error loading operating system

[Dave]

Started up winxp sp2 and got message "error loading operating system".
It was previously shut down automatically while I wasn't there. Used
bartpe and found nothing on the c (system) drive. File system shows raw
with no space and nothing used. The other partition on the same
physical drive is fine. The only thing I can see to do is error check
the C drive but I doubt this will do anything. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Started up winxp sp2 and got message "error loading operating system".
It was previously shut down automatically while I wasn't there. Used
bartpe and found nothing on the c (system) drive. File system shows raw
with no space and nothing used. The other partition on the same
physical drive is fine. The only thing I can see to do is error check
the C drive but I doubt this will do anything. Any ideas? Thanks.

I would try one of the many partition recovery tools.

 

[Dave]

I would try one of the many partition recovery tools.

I wouldn't know where to begin or how to proceed. Based on what I've
researched so far, the only thing I have found is a hint that fix mbr
mrght help but I really don't know how to proceed with that and am not
sure that would help and it might even cause more problems. Can you
offer some more detailed suggestions please? Thank you.

 

[Malke]

I wouldn't know where to begin or how to proceed. Based on what I've
researched so far, the only thing I have found is a hint that fix mbr
mrght help but I really don't know how to proceed with that and am not
sure that would help and it might even cause more problems. Can you
offer some more detailed suggestions please? Thank you.

Fixmbr will not help since you can see that Windows is missing on the drive.
You can try retrieving your data by using data recovery software. If that
doesn't work, first test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the
drive mftr.'s website and if it passes, clean install Windows.

http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html
PCInspector File Recovery -
http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/welcome.htm
Executive Software ?Undelete? -
http://www.undelete.com/undelete/undelete.asp
R-Studio - http://www.r-tt.com/
File Scavenger - http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm
Ontrack's EasyRecovery - http://www.ontrack.com/software/

http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html - Clean Install How-To
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Reinstalling_Windows - What
you will need on-hand

Malke

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I wouldn't know where to begin or how to proceed. Based on what I've
researched so far, the only thing I have found is a hint that fix mbr
mrght help but I really don't know how to proceed with that and am not
sure that would help and it might even cause more problems. Can you
offer some more detailed suggestions please? Thank you.

If you have no experience with such things and if you have important
files on your disk that are not backed up then your safest course of
action is to seek outside help, e.g. a friend with expert knowledge or
a computer service shop.

 

[Dave]

Fixmbr will not help since you can see that Windows is missing on the drive.
You can try retrieving your data by using data recovery software. If that
doesn't work, first test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the
drive mftr.'s website and if it passes, clean install Windows.

When I try to boot with the XP install cd, I still get the same error
message. Is this because the drive's not formatted (bartpe shows a raw
file system with 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available)? I can format the
drive in bartpe. If I do this will I then be able to reinstall XP?

 

[Dave]

Fixmbr will not help since you can see that Windows is missing on the drive.
You can try retrieving your data by using data recovery software. If that
doesn't work, first test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the
drive mftr.'s website and if it passes, clean install Windows.

When I try to boot with the XP install cd, I still get the same error
message. Is this because the drive's not formatted (bartpe shows a raw
file system with 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available)? I can format the
drive in bartpe. If I do this will I then be able to reinstall XP?

 

[Malke]

When I try to boot with the XP install cd, I still get the same error
message. Is this because the drive's not formatted (bartpe shows a raw
file system with 0 bytes used and 0 bytes available)? I can format the
drive in bartpe. If I do this will I then be able to reinstall XP?

Please run the hard drive diagnostic as I previously suggested. To answer
your question, you do not need to format the drive before you clean-install
Windows. You should delete/create partitions and then format from within
the XP installation routine. Of course, doing this will destroy all data on
the drive. You understand this, yes?

It sounds to me like your hard drive has failed which is why I suggested you
test it.

Malke

 

[Dave]

Please run the hard drive diagnostic as I previously suggested. To answer
your question, you do not need to format the drive before you clean-install
Windows. You should delete/create partitions and then format from within
the XP installation routine. Of course, doing this will destroy all data on
the drive. You understand this, yes?

I understand this. I have also gone thru the first few screens of the
install cd and am understanding it. The problem with it not running was
that I didn't press any key. I downloaded the diagnostic tool earlier
but it was Windows only. Now I look again and see that the dos tool can
be run under XP. I saw the word dos and thought xp couldn't handle it.
Thanks. I will not lose anything important if I decide to reinstall.

It sounds to me like your hard drive has failed which is why I suggested you
test it.

Please note there are 2 partitions and I can read and write to the 2nd
one without any problems. I will probably run the diag tool. I have
searched the error message extensively and have not found anything that
matches my problem and provides a solution. I thought there would be a
simple fix. Perhaps an expert could recover the partition or the data.

 

[Malke]

Dave wrote:

I understand this. I have also gone thru the first few screens of the
install cd and am understanding it. The problem with it not running was
that I didn't press any key. I downloaded the diagnostic tool earlier
but it was Windows only. Now I look again and see that the dos tool can
be run under XP. I saw the word dos and thought xp couldn't handle it.
Thanks. I will not lose anything important if I decide to reinstall.

Hard drive diagnostic utilities should be run outside of Windows. You will
download the utility from the drive mftr.'s website and create a bootable
CD using third party burning software (burn as an image, not as data). Boot
with the media you created and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, replace it.

Malke

 

[proposedsolution]

Hard drive diagnostic utilities should be run outside of Windows. You will
download the utility from the drive mftr.'s website and create a bootable
CD using third party burning software (burn as an image,notas data). Boot
with the media you created and do a thorough test of the drive. If it fails
any physical tests, replace it.

Malke

Guys...

So many unanswered questions here -

Is the drive detected in the BIOS?

Is the correct partition set as active?

The raw partition could well be a linux partition or some kind of
hidden recovery partition.

I'd suggest following a few of the guide on this site, even if you're
not receiving the exact error messages as they could well solve your
problem. Let me know how you get on.

http://www.proposedsolution.com/PS0011_Windows_Boot_Problems_Troubleshooting_Guide.html

Hope this helps.

Rosco