windows won't boot / safemode won't boot

[pjbruce]

I'd be so grateful if anyone can help with this.

Last week loaded trial of Norton Ghost 14. After install software promted
for a reboot. Did this but system wouldn't load, got a real brief BSOD with
error report P: C000021a session manager etc.... Safe mode would not
complete. I tried all the standard recovery consol tools, FIXBOOT, FIXMBR,
CHKDSK /f/r etc.

I performed recommended action in article
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545#top which
dealt with BSOD and allowed recovery consol tools to work. Run tools but no
result.

Safe mode boots up so that black screen appears with safe mode titles and
mouse pointer then once again defaults into reboot. Tried in place repair
from cd. Setup begins but when system reboots and then setup seeks to
continue get back into reboot cycle.

Really need this machine but want to avoid complete re-install as I have
will lose some stuff. I've installed fresh copy of winxp in another folder on
HDD and have a remote registry manager but can't find anything that looks
like it may help.

Regards,

 

[R. McCarty]

In the case you describe, the highest probability of success is to boot
to Safe Mode and choose the optional mode "Last Known..." this
usually will allow the system to boot and ignore the changes made.

The problem now is you've taken too many steps/approaches to give
you a clearly defined solution. I'd still try a "Last Know working..."
on your original XP instance.

 

[pjbruce]

Thanks for trying to help with this problem. I tried the "last known..." as
one of the first steps. I have tried to do everything in the right order,
escalating the action as remedies failed.

The only proceedure not performed is "sfc" but then I can't boot up to run
the line in cmd and recovery console does not have this command included.
Someone with real understanding of winxp registry may be able to help. I read
in another microsoft article that there may be a problem with winlogon.exe
and csrrs.exe?!

 

[R. McCarty]

SFC isn't the diagnostic procedure it's made out to be. If a program
replaces a monitored file the system will quietly and automatically put
back the correct version. Only if the user dismisses the warning about
an unexpected version will the system components get out of sync.
Registry experts are few and far between, after years of working with
it I can claim about a 2 out of 10 expert level. You might be able to
load the original XP Registry Hive and manually disable (4) the services
associated with Norton Ghost. If it's like most Norton products it has
both the core app services and all the ccEvent, Live Update crap along
with it. Did you contact Symantec about the problems with Ghost ?

 

[Laura]

Just a thought, recently I couldn't boot up my laptop in the morning. I
tried all the options after pressing F8 during initial boot-up, Safe Mode,
Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Enable Boot Logging etc. etc. Each time I
got to the Windows XP slash screen, then I heard a click and the computer
shut down. Eventually I traced the problem to a blocked cooling air in-take
filter (located on the underside of the laptop), clearing the dust and fluff
from the air-intake cleared the problem.
Laura

 

[jameshanley39]

You'll have to scroll down Laura

Just a thought, recently I couldn't boot up my laptop in the morning. I
tried all the options after pressing F8 during initial boot-up, Safe Mode,
Safe Mode with Command Prompt, Enable Boot Logging etc. etc. Each time I
got to the Windows XP slash screen, then I heard a click and the computer
shut down. Eventually I traced the problem to a blocked cooling air in-take
filter (located on the underside of the laptop), clearing the dust and fluff
from the air-intake cleared the problem.
Laura

if things got that bad and you didn't notice, then it means you were
not monitoring your temperature..

if you had used software like speedfan, you would have noticed.

some people use some software to set off an alarm if the temp goes too
high.

Another thing.. If your laptop has holes in the bottom, fans at the
bottom, then it is badly designed in a classic way some are badly
designed. Never run a laptop on a bed or carpet, but especially not
in your case. Do watch the temperatures and you'll see if it really is
a problem running it on the surfaces you run it on... Wooden desks are
good.

Infact, if that hole was getting blocked with fluff, it sounds a bit
like it was near a carpet, too..

 

[pjbruce]

Hi Mr McCarty,

Thanks again for your post. I did get onto symantec live chat 3 times and
drove them nearly as mad as their software has me but ultimately they said
"only microsoft can solve this". As usual Norton causes the problems but
never fixes them. Unfortunately I have an OEM disc on a custom system so I'm
really on my own here.

The system has been sweet for a good while & I do take care of it. It was
suggested by someone I know to remove the Norton installation folder but I
wasn't keen on this as it could cause other issues.

Interested in what you said about reloading the original registry hive, I
thought I had done this in the steps here
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307545.

Where do I find the keys relating to Norton services?

Thanks Again

 

[R. McCarty]

One approach is to get a add-on feature for Bart's PE. This allows you
to load/edit remote Registry Hives.
http://regeditpe.sourceforge.net/
What you'd be interested in is the HKey Local Machine, Software Hive.
The CurrentControlSet has a section called "Services" this is where the
Norton Ghost and associated background services are loaded from. I
would definitely backup the \System32\Config hive components in the
original XP instance before committing any changes.
*You can usually find the Norton/Ghost components by their load calls
which have \Symantec or \Ghost in the pathname.

You could also boot your Side-by-Side XP instance and use Regedit
to load a non-bootable Hive.

This process rates a 9.25 on the "Shoot-Yourself-in-the-Foot" scale
for PC work, so understand the dangers involved.

 

[Laura]

Yes James, There are computers on the market which have design faults. Mine
is an ACER which as I have said has it's cooling air intake on the underside
of the machine, which is easily cleaned. A friend has a Dell Inspiron
laptop and to clean the processor cooling fan & housing it is necessary to
remove the key-board. Cleaning this cooling system on the Dell has to be
performed on a regular basis.
Laura

 

[pjbruce]

Thanks for your post. I carried out the above, Bart's Pe took a while to
implement but I did scour the registry for Norton/Symantec/Ghost trails and
removed them. Still no boot though.

Something in windows has been affected by this. any thoughts on winlogon.exe
and csrrs.exe which another article hinted at. I am struggling on this one.

Regards,

Peter

 

[R. McCarty]

Good to hear the process allowed you to remove the keys/values. I'm
not personally familiar with the situation you describe with those two
executables. Sometimes it's very hard to offer advice without having
access to the computer. Suggestions are all based on descriptions and
things already done.

I did a little research on Ghost+XP issues and a few reviews of Ver-14.
I couldn't find much in the way of "Early Adopter" type issues except
for this forum: http://radified.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?board=ghost9_10
which had a few Version 14 posts.

Sorry I can't provide you with more help.

 

[pjbruce]

Thank you for your help in this recent problem. Unfortunately I have not been
able to recover windows which has been corrupted by Norton Ghost 14. I've
started the process of re-installing windows and all my programs etc. It's a
real pain as I was running a lot of software and mysql etc because I develop
websites.

It would be real handy if I could still resurrect my old drive of which I
have a backup and I'm just wondering if I upgraded to Windows Vista by
installing it as an upgrade on my corrupted drive whether that would allow me
to get up and running quicker?

I did run the microsoft tool recently to check if I was ready for upgrade
and I was apart from a wireless adapter which I can change.

What do you think?

Thanks again Mr McCarty.

Regards,

Peter