Can't start WinXP after running SymNRT (autochk not found)

[Guest]

I had previously installed Norton GoBack 4.1 using Systemworks 2006. When the
computer starts up, the GoBack screen would appear brielfy, indicating GoBack
was ON. In Windows, it would say GoBack was OFF despite numerous attempts to
"enable" in Windows. So I decided to uninstall it, first with Add/Remove
Programs (which failed because it said GoBack was scheduled to perform a task
at startup) and then SymNRT, which is supposed to remove all Norton products,
then restarting.

Now Windows will not start! The Norton GoBack screen still displays when the
system is turned on. I have tried disabling it in the menu, but it just hangs
at 0%. But when Windows loads, it displays "Autochk program not found -
Skipping Autocheck" for 3 min then restarts again. It will not start in safe
mode or last-good-settings-mode.

I have run the Windows Recovery Console:
chkdsk /r (which does run fine apparently)
bootcfg /rebuild (an error occurs then stops).
dir c:/WINDOWS/sys32 (I found autochk.exe)
I have not run FIXMBR because it gives me "an invalid or nonstandard
partition table signature is detected" and I'm afraid it will kill my files.
I have tried to reinstall Windows from the CD onto the same partition, but
Setup wouldn't allow it.

Specs:
Windows XP Home Edition SP1, SP2
80GB hard drive (1 partition only)

Thank you for your time in reading this.
Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

God I hate the way GoBack screws with the MBR. Run fdisk /mbr from the
Recoveyr Console to reset it. If that fails to allow the system to reset
properly, then run fixmbr. This will repoint the master boot record to ntldr
rather than the GoBack program.

Goback removal support:
http://www.roxio.com/en/support/roxio_support/goback/kb_articles.html

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Hey Rick

Thanks for your comments. I did manage to fix the problem. It turns out when
I removed the Norton programs (including Norton GoBack), I somehow "severed"
the connection between the master boot record and GoBack. I was unable to
access the drive according to the GoBack error, which explains the autochk
not being found by Windows, and not being able to reinstall Windows on the
partition without deleting it.

Here's what I did to get it back up and running:

1. Used Windows Recovery Console and did fixmbr. I don't know if this step
did anything because I still couldn't add the one Windows installation to the
boot list.

2. I used an MS-DOS startup disk and the program "gb_prog.exe" on a floppy
to remove the changes made to the boot sector and partition tables by GoBack.
This program or the remanants of GoBack (because it still ran on system ON)
detected there was the above mentioned "severed link". It then proceeded to
scan the drive for a gobackio.bin file (it took some time).

The gb_prog.exe program and instructions are on
http://service1.symantec.com/suppor...9004be7ad?OpenDocument&src=bar_sch_nam&seg=ag

3. GoBack then said it had "rehooked" the file and would proceed to
uninstall GoBack, followed by a restart. Windows now fully starts. I also
later ran chkdsk for bad sectors.

It appears everything is normal again and all Norton products are removed. I
also followed through with some registry cleanup suggested when I used SymNRT

http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPOR...docid&dtype=&prod=&ver=&osv=&osv_lvl=&seg=hho


I will now reinstall Norton Systemworks (without GoBack) to fix any other
problems leftover.

Thanks again