Hiberbnation or
System Standby? Which method do you use to "switch off?"

I do not know what the power settings are - are they in Bios - if so
will get them later.
Never use Hibernation or standby - I exit via Start/Turn off.
I will be away from the computer for a while.

No, not the BIOS settings. I was referring to the Windows XP settings,
accessible by:

(right-clicking on an unused area on the desktop)

Display Properties | Screen Saver | Power

(and then later, the Advanced tab)

Hi Daave
Ah -that power settings - under Advanced tab - Options not ticked: Power
Buttons is When I press the power button shut down. I have never been in
there to change - must be default.
Hibernate is not ticked to enable. Power Schemes - Entry is 'Never' for
turn off monitor, turn off HDDs, and System Standby.

The current situation is this. Having managed to almost always get into
Windows, I have since scanned with HDDScan-3.2 and HDSentinaDos free.
HDDScan reports just one item - UltraDMA CRC Error - Google searching has
differing opinions as to a hardrive failure or missing bits of Windows.
HDSentinal reports that I have a 100% functioning disc and that there are no
problems elsewhere.
For the moment, the jury still seem to out as to who/what is 'guilty'.
I did pick up a little tip which seems to be working - once you have managed
to
get into Windows and the desktop, which has not been impossible with trial
and error in Rec Console, before you switch/turn off the computer, set
chkdsk to initiate with the command chkdsk /r.
It takes a bit of time when you switch on next, or course, to open into
desktop, but it is getting quicker - less and less activity is happening in
the 5 stages - and it boots up every time. On the first runs there was no
end of stuff/files being deleted etc. At the moment the longest stage is 4.
So this is how I am running whilst I look into a suitable replacement HDD.
Its nice to see that this group has not yet had the 'chop'.

Thanks again for your help and interest - yes I will have a look/go with
UBCD4Win.

Rgds
Antioch

 

[antioch]

Update

The latest is that HDDScan has been running for a few days and the logs have
been sent to them.
They report back that there is nothing at all wrong with the disc itself.
The only concern is - Quote -

"However, there were data transfer errors reported because of the
increasing number of "Ultra ATA CRC Error Count" attribute.
You can examine its value on the S.M.A.R.T. page.

Usually loose or improper SATA cable connections cause this issue.
I recommend to verify both the power and the data cable connected to your
drive.
If you see the plugs do not fit properly, you may change the data cable to a
better one"

I have reseated the cable from power to HDD and from HDD to MB. The cable
has been there since install.

So the only other possible cause is that the OS has some faulty files etc
that cannot be corrected via the RecCons but appear to be solved when chkdsk
/r is performed on startup. Today's run showed no moved/deleted etc
files/folders at all during the scans 1-5.

I will switch off the computer without the chkdsk /r request and see what
happens.

Thanks again for all the help.

Rgds
Antioch