Recovery Console - dir and cd commands say "The path or file specified is not valid". Why?

[Phil Addison]

[I asked already in microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support, without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe + network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And "Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys, WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia, MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with "agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate. It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to "How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort, because of the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

 

[Dave]

[I asked already in microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support, without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe + network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And "Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys, WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia, MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with "agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate. It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to "How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort, because of the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

i would get something like norton utilities that boots off a cd and do a
test on that disk. something sure sounds bad about it. and doing a repair
installation on a corrupt disk would likely make things worse.

 

[Phil]

[I asked already in microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support, without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe + network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And "Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys, WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia, MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with "agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate. It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to "How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort, because of the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

i would get something like norton utilities that boots off a cd and do a
test on that disk. something sure sounds bad about it. and doing a repair
installation on a corrupt disk would likely make things worse.

Thanks Dave, hadn't thought of that - assumed it was some s/w
configuration problem as I'm not used to w2000/xp setup.

I don't have a current version of Norton, only an old one that won't
work on ntfs (which I presume this disk is). I think I'll have a look at
moving it into my desktop machine where I have Acronis Disk Director
Suite. I think (pretty sure) that has disk check capability for ntfs. I
don't know if there are any snags in putting a notebook drive into a
standard case though - will soon find out.

Phil

 

[Nepatsfan]

Depending on how badly you need to preserve the data on your hard
drive and how much heavy lifting you're willing to do you might
want to consider the following:

Create a bootable CD by following the procedure detailed on one
of the following sites:

Ultimate Boot CD:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
Knoppix:
http://www.knoppix.org/
Bart's PE:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

If at all possible, try to make the UBCD. I think you'll find
that it's worth the extra effort.

Change the boot order in you BIOS to boot from the CD drive. Once
you've got the machine booted, I'd start by backing up as much of
your old data as possible to CD's. It sounds as if your HD is
about to go south.

Once you've got your data backed up you can do a little
troubleshooting. You might find the disk diagnostic tools
helpful. I've never had to use the registry editing tools so
you're on your own there. I also can't vouch for



--
Nepatsfan

[I asked already in
microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support, without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the
answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will
not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe +
network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And
"Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for
about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That
finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle
starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being
loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys,
WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia,
MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD
Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with
"agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above
list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue
screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate.
It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same
happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted
registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to
"How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to
use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP
Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all
disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything
useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not
valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator
password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console
without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at
all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be
able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a
repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort,
because of the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You need to use a caddy. I don't think the voltages for a laptop drive are
the same as for a desktop drive.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

[I asked already in microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support,
without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe + network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And "Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys, WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia, MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with "agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate. It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to "How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort, because of
the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

i would get something like norton utilities that boots off a cd and do a
test on that disk. something sure sounds bad about it. and doing a
repair
installation on a corrupt disk would likely make things worse.

Thanks Dave, hadn't thought of that - assumed it was some s/w
configuration problem as I'm not used to w2000/xp setup.

I don't have a current version of Norton, only an old one that won't
work on ntfs (which I presume this disk is). I think I'll have a look at
moving it into my desktop machine where I have Acronis Disk Director
Suite. I think (pretty sure) that has disk check capability for ntfs. I
don't know if there are any snags in putting a notebook drive into a
standard case though - will soon find out.

Phil

 

[Dave]

[I asked already in microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support, without
a solution, so am cross-posting. Hope someone here knows the answer -
thanks.]

I have a Dell Latitude CPt C333GT loaded with XP Pro which will not
complete booting from the HDD.

From power up I get the usual boot menu with "Safe", "Safe + network",
"Safe + Command prompt", "Last known good configuration", And "Start
windows normally".

Choosing "Start windows normally" produces:

XP splash screen for a few seconds then a blank screen for about 5
minutes during which the HDD is making repetitive sounds. That finishes
with a blue screen saying:
"STOP: c0000218 Unknown Hard Error
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn" (where nn counts up).
After some 10s of seconds the machine re-boots and the cycle starts
again.

Booting into "Safe Mode" I get:
XP splash screen for a few seconds then a list of drivers being loaded.
The last few in the list are:

multi(0)disk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\ACPI.sys, WMILIB,
pci, isapnp, compbatt, BATTC, intelide, PCIIDEX, pcmcia, MountMgr,
ftdisk, PartMgr, VolSnap, atapi, disk, CLASSPNP, sr, KsecDD Ntfs, NDIS,
Mup, agp440.sys.

These all have ".sys" extensions, and the list ends with "agp440.sys".
At this point the disk is repetitively cycling, and the above list
remains on the screen. After about 3 minutes I get a blue screen saying

"STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\SECURITY or its log or alternate. It is
corrupt, absent, or not writable.
Dumping physical memory to disk: nn"

After some 1/2 minute or so the machine re-boots, and the same happens
again.

