Help! Windows won't start normally!!

[Guest]

I'm using Windows XP SP2!

Well, i was starting to extract an ISO image file and the screen froze and
the puter hung. So, i restarted the puter but Windows won't start normally.
It stopped when it was loading my personal settings.

Then, i tried to start windows in safe mode. When windows was loading
acpitabl.dat, it restarted automatically and went back to the OS choices menu.

Now, i tried to boot using the last known good configuration, i got the
following messages when windows was loading my personal settings!

1. Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of this
error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local profile. If
this problem persists, contact your network administrator.

DETAIL - Error performing inpage operation.

2. Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a
temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log
off.

But, the temporary profile is like a freshly installed XP. I can't find a
lot of things. I can't access my emails and address book using my OE, can't
find any of my bookmarks, some icons are missing on desktop and start / All
Programs. Not sure if anything is missing in add/ remove programs...As you
can assume, there is no restore points in this new profile.

What's the problem? Is there any way to get back my original local profile?
How can i salvage this situation? Any help is very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Balaji K.

 

[Malke]

I'm using Windows XP SP2!

Well, i was starting to extract an ISO image file and the screen froze
and the puter hung. So, i restarted the puter but Windows won't start
normally. It stopped when it was loading my personal settings.

Then, i tried to start windows in safe mode. When windows was loading
acpitabl.dat, it restarted automatically and went back to the OS
choices menu.

Now, i tried to boot using the last known good configuration, i got
the following messages when windows was loading my personal settings!

1. Windows cannot load the locally stored profile. Possible causes of
this error include insufficient security rights or a corrupt local
profile. If this problem persists, contact your network administrator.

DETAIL - Error performing inpage operation.

2. Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a
temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when
you log off.

But, the temporary profile is like a freshly installed XP. I can't
find a lot of things. I can't access my emails and address book using
my OE, can't find any of my bookmarks, some icons are missing on
desktop and start / All Programs. Not sure if anything is missing in
add/ remove programs...As you can assume, there is no restore points
in this new profile.

Your original account has been corrupted. In Safe Mode logged into an
account with administrative privileges, make a new account for yourself
and then copy your data over to the new one. Once your new account has
your data, delete the old one. Here's how:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=811151

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thanks Malke, for your suggestion! But like i said in my previous post, when
i try to start windows in safe mode, it restarts automatically and goes back
to the OS choices menu. It won't start windows in safe mode. Now, even when i
tried to start using the last known good configuration, after sometime, i get
the blue screen and it goes back to the OS choices menu!

Any way to work around this?

Thanks!
Balaji K.

 

[Malke]

Thanks Malke, for your suggestion! But like i said in my previous
post, when i try to start windows in safe mode, it restarts
automatically and goes back to the OS choices menu. It won't start
windows in safe mode. Now, even when i tried to start using the last
known good configuration, after sometime, i get the blue screen and it
goes back to the OS choices menu!

Sorry, I missed that you couldn't get into Safe Mode. You can try a
Repair Install:

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

Malke

 

[Guest]

Ok, i'll go through that page and let you know what happens!

Thanks,
Balaji K.

 

[Guest]

Malke, i tried the repair install. But when windows was trying to get
installed, immediately after rebooting, the setup asks me to insert the
windows xp sp2 CD. It is looking for file 'asms' which infact is in the
slip-streamed windows xp professional CD (\I386). It won't accept that and
even when i insert the sp2 CD, it is not accepting. I had to click cancel and
the setup aborts! I couldn't proceed further. What is the next step forward?

Thanks,
Balaji K.

 

[Malke]

Malke, i tried the repair install. But when windows was trying to get
installed, immediately after rebooting, the setup asks me to insert
the windows xp sp2 CD. It is looking for file 'asms' which infact is
in the slip-streamed windows xp professional CD (\I386). It won't
accept that and even when i insert the sp2 CD, it is not accepting. I
had to click cancel and the setup aborts! I couldn't proceed further.
What is the next step forward?

Well, without actually seeing the computer I can't give you a definitive
answer. It certainly sounds like the computer has some severe problems,
though. It could be software or it could be hardware. There isn't any
way for me to know from reading your posts. Before you do anything with
software, I'd do some hardware troubleshooting first. There isn't any
point in formatting and clean-installing Windows (the next software
step) if the hardware isn't good. Please bear in mind that if you
format/clean-install, you will lose everything on the hard drive and
will need to reinstall programs and restore data from your backups.

I would start by testing the RAM and then the hard drive:

1) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

2) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

If you are unable to do the testing, then take the machine to a
professional computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of
BigStoreUSA).

Good luck,

Malke

 

[Guest]

I've Windows server 2003 installed in a different partition in the same
computer that i can use. It's working perfectly. I'm don't think there is any
problem with the hardware. Anyways, i'll test the RAM. But how do i do the
test on the HD?

Thanks for your detailed explanation!

Balaji K.

 

[Malke]

I've Windows server 2003 installed in a different partition in the
same computer that i can use. It's working perfectly. I'm don't think
there is any problem with the hardware. Anyways, i'll test the RAM.
But how do i do the test on the HD?

This is why it would have been good to have had a full description of
the system in your *first* post. Obviously if Win2k3 is working well,
your hardware is fine. For the XP install, back up your data and do a
clean install. You will need to repair the boot files for Win2k3
afterwards unless you are using a third-party boot manager. Google for
"repair Windows 2003 server boot files" or the like.

Malke

 

[Guest]

Sorry, it didn't occur to me to mention about the other OS in my system. I
never thought about hard disk problems. I never thought that the issue i had,
would lead me to a format and clean-install.

Anyways, i just backed up the Document Settings\Administrator directory and
then did a clean install of XP SP2.

Also, i didn't bother to repair the boot files of Win server 2003 because it
only had betas and CTPs and i was planning to format that partition anyway. I
did a google search and i didn't find anything helpful about rapairing the
boot files of windows server 2003. Do you have any tips regarding that?

Thanks for all your help!

Balaji K.

 

[Malke]

Sorry, it didn't occur to me to mention about the other OS in my
system. I never thought about hard disk problems. I never thought that
the issue i had, would lead me to a format and clean-install.

Anyways, i just backed up the Document Settings\Administrator
directory and then did a clean install of XP SP2.

Also, i didn't bother to repair the boot files of Win server 2003
because it only had betas and CTPs and i was planning to format that
partition anyway. I did a google search and i didn't find anything
helpful about rapairing the boot files of windows server 2003. Do you
have any tips regarding that?

Sure, here's a bunch of them:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=repair+Windows+Server+2003+boot+loader&btnG=Search

Malke

 

[Guest]

LOL. Thanks. I'd already looked into a few links from that search result!
I'll take a harder look again!

Thanks again for your suggestions and help to solve this issue.

Balaji K.