My computer doesn't boot

[Terry]

When I try to boot my computer I get a blue screen that flashes for a
few seconds then the computer just reboots again.

I have tried booting in safe mode and command prompt only.

I can put the drive in another computer and read it fine.

I have ran scandisk and it reports nothing.

Any suggestions what I can try next?

Thanks

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When I try to boot my computer I get a blue screen that flashes for a
few seconds then the computer just reboots again.

I have tried booting in safe mode and command prompt only.

I can put the drive in another computer and read it fine.

I have ran scandisk and it reports nothing.

Any suggestions what I can try next?

Thanks

Boot the machine with your WinXP CD, select Repair,
then Recovery Console, then run these commands:
fixmbr
fixboot

 

[Rock]

When I try to boot my computer I get a blue screen that flashes for a
few seconds then the computer just reboots again.

I have tried booting in safe mode and command prompt only.

I can put the drive in another computer and read it fine.

I have ran scandisk and it reports nothing.

Any suggestions what I can try next?

Thanks

You might also want to run chkdsk /p from the recovery console command
prompt.

 

[Terry]

Boot the machine with your WinXP CD, select Repair,
then Recovery Console, then run these commands:
fixmbr
fixboot

I do have XP pro on this machine so this could work. I have another
question. I have a laptop that did not come with a windows disk. What
options would I have if this happened to my laptop?

Thanks

 

[Rock]

I do have XP pro on this machine so this could work. I have another
question. I have a laptop that did not come with a windows disk. What
options would I have if this happened to my laptop?

Thanks

You should be able to boot with a windows installation CD and run the
recovery console.

 

[Terry]

Boot the machine with your WinXP CD, select Repair,
then Recovery Console, then run these commands:
fixmbr
fixboot

I get a message ftdisk.sys is corrupted.
sigh

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I get a message ftdisk.sys is corrupted.
sigh

You may have to select the other Repair option, the one that
installs WinXP over the top of the existing installation. It will
keep your applications intact.

About your laptop question: Make a copy of your WinXP
CD so that you can use it for your laptop. You should never
use a machine for which you do not have an OS installation
CD - the risks are obvious!

 

[Terry]

I get a message ftdisk.sys is corrupted.

You may have to select the other Repair option, the one that
installs WinXP over the top of the existing installation. It will
keep your applications intact.

When I first boot from CD I get a message asking if I want an auto
recovery. I picked that first and it asks for a disk. I don't have a
disk. I don't even have a floppy in the machine.

I press escape to skip that option and that is when I see messages of
it loading all kinds of stuff. After all the loading messages that is
when I get ftdisk.sys is corrupt.

I put the drive in a working machine and renamed ftdisk.sys and copied
the good file to the bad drive.

The next time I tried to boot from cd in the bad computer instead of
ftdisk.sys I get a message saying dmio.sys is corrupt. So, I renamed
it and copied over a good file.

The next time I tried to boot from the bad drive I again get ftdisk.sys
is corrupt so I renamed both and tried again.

I still get ftdisk.sys is corrupt.

There is no option to do anything except auto recovery and when that
fails I get bad .sys file error messages.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

When I first boot from CD I get a message asking if I want an auto
recovery. I picked that first and it asks for a disk. I don't have a
disk. I don't even have a floppy in the machine.

I press escape to skip that option and that is when I see messages of
it loading all kinds of stuff. After all the loading messages that is
when I get ftdisk.sys is corrupt.

I put the drive in a working machine and renamed ftdisk.sys and copied
the good file to the bad drive.

The next time I tried to boot from cd in the bad computer instead of
ftdisk.sys I get a message saying dmio.sys is corrupt. So, I renamed
it and copied over a good file.

The next time I tried to boot from the bad drive I again get ftdisk.sys
is corrupt so I renamed both and tried again.

I still get ftdisk.sys is corrupt.

There is no option to do anything except auto recovery and when that
fails I get bad .sys file error messages.

The repair method I suggested relies on having a proper
WinXP installation CD. It seems you used a "recovery"
CD instead. They are made by PC/laptop manufacturers,
not by Microsoft, and are specific to the machine with
which they are sold. Some will wipe the hard disk during
the recovery process.

When I boot my PC with my WinXP CD then the first
menu I see has these options:
- To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER
- To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
- To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.
Do you ever see this menu?

You now have several options:
a) You could save all your data, then format the drive
and use the Recovery CD to restore your system.
b) You could obtain a WinXP installation CD from a
friend, then use the Repair option I mentioned above.
c) You could obtain a WinXP installation CD from a
friend, then re-install WinXP from scratch. There is a
risk that your Windows key may not match the CD
you use.
e) You could copy the whole installation to another
disk, then format your own disk, then copy the whole
lot back again.

Option e) would work if your file system is damaged
but the files are still readable. It may require a couple
of minor steps at the end to restore the WinXP boot
environment.

 

[Terry]

Option e) would work if your file system is damaged

but the files are still readable. It may require a couple
of minor steps at the end to restore the WinXP boot
environment.

If I just copy all the drive to another drive and format the bad drive
and copy the stuff back will it be a boot disk automatically or do I
need to format with special switches?

This seems like the simplest method. If it will work without special
steps.

Thanks for all your help

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If I just copy all the drive to another drive and format the bad drive
and copy the stuff back will it be a boot disk automatically or do I
need to format with special switches?

This seems like the simplest method. If it will work without special
steps.

Thanks for all your help

If you format the drive under WinXP then it will most likely
boot straight away, as long as you make sure to copy all
files, including hidden files & system files.