Inaccessible Boot Device

[Guest]

We had a long power outage in my neighborhood last night. Once power was
restored, I went to turn the computer back on. It brings up the "Windows
2000 XP professional" screen just fine but then it gets screwy. It will jump
to a screen with a black background that says, word for word:
____________________________________________________________________

STOP: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (bunch of numbers)

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your
computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives
or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly
configured and terminated. Run CHDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption,
and then restart your computer.

Refer to your Getting Started manuel for more information on troubleshooting
stop errors.
_____________________________________________________________________

It's not a problem with the hardrive, I ran a system check on that with help
from Gateway support. They said it was a problem with Windows. I can get
help from Microsoft but it will cost over 200 bucks just to talk to someone
on the phone!

Does anyone know how to fix this problem? I don't have the software anymore
(misplaced) so reinstalling that way is not an option. Please help!

 

[thecreator]

Hi Mike M.,

Problem you are seeing is because when the power went out, the operating
system did not log off and write to the Boot Record of the Hard Drive. You
need to go into Safe Mode and Run either ScanDisk or Chkkdsk in Safe Mode to
correct the problem. I don't have Windows 2000 XP Professional operating
system.

You posted to the wrong forum for Windows 2000.

I have Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2. To access Safe Mode I hit
"F8" Function Key as the operating system is booting up.

 

[Ron Martell]

We had a long power outage in my neighborhood last night. Once power was
restored, I went to turn the computer back on. It brings up the "Windows
2000 XP professional" screen just fine but then it gets screwy. It will jump
to a screen with a black background that says, word for word:
____________________________________________________________________

STOP: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE (bunch of numbers)

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen, restart your
computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives
or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly
configured and terminated. Run CHDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption,
and then restart your computer.

Refer to your Getting Started manuel for more information on troubleshooting
stop errors.
_____________________________________________________________________

It's not a problem with the hardrive, I ran a system check on that with help
from Gateway support. They said it was a problem with Windows. I can get
help from Microsoft but it will cost over 200 bucks just to talk to someone
on the phone!

Does anyone know how to fix this problem? I don't have the software anymore
(misplaced) so reinstalling that way is not an option. Please help!

There is no such thing as "Windows 2000 XP professional". There is
Windows 2000 Professional and there is Windows XP Professional - two
different products.

If it is Windows XP then boot the computer with the Windows XP
installation CD and choose the "Repair (Recovery Console)" option from
the initial menu.

When it finished booting and stops at the command prompt enter the
following command:

CHKDSK C: /R

That should resolve the problem.


If you do not have an actual Windows XP installation CD (e.g. you have
an OEM "System Recovery" disk or partition) then create a bootable CD
using Bart's PE Builder from http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ and use that
to boot the problem computer. Open a command prompt window and enter
the above command.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."