HELP! can't boot my winxp at all after ghost attempt

L

Lj

Hi folks- am in a crisis- (I'm using my tryusty old win 98 system to
write you)- (this repost is only because my original post went out
with the wrong date, so wouldn't show as recent- I've reset my
system time)

I am not a techie, I just follow instructions...

I'm stuck in a catch22 and can't get windows to boot on my new xp
pro system... All has been fine with it for a month, but tonight I
thought I'd try to create a Norton Ghost backup. I started the
program in windows, which said it would reboot my system. But the
boot never worked, and I am in an impossible loop asking for a
proper boot disk...
I have the 2 Norton Ghost boot floppies (it is ghost 2003). I load
them, but when I try to select a disk/drive to image, it says there
is nothing there.
I don't have any other kind of boot disk. Can I make one from this
win 98 system to use???
All I really want to do now is get back to my plain old XP pro
windows... but I can't!!
I've got the original XP disk, but it either wants to load XP
altogether, or when I try "recovery console" I get a C:> prompt...
not sure what to do then (the only option it mentions is to "exit"
which puts me in the same no boot loop).

I just tried the original windows xp disk, and this time tried to
"install" but it came up wiht the following error: a problem has
been detected * windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your
computer.

problem with setupdd.sys page_fault_in_nonpaged_area
and said to reboot again, perhaps to remove caching or shadowing
from BIOS memory settings... I rebooted, and the error came up
again.
I'm completely lost now.

HELLLLP!
THANKS ALL!
 
H

Harry Ohrn

Restart the computer and as it is starting keep pressing F8 to see if you
can get to the boot menu. From there select Last Known Good Configuration
and see if that works.

If you can't get there then boot with your XP CD. Access the Recovery
Console. At the command prompt type and press Enter:

FIXBOOT

back at the command prompt remove the XP CD and type EXIT and press Enter to
restart.
 
L

Lj

I've been reading all I can online at such sites, and I can't get
anywhere... is there no way to reboot my system?
i've used the ghost disk, and tried what they call "ghreboot" and it
did nothing. I tried the XP disk, and I get the error so I can't
even seem to reload XP fresh..? That's a catch 22... any other
clues?
thanks,
Jam.
 
L

Lj

Thank you, I had tried the XP CD and Recovery console, which simply
gave me a c: prompt, and not instructions... so I tried what you
suggest c:\>fixboot- sadly, it came back with:
fixboot cannot find the system drive or the drive specified is not
valid
??!!
a seems to be the floppy, so I dont' know what any other drives are
now... c used to be the one with windows on it, but now I dunno! If
I do a c:\dir I get nothing, though I did get the CD contents when I
booted with the norton disk... very confusing. Any other clues?
thanks for your time, I'm at a loss... not even sure who I'd bring
it to to re-image if it comes to that, since when I try it myself, I
get those errors...


Harry Ohrn said:
Restart the computer and as it is starting keep pressing F8 to see if you
can get to the boot menu. From there select Last Known Good Configuration
and see if that works.

If you can't get there then boot with your XP CD. Access the Recovery
Console. At the command prompt type and press Enter:

FIXBOOT

back at the command prompt remove the XP CD and type EXIT and press Enter to
restart.

--

Harry Ohrn MS-MVP [Shell/User]
www.webtree.ca/windowsxp


Lj said:
Hi folks- am in a crisis- (I'm using my tryusty old win 98 system to
write you)- (this repost is only because my original post went out
with the wrong date, so wouldn't show as recent- I've reset my
system time)

I am not a techie, I just follow instructions...

I'm stuck in a catch22 and can't get windows to boot on my new xp
pro system... All has been fine with it for a month, but tonight I
thought I'd try to create a Norton Ghost backup. I started the
program in windows, which said it would reboot my system. But the
boot never worked, and I am in an impossible loop asking for a
proper boot disk...
I have the 2 Norton Ghost boot floppies (it is ghost 2003). I load
them, but when I try to select a disk/drive to image, it says there
is nothing there.
I don't have any other kind of boot disk. Can I make one from this
win 98 system to use???
All I really want to do now is get back to my plain old XP pro
windows... but I can't!!
I've got the original XP disk, but it either wants to load XP
altogether, or when I try "recovery console" I get a C:> prompt...
not sure what to do then (the only option it mentions is to "exit"
which puts me in the same no boot loop).

