Cannot Boot or show partition

[SteveK1949]

XP Pro, SP3, IE8
Cannot get into system. It shows the XP splash screen, then goes black abd
shows the windows banner and constantly skows "wait, starting Windows" then
get an error stating the winlogon.exe error.

I can slave this disk to another and all the data shows ok in Windows
Explorer. When I boot the CD to repair the boot, I cannot see the Windows
partition, only a free partition of 138GB out of a 320GB drive (correct)

How can I get this disk to boot into windows again. Doing another install
will probably wipe the current data.

Of course I don't have a backup! HELP!

 

[Ron Badour]

The first thing to do is slave up the drive in the other computer again and
back up your data. What is the **exact** error message you receive?
--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

[Gerry]

Steve

Backup your data files as Ron suggests.

What computer make and model?

Have you tried Last Known Good Configuration?

Also try another Safe Mode option
Enable VGA Mode: This option starts Windows in 640 x 480 mode by using
the current video driver (not Vga.sys).
A description of the Safe Mode Boot options in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315222/en-us

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements?


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

The first thing to do is slave up the drive in the other computer again
and back up your data. What is the **exact** error message you receive?
--
Regards

Ron Badour
MS MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

Agreed. The second step will be to fix the problem and the third step
consists of doing what the OP should have done a long, long time ago:
Implement a proper backup scheme. People who store important files on one
single medium are asking for trouble, and sooner or later it catches them.
We get to read the resulting sob-stories in this newsgroup.

 

[SC Tom]

XP Pro, SP3, IE8
Cannot get into system. It shows the XP splash screen, then goes black abd
shows the windows banner and constantly skows "wait, starting Windows"
then
get an error stating the winlogon.exe error.

I can slave this disk to another and all the data shows ok in Windows
Explorer. When I boot the CD to repair the boot, I cannot see the Windows
partition, only a free partition of 138GB out of a 320GB drive (correct)

How can I get this disk to boot into windows again. Doing another install
will probably wipe the current data.

Of course I don't have a backup! HELP!

Are you able to boot into Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Command Prompt? If so,
you can try running System Restore back to a point before you started having
problems.
Is the CD you are using to boot/repair from an XP w/SP3 CD? If not, it's not
likely to work for a repair installation.

As others have already said, backups are invaluable for just this situation.
I know from personal experience :-(

SC Tom

 

[John John - MVP]

What is the service pack level of your Windows XP CD? To properly see
partitions larger than 137GB Windows needs 48-bit LBA support, on
Windows XP this is only available with Service Pack 1 or later, the
Windows CD must be at least at Service Pack 1 level.

John

 

[SteveK1949]

It is an original XP Pro CD. I doubt that it has SP1 as I purchased a new
320GB HD and it also shows 130GB. I am going to get a CD with SP2 and try the
repair with that after I backup the data. I have the original envelope
package with the product code, so it is not a bootleg.

 

[Randem]

It seems like you have two problems read this for one of the possible
problems: http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938

You also may need to remove your drive from your system to place in a usb
enclosure or slave the drive to run a chkdsk /f to fix the file system. The
behavior you describe suggest a SATA drive. Check the disk partition; does
it report being of the RAW format?

--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
Disk Read Error Press Ctl+Alt+Del to Restart
http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938

 

[SteveK1949]

I think that you have the nail on the head!. This system started with Win98
and upgraded with an original XP upgrade. All SPs were installed, including
SP3. The original disk was an 80GB, which was upgraded to a WD 320GB using
the WD software. It has been pretty much flawless up to this point. It is a
home built using an Intel 845GB MB with 2GB of RAM.

I might have gone over that 137GB mark when I put the system in hibernate
instead of shutting down.

I will slave the drive again and then delete some files and cross my fingers.

Thanks for the article!

 

[Randem]

Thanks, Glad it helped.

--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
Disk Read Error Press Ctl+Alt+Del to Restart
http://www.randem.com/discus/messages/9402/9406.html?1236319938

 

[SteveK1949]

UPDATE: I was able to repair the partition with an XP system disk with SP2. I
then updated to SP3. All data and settings were intact. However, IE7 would
not start no matter what I did. I uninstalled IE7, and IE6 wirked without a
problem. Reinstalled IE7 with no change. Uninstalled IE7 and installed IE8
and it worked. Left it alone!

As of now, I am up and operating on my original hardware and software. What
a pain!

Thanks to everyone for their help and references. I could not have fixed it
without you guys!