Please help, XP problem...

[Uncle Vinnie]

I really need some help please....

XP Home 'hangs' on Normal startup, but not in safe mode...

I have disabled all start up items (msconfig) except 'diagnostic - basic
drivers'....

All the things I thought it could be, aren't.. like antivirus, spyware
detector, etc....

Could it be a basic driver gone bad? The last thing I think my daughter was
working in was her iPod...


How can I find what is causing XP to hang on startup so I can begin to fix
it???


Thanks for your help...

 

[databaseben]

not sure how ipods work, but i guess that they are designed for downloading
music from the internet. So I can probably guess that windows is having
trouble starting up because of an internet connection that either windows
could not close prior to shutting down, or the internet connection is taking
precedence and windows cannot properly load up.

An easy fix to begin with is to simply restore windows to a date that it was
known to be functional. But before restoring, lets take a chance with a
menu option called startup to last known good configuration. This is a boot
menu option that is available when you press the f8 key at the beginning of
boot up. If there was a problem with a driver configuration, as you think
there may have been, this option will use a functional state it saved. If
you get into normal mode with this, then problem is solved, for the mean
time. At least this will get you back into a functional state where you can
hunt down the problem.

If not, then reboot to safe mode and do a restore to a date prior to today
or yesterday, prior to the problem you have now. System restore is a
feature under system tools, in accessories via your start menu.......

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

No luck.. Apparently I had checked off not to do system save, and forgot to
uncheck it.

It did start up, and generated a Windows reactivation window due to hardware
changes.. odd, but I followed it through and entered the new number....

Still back to where I was... safe mode, it starts, normal with all but
'diagnostic' it will not...

Help, thanks?!

 

[DatabaseBen]

I don't think that an ipod is sufficient to be a hardware changed requiring
for windows reactivation. Unless, some other hardware drastically got
modified. But the error message can be a mask for some other criterian
micorsoft programmed into the so called critical update. This critical
update that was condemned by the community because it was a windows genuine
activation program and a spyware of sorts.

If you have your windows cd, then you can repair your windows without
loosing any valuable data. Of course, you may have to activate, maybe not,
but your entitled to activate all you want. Insert your windows cd and boot
from it, then select new install, then point to the current installation on
your harddrive, then tell windows yes and go ahead and repair it. It you
were a technician, there would be a better way, but this way is the easiest
for you to do. Afterwards, you should be up and running.

However, I suggest a couple of things before you do the repair. First, go
into safe mode and create a restore point. Ensure the restore feature is
turned on. Then powerdown your pc and disconnect all the cables from the
back except the power, mouse, monitor and keyboard. Then proceed with the
repair.

If you currently cannot boot from the cd, then press and hold either the f1
key or the del key as you power up. You will see a cmos/bios menu pop up and
if you look around you can select the bootup drive to be the cd. However, it
is hoped that the cd is already set as bootup and you can skip the cmos
modification...

Keep in mind, that there may be a remote possibility that the repair may
fail if there is indeed a serious hardware problem. So quitting the repair
will simply get you back to square one and we can proceed with some other
methods. But it is my firm guess that you will not have any
issues......I'll check in an hour or so to see what your status is. OK?

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

Thank you... I will most likely get to this later today or tomorrow - I
juggle working from home and 'putting out fires'.. but I will get to it and
report back...

Yes, I do have the CD so I can work from there..

Once I do this, will all the other programs, etc, still be there? In other
words, is this 'smart' enough to know it is only supposed to 'repair'
Windows and leave all else alone, such as Office, etc?

 

[Robert Teel]

iPods don't have any network connectivity of their own, iTunes (or third
party software) has so any downloading for it. It's essentially just a
mp3 player/USB drive

 

[AJR]

If computer boots in safe mode but not normal boot a faulty drive is
indicated - will not be corrected via restore function.
Some options: Msconfig - select diagnostic startup it still unsuccessful
clear all items under startup tab. Select booting with boot log option -
check log entries for entry at which boot stopped.

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

It stopped at Fastfat.sys.

I 'expanded' during msconfig to replace it, no luck.. still hangs...

this does not look good...

 

[AJR]

Uncle Vinnie - if that is the problem -google fastfat.sys - lots of info
available. (Also Microsoft Support).

 

[DatabaseBen]

if you think that it is that fastfat.sys file then go ahead and search for
it and delete it in safe mode. Since it does not function in normal mode,
it is not being loaded anyways. And certainly it is not used by windows if
you can function in safe mode.

In regards to repairing, if the above works ok, then there is no need to
repair. The repair would only fix windows system files and not alter other
programs. However, remember to make a restore point once you get back into
windows.

