windows xp pro startup problem?

[Glen project 11]

hi,
I am having a problem upon startup. I am using windows xp
pro on my desktop computer and just had this problem
arise (luckily I have another comp to get to the forums
here). Upon starting my system it begins to boot up, then
it goes to a screen stating that I may have not shut the
computer down properly or had hit the reset button and it
gives a couple options:

1. start in safe mode
2. restart in the most recently known proper settings
(something like that)
3. restart in normal mode.

I have tried all of these and the computer will just shut
down and restart and go into this same problem. I have
put in the windows xp cd, but it won't reach bootup. I
have not altered any settings or added any new software
before this proble occuring. Could it be maybe my hard
drive went bad? I am a little lost here. Any help would
be greatly appreciated on this.

thank you,
glen.

 

[Rich Barry]

Glen, chances are it's not your hard drive. Select Safe Mode with Command
Prompt and try a System Restore.

How to Start the System Restore Tool from the Command Prompt
System Restore is a great feature in XP, but if you aren't able to boot into
the Windows GUI normally or in Safe Mode, how can you use it? Here are the
instructions for starting System Restore from the command prompt:

Start your computer by selecting Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the
startup menu.
When the command prompt is displayed, type the following:
[systemroot]\system32\restore\rstrui.e x e (the system root folder is the
folder to which you installed the XP operating system files, usually
c:\windows).
Press Enter.
Now you can follow the instructions on the screen to use System Restore to
restore your computer to a previous functional state.
If you have problems with System Restore, see KB article 302796,
Troubleshooting System Restore in Windows XP:
http://www.winxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=030909TI-System_Restore

 

[Thudd]

hi,
I am having a problem upon startup. I am using windows xp

Today my xp pro would not boot. I then tried to reinstall xp.It would let
me start to reinstall from the cd , but when it tried to boot the first
time it would hang up.. I had to fdisk and format the drive and install the
whole sys to get it up and running. try booting with a win 98 floppy disk
and see if you can read your drive to check it out. If you can you may have
to format and reinstall xp. My problem was a virus. I have seen times where
I had to low level format or write zeros to the drive which takes hours.Most
drives come with a floppy or cd that have utilities that will make the drive
just like it was when you first took it out of the box.