WINDOWS XP WONT BOOT

[Markus]

Here is the message I get:

WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE, BUT WINDOWS DID NOT
START SUCCESSFULLY. A RECENT HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE CHANGE
MIGHT HAVE CAUSED THIS.

IF YOUR COMPUTER STOPPED RESPONDING, RESTARTED
UNEXPECTEDLY, OR WAS AUTOMATICALLY SHUT DOWN TO PROTECT
YOUR FILES AND FOLDERS, CHOOSE LAST KNOWN GOOD
CONFIGURATION TO REVERT TO THE MOST RECENT SETTINGS THAT
WORKED.

IF A PREVIOUS STARTUP ATTEMPT WAS INTERRUPTED DUE TO A
POWER FAILURE OR BECAUSE THE POWER OR START BUTTON WAS
PRESSED, OR IF YOU ARENT SURE WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM,
CHOOSE START WINDOWS NORMALLY.

Beneath that are listed:

SAFE MODE
SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING
SAFE MODE WITH COMMAND PROMPT

LAST KNOWN GOOD CONFIGURATION (YOUR MOST RECENT SETTINGS
THAT WORKED)

Below that, the following is already highlighted:

START WINDOWS NORMALLY

Then it says:

USE THE UP AND DOWN ARROW KEYS TO MOVE THE HIGHLIGHT TO
YOUR CHOICE.

SECONDS UNTIL WINDOWS STARTS: (timer keeps ticking down
from 30 seconds to 0 seconds)

Here is my problem: My keyboard cant move the highlighted
bar to any other choice but START WINDOWS NORMALLY and the
clock keeps ticking down from 30 seconds to 0, the system
reboots and brings me back to the same page over and over.
I cant move the highlight bar to any other choice like
SAFE MODE.

I have a Dell 4300 with a Tyan motherboard and Windows XP.

Any help? Thanks

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

Try a Repair Install as follows:

 

[Markus]

Please repost..the web link or instructions seem to be
missing

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Markus;
Repair Installation:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm

 

[Larry Samuels]

I'm not Michael, but here ya go:
"How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install"
http://michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm


--
Larry Samuels MS-MVP (Windows-Shell/User)
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

I'm really sorry Markus, I guess I hit send when I meant to hit paste.
There others have you covered but for the record, here are the instructions:

NOTE, while a repair install should leave your data files intact, if
something goes wrong during the repair install, you may be forced to start
over and do a clean install of XP. If you don't have your data backed up,
you would lose your data should that eventuality occur.

Assuming your system is set to boot from the CD-ROM drive and you have an
actual XP CD as opposed to a recovery CD, boot with the XP
CD in the drive and perform a repair install as outlined below. If the
system isn't set to boot from the CD or you are not sure, you need to enter
the system's BIOS. When you boot the system, the first screen usually has
instructions that if you wish to enter set press a specific key, when you
see that, do so. Then you will have to navigate to the boot sequence, if
the CD-ROM drive is not first line, set it first in the boot sequence. Save
your settings and exit with the XP CD in the drive. The system will reboot.

When the system boots, a few screens into the process you may see a message
instructing you
to hit any key in order to boot from the CD along with a countdown. When
you see this be sure to
hit a key on the keyboard, if you miss this instruction and the system fails
to boot from the CD, it's too
late, you'll need to reboot and try again.

Once you have pressed a key, setup should begin. You will see a reference
asking if you need to load special drivers and another notice that if you
wish to begin the ASR (Automatic Recovery Console) depress F2. Just let
setup run past all of that. It will continue to load files and drivers.

Then it will bring you to a screen. Eventually, you will come to a screen
with the option to (1) setup Windows or (2) Repair Windows Installation
using the Recovery console. ***The selection you want at this screen is
"Setup Windows,"
NOT "Repair Windows Installation.

The first option, to setup Windows is the one you want and requires you to
press enter. When asked, press F8 to accept the end user agreement. Setup
will then search for previous versions of Windows. Upon finding your
version, it will ask if you wish to Repair your current installation or
install fresh. Press R, that will run a repair installation. From there
on, follow the screens.

Note, in some cases, you won't receive the repair option, only an option to
reinstall. We have discovered that sometimes this is caused by damaged
boot.ini file that can be repaired as follows and also note, in the
instructions, "K" refers to the CD drive in which you have placed the XP CD,
replace that drive letter with the appropriate letter on your system, "K" is
simply an example.