And double check to see where that fastfat.sys file came from, you may need
an update or a patch or something if it got loaded with ipod software. I
seem to remember something about this file, maybe it is the file system for
the ipod itself. Since ipod holds data, then it probably uses a fastfat.sys
or something and maybe it is used to convert downloaded music into a windows
file system to a fast fat system for the ipod....

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

let me go back and tinker... I can rename or delete the file, but not
replace it via copy/paste...

Thank you all again very much for your help here, I really appreciate it...

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

here is what happened.. stopped at Fastfat.sys...

the message, did not load fastfat.sys..and that is where it hung...

???????????

 

[DatabaseBen]

ok, it figures since it's a .sys file. But it was odd that you couldnt get
into safe mode and delete anyways.

What you will need to do is to use the recovey console from your windows cd.
Boot with the cd and use the recovery console. It will get you to a point
and display a listing of the installations you have. My guess is that you
only have 1, so when ask which one to log into type 1 at the command prompt.
You will then get to a c prompt, that you are probably famaliar with. From
there you will have to use the del or delete command. Type help at the
prompt to get a list of the exact commands. If you know where the file is
then you would type something like this del c:\fastfat.sys or maybe delete
c:\windows\fastfat.sys Personally i don't know if the file is it might be
in your root directory like c:\fastfat.sys or in a windows directory. I
think you get the idea.

If you find yourself unable to navigate here are some examples: type cd\ to
travel backwards and to move forward type something like cd \windows then cd
\system to go into the systems folder

If this doesn't help you then nothng left to do but a repair.....

 

[DatabaseBen]

good point. I provide uncle vinnie with a different method in the hopes to
fix. strange that this happened. probably got accidently moved from a safe
folder into the systems or root by accident...

 

[MayDay]

It stopped at Fastfat.sys.

I 'expanded' during msconfig to replace it, no luck.. still hangs...

this does not look good...

Actually, it stops on the *next* driver

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

Yes.. so is it the 'next' driver that is causing the problem?

If Fastfat.sys is indeed a good driver, and during bootup, it is the last
entry in the bootlog as 'loaded driver...fastfat', or when I rename it (I
can delete it, I chose not to), that last line in the bootlog reads 'did not
load fastfat..'

How do I find what that next driver is? Maybe that driver is the problem...

 

[databaseben]

rename that file anyways. rename it to fastfat.sy1 or something.
The reason the next driver that you assume didnt load was because either it
depended on fastfat being installed or the next driver was a valid windows
driver that could not install. The sequence of this drivers can be found in
either the autoexec.bat and config.sys and autoexec.nt and config.nt All
four files would need tobe opened with a text editor to see if the
fastfat.sys line exists and what the next driver would be. But it could be
tricky to know if it is a valid windows driver or not.

As these are line items, they can be rem out or their target files can be
renamed. Unless there are really special drivers that still use these old
methods of loading files, you can rename them to autoexec.ba1 and config.sy1
, etc.... , since genuine windows drivers are loaded with the registry

You did good about viewing the bootlog, i forgotten about it......

If it were me I would have taken the easy way ..... : )

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

Here is what I found... Auto & Config NT only contained REM lines...all
Rem...

using Sysedit, I check Autoexec and Config Sys and both were empty.... odd..

Meanwile, under msconfig, one of the tabs specified 'drivers', but no actual
list..

I'd like to see the list, but I've gotten rusty with DOS!

Thank you again for your help...

 

[DatabaseBen]

yeh, i'm a little rusty too. Windows enviroment spoils us...

Well, at least you didn't find anything in those files. And i thought you
couldn't get into windows at all, but it sounds like you probably can. You
know I was checking my own drivers and I also have a fastfat.sys and my
presumption that it is was only ipod related was wrong. I googled that file
and found others had similar errors like yourself. This link shows how
someone fixed the problem while windows was still funtional:
http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic17078.html

This other link show how you can transfer that file from your windows cd
onto the harddrive. Although it relates to win2k, it also should work with
winxp. You can probably use the recovery console so that the windows
installation on your harddrive doesn't interfere with your coping a system
file over onto it. Goto line 4.

http://www.jsifaq.com/SF/Tips/Tip.aspx?id=6061

Hope this works for you, but i think it will fix you right up. Sorry for
not finding this solution faster, but "I" still think that a simple repair
at the beginnning would have fixed you right up.... But sometimes it's much
more interesting in trying out other steps....

 

[Uncle Vinnie]

No luck- these 2 issues are not the problem at all. XP starts in Safe Mode,
but not in Normal mode at all...

It's hanging at a driver.. where else can I look to find the driver order?
I want to see what's next after fastfat.sys..

Thanks!

-
B'rgds,

Vinnie