I just tried the original windows xp disk, and this time tried to
"install" but it came up wiht the following error: a problem has
been detected * windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your
computer.

problem with setupdd.sys page_fault_in_nonpaged_area
and said to reboot again, perhaps to remove caching or shadowing
from BIOS memory settings... I rebooted, and the error came up
again.
I'm completely lost now.

HELLLLP!
THANKS ALL!


--
******************************************************************
from Lj in Canada
NOTE: REMOVE "antispam." FROM EMAIL ADDRESS
******************************************************************



--
******************************************************************
from Lj in Canada
NOTE: REMOVE "antispam." FROM EMAIL ADDRESS
******************************************************************
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
L

Lj

Thanks anyway. What I really want now is to completely ignore
anything to do with norton/ghost and just get to be able to boot to
my system again. I keep getting the "insert boot media" prompt
before we get to windows or any kind of F8 choices. Even with the
original XP disk, Recovery console fixboot doesn't seem to work-
says wrong drive or nothing on the drive... I am worried. Even
trying to use XP disc to "install" XP, I get another error- so I'm
running around in circles. I keep hoping there's something easy to
try, but I suspect I'm now needing to bring it to the folks who sold
it to me to start from scratch.
 
D

DJ Borell

Boot into the recovery console and run "bootcfg". There's instructions on
using the Recovery Console on Kelly's website:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/win_xp_rec.htm

When you use Norton Ghost to restore an image, it may not recreate the boot
sector of the drive. That's what it sounds like has happened here. You'll
need to manually recreate that section and the requisite options.

As a side note -

Your original post mentioned a stop error of "Page fault in a non-paged
area". A non-paged area mean physical RAM. This error can indicate
defective RAM. You may want to run memtest (a free utility) to check to
check for errors:

http://www.memtest86.com/
 
L

Lj

welll, Houston we have a problem...

I suspect I'm in big trouble now.
Here's what happens when I can get the system to boot from the XP
install CD:
I click R to start repair /recover
I get a c:> prompt
I try all of the following and these are the replies:

c:\ fixboot
cannot find system drive or drive not valid
c:\ bootcfg /list
no boot entries to display
c:\ DIR
no floppy of CD in the drive
c:\ MAP
A: \DEVICE\ floppy0
F: \DEVICE\ cd rom0

Does that mean it can't even read itself/ the hard drive is
"gone"???

I actually don't 'know' anything (am not a techie), I just follow
instructions and can understand basic logical structures (thanks to
2 computer programming courses ***20*** years ago and fun with
manuals).

Am I at the stage of bringing it back to the folks who built it? or
is there still a memory thing or a boot thing I can try?
I followed Kelly's recovery instructions, but of course never even
got any administrator login to use, so some of what's on that page
is beyond where I am now.
thanks all,
jam.
 
N

Newtechie

Hi Jam,

My suggestion is that you do a full re-install of XP. Do you have
everything you need (documents, music, pictures, etc) backed up to removable
storage (i.e.. cd-r, external drive)?

I've gotten that "a problem has been detected * windows has been shut down
to prevent damage to your computer" and it just looped. So to keep me from
going totally insane, I just booted to a Win98 boot disk(or if you have the
disc that came with your hard drive - that'll work as well) and deleted the
partition, then reinstalled from the WinXP disc. You'll have to change the
boot order in the BIOS. Most systems usually can get there by hitting the
F2 or del key when the system is first booting up. When you get there, make
sure the cd-rom is set to boot up first, save and exit, and the computer
will continue booting and accessing the WinXP disc. Make sure you pay
attention to the screen because you'll have to hit any key to boot from the
disc. Just follow the on screen instructions. You'll be able to partition
and format the drive with the disc also.