I found a KB article that indicates the problem is corrupted registry
hives: "How to troubleshoot a Stop 0xC0000218 error"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314874. This article refers to "How to
recover from a corrupted registry"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545, which explains how to use the
Recovery Console to restore the hives.

So far so good, and can I load the Recovery Console from an XP Pro CD.

I immediately hit a snag in that the commands I need are all disabled.

In particular DIR, CD, MD will not run, so I cannot do anything useful.
These commands respond with "The path or file specified is not valid".

Also the 307545 article says I should see an administrator password
dialog, but I am getting straight into the recovery console without
seeing that.

I currently have a C:\Windows> prompt, but cannot navigate at all
because of the disabled dir, etc, commands.

System restore from start-up does not work, so I do need to be able to
restore the registry files manually.

I can also boot into 'setup' from an XP Pro CD and could do a repair
installation, but only want to try that as a last resort, because of the
risks of upsetting application settings.

Any ideas please?

Phil

i would get something like norton utilities that boots off a cd and do a
test on that disk. something sure sounds bad about it. and doing a repair
installation on a corrupt disk would likely make things worse.

Thanks Dave, hadn't thought of that - assumed it was some s/w
configuration problem as I'm not used to w2000/xp setup.

I don't have a current version of Norton, only an old one that won't
work on ntfs (which I presume this disk is). I think I'll have a look at
moving it into my desktop machine where I have Acronis Disk Director
Suite. I think (pretty sure) that has disk check capability for ntfs. I
don't know if there are any snags in putting a notebook drive into a
standard case though - will soon find out.

Phil

we used to have a case you could plug a laptop drive into to connect it to a
pcmcia card to transfer stuff off it back onto a new laptop or one where you
just replaced the drive. they were available from some company that sold
upgrades for laptop drives along with software to clone the system onto the
new disk, though you could also use them as a backup or temporary external
disk. the connectors are obviously different than what is in a desktop,
though it wouldn't surprise me if there was a tool available to let you use
one there somehow.

 

[Phil]

You need to use a caddy. I don't think the voltages for a laptop drive are
the same as for a desktop drive.

Good point - thanks for that.

--
Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)

Thanks Dave, hadn't thought of that - assumed it was some s/w
configuration problem as I'm not used to w2000/xp setup.

I don't have a current version of Norton, only an old one that won't
work on ntfs (which I presume this disk is). I think I'll have a look at
moving it into my desktop machine where I have Acronis Disk Director
Suite. I think (pretty sure) that has disk check capability for ntfs. I
don't know if there are any snags in putting a notebook drive into a
standard case though - will soon find out.

Phil

 

[Phil]

we used to have a case you could plug a laptop drive into to connect it to a
pcmcia card to transfer stuff off it back onto a new laptop or one where you
just replaced the drive. they were available from some company that sold
upgrades for laptop drives along with software to clone the system onto the
new disk, though you could also use them as a backup or temporary external
disk. the connectors are obviously different than what is in a desktop,
though it wouldn't surprise me if there was a tool available to let you use
one there somehow.

Sounds like a caddy is the way to do that.

 

[Phil]

Depending on how badly you need to preserve the data on your hard
drive and how much heavy lifting you're willing to do you might
want to consider the following:

Create a bootable CD by following the procedure detailed on one
of the following sites:

Ultimate Boot CD:
http://www.ubcd4win.com/
Knoppix:
http://www.knoppix.org/
Bart's PE:
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/

If at all possible, try to make the UBCD. I think you'll find
that it's worth the extra effort.

Change the boot order in you BIOS to boot from the CD drive. Once
you've got the machine booted, I'd start by backing up as much of
your old data as possible to CD's. It sounds as if your HD is
about to go south.

Once you've got your data backed up you can do a little
troubleshooting. You might find the disk diagnostic tools
helpful. I've never had to use the registry editing tools so
you're on your own there. I also can't vouch for

Brilliant - I am studying ubcd4win right now. If it doesn't help now I'm
sure it will be a great utility to have around.

Phil
PS What's with the top posting in these groups? It is a real pain.

 

[Nepatsfan]

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:14:48 -0500, in


Brilliant - I am studying ubcd4win right now. If it doesn't
help now I'm
sure it will be a great utility to have around.

Phil
PS What's with the top posting in these groups? It is a real
pain.

Due to the fact that OE defaults to top posting, the vast
majority of posters do just that. Combine that with the fact that
the web interface for these newsgroups defaults to top posting
and it's no contest. I agree with you but I started feeling like
I was fighting a losing battle. Whenever I bottom posted in a
thread that consisted mostly of top posted answers it really
became unreadable. Maybe with the next version of OE Microsoft
will get it right.

Nepatsfan