Failure to boot-up

[Guest]

the other night I closed the PC down the regular way. The next morning I was
greeted by a black screen with the request to use one of the following
options: "safe mode" "Dos Command Mode" and more. The PC accepted none and
I had to finally format "C" and start new. Two days later the same problem.
This time the PC recognized the WinXP CD and I was able to use "Repair".
Norton Disk Doctor informs me that: "The operation system or another process
currently has exclusive access to this drive or some other files. It cannot
continue with the repair under these conditions.
Any suggestion will be tried religiously. Thanks in Advance.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

When and how did Norton Disk Doctor show that message? Be sure that Norton Disk Doctor is not set to load at startup.

If a repair install is called for, follow these tips.
Only if you have a "full" XP CD ----
The object of this exercise is to do an in-place upgrade or an in-place installation for purposes of "repair".
It needs to go to the same partition as before , and the same directory as before.

Usually for example XP is on C drive and is on folder/directory \Windows or \WINNT.

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. You do that from the pc BIOS setup screen. You specify CDROM as the first drive to boot from.

Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive, and then restart your pc.

When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message is displayed on your
screen, press a key to boot pc from the XP CD.

When you see the following message displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen,
press ENTER:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

At this point an option to press R to enter the Recovery Console is displayed. Do NOT select this option.

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 function key to agree to it.

Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP (in your case, the one you wish to repair) is selected in the box, and then press the R key to repair XP.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

 

[rico]

Thank you Maurice,

Since I entered the problem for help I began un-installing a number of
Programs which I thought may be at fault. Norton still comes up with its
message, but then shows the table that looks like a slate out of the film
the the 10 Commandments and it states: There are no problems detected on
drive C (where my xp is located) and below reboot next to all the entries.

Next acording to PC Mighty Mouse which I downloaded for a test, two "ini"
files are missing.

My HP Pavilion 7950 came with Windows ME which I up-graded to WinXP a few
years ago. Then I installed a bought copy of WindowsXP Included Service Pack
2. Now I did adjust the BIOS when I up-graded but did not touch it since
then. I cannot believe this has a bearing on my problem, however I thought I
ask. By the way Maurice I have re-booted the PC a number of times and
everything is working fine at the moment. I just afraid it may happen
again. Should I re-install programs like SmileCamera, Picasa 2, Money,
Skpye?
What can I do not to fall into this pit again. Thanks Maurice


When and how did Norton Disk Doctor show that message? Be sure that Norton
Disk Doctor is not set to load at startup.

If a repair install is called for, follow these tips.
Only if you have a "full" XP CD ----
The object of this exercise is to do an in-place upgrade or an in-place
installation for purposes of "repair".
It needs to go to the same partition as before , and the same directory as
before.

Usually for example XP is on C drive and is on folder/directory \Windows
or \WINNT.

Configure your computer to start from the CD-ROM drive. You do that from the
pc BIOS setup screen. You specify CDROM as the first drive to boot from.

Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD-ROM drive, and then restart your pc.

When the "Press any key to boot from CD" message is displayed on your
screen, press a key to boot pc from the XP CD.

When you see the following message displayed on the Welcome to Setup screen,
press ENTER:
To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

At this point an option to press R to enter the Recovery Console is
displayed. Do NOT select this option.

On the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen, press F8 function key to agree
to it.

Make sure that your current installation of Windows XP (in your case, the
one you wish to repair) is selected in the box, and then press the R key to
repair XP.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

Rico,

Be very cautious when installing programs. They need to be XP compatible. Be very conservative in terms of not allowing un-needed programs to load at every startup of Windows. As an example, I'd urge you to review your Norton programs. You do need an antivirus, always on. But not necessarily all the others, like Norton Disk Doctor, should be set to auto-load at startup.

Be cautious if and when getting new hardware and hardware drivers. Be sure they are XP compatible.

Don't re-install the programs you mentioned. Not unless you have an absolute good reason.
If your Windows is working well, don't reinstall.
DO full backup of your system to off-line media like CD or DVD.
Save your critical documents and files to yet another CD.

Make a slipstream CD of your XP with SP2

<http://www.helpwithwindows.com­/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.ht­ml >

3rd and last tip, Use disk imaging utilities to save images of your
system --- especially the Windows partition.
That way you do not start from ground zero.

HTH

 

[Maurice N ~ MVP]

The correct link is this one:
Make a slipstream CD of your XP with SP2
<http://www.helpwithwindows.com/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.html >

 

[rico]

Thank you Maurice,

I have had no further problems, so thank you and the other gremlins for
helping out so patiently. If you could just let me know the correct URL for
the slipstream URL?
I hope you have had a safe memorial day?
Nurmi

Rico,

Be very cautious when installing programs. They need to be XP compatible. Be
very conservative in terms of not allowing un-needed programs to load at
every startup of Windows. As an example, I'd urge you to review your Norton
programs. You do need an antivirus, always on. But not necessarily all the
others, like Norton Disk Doctor, should be set to auto-load at startup.

Be cautious if and when getting new hardware and hardware drivers. Be sure
they are XP compatible.

Don't re-install the programs you mentioned. Not unless you have an
absolute good reason.
If your Windows is working well, don't reinstall.
DO full backup of your system to off-line media like CD or DVD.
Save your critical documents and files to yet another CD.

Make a slipstream CD of your XP with SP2

<http://www.helpwithwindows.com­/WindowsXP/winxp-sp2-bootcd.ht­ml >

3rd and last tip, Use disk imaging utilities to save images of your
system --- especially the Windows partition.
That way you do not start from ground zero.

HTH