Post back and let us know.

Newtechie
 
L

Lj

I am certainly at the point of trying a full re-install, which I
have never done (I'm not worried about files, all backed up, I can
reinstall everything).
However, I can't seem to get beyond that XP boot cd problem...
always loops that "problem detected". Can you walk me through or
point to a website re: booting from an old win 98 boot disk? I have
started it, and It gives me option to boot with cd support, makes
sense to me to choose that one. But once I've booted, then what? .
I've never "deleted a partition", so not sure what to do about that,
but I can follow instructions.
Shouldn't the BIOS be able to "see' that there is a hard drive? Just
wondering if that's part of the problem now.
Thanks for the attention,
Jam
 
L

Lj

ps: with win98 boot disk, I ran scandisk/all and it claims drive c
and d are both fine.
Not even sure which c and d are now.
I inserted the XP disk (it is a full OEM install disk, not a
"recovery" disk) but don't remember enough DOS to get to it nor what
to do with it once there ;-)
Thanks again.
 
L

Len

Seems you are running around like the perverbial chicken with its head cut
off! Calm down... if you have all of the important stuff backed up then
you are actually in good shape! Ghost is not difficult to use but it can
get that way if one is not careful!

For now if you have made up your mind to use the W98 boot disk, all you can
do with that is delete your current partition. When at the a:\ prompt type
FDISK, hit enter. Enable large disk support and if you only have one hard
drive you won't have to worry about that aspect.

Doing this from memory but... you should be seeing on your screen a list of
options under fdisk. You want to choose the one that allows you to remove a
partition. Don't remember, maybe choice 3 or 4 on the list. When selected
you should see that there is shown a non-dos partition if the drive is NTFS.
Select and identify that partition based on whatever it is named then delete
it. This should give you a clean disk.

My preference however is to download the HD's utility disk and have it write
zeros to the entire drive including the boot block. This should provide a
drive that is exactly the way the mfg shipped it.

Either way the next step is to begin loading XP from your CD. This is done
by booting from CD, adjust bios for this option, then follow the screen
prompts to create and format a new partition and install the operating
system.

Hopefully this will help somewhat... posting a new msg to the board every 10
minutes will not help you all that much. If you come up with a specific
problem doing the above then at least others will know where you are and
what you have done to this point.

Good Luck,
Len
 
H

Harry Ohrn

You understand that you will likely lose everything that was on the computer
if you do a clean install, right? If you are certain you can live with that
then don't boot with a Windows 98 floppy. Boot with the XP CD and use it to
do the install. Obviously you can boot with the CD as you say you are able
to access the Recovery Console. So boot the CD and when you see the screen
that asks what you want to do select the option to " To Setup Windows XP now
press Enter". Next will come the License Agreement. You must press the F8
key to accept this. Following that XP will see if it can find a previous
installation to try and repair. If you are lucky it will tell you that a
previous install was found. You can press "R" and XP will setup right over
top of the old setup retaining all your files and settings. You will have to
reinstall Critical Updates and you will lose previous System Restore Points
but other than that you should be running as you were before the crash.

However if no previous Windows installation is found then you will have a
screen to partition. At this point you select where to setup Windows. You
may wish to delete the partition (total data loss!!!) and reformat. Then the
installer will complete setting up XP new on the computer. Along the way you
will be asked for the Product Key and to enter Regional Settings, etc.