Reboot, this time taking the immediate R option (this is the section I told
you to skip above. In this case, you will need to get to the Recovery
Console to perform the function below), and if the CD letter is say K: give
these commands

COPY K:\i386\ntldr C:
COPY K:\i386\ntdetect.com C:
(two other files needed - just in case)
ATTRIB -H -R -S C:\boot.ini
DEL C:\boot.ini
BootCfg /Rebuild

Once you've completed this function, reboot and see if you can access XP as
sometimes, the problem is the damaged boot.ini. If you still cannot access
XP, then reboot and re-run the repair install instructions at the beginning
of this message.

If you only have a recovery CD, your options are quite limited. You can
either purchase a retail version of XP which will allow you to perform the
above
among other tools and options it has or you can run your system recovery
routine with the Recovery CD which will likely wipe your drive, deleting all
files but will restore your setup to factory fresh condition.

 

[Larry Samuels]

Hehehe--I didn't want to paste in your exact instructions so I pointed him
to Mike's page <G>


--
Larry Samuels MS-MVP (Windows-Shell/User)
Associate Expert
Expert Zone -
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

ROFLOL

 

[Markus]

Hey guys:

Tried everything you all said...I went to BIOS and made my
CD ROM the first boot. When I rebooted, it told me to hit
any key to start CD ROM boot and then it went back into
the same old screen as I originally described (with the
seconds counting down on the clock). The disc I was using
was the Windows XP disc that came with my Dell (it doesnt
say recovery on there..it says installation) but since I
bought it, the hard drive had to be changed and I now have
a Tyan motherboard on there in a new tower. So I assume
the Dell disc wont work anymore. The guy that fixed my
computer must have the XP disc he used? Anyway, he is out
of the business now, so what do I have to do? Buy a whole
new XP disc? Will that erase and override my entire hard
drive?>

Thanks

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

My guess is your Dell disk is BIOS locked. Yes, you would need a retail XP
CD though you might want to first contact Dell to see what they say.

You should be able to perform this function unless there are some other
issues. In other words, you can to a repair install but you cannot do it
with the Dell disk as it was tied to other hardware and it thinks this is a
different computer.

Now, if a retail disk doesn't work, you could install XP to a different
partition and then copy the data on your old setup to the new one.

You will likely be met with an access denied message in which case you will
need to take ownership of the files as follows:
Note, file ownership and permissions supersede administrator rights. How
you resolve it depends upon which version of XP you are running.

XP-Home

Unfortunately, XP Home using NTFS is essentially hard wired for "Simple File
Sharing" at system level.

However, you can set XP Home permissions in Safe Mode. Reboot, and start
hitting F8, a menu should eventually appear and one of the
options is Safe Mode. Select it. Note, it will ask for the administrator's
password. This is not your administrator account, rather it is the
machine's administrator account for which users are asked to create a
password during setup.

If you created no such password, when requested, leave blank and press
enter.

Open Explorer, go to Tools and Folder Options, on the view tab, scroll to
the bottom of the list, if it shows "Enable Simple File Sharing" deselect it
and click apply and ok. If it shows nothing or won't let you make a change,
move on to the next step.

Navigate to the files, right click, select properties, go to the Security
tab, click advanced, go to the Owner tab and select the user that was logged
on when you were refused permission to access the files. Click apply and
ok. Close the properties box, reopen it, click add and type in the name of
the user you just enabled. If you wish to set ownership for everything in
the folder, at the bottom of the Owner tab is the following selection:
"Replace owner on subcontainers and objects," select it as well.

Once complete, you should be able to do what you wish with these files when
you log back on as that user.

XP-Pro

If you have XP Pro, temporarily change the limited account to
administrative. First, go to Windows Explorer, go to Tools, select Folder
Options, go to the View tab and be sure "Use Simple File Sharing" is not
selected. If it is, deselect it and click apply and ok.

If you wish everything in a specific folder to be accessible to a user,
right click the folder, select properties, go to the Security tab, click
Advanced, go to the Owner tab,
select the user you wish to have access, at the bottom of the box, you
should see a check box for "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects,"
place a check in the box and click apply and ok.

The user should now be able to perform necessary functions on files in the
folder even as a limited account. If not, make it an admin account again,
right click the folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab and be
sure the user is listed in the user list. If not, click add and type the
user name in the appropriate box, be sure the user has all the necessary
permissions checked in the permission list below the user list, click apply
and ok.

That should do it and allow whatever access you desire for that folder even
in a limited account.