Can't boot XP Home PC

[Neil]

I've got a severe problem with my home PC. It's an oldish HP Pavilion 740.
There were no hardware changes before this problem occurred, but it was
about the time of the last Microsoft automatic Windows upgrade. I ran a
memory test from a floppy diskette for several hours with no sign of error
so I don't think it's a memory problem.

When switched on, the HP invent screen is displayed followed by a blank
screen with a progress bar across the bottom. Then the Windows XP Home full
screen splash screen with green progress bar is displayed followed by a
blank screen with arrow cursor. After this a Window appears with "Please
wait" "Windows is starting up". Following another blank screen, the system
reboots and starts again.

If I try to load in safe mode, I get a black screen with "Safe Mode"
displayed in all 4 corners and ""Microsoft (R) WinXP (R) (Build
2600.XPSP1.020828-1920). This is followed by the "Windows is starting up"
window, then the system reboots. Sometimes, the system asks which OS I wish
to use - and it offers just MS Win Whistler Personal, and I may get a long
list of drivers as they are loaded (finishing with AGP440.sys).

Trying debugging mode or VGA mode or safe mode with command prompt just goes
through the process to the reboot.

My daughter has some schoolwork on the system that she really needs, so I'm
hoping there is a way of recovering the situation without a full restore.
Can anyone help please.

TIA

Neil

 

[Guest]

I believe the answer is in your question. You state a "green" progress
bar is displayed. Well, if you are running WindowsXP with SP2, the
progress bar is "blue". You very likely do not have SP2 installed.
Order Windows XP Service Pack 2 on CD (it is FREE)
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/updates/sp2/cdorder/en_us/default.mspx

 

[Neil]

Thanks for your answer, I think you are right and I don't have SP2
installed - the fact that Windows displays "Build 2600.XPSP1.020828-1920"
tends to back that up.

However, I still don't understand why not having SP2 installed would stop
the PC from booting. I also don't understand how I'll be able to install SP2
when I can't boot the PC - does SP2 come on a CD that includes a bootable
version of Windows?

Thanks for your help.

Neil

 

[Anna]

Thanks for your answer, I think you are right and I don't have SP2
installed - the fact that Windows displays "Build 2600.XPSP1.020828-1920"
tends to back that up.

However, I still don't understand why not having SP2 installed would stop
the PC from booting. I also don't understand how I'll be able to install
SP2 when I can't boot the PC - does SP2 come on a CD that includes a
bootable version of Windows?

Thanks for your help.

Neil

Neil:
It's hard, if not impossible, to tell precisely what is causing your problem
based on the description of the situation. It may be hardware-based or
software-based. But installing SP2 *at this time* is *not* the answer to
your problem. We must first find out what is causing the problem and correct
it. Then, and only then, should you install SP2, which *is* a desirable
thing to do. But *only* after you have a bootable, functioning operating
system.

At this point I think it would be advisable for you to run a Repair install
of your XP OS. Hopefully, assuming the problem is just one of system files
corruption, the Repair install should bring the system back to a functional
state. You use your XP installation CD to undertake the Repair install. It's
all pretty straightforward. No complicated commands are involved. You boot
to the CD and (hopefully) you'll come to an opening screen that, in effect,
asks what do you want to do. Unfortunately, one of the options refers to a
"repair" installation involving the Recovery Console. (Why MS used that
terminology at this point is incomprehensible) - the important point is that
you DO NOT select that option. Just remember that.

Select the "setup XP now" option by pressing Enter. Eventually a screen will
display a Repair option and that's the one you select. The repair install
process begins...

You can get more details re undertaking the Repair install by doing a Google
search on "xp repair install". You'll be directed to a number of websites
that contain detailed information on the process.

If the Repair install doesn't correct the process, we go on to further
exploration.
Anna

 

[Neil]

Anna

Thanks for your reply, what you say makes sense to me.

I don't have a Windows XP Home disk as Windows came pre-installed on my
system. I do have a system restore disk, but I fear that using that would
restore my PC to original install and would lose all data and installed
programs.

I do have a Windows XP Home install disk from one of my other PCs. Can I use
that to run the repair that you describe?

Thanks again

Neil

 

[Enkidu]

Neil,

It may be that you are between a rock and a hard place. It may be
possible to repair the OS with a disk from another pc **BUT** the
manufacturer's repair disk may contain modified programs that such a
repair would overwrite. You **MAY** end up in a bigger mess. That's the
rock.

