Repair Setup Hanging

[ICT User]

A friend tried doing a repair setup on his windows XP home pc which
seemed to get stuck in a loop. I have since done a bootcfg /rebuild
which stopped the loop and allowed to run a repair setup once again.
Unfortunately the setup keeps getting stuck - no error message just a
black screen with the cursor on it which I can move. I am unable to
get into either safe mode or safe mode command prompt. I have run
chkdsk which fixed some errors but still no luck. The pc has a huge
amount of software on it and I dont particular want to format it. I
am guessing that it might be having a problem with drivers so I have
unplugged everything thats not needed internally and disabled all the
onboard peripherals in the bios. Is there a way I can removed device
drivers from the current installation, or am i barking up the wrong
tree?

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

ICTUser

 

[randrade]

My first suggestion is to actually test the hardware to make sure it is good.

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

well, seems like if
a repair installation was
initially considered, then it was
likely due to an existing
issue with the pc.

and now that a repair has
been initiated, that pre existing
issue is likely interfering
with the repair.

one method that might help
to analyze whether it is a
driver installed as you believe
or faulty hardware is to attempt
to do a new installation of
windows into another partition.

this will of course result in
two operating systems. however
if the new installation succeeds
then your pc will become functional
again and faulty hardware as a
cause is no longer a consideration.

further, the new installation
will allow you the opportunity
to work on the dysfunctional o.s.

i have two o.s.'s, one which is
virgin and has absolutely no
updates installed. as a backup
o.s. it has come in handy on
a number of occasions.

something to keep in mind is
that "if" the new install fails
as well, then "the problem is
highly likely to be faulty
hardware". therefore be sure
that there are no peripherals
attached or third party pci
boards installed on the motherboard.

one possibility to consider
is that maybe the ram went bad.
if i am not mistaken you can test
the ram and hd from the boot
drive. i don't know where you
can get them, but lets us know
if you need them.
--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[ICT User]

The pc was working fine but then it asked him to activate windows - so
he phoned Microsoft and they got him to try and put the code in
physically labeled on the pc but for some reason it wouldn't take it.
Im not sure if they asked him to do the repair install or not. I have
unplugged all hardware except the CD. Unfortunately it doesnt have
another partition and I dont have a spare disk to install a clean os.
I really dont want to have to format if I can help it cos it's going
to be a pain to reinstall all the settings and applications but I fear
this maybe the only solution. I have checked the setup log files and
there doesnt seem to be anything in them that is useful. The only
other thing that it might be is its not copying the files across to
the hard drive properly when running the setup as the cd drives seems
to have problems reading files every so often. The pc has two cd
drives and neither of them seem to be particularly good. I copied the
cd install to the hard drive - but i havent actually figured out how I
can run the setup from the hard drive! I have tried using bartpe but
I cant do a repair install when run from that. I might try and
create another bootable ntfs disk and
try one last time.

Thanks

ICTUser

 

[db ´¯`·.. >]

The pc was working fine but then it asked him to activate windows - so
he phoned Microsoft and they got him to try and put the code in
physically labeled on the pc but for some reason it wouldn't take it.

Microsoft would not hang up and
leave your friend hanging. They
would have waited for the desktop
to appear after providing the code.

Im not sure if they asked him to do the repair install or not. I have
unplugged all hardware except the CD. Unfortunately it doesnt have
another partition and I dont have a spare disk to install a clean os.
I really dont want to have to format if I can help it cos it's going
to be a pain to reinstall all the settings and applications but I fear
this maybe the only solution.

i havn't done a setup in a long while
but i recall that you have options when
installing windows, 1) repair the current
installation, 2) install windows into a
new folder and 3) install windows into
a new partition or harddrive. I double
checked and found the kb (paragraph 7)
would be of interest for the method.

pay close attention to the little table
of disk data the setup provides after
scanning the system. you will have
options so read the information carefully:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348/

I have checked the setup log files and
there doesnt seem to be anything in them that is useful. The only
other thing that it might be is its not copying the files across to
the hard drive properly when running the setup as the cd drives seems
to have problems reading files every so often. The pc has two cd
drives and neither of them seem to be particularly good.

i would disconnect one of the cd drives
allowing for the other to become the
bootable cd device. when you mention
that they may be unreliable, then either
the cd device requires cleaning or maybe
their connectors are loose or possibly there
may be insufficient power being provided
to them.