You should be able to follow the instructions at Supersite or here to do
this http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/InstallXPHome/installxphome1.htm
 
L

Lj

Thanks Len, indeed, I was posting new bits as I came across them as
this is all new to me. I don't mean to explode all over ;-)

I am now at this stage: I tried Win 98, but didn't know what to do,
so I have now used Microsoft's own downloadable XP PRO boot floppies
(6 of them I just created here) and have successfully gotten an XP
install screen this time (instead of the loop of "encountered a
problem reboot please")
I now have the options to install XP on the following partitions
offered, and I don't know what is best to do (I'll be reading
websites for advice too):
"select one of the following":
G: Partition 1 NTFS 194466MB (180108 MF free)
C: Partition 2 (VPSGHBOOT) [FAT] 8MB (3MB free)
unpartitioned space 29275 MB

What would you suggest? One of the above, or delete them all and...?

thanks again, this is nerve raking, not what I expected to be doing
today, but also invigorating and strangely exciting,,, ;-) I'm
lucky to still have this system and you folks to walk me through the
fire.
Jam.
 
D

dg1261

Lj said:
I am now at this stage: I tried Win 98, but didn't know what to do,
so I have now used Microsoft's own downloadable XP PRO boot floppies
(6 of them I just created here) and have successfully gotten an XP
install screen this time (instead of the loop of "encountered a
problem reboot please")
I now have the options to install XP on the following partitions
offered, and I don't know what is best to do (I'll be reading
websites for advice too):
"select one of the following":
G: Partition 1 NTFS 194466MB (180108 MF free)
C: Partition 2 (VPSGHBOOT) [FAT] 8MB (3MB free)
unpartitioned space 29275 MB

What would you suggest? One of the above, or delete them all and...?
Click to expand...

Ghost is normally a reliable product, but it (as well as the similar
DriveImage) have always been less reliable when run from within Windows.
Some people swear by various Windows imaging/cloning programs, but IMHO it
just seems so intuitively obvious that it's more reliable if you are not
booted into the partition you're trying to operate on.

It looks like your system got itself stuck in Ghost's virtual partition.
IIRC, when you run Ghost 2003 from within Windows, it creates its own
temporary partition, reboots into that to do its work, then reboots back
into Windows later. At the moment, it's stuck in the middle. When you run
from DOS (the Ghost boot floppies), it doesn't need to do this trickery, so
is far more reliable.

So, how to recover? I don't use Ghost (I use DriveImage), but see
radified.com for some guidance. They've got a very good Ghost users forum
there. Check out the "Ghost boot disk failure" thread on radified.com's
"Low Rad Board". I think that sounds like something similar to what you've
run into, so check out some of the reference links provided in that thread.
 
J

Jam

thanks, I'll give them a look now.
Jam.

dg1261 said:
Lj said:
I am now at this stage: I tried Win 98, but didn't know what to do,
so I have now used Microsoft's own downloadable XP PRO boot floppies
(6 of them I just created here) and have successfully gotten an XP
install screen this time (instead of the loop of "encountered a
problem reboot please")
I now have the options to install XP on the following partitions
offered, and I don't know what is best to do (I'll be reading
websites for advice too):
"select one of the following":
G: Partition 1 NTFS 194466MB (180108 MF free)
C: Partition 2 (VPSGHBOOT) [FAT] 8MB (3MB free)
unpartitioned space 29275 MB

What would you suggest? One of the above, or delete them all
Click to expand...
and...?

Ghost is normally a reliable product, but it (as well as the similar
DriveImage) have always been less reliable when run from within Windows.
Some people swear by various Windows imaging/cloning programs, but IMHO it
just seems so intuitively obvious that it's more reliable if you are not
booted into the partition you're trying to operate on.

It looks like your system got itself stuck in Ghost's virtual partition.
IIRC, when you run Ghost 2003 from within Windows, it creates its own
temporary partition, reboots into that to do its work, then reboots back
into Windows later. At the moment, it's stuck in the middle. When you run
from DOS (the Ghost boot floppies), it doesn't need to do this trickery, so
is far more reliable.

So, how to recover? I don't use Ghost (I use DriveImage), but see
radified.com for some guidance. They've got a very good Ghost users forum
there. Check out the "Ghost boot disk failure" thread on radified.com's
"Low Rad Board". I think that sounds like something similar to what you've
run into, so check out some of the reference links provided in that thread.
Click to expand...
 

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