The hard place is that the manufacturers recovery disk is likely to wipe
everything on the disk and restore it to factory configuration, so you
lose all your data.

The only way out, unless someone else has a bright idea is to find
someone who can rescue the data on the disk for you, maybe to CD or DVD,
then you can use the manufacturers disk to restore the system, and bring
back your data from the CD. Even then you will lose all programs that
you might have installed since you got the machine.

If you are confident with computers and their entrails, you could take
out the hard disk, connect it to another machine and recover the data
yourself.

Cheers,

Cliff

 

[Anna]

Neil,

It may be that you are between a rock and a hard place. It may be possible
to repair the OS with a disk from another pc **BUT** the manufacturer's
repair disk may contain modified programs that such a repair would
overwrite. You **MAY** end up in a bigger mess. That's the rock.

The hard place is that the manufacturers recovery disk is likely to wipe
everything on the disk and restore it to factory configuration, so you
lose all your data.

The only way out, unless someone else has a bright idea is to find someone
who can rescue the data on the disk for you, maybe to CD or DVD, then you
can use the manufacturers disk to restore the system, and bring back your
data from the CD. Even then you will lose all programs that you might have
installed since you got the machine.

If you are confident with computers and their entrails, you could take out
the hard disk, connect it to another machine and recover the data
yourself.

Cheers,

Cliff

Neil:
I did realize just after I posted my response to your query that you had
mentioned your computer was an HP, thus an OEM machine. So it dawned on me
that you probably didn't have an XP installation CD but rather a so-called
"recovery" CD or recovery partition (the curse of these OEM machines). But I
was hoping that possibly you had installed your XP OS from a retail version
of the XP installation CD.

Since that is not the case, your suspicion (and that of Cliff) that using
the HP restore CD will result in the loss of your programs & data that were
installed/created after the machine left the factory is, unfortunately,
correct.

It's possible, but by no means a certainty, that you can use the XP Home Ed.
CD you mention to undertake the Repair install. It's worth a try. The Repair
option may not be available. If it is, you can use your HP Product ID during
the Repair install. And if it does work, it's a virtual certainty that you
will be required to (re)activate the system.

If, one way or another, the Repair install is unavailable or does not work,
then Cliff's recommendation of installing the HD as a secondary HD in
another machine (or in the HP machine after another bootable HD has been
created) is an option. While you couldn't salvage any of your installed
programs (or at the least, very unlikely), you could at least retrieve any
user-created data off the drive. Of course, all this assumes the drive is
non-defective and can be accessed.
Anna

 

[Neil]

Cliff, Anna

What you have advised is really helpful. What I'm going to try is as
follows:

1. take the hard disk out and install it as a second disk on a second PC I
have. I can copy the entire contents of the HP hard disk onto a spare area
on the second PC

2. Use the XP Home Installation disk to try a repair install. Hopefully,
this will then repair the system.

3. Failing that, use the HP recovery disk to restore the system. At least if
the first step was successful I will have my original data. I can probably
recreate the programs program setup.

I'll let you know how I get on, it may take me a day or two!

Thanks

Neil

 

[Neil]

And......

having just searched for my recovery disk and failed to find it, I
remembered that the recovery/restore files are installed on a partition on
the hard disk.

Would you know how to access these files should I need to do a restore?

Thanks

Neil

 

[Ricky]

Most HP computers you start tapping F10 when you boot the computer and it
access the recovery partition.

 

[Neil]

I've got the PC up and running again now. Albeit with a restored OEM setup,
at least I still have the data I was keen not to lose.

I removed the hard disk and installed it as a slave in a second PC. By doing
this, I was able to take a copy of the entire hard disk.

After I reinstalled the hard disk, I tried to repair Windows using an XP
Home install CD. This requested the Key which I didn't have as this is an
OEM installation, so I bit the bullet and did the non-destructive HP
recovery process. This reloaded Windows and left my original data in place,
but it didn't retain my program or device setup.

So I'm now in the process of reloading all my device drivers and programs.

iTunes was one of the first to be reinstalled, bit at the moment it won't
load so I've still got some investigative work to do.

I'm also installing all windows service packs and security updates.

I appreciate all the help I was given

Thanks